What happens to those hundreds or thousands of letters you send to prospective clients every year? My guess is that 90% or more of the recipients simply crumple up those letters and toss them in the trash. But what if that letter came back? Wouldn’t that be a hoot? Wouldn’t that catch the recipient’s attention?

That is exactly what I was thinking when I came up with the idea of using a crumpled letter as one of my key marketing tools. For years I would send letters to people who were trying to sell their homes themselves-whom we in the real estate business refer to as For Sale By Owners or FSBOs-and to sellers whose listing contracts had expired. In the letter, I would explain that I knew the homeowner’s listing contract with the other agent was about to expire or that the person had been trying to sell her home for several months without success, and offering my services as a listing agent.

These letters generated some extra business, but I was not getting nearly the conversion rate that I had expected. I knew that most of the people receiving my letters were going to do the same thing as I do when I receive similar sales letters; they were going to crumple them up and throw them away.

Tired of spending time sending out letters that were just going to end up in the trash, I decided that I would take action whenever someone tossed my letter in the trash or simply ignored me. I would resurrect that letter and use it to my marketing advantage.

About four days after I sent out the original letter, if the prospect had not gotten in touch with me, I would send out a nearly identical letter, but this time, I wadded it up first, smoothed it out a bit, and wrote with a red marker at the bottom of the letter, “Please Don’t Throw Me Away Again!” I inserted the letter in a plain envelope, addressed it by hand, and mailed it to the original recipient.

When I started this new marketing program, I saw an instant boost in conversion rates. I was receiving more than double the responses to my crumpled letter than I had ever received from the originals. Some people thought that I had actually dug through their trash to find the letter and resend it! Even prospects who knew it was a marketing trick thought it was clever and were willing to hire me. It showed that I would stop at nothing to sell their homes!

What made the crumpled letter approach so successful was that it was a unique twist on an old strategy. I was still using traditional direct-mail marketing, but I had discovered a way to freshen it up and make it new. People who were so accustomed to tossing unopened letters in the trash took notice of the crumpled letter. That’s the one letter in the whole stack that they did read.

I employ a similar tactic whenever I deliver marketing materials to prospects prior to meeting with them. Instead of sticking them in a plain brown envelope or one with my company’s logo on it, I place the materials in a FedEx or DHL envelope and drop the package off at the prospect’s home, leaving it inside the screen door.

When the owners arrived home from work, they drive up, get out of their car, collect their mail and perhaps their newspaper, open the screen door, and see a package from FedEx or DHL. Now which envelope are they going to open first? I can almost guarantee that it is going to be that unlabeled FedEx or DHL envelope. The shipping companies do not mind, because you are advertising for them, and the people receiving the package are usually delighted to receive a little surprise when they get home from work.

I use a similar approach with e-mail messages, adding a catchy description to the Subject line and offering something of value in every message I send out-my signature, containing my name and contact information and a list of Web sites where the recipient can go to find out more about me and what I do. Send me an e-mail at RalphRoberts@RalphRoberts.com, and I will respond, so you can see exactly how I use my signature to draw attention and opportunities my way. I also regularly broadcast e-mail messages with valuable insights or gifts attached, such as inspirational or entertaining poems or presentations.

Remember, the ultimate goal of any correspondence you send out is to have the recipient read it. Just think of the number of messages that an average person receives every day from newspapers, magazines, TV, radio, e-mail, Web sites, postal mail, and while driving to and returning home from work. Ask yourself, “Why would anyone want to read my letter?” If you expect someone to read your letter, you had better come up with a good answer.

As we near the one-year anniversary of my daughter Kolleen’s death, I reflect on the past 365 days…365 days of missing Kolleen and celebrating her life. In a way, we remember Kolleen as she was on the day of her passing–full of life and love. It was as though we had taken a snapshot of Kolleen on that fateful day and placed it on the mantel of our minds. It will forever remain a snapshot of her youthful exuberance and boundless joy.

Over the course of the past year, we have aged 365 days. We have changed…becoming older and perhaps a little wiser. Life has buffed out some of the roughness, added a wrinkle or a new ache, and squeezed out a few more drops of our youthful vigor, but we remember Kolleen just as she was on Memorial Day, 2006–living life to its fullest and sharing good times with friends and family.

What has changed in the way we remember Kolleen is that thanks to the thousands of people whose lives Kolleen touched, we have been blessed with the memories that others have of Kolleen. During these 365 days, over 2000 tributes have been posted on KolleenRoberts.com–over 400 pages in all. We have received countless more tributes expressed in person and by way of phone calls, handwritten letters, and e-mail messages.

We have heard others sing the praises of Kolleen, praises that her humble nature would never have allowed her to sing herself. We have read touching stories of how Kolleen influenced her friends, teammates, classmates, family members, and others in her incredible circle of influence. And we have had the opportunity to see Kolleen alive in the hearts and souls of those who knew her best. These loving words continue to carry on and enrich our memory of Kolleen.

On this Memorial Day, my family and I thank you for opening your hearts and sharing your memories of Kolleen with us, with one another, and with the people who find inspiration on KolleenRoberts.com. Kolleen brought you into our home and into our hearts, and you continue to enrich our lives.

We ask you to take some time out of your festivities this Memorial Day to remember Kolleen and what she meant to you. But remember in the way Kolleen would want you to remember–not in sorrow, but in joy. Enjoy your Memorial Day to the fullest, and fully love those around you. Life is too short to live it any other way.

The bursting housing bubble and rising interest rates have sparked an upsurge in the number of foreclosures across the country. Now is the time to invest! But when it comes to investing in foreclosure properties, both savvy real estate investors and average folks want to know how to make smart and informed choices. If you’re looking for expert advice and tips to become a more successful investor, my latest book, Foreclosure Investing For Dummies (Wiley; May 2007; 363 pages) is for you.

Foreclosure Investing For Dummies covers all aspects of investing in foreclosure properties—from identifying and bidding on potential properties, assessing value, and working with lending institutions, to financing options, teaming up with real estate agents, and tax laws. In short, this book is for everyone looking to make smart choices and see maximum profit when investing in foreclosure properties.

This no-nonsense guide gives you the start-to-finish scoop on:

• Researching property titles, mortgages and deeds
• Building a strong investment team
• Obtaining financing
• Networking your way to success
• Avoiding common pitfalls
• Investing with integrity

Like all For Dummies® books, Foreclosure Investing For Dummies concludes with the “Part of Tens,” including “Ten Common Beginner Blunders,” like overestimating a property’s value, overbidding in the heat of the battle, and trusting what the homeowners tell you; and “Ten Tips for Avoiding Common Foreclosure Minefields,” such as anticipating delays and inspecting the property with your own eyes.

To order a copy of Foreclosure Investing For Dummies, visit Amazon.com.

Realtors often avoid hiring people during a market boom because they are afraid that when the market goes bust, they will be stuck paying personnel for doing nothing. Or, they will be forced into the unsavory position of having to lay off workers. But you do not always have to hire full- or part-time staff to work in-house.

You can staff up with virtual assistants, instead. Virtual assistants are freelancers who generally market their services on the Internet-that’s why they are called “virtual, but they are usually much more than assistants. They can handle anything from entering data to designing and managing websites to processing payroll and doing your taxes. And because they’re freelancers, you simply buy as much work as you need and pay a flat hourly fee or by-project fee.

You have now worries about paying extra taxes worker’s compensation, offering additional benefits, or paying for someone else’s vacations.

Most virtual assistants specialize in a certain field-writing, editing, Web design, transcription, database management, accounting, you name it. Many specialize in serving the real estate industry. Here is a short list of what a qualified Virtual Assistant can do for you:

1. Build an online transaction-management system
2. Design feature sheets and post cards
3. Implement a drip e-mail program
4. Create CMAs
5. Update websites with new listings
6. Provide sellers with feedback from showings
7. Manage leads
8. Manage email
9. Record IVR listings (800#)
10. Enhance listings on Realtor.com
11. Prepare holiday mailers
12. Order closing gifts
13. Screen phone calls
14. Assemble pre-listing packages
15. Design and personalizing listing presentations
16. Research properties
17. Update calendars and schedules

Each assistant typically has specialized training and all the resources required to perform a task better and more efficiently and affordably than you can do it yourself. They can be retained for one-time jobs or become an integral part of your team, devoting a certain number of hours to your business every month.

Following are some of the many benefits that virtual assistants offer:

• You pay only for the time the assistant works for you
• You don’t have to constantly find tasks to keep the person busy
• You don’t withhold payroll taxes or pay into unemployment
• You don’t pay for insurance or other benefits
• They don’t take paid sick days, holidays, or vacation days
• They come fully equipped, so you have no overhead on office space or additional equipment
• You don’t have to fire them if they fail to perform-you just find someone else

Perhaps the biggest benefit of using virtual assistants is that they enable you to scale your business immediately when business conditions change. You can scale up when you have more work to do and scale back when business tapers off. When you have in-house employees, you can’t simply fire and rehire at a moment’s notice, and you end up with constant overhead.

For more information on locating a reliable and trustworthy Virtual Assistant, visit the International Virtual Assistants Association or the Virtual Assistant Network Association/Chamber of Commerce. Both organizations have an online directory of reputable Virtual Assistants, organized by state and geographical region.