So you want to become a blogger!
Good, let’s review the basics.

Every potential buyer or seller is a mailing list – its about quality not quantity. You don’t have to write relevant info – just find it in other blogs  and disseminate to each group of clients –your writing will come later

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The 1st step is acquiring an “opt in” email list and is one of the most valuable tools to becoming successful in your career!

Whether its gathering them thru community marketing events, open houses or family / friends; having a legitimate email list is key to getting your messages thru the spam filters.

The second challenge is choosing a “Contact Management System” (CMA) which I commonly refer to as an “e-blaster”. There are many online email services to choose from these days — IContact, Constant Contact, MailChimp and Vertical Response, to name a few.

It is possible to use your personal Gmail / Hotmail /AOL accounts but you are limited to approximately 200 messages per send and there are no “tools” to judge its effectiveness.

Click here for a “stat sheet for one of my recent messages and focus on the measurement statistics (i.e. tools) I Contact offers. These stats allow me to measure the effectiveness of any specific message and who reads it!

Do Not “Buy Lists”-You will get Flagged a Spammer!  

Getting your messages through server’s spam filters is the next challenge!

The only way to do that is publish RELEVANT “content-content-content”.

Typically, that’s local news (which you should be posting to your Fb & website). The best content for SoCal residents & homeowners are: OCRegister.com, L.A.Times.com, SanDiegoTribune.com & SacBee.com.

If your buyer/or seller is looking in Laguna Niguel – be on the search for relevant news for anything in the news about Laguna Niguel. 

Relevant content can also be a quick personal message wishing your client “Happy Birthday” but don’t send them a just “generic card” – its tacky. Personalize the card with a personal message.

So personal emails are fine, mass generated ‘cutesy” cards are NOT!

Also: You don’t know your client as well as you think you do. You could send out a generic “Happy Easter Card” only to find out later your client is an agnostic/atheist, Hebrew or some other group that doesn’t celebrate Easter. Not a good move.

Getting your message through the “Spam Filters”

Here are other emailer killer terms containing spam(ish) words in the subject headline:

100% guarantee 

Open house TODAY!!!!!

Save $$$ on this flipper

For other real estate terms considered spam click on the site below:

50 words real estate agents should not use in email subject lines

To many “spam” messages will cause your email account to be “blacklisted”. Blacklists are designed to stop spammers. Blacklists are lists of domains, email servers, email accounts or IP addresses which have been identified as spam by internet service providers Microsoft, Google or other trusted technology companies.

There’s a variety of ways you can end up on a blacklist, but the most common culprit is sending a high volume of emails all at once. A “high volume” is defined differently depending on the provider, but it’s generally around 500 messages.

In many cases, domains or email accounts are added to blacklists automatically if the system detects any “red flag” behaviors, such as:

1) a high volume of initial emails sent at the same time (indicates you bought a list)

2) the large number of “bounces” (emails that are undeliverable).

3) Spam complaints (more than 1 out 1000 is considered troublesome and more than 1 spam complaint out of 500 is probably going to get you kicked off your CMS).

Another “red flag is using the toxic words i.e. sex (even if you live in a city named “Essex” there will be an initial “spam hold” until a technician personally reviews your message and then “signs off it’s legitimacy).

The good news: Being blacklisted is only temporary if you’re not really a spammer.

The bad news: You likely won’t be able to send or receive email while its being reviewed.

Your I.T. support team investigates and petitions the blacklist provider for your removal. It can take hours or days for email to flow properly after being blacklisted.

Make sure your message complies with the CANSPAM Act. The CAN-SPAM Act is a law related to sending commercial messages. It spells out must-haves and can’t-dos for business email

Luckily, these guidelines are easy to follow.

Copywrite © August, 2018 Daniel Dobbs MHM Mortgage /// All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Daniel Dobbs, Author- VP-Broker Mutual Home Mortgage 265 S.Randolph #120 Brea, Ca. 92821 Cell: 949 250-3981 Dandobbs6@gmail.com NMLS #307631 BRE #00986886