Refrigerator magnet idea variation

Originally Posted by Vikuna2009+

Here's a couple of thoughts that came to mind...

The idea in itself is a great idea. The only problem I see is distributing them in a timely manner. Which Realtor today (or even before when the market was hot) sells 500 homes in a year? That would be 40+ home sales in a month. Unless you are a SUPER Realtor with a full time staff at your disposal, ain't gonna happen!

More likely, they are lucky if they close ONE deal a month but for the point of discussion, lets say they close 5 deals a month.

500 magnets divided by 5 deals/m = 100 months, or
8.33 years. That is if all is well...

Now, would you, as a potential advertiser, want to wait that long? You might not still be in business.

So, not to just critize and shoot this whole thing down, what can you do?

1. You could have the brokerage advertise and not the individual realtor. That way, even though less personal, the whole real estate office could get potential leads. Still, not the best way to go but, it is a solution.

2. If variable data printing excists for other types of printing material, it should also be possible with magnets, for sure. What the cost in addition would be, I have no idea and some online printers do not do variable data printing. Off to research folks...

For those of you who do not know what variable data printing is, its simply leaving the core by itself and changing a couple of things, such as the realtors name, extension and photo and might as well throw in their cell phone number as well.

I would not give it to them for free since now you have to spend more time. What could you sell it for? Don't know, this is just hypothethical.
If a realtor where to buy their own magnets, what would that cost them? At least charge them the same as it would cost them doing their own because you are the one putting it all together.

Would this version be profitable for you? I have no idea, just tossing it out for you to think about...

Eva

Originally Posted by ShayRockhold

Good point about distribution.

Hm.

How about a mobile home sales biz? They deal in higher volume.

Also - maybe apartment complexes? The info at the top can be contact info for the apartment office, maintenance, etc?

Originally Posted by Vikuna2009+

wo

Re higher volume in mobile home sales. First off, most realtors do not want to sell mobile homes, it de-values their image and secondly, they don't know how to sell them. They are not familiar with the process of park approval, which can be quite daunting to say the least. Financing is almost impossible unless you have stellar credit. And, since real estate is down, a lot of mobile home owners are just walking away from their mobile home to buy a real house. Most agents that sell mobile homes are small time mobile home dealers agent's and have less volume too. So, that is out.

Your second idea re apartment complexes sounds a lot more doable and renters in my area stay an average of `18 months so the turn-over is higher. It would have to be a larger complex though and hopefully the apartment manager wouldn't need corporate approval.

There's a fine line in recommending contractor's, especially for realtors and mobile home sales agent's. It COULD be seen as you are actually endorsing them and if the contractor does anything wrong, they could actually sue you (yes, I've seen it happen more than once).

I would stick to "safer" options such as restaurants, house cleaners, carpet cleaner, lawn care etc. and avoid others. Call me paranoid but I've been there.

Hmm, apartment complexes, yes, I would def look into that, Eva

Originally Posted by ShayRockhold

Oh, around here Realtors only deal in mobile homes if land is attached, so they sell them at only a slightly higher rate than regular homes.

I was thinking for the mobile home dealers, the magnets could have the dealership name, logo and contact info at the top, along with something that says they love referrals or something like that.

In my area, mobile home sales are a huge deal, with huge dealerships and high volume of sales and a HUGE amount of competition. (Picture 8 mobile home dealerships - HUGE ones - on the main road in most towns around here. Oh yeah, it's a huge business here.)

Apartment complexes range here from small to mega-huge, so that's a definite possibility.

Might get a larger magnet, and have tips on it, plus the apartment complex info (for the manager, the clubhouse, maintenance, after-hours emergency, etc). Maybe even have a set of tips that the manager wants to give the tenants. (Like "Change air filters once a month" "Remember trash pickup is Tuesdays" etc. - whatever the top 5 or ten issues are for the manager.) That way the manager would have an incentive to make sure everyone has them.

They may even give them out to ALL tenants - not just new ones.

Maybe?

Originally Posted by Vikuna2009+

I have NO idea where the "Delta Quadrant" is, lol. I'm in So. Ca and here, space rent is killing it (think $1,000 a month) and I was talking mobile home parks, not private property. Even mobile homes on land has taken a dump here. A friend of mine bought a repo for $50,000 with 2 1/2 acres, when it was on top, appraised at $389,000.

CONDO'S!

A bit higher "quality" inhabitants than apartment buildings. Have the condo association's contact info on there and then list some other biz on there. I would go with a larger magnet, besides biz, include some emergency phone #'s on there as well.

Some slightly larger magnets comes with a mini paper yearly calendar attatched to it but now we are straying from Martin's original idea, lol. Doesn't hurt to brain-storm though...

Eva

Originally Posted by ShayRockhold

The Delta Quadrant has mobile homes all over! Didn't you know!?

I live in SC. Mobile home industry is huge here.

Yes, we're straying from the original idea, but isn't that the beauty of the forum? Getting ideas and showing different things that can be done?

Originally Posted by Vikuna2009+

Ok, I'll stray a little bit more, hopefully Martin won't mind. Doing a magnet for a mobile home dealer, park or private property doesn't matter. HERE, unless you are way out in the boonies, finding a supplier for "spare parts" for mobile homes is very difficult.

Top of the magnet will then have the dealer's contact info and then suppliers of the "spare parts" would be listed as well as the best pizza place

The regular skirting of a mobile home looks like crap but there are beautiful alternatives, that's a listing you could charge WAY more than a $100 for. So far, one down.

A/C and evaporative coolers, listing #2.

Heating systems, #3.

Carport awnings and supports, #4.

Piers and bracing, #5.

Plumbing supplies, bathtubs, #6.

General supplier of a little bit of everything else, #7.

Pizza place, lol, #8.

Mobile home parks here, and not including land, has anywhere from a 100 to 600 homes and there are easily 200 parks in my area and that is an under-statement.

Hmm, I'm really thinking now...

I used to sell them and did really well doing so for many years. Now, in my area, wouldn't want to go back at doing that for anything but this sounds like a great side biz.

Pitch one dealer against another and see who is willing to pay top dollar for being the anchor of the magnet. Yep, there you have it!

Eva

Originally Posted by Vikuna2009+

Here's a link to affordable magnets;

As Low as 7 ¢ | 2x3.5 inch Round Corner Business Card Magnets

Eva