Add this to your marketing and generate more business!

This is one of the best tools I have found for marketing!

My fellow REALTORS always come to me and say how do you generate so much business? Well…the honest answer is….I WORK. I work a lot. I have learned in the last year to work less…however, I spend a lot of time generating the business and then if I don’t want to work, I refer. The work I focus on is constant marketing. I use the web mostly. I don’t do cold calling, telemarketing and rarely do I knock on a door.

So, what do I do? I send a lot of cards…even that is easy! For the last year I have used Send Out Cards. I resisted it for several years because I felt it wasn’t personal enough. Then I realized every time I ran out of stamps or didn’t mail something on time…that wasn’t very personal either. A lot of times by the time I got the stamps…the persons birthday was already over…sheese. Not a great impression.

So finally, I gave in. I am glad I did. Not only did I create some really cool marketing pieces, I have really got a nice little side business going. I don’t write this to sell you…of course I am in sales so if you want another stream of income…I am a good one to have in your upline. Either way….send a flipping card. Just do it. It is fun. You can be creative and it is much less expensive. I like that best!

How does it work?

I bought into the entrapareurrrrrrrrrr – okay, spelling isn’t my gig. You get the point. I bought the best package. It was like $400 bucks or something. I got a little kit, filled out a handwriting thingy so my handwriting would be….well…MY handwriting on the cards and then I started to send them. I am on an auto program and pay $31 bucks a month. I have created some really cool marketing pieces that really work. One of them was a just listed….only it had a photo of my clients home and it had a balloony thing that looked like the house was talking. It said, “Your neighbors at 11223 N whatever street in Scottsdale, got exactly what they deserved last night!” Then when you turn it over, it said, A CONTRACT TO PURCHASE THEIR HOME!

That one worked. Got some listings off of it…yup. People like funny stuff. It catches their attention. You could do it too if you were a distributor. Oh….you aren’t? That’s okay, I can hook you up with this cool chick in Arizona.

As a matter of fact, you can go to her website right now and send a FREE card…that is how cool she is!

www.sendoutcards.com/60625

It is so easy. 100 points costs $31 bucks or something like that. It costs 1 point for a postcard or about .33 cents and 2 points for a AWESOME greeting card…or .66 points. The cards are high quality. They take a minute to send and you can even add a gift like, brownies, gift cards, books and more. That stuff costs extra of course! There is postage and they don’t charge extra for that…it is 42 cents just like the post office wants it. AND….talk about easy! It sends me a reminder for all the dates I want and it has a great way to import your database. I love it and would not be without it.

So go ahead…don’t be afraid…after all….we are REALTORS, we are not afraid of anything!

Just DO IT!

Michelle Shelton

Send Out Cards ROCK!

Send a card to our soldiers!

By CHRISTINE SIMMONS, AP

WASHINGTON -This holiday season, Americans can send soldiers and wounded troops greeting cards — even if they don’t know their names.

After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the anthrax attacks, the Pentagon required that mail addressed to “any soldier” be returned to the sender, leaving Americans without a way to send mail to soldiers whose names they didn’t know.

But for a second year, an American Red Cross program is allowing the public to send holiday greeting cards that aren’t addressed to a particular soldier. The cards will be screened, sorted and distributed to military hospitals and bases nationally and overseas in time for the holidays.

“The eyes of the soldiers really light up” when they see greeting cards sent from the American public, said Lt. Col. David Oclander. Oclander was in Iraq around the time of last year’s program and remembers seeing soldiers, even those in the most remote locations, carrying cards around.

Some put the cards “in their vehicles when they go out on patrol,” he said. “It really helps brighten their days, especially when they’re enduring some long separations.”

The Red Cross distributed about 600,000 cards last year to soldiers in combat zones and military hospitals in the U.S. and overseas, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait and a regional military medical center in Germany. For this holiday season, the organization is hoping to send more than a million cards to soldiers in military hospitals, as well as to active-duty service members, veterans and family members around the world.

Col. Dennis Doyle, Walter Reed Health Care System’s deputy commander for administration, said the effect the cards had last year at military hospitals “cannot be overstated.”

“There is no objective way to measure the effect of receiving a thank-you card or letter on someone recovering from combat wounds,” Doyle said. “These letters made a huge impact on the morale of operations.”

From Tuesday through Dec. 10, the public can send their greeting cards, with adequate postage and a return address, to Holiday Mail for Heroes, P.O. Box 5456, Capitol Heights, Md. 20791-5456. To speed delivery, mailers should not send care packages, money or any inserts, including glitter.

They can also download cards from the American Red Cross Web site to print out and send to the program’s address. This year, a Facebook Web page allows Internet users to post greetings online so the Red Cross can print the messages on cards and distribute them to troops.

In a voluntary effort, the mail service provider Pitney Bowes Inc. will screen the cards for hazardous material, and the Red Cross will sort through the cards to ensure the contents are appropriate.

The Red Cross launched this year’s program Tuesday, when it set up tents and tables outside its Washington headquarters and provided cards for passers-by to write their greetings. By midday, hundreds of cards had been signed, many with lengthy messages.

Tammy Moore, 45, a Red Cross volunteer in Washington, stopped to sign a card.

“Dear soldier: As you spend this holiday season away from your family, know that our nation is thinking of you and wishing you much happiness this holiday season,” Moore wrote.

Send Out Cards

Several years ago I was approached by a man offering Send Out Cards. He wanted me to be a distributor for them. At the time I sent a minimum of 10 cards a week by mail. I would handwrite them and send them to clients and friends. I didn’t think that sending a printed card would have the personal touch that a hand written card would.

As I grew busy in my business…some things seemed to drop off and I wasn’t writing as many cards. The fact was, I was writing them, I just wouldn’t make the time to go and pick up more stamps and get them in the mail. They would get set aside in a “pile” somewhere and get lost and several weeks later I would come across them again and beat myself up for not getting my message out!

So….I caved to the Send Out Card rush. And you know what? I LOVE them! I love the fact that now I can take a photo of my clients or their home and I can create a card online. After all, that is where I spend the majority of my marketing time is online. It is easy to use, inexpensive and fun.  There are thousands of cards for those folks that tell themselves how NON-creative they are…and by the way….I don’t buy it. To think is to create and if you make the time and put in the effort, you will create something!

So if you haven’t joined them….get on board. If you join with me…you can have me support you in creating the perfect cards for your next marketing campagne. After all, it must be a win / win!

Give it a shot! Create your FREE Card Account NOW – It’s FREE to you and paid for by me….the opportunity to earn your business is highly valued.