500/month to spend on marketing

[john brown]

   hey guys i love this site, i have been reading for a while and ive decided to make some money. i would like some feedback from you guys on my marketing plan.
     i have a choice of advertising in 2 major newspapers one of them costs about $320/month if i buy at a bulk rate which, i would have to commit to for 6 months minimum. the other major newspaper costs $160/month and no long term commitment. the only thing is that the cheaper one is for another town which is about 20 minutes away, but i dont mind working there. which one should i go with?
    i have ordered sings from bandit signs worth about $200 and then will buy more each month depending on how many get taken down etc. i plan on spending about $50/ month on these after my initial investment.
    i have ordered a pair of magnetic signs that cost me $70 for the pair
    i got 5000 business cards for about $200
    i have had 2 t shirts made that say i buy houses this cost me about $60
    my city compiles a list of vacant properties which i am in the process of obtaining
when i get the list i will send out post cards to these people.
    so after my intial investment i would like to spend no more than 500/month until i have done one deal at which time i would spend more for marketing.
    what are your thoughts, if i go with the $320 ad plus $50 for signs each month that leaves $130 to spend on direct mail.
     or should i advertise in the other paper and spend the remaining $290 on direct mailings. any feedback/comments will be greatly appreciated.

[Doug Pretorius]

What's the circulation for freebies like the Pennysaver or whatever it's called in your area? If the price is reasonable I would go for a FRONTPAGE ad there. Back when I ran such an ad (before the price became totally insane) it did really well, around 30-40 calls a week for a $15 classified ad.

Alas, now they insist on me paying for a $2,000 display ad if I want the front page 

For the same $2k I can get over 300 calls from direct mail so it's easy to see why I don't do the Pennysaver ad.

[SeattleCPA]

Is an ad in craiglists potentiall free? Just a question. I know they vary by region and category.

[Doug Pretorius]

If craigslist is big in your area (it isn't in mine) and you can keep the realtors from flagging your ads, then it could work.

[joker]

craigslist isnt the best trust me

[Doug Pretorius]

But it is free...so if you can buy or sell a few houses through it then it's worth it.

[Enjoidc]

Craigslist...oh such a love hate relationship.

I've found 90% of my buyers list there.  But don't expect many leads unless you link it to a website.  Too many scams run off craigslist.  Don't let it stop you from posting an ad though.  Considering it's free the ROI is infinite, so it can't hurt.

So in other words, great for finding buyers, bad for finding sellers, but you should use it anyways.

[EZLoanz]

I wouldn't spend any money until I was fully leveraged with the free or low fee marketing strategies first---

Here is example of a free marketing strategy---form alliances with non-competing businesses serving the same client...

For example, somebody in the final hours of a foreclosure has most likely spoken to 2, 3 or more lenders about bail outs, reorganization, etc.---9 out of 10 lenders will say "sorry, I can't help you for blah blah blah" and the lead that they paid to generate dies on the vine. 

An investor could seek to partner with these same lenders to be appointed the "turn-down turn-around" specialist for loans that otherwise would have been placed in the shredder.   

If you want to take it to the next level, coach your lender partners how to presell your business model (so they come predisposed to do business with you) during their interaction period... 

It's free, it's effective and it's just an example of one of the many things that could be done with "no money down"...

Regards,

Scott Miller

[GeoffGreen]

make your business revenue driven.  In other words don't start by planning expenses.  You can create a lot of revenue for free just by networking and doing a lot of finding yourself.  then when you have the income you could consider increasing your expenses.