I've written recently about changing thoughts about marketing properties. But I'm also rethinking how I market myself and my services. Obviously, if you've read that previous blog you know I'm not marketing myself in local print advertising! But I'm also rethinking the mailings I send out.

For years I've sent out post cards as well as other assorted mailings on a regular basis. I track where my business comes from each year and a very, very small percentage is directly trackable to mailings. Now I do get a lot of referral business from people who I mail things to. But these people also hear from me by telephone, in person and by e-mail. It's hard to believe that the most anonymous of these methods of communication, the generic postcard or letter, was responsible for the referral.

So, effectiveness is one reason to question whether to continue with physical mailings. Another is the ecological cost. I am an environmentalist and believe each of us personally is responsible for taking care of our world. I know that 99.9% of everything I mail is immediately thrown in the trash. And that's even if you really, really like me! (I don't include personal, hand-written notes in this!) The way that direct mail marketing is supposed to work is that even as you throw that card in the trash can each month, somewhere in the back of your mind you've registered that, "Yup! Julie is still a real estate agent!" Is that a good enough reason to fill up landfills? More and more, the physical mailings seem inconsistent with what I believe to be the right thing to do.

There's also a case to be made that in a market that's tough for my sellers, investing that money in marketing their properties and drawing in more buyers is better for them and thus, ultimately better for me since most of my business comes from referrals.

And, in this digital age, there are plenty of other ways to market myself. This blog is one of them. Hopefully it both markets who I am and my expertise, but also provides valuable information for the consumer. There's also my web site, drip e-mail campaigns with useful real estate information e-mailed on a monthly basis and new possibilities such as pod casts,etc.

So, give me your input on this. If you've been on my mailing list over the years, would you miss it if there were no more postcards? Would you remember me when the time came to refer a friend or neighbor even without the monthly reminders?

If you're an agent, have you wrestled with this problem? Do you worry about the spam issue? What answers have you arrived at?

I look forward to hearing your responses!