Real estate investors face many of the same challenges as other entrepreneurs and business owners. When starting out, they need a reliable and low-cost way to generate leads. Once they start getting results it remains important for them to maximize their return on investment and to keep expenses low.
That’s why yard signs are both the perfect avenue for a newbie real estate investor to start his marketing efforts and for a seasoned pro to generate inexpensive leads. The following is a list of the top five things you should do to start reaping the benefits of a successful yard sign advertising campaign.
1. Find the Perfect Time to Hang and Take Down Your Signs
The best time to put up your signs is on a Friday afternoon when traffic is high and many people will drive by and see them. Make sure to take them down by Monday morning though to get the optimal return on your investment. yard signs have the tendency to disappear or even become damaged or defaced when they are left out too long. By taking them down during the week you protect them from vandalism, damage, and theft. After all, yard signs are an asset which you should protect and you can save a lot of money by recycling them.
Also, since most code enforcement officials do not work on the weekends, there is less of a chance of your signs being removed due to a violation of any city codes or ordinances you were not aware existed.
2. Hire people to put up and take down your signs
Putting together a team to put up and take down your signs is a vital element of managing your real estate business. As a real estate investor you want to work ON the business, not IN the business. The more efficient and hands-off your processes are, the more you can focus on actually closing those big deals. Using an app like SimpleCrew even makes it possible to track what your team is up to and make sure that they are doing what they are supposed to.
When finding good people to hire in order to help implement your yard sign campaigns, ask them the following questions:
- Do you have a car or other reliable means of transportation?
- Do you have a cell phone so that you can use SimpleCrew to take photos of the work that has been completed?
- Are you available Friday afternoons and Sunday evenings/Monday mornings for take up and put down?
- Are you aware of the municipal codes and regulations when it comes to hanging yard signs in the designated area?
Hanging signs is a task that is best outsourced. It will allow you more time and energy to close deals and find new properties.
3. Hold your team accountable with SimpleCrew
SimpleCrew is an app that your team can use to share photos of each sign after it has made it to its location. The GPS technology included with the app will record the location of where the photo was taken, so you will know exactly where and when your signs were put up or taken down.
With time you’ll be able to identify the most profitable locations for putting up signs and start focusing exclusively on the areas for generating leads with the highest ROI.
4. Be Consistent
For a yard sign campaign to be effective, you must be consistent with your marketing efforts. If you don’t get the signs out, then people will not know who you are or what you can do for them. Visibility is essential when it comes to effective advertising.
This is where a lot of beginners fail. They do all the hard work of putting up the signs but because they don’t get results quickly they simply give up. What they don’t realize is that for yard signs to be an effective marketing strategy, they require consistency. Only by putting up signs every single week can you get a regular influx of qualified leads.
This is another reason why it’s important to outsource the task of putting up signs. You’re far more likely to do it consistently if it simply involves managing a team that will do it for you, instead of having to do it yourself every single time.
Another benefit of doing it regularly is that with time you will be able to see where you are getting most of your leads. As soon as you find an area that works and people are responding to your yard signs, take note of this particular area and focus on it. Don’t waste your time and efforts in areas that are not responding to your advertising.
5. Have a System for Managing Leads
Getting leads is only the first (although vital!) step in the process of closing deals. When people start calling and reaching out to you it’s time to make the most of each opportunity. That means there’s no room for missed deals, forgotten conversations, and disorganized leads.
That’s where Investorfuse comes in. Investorfuse is a lead management CRM system designed to help investors close more deals through automation and time-saving technology.
They help you organize and track your leads and make the most out of your existing marketing. For example, you can put your follow up on autopilot with customizable sequences and delegate tasks to your team automatically. It takes the guesswork out of your business operations which provides you with more time to focus on your deals.
Next step: Diversification
If you follow the five guidelines that have been outlined, you will be well on your way to automatically generating leads from yard signs with minimal effort on your part. Once you have gotten your foot in the door it will be time to diversify your marketing by using a combination of both inbound and outbound advertising. Combine that with a good system of lead organization and the possibilities are endless.
