A Clever and Effective Way To Gain More Real Estate Blog Subscribers

About a month ago I received, in the mail (yes, the kind with real letters, bills and magazines) an envelope with 3 items in it.

The first was a a New Blog Announcement, something like a Baby Announcement: It’s a BLOG!

The second a business card showcasing the Blog Address and contact information for Michael Bergin and Virginia Amos (on the reverse), proud new owners (and authors) of GWSleptHere.com.

For those not “in the know” – GWSleptHere is embracing the common local claim to various local destinations in greater Alexandria, VA, that the Father of our nation, President George Washington, slept on the grounds.

The third item was a a faded $1 bill likeness (you know, the one with George Washington on it) offering a quick and easy was to receive a $5 Starbucks Gift Card:  Subscribe to GWSleptHere.com.

I found the marketing idea so clever and fun, that I immediately went and subscribed to make sure I was one of the first 50.  I’m sure his local audience got their announcements days before me, given that I live 3000 miles from Alexandria, VA.

Fast forward to yesterday.

In the mail, as promised, I received my $5 Starbucks Gift Card, along with a very nice, handwritten note thanking me for my subscription, and to our team for doing such a wonderful job on their new blog.  So, not only have Michael and Virginia earned my (and many others’) subscription, but they also get a huge shoutout from the Tomato!

I’ll ask Michael to give us an update in the comments as to how many he sent out, the investment and the number of subscribers they have earned with their campaign.

So, if you want to read a real estate blogging team that really has the hang of blogging for business, go check out GWSleptHere.com, and be sure to subscribe to their feed.

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Related Must Reads:
Local Blog Traffic, The Old Fashioned Way
Don't Be The Ignored Real Estate Blog, How to Avoid The Starbucks Mistake

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Tags: Blogging+Advice, Real+Estate+Blogging, George+Washington+Slept+Here

Comments

[Mariana Wagner]

THAT is an excellent idea ... the perfect blend of 1.0 and 2.0 in a way that makes sense.

[Cyndee Haydon]

Ok, that's about the coolest idea I've heard in some time - hats off to Michael and his team - of course I already knew they ROCKED from talking with them as they were birthing their blog. Thanks for sharing Jim - LOVED it!!!

[Margaret Woda]

I received the announcement, as well, and had a "WOW!" reaction. I can only imagine the reaction of consumers in his market. Great job, and a real inspiration.

[Marty Van Diest]

FANTASTIC IDEA !!

You could use this idea at special holidays...with gifts to match. I really like it.

[Rae Catanese]

Sounds like it would work. Did they send out to their client database? Looking forward to seeing how many people they sent it to and how many signed up. Thanks for the great info, as always

[Steve Scheer]

I will absolutely agree that is one excellent idea they had. Already thinking of ways to personalize it here...

[Michael Bergin - GWSleptHere]

Dear Jim,

Wow, what a great way to start our week - a shout out from the Biggest Tomato on the Vine!

When we were choosing our domain name we didn't really think about the branding opportunities but once the design was completed and we saw the image of George hovering in the background we knew we had something we could run with.

Putting together our announcement, card and give away* was a blast. A friend did all the design work in return for dinner and a local printer did 1000 announcements and cards for just about $250. The dollar bills were printed four to a sheet and I do them at Kinko's (about 75 cents a sheet for full color). Postage is 42 cents. Addressing, stuffing, sealing and stamping are done "in house". Starbucks cards are $5.

I'd love to tell you that we have gotten hundreds of subscribers but we haven't - yet. In fact, we are still working on our first 50 after sending out about 300 announcements. At first, we were really discouraged but then decided we had to look at it like a direct mail campaign where a one to two percent return rate is considered good.

We are using every list we have - client, church, Christmas, neighborhood citizens association, etc. etc. and are nowhere close to being through. We also look for every free opportunity possible to hand out our cards and/or dollar bills. Both are great ways to start a conversation - especially when we are out taking pictures, at ball games, street festivals, etc. It's also a great open house handout. Recently we were docents for the local house and garden tour and gave the dollar bills to everyone who came through. We "only" got one full fledged subscriber but saw a big spike in visitor traffic that night.

Has it been cost effective? Not yet. Has it been fun? Absolutely. Will we keep doing it? You bet. Ummmmmmmmm, wonder what we can do for George's birthday?

Thanks again Jim,

Michael and Virginia

*P.S. It was Cyndee Haydon who suggested some kind of giveaway when we first talked to her about our idea. Thanks Cyndee, your support has meant a lot.

[Gretchen - LifeStyle Denver]

This was a fun idea, and Justin and I were just discussing it today. I subscribed immediately, and periodically venture back to see what's up in DC-land. (Still waiting for my coffee:)

[Marty Van Diest]

While the object is to get more subscribers, just offering the free gift will be remembered positively by most who receive the letter.

I have a lot of other ideas to piggy back on this...now I gotta just do it.

[Cyndee Haydon]

Michael - you executed this flawlessly and inspired many Tomato readers including myself - thanks for the mention and glad I could be of help! :) Again - Kudos to you. I agree with others, everyone who received it knows your blog is something special and I think you'll get feedback from this for a long time to come - mark my words! Ok, so now what's next {tee hee hee}

[Joseph Bridges]

This is a great idea to bring offline people online. I hope that it continues to go well for you and you will be building a base of loyal followers who may not have found you online. The mix of mediums will create a highly valuable and long term subscriber.

[Hawaii Real Estate]

Very interesting. I think his link from your website and the subscription were well worth the $5.

[Adam]

I love these types of campaigns that remember marketing exists offline as well as online. It's always a chore to balance between cheesy and clever, but they seem to have pulled it off - well done.

[James Bridges]

That's a wonderfully creative idea to generate a large initial burst of activity to the blog. Thinking "outside the box" like will definitely get people involved and active in their new blog community.

[Jay]

Crap! Jim, quit signing people up for RE blogs in my region--you have at least 4 out here now that I know of (northern virginia). You're going to kill me--haha

[Richard Dale-Mesaros]

HAH!

I was just thinking the other day how there must be fewer and fewer people using hand-written thank you notes (of which I do tons) these days. Your response to receiving something handwritten was great to hear. I think it's a powerful thing to do in a world of abbreviated email etc.

By the way, I'm so into this 'Tomato stuff, I gave you a mention on Chris Brogan's blog, in the form of a comment:

http://www.chrisbrogan.com/business-school-for-bloggers/

Onward!

Richard :)
Chief Deal Weaver
www.BlackWidowNetwork.com

[Jim Cronin]

Jay- You know what they say, "If you can't beat em, join em!"

Thanks a ton Richard. Can't wait to take the next step with you guys!

[Doug Smith - Used Vehicles]

Michael, I hope you read this as I would like to join your Blog and take you up on that coffee. Is there a way you can do this via email or maybe you found it to be more effective using real mail? If you email me from site at governmentauctionsitereviews.com or email me at doug-007@cogeco.ca (I hope it's okay to give this info on this post).

[Homes for sale]

Ingeneous...in fact I think I might subscribe :)

[DJ Swanepoel]

Great idea! There's lots of things you can do with an idea like this. It also shows what an excellent complement online and offline marketing can be; I think we often forget how good they can be together.

[Celeste Messer]

What a great idea. I'm new to the blogging and social networking via the web and finding it fascinating, if not a bit overwhelming. I'm still trying to figure out what my voice is...which I think is critical for me to be able to write an ongoing blog that will be true to who I am and thus be something I will continue and hopefully will, over time, make a connection with my community. So thanks for the info and I love the 'baby announcement' idea.

[Keith]

Great Post I have shared it to my site, Thanks