Written exclusively for the real estate professional, How To Farm Successfully By Mail tells you how to cultivate your farm area, and increase your listings and sales by mail. You'll learn how to create and maintain your farm mailing list; publish power-packed newsletters; write top-notch sales letters from Dear Neighbor to the P.S.; farm FSBO's, renters, investors and absentee owners; produce, print, and mail your farm sales letters and newsletters; track the results of all your mailings. Plus the book includes over 40 sample farm letters you can use right away! Truly, How To Farm Successfully By Mail is a perfect reference source for first-timers and "old pro's" alike. In today's competitive real estate sales market, the key to getting ahead and staying ahead is targeting your professional services. And that's what real estate farming is all about. This book is the most complete, comprehensive volume of how to farm by mail. Written exclusively for real estate professionals, How To Farm Successfully By Mail teaches you how to cultivate your farm area, and increase your listings, sales and commissions! Step by step, this book explains how you can apply proven direct- marketing principles to your real estate farm. You'll learn how to create and maintain your farm mailing list; publish power-packed farm newsletters; write "farm-letters" that get you listings, leads and referrals including over 40 letters you can use right away; farm for- sale-by owners (FSBO's), renters and absentee owners; save money on postage, printing and mailing costs; and much, much more! This new book, and its companion, How To Farm Successfully By Phone, is a complete guide for real estate farming in the 90's. Deborah Johnson, Ph.D. is a free-lance journalist and writer in Southern California. Her extensive list of television writing credits includes HBO's Comic Relief, the critically acclaimed Celebrate America, and the National Easter Seal Telethon. She has also written hundreds of direct-mail appeals and print ads. Her journalism credits include Woman's World, California Living, Fund Raising Management, Los Angeles Herald Examiner and Los Angeles Daily News. Co-author of 2,001 Winnings Ads For Real Estate and How To Farm Successfully By Phone, and the winner of two ECHO awards from the Direct Marketing Association, Dr. Johnson has taught at Stanford, Santa Clara and Chapman Universities. She received her Ph.D. from Stanford University. Steve Kennedy is a California real estate broker and trainer. A member of the Real Estate Educators Association, he is the author of eight other books on real estate including 2,001 Winning Ads For Real Estate and How To Farm Successfully By Phone. A former ad agency copywriter and creative director, he has directed telemarketing, direct mail and print advertising campaigns for real estate firms and other small businesses nationwide. Mr. Kennedy's writing credits include Real Estate Today, Adweek, Los Angeles Herald Examiner and Direct Marketing. He has an M.B.A. in Marketing from California State University, Los Angeles, and a B.A. in Business Economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Introduction What makes this book different from other books on real estate letters? Simple, these are farming letters not letters that cover all aspects of your business. Other real estate books may have a few letters on farming, but none is devoted exclusively to what is arguably the largest challenge facing any real estate professional. Our letters are not gimmicky or short notes they are lengthy, well- reasoned letters based on proven direct marketing principles. Together, we have more than 40 years of direct marketing experience and we know what works. Other real estate books are full of letters for obscure situations. This one isn't. But this book is more than sample real estate letters. It takes you step- by-step through choosing a farm, setting up a regular marketing schedule, what to include in your pieces, and even money saving suggestions on print and mailing. How To Farm Successfully By Mail has one purpose to help you get listings from a group of people you cultivate over time. "Time" means longer than six months. That's how long the marketing program outlined in this book should be in place before you see results. You can expect consistent results. Just stick to a regular marketing schedule. Start now by taking your first step reading this book. Includes more than 40 sample letters for your own farming Create and maintain your farm mailing list Publish power-packed farm newsletters "Farm letters" that get you listings, leads and referrals