Why the Yellow Letter Envelope is Key
If the yellow letter is one of the most effective outbound real estate investor marketing techniques, then the envelope must be extremely important. Before anyone can see the yellow letter, they must first have the envelope delivered, received, and opened. These are no simple feats. We must involve proper envelope design, proper postage, and the mailman.
The Best Envelope For Getting Your Yellow Letter Mailer Opened
Most of the time people throw away junk mail before they even read it. This is why response rates from traditional mailings are so low. To overcome this, as real estate marketers, we must disguise our mail so that it passes the junk mail sniff test.
How do we pass the junk mail sniff test? We have to have an envelope that doesn’t scream junk mail! For the yellow letter, I have had the best success with a cream-colored invitation size envelope. Below you can see an example of an actual hand-written envelope that was getting mailed out. The return address on this particular envelope is a stamp that I had made at Staples. They took my own writing and made it a stamp. I used a pen that matches the stamp. In this case, a Pilot G-2 1.0
Envelope Options For Yellow Letters
I have also had success using multi-colored envelopes of the pastel variety. I know I know…there are neon-colored envelopes. But the problem with neon-colored envelopes is that they stand out. To get our mail opened, we don’t want to stand out. Letters that stand out scream junk mail and don’t pass the junk mail sniff test.
Yellow Letter Envelopes That Get Opened And Why
Handwritten is key. The handwritten envelope is going to get opened every time. Can you think of the last time you actually threw away a letter addressed to you in actual handwriting? I thought not. I have actually used a stamp for the return address. I had a stamp made at Staples where I wrote out my return address and they created a stamp from what I had written. I did this to save time but also, when done correctly and you use the proper type of pen, you can make the stamp indiscernible from your handwritten address. I have used other more fancy stamps for the return address like the kind my wife uses when we send out Christmas cards. These will also work but aren’t my preference. I have also handwritten my return address but that adds an extra step and unless you are sending just a one-off letter here or there, this can be avoided without sacrificing the goal of getting your envelope opened.
No Matter what you do, do not outsmart yourself. I would never use this type of postage. His stamp comes with a barcode for tracking. Barcodes scream junk mail. This person while well-intentioned should have waited to send his letter until after he read this post! Of course, I opened his letter because I knew exactly what it was and I love to see what my competitors are out there doing. Incidentally, this is one great benefit of owning rental properties. I get the inside scoop of everyone else’s marketing efforts! MUAHAHAHA.
Return Address: Follow My Advice
I have read that some investors do not put a return address because it creates intrigue helping you get your envelope opened. I don’t know if that’s true or not but I do know one thing. Returned letters are a true goldmine of opportunity and I refuse to send a letter unless I know I’m getting it back if it is undelivered. More about how to handle these in another post.
Printing Your Yellow Letter Envelope Is a Last Resort…Trust Me!
If you are mailing frequently enough, enough quantity, or do not want to pay someone to handwrite your envelopes, then similar to the yellow letters, you can use the handwriting font that you create to print the addresses on your envelopes. I personally have never gotten this to work as well and come off as genuine looking like the “handwriting” font yellow letters. This is the second to last resort. (the last being outsourcing). I would only recommend doing this method if you don’t have the time and are somewhat budget restrained to the point that you can’t quite pay someone to write these for you. If you are grinding for your first or one of your first deals, find a way to not have your envelopes printed.
The Best Yellow Letter Envelopes
In Conclusion, the best yellow letter envelopes are handwritten, have a forever stamp, and a return address where you will get them back. Have them returned to your house or other business address. I would recommend not using your company name. If you don’t want to use your personal name for some reason, just leave the name off. I wouldn’t use a PO Box here. The envelope should be cream or a pastel color. No bright colors. If you want your yellow letter envelope to get opened, I would use an Invitation sized envelope. Get your list right, hone your yellow letter writing skills and get after it!
