Photo and Story By Joe Zlomek

The handwriting on the postcard sent by Dolores R. Santoliquido earlier this month is crammed into tiny white spaces not already filled by type. Still, it's legible, and flowing, and brief but warmly human. "Hope you are all well," she writes in ink. "Just touching base to show you what I'm up to these days. Happy Spring!"

Santoliquido, an internationally known illustrator of wildlife and nature, lives in Brookfield CT. She's not in the real estate business, yet her personalized contact holds a valuable lesson for those who are.

Like any good agent or broker, Santoliquido knows the importance of communicating with her sphere of influence: relatives, friends, neighbors, and other people important to her. I consider myself fortunate to be among that group; during our teens, our families spent summers together on Copake Lake, about 20 miles southeast of Hudson NY.

Santoliquido's direct mail piece is not lavish, but it is attractive. Its cover, a 4-inch-by-6-inch white gloss canvas, carries her full-color painting of a tiger orchid native to Sumatra. The backside reserves space for an address, a stamp, and a block-type announcement of the artist's latest show, titled "Natural Beauties," on display at The Gallery On The Green in Canton CT.

Her postcard provides basic information about the show: its who, what, when, where, why and how all are succinctly reported. Then there's that wonderful hand-penned note, signed with her initial. As a resident of Southeastern Pennsylvania, I'm hundreds of miles away from Canton. Santoliquido surely knows I would be unable to travel there to see her exhibit. Yet with a simple postcard she keeps in touch and, by so doing, makes herself memorable.

Now, put yourself in the artist's shoes.

You're an agent who just listed a home. It's well appointed. It's located in a good neighborhood. It's priced appropriately. All that's needed to win a sale is for the world — or at least your portion of it — to learn of its availability. You might spend money to promote the property on your website using a virtual tour, or purchase advertising space in a local newspaper or real estate magazine, or buy time on a cable access channel to showcase it in a 30- or 60-second spot.

Done properly, any of those strategies is likely to cost between $200 and $300. Most veteran agents will argue the website visual tour is the smartest purchase of the three, and I agree. It touts the seller's home effectively, and keeps eyes glued to your website pages. However, it primarily serves the audience that reaches your website. The other two are intended to attract interest, not keep it, but they're once-and-done promotions with which you can only hope to reach a target audience. Maybe you will; maybe you won't.

As an alternative, consider investing that same amount in direct mail ... postcards, just like Santoliquido has. With the new Postal Service rate increase, first-class card postage is now 26 cents per piece. Printing for a two-sided postcard — envision a color photo of the listing on front, its description on the back — will cost about 25 cents per piece. Address labeling will cost another 5 cents per piece. In total, your price per contact is 56 cents. On a $200 budget you can afford to send 357 pieces. Depending on the list size, that means you can mail a message about your listing to your sphere of influence or a farm on two or possibly even three occasions during a period of weeks or months.

Online contact using e-mail can be faster, less expensive, and more effective than direct mail. Agents who own updated lists of e-mail addresses for their sphere or farm, and who additionally have the intended recipients' permission to send e-mails, should take advantage of this promotional vehicle. It works well.

A majority of licensees, however, still don't have electronic assets in place. Direct mail is therefore a favorable alternative. It reaches an audience already pre-disposed to receiving unsolicited messages via postal carrier, so it isn't spam. It can be sent repeatedly, and therefore possibly will reach a prospect at the time when she or he has a specific need. It's inexpensive.

Remember Santoliquido's excellent example, too. A personal note to each recipient ensures your postcard gets read. Recipients will recognize you took the time to be human. Whether you're announcing an art exhibit or marketing the American dream, "Joe, hope you're well" says volumes ... even if it isn't much to say.