A lot of people say would suggest, using bandit signs as a part of their marketing. Bandit signs if used effectively can get an outrageous response. I placed 10 bandit signs in strategic locations around town. The same day i started receiving calls from buyers by the boat load. The only problem was that only 1 or 2 could possibly become qualified. So the bandit signs didn’t really work for me, when used to find buyers.
Another form of marketing i used was fliers. One saturday i printed up 250 fliers. I distributed all the fliers in a 4 hour span. I was looking for bird dogs. I ended up getting maybe 4-5 calls. Found one potential bird dog. He bought in 3 deals. None really worth pursuing. Maybe losing my bird dog was my fault. I did not send him out with a clear plan. Oh how i miss my bird dog.
I have tried cold calling. Which really worked to my surprise. I wrote down 40 numbers out of my local newspaper. I was looking for a flipper. Out of 30 calls, i had 4 potential deals, just from my phone conversation. I could have closed at least 3 of the 4 without using my own cash or credit. But one only seemed like a real winner. Instant profits. I should have closed on the other deals. At least they would have provided residual cash flow.
Another form of marketing i have tried was direct mailing. I mailed to foreclosures, looking for deals. Out of 400 mailers, i came across one short sale deal and one loan workout.
Has anyone successfully used either one of these methods, to bring in constant amount of leads? Working deals are easy but finding the right leads is the hard part. Hoping to receive some good advice.
are those bandit signs illigal? I think here in Galveston they are… you see them go up one day, and torn down the next… I mean I always read them when i’m at a stop light but… i never call (only b/c I dont see anything worth calling on)… but it must get expensive to keep producing those signs…
well jason advertising is definately an expense to keep in mind. But with the right kind of marketing, the money spent is peanuts in exchange for a return. Off of one piece of construction paper and a poster board from walmart. I can have 4 signs for under 3 dollars. I can literally flood a section of town with 30 dollars worth of signs. Then i would pay some kids with a pickup truck to go and hang em high around town. So for about 70 dollars the whole town will be under the will of my marketing for the whole weekend. So if 280 dollars a month is a big expense for you. Then you are not serious about making money.
LOL… true… I have spent over 1500/mo advertising, I would like to raise it to 2,000 this year… Thats a good idea about having a kid put them high… so you put them on poles, or in the ground? I would make the kid make them too… it would be a good write off… so what do you put on the constuction paper? marker or pre made letters? thanks
Honestly so far I see bandit signs as the best form of marketing( or at least the ones I have used so far)… from my 10 or so signs i put up i put up so far ive gotten approx 5 calls…and 2 possible deals im workin on now…and they are relatively inexpesive compared to the potential profit from a deal…lets say outta 10 calls you get 1 deal…but that deal gets you 15k in profits…thats a pretty nice return on a box of 100 bandit signs that cost you $190…thats reminds me.I need to get some up ASAP…
I just cant see myself marketing real estate sales or listing that way… I still wonder the legalities of bandit signs, but you are right it is a cheap way of hitting lots of people. I could only imagine though if all 700 realtors copied me on on the island, every street corner would be full of galveston real estate signage… ;D
Hey,
Here is what I have done. Went to usps.com and got to their postcard area. Picked out custom postcards (two were during the holiday season). To be custom printed with my message and mailed costs $.87 each. Went to the appraiser’s site, selected neighborhood, selected out of state owners. Mailed out about at total of approx. 120 postcards hitting everyone at least twice. Have contract out for one property, negotiating on two more and got a call for 5 properties this evening. If it all works, pretty good ROI.
Peace,
Richard
Bandit signs give me HUGH return. I put out 200 per month and about 100 get removed. At 1.50 per sign my cost are not even worth calculating when I consider the return. I get 2-4 calls per day from my signs. I also do fliers in the local community newspapers at a cost of about .08 each. I get about 10,000 per month distributed to the zip codes I desire. Yes, everything costs money but you have to look at the cost as an investment. Good Luck!
“Bandit signs give me HUGH return. I put out 200 per month and about 100 get removed. At 1.50 per sign my cost are not even worth calculating when I consider the return. I get 2-4 calls per day from my signs. I also do fliers in the local community newspapers at a cost of about .08 each. I get about 10,000 per month distributed to the zip codes I desire. Yes, everything costs money but you have to look at the cost as an investment. Good Luck!”
How have you done with the fliers in the local newspapers. Did you get much response?
If you cannot get consistent results from one form of marketing, then it is not something you should depend because you cannot project into the future. I spend $2000 to $3000/month and I know I can get at least 2 houses a month consistently.
Bandit signs work. Placing 10 signs is not exactly a great exposure. You should place 50 to 100 to see good results.
If you got a boatload of calls from your bandit signs then I’d say that was a good thing…
Usually it takes at least 25 - 50 banditsigns out to get 10 - 15 calls…
So, if you didn’t get any deals from those calls… then most likely it’s a cause of 1 or 2 things… and probably a mixture of both…
What was the message… was the message wrong and you cast such a wide net that you took in leads you couldnt convert…
And then if you are new at this then you likely aren’t closing deals that and experienced investor would get done…
ie… when starting out you need to get 35 -50, maybe even 70-75 leads in the pipeline to get a “single deal” after you get rolling that number will come down to about probably 6 - 10…
One guy I mentored that has been using our bandit signs… was only interested in wholesaling deals… so his numbers are a lot different…
He actually has to put out on average of 150 bandit signs to get a deal… he does so religiously about every month…
His average deal makes him about 5 - 7k… in the beginning it was 3 - 5k…
So, he trades about $250 - 400 every month to get 5 - 7k… extra into his bank account… I taught him how to flip properties about 3 years ago… after he attended one of my seminars on a different subject…
I’d say he was a quick learner… he gets it… that marketing is your first investment… always… when you run out of money start marketing…
