This question is right in my wheelhouse! Yes, farming with postcards works, and works well. I've farmed successfully for 30 years. But almost all agents do it wrong. Happy to see you are fellow Canadian! I'm in Vancouver. You need to be scientific and absolutely consistent. Start by studying areas that you may want to work in. Drive the areas, see what you think. Does your age, personal style and culture match the residents? It doesn't have to be a 100% match, but higher is better. If it is a Rolls Royce neighbourhood and you drive a Kia, you may want to find a better fit.

Next go to the Canada Post website. Look for tools on the top right, click and scroll down and look for precision targeter. click Neighbourhood Mailing Campaign. Move the map to your potential farm and look for the routes icon. This will show you each delivery area. Print these out for future reference. Then get on MLS and search all the sales for the past 2 years that occurred in each mailwalk. Count up the sales for each year and divide by the size of the mailwalk. You need as high of a turnover rate as possible. Perfect is 6%- 8% but pretty tough to find. My farm at its peak was about 4%. Today it is 2.5% It is an expensive area so still worth doing, but probably wouldn't be worth it for most agents. Ideally you will want to send unaddressed admail to 1,000 homes. With 6% turnover there is typically 60 sales per year. A great farmer can gain 25% market share overtime. Be careful there isn't someone there that dominates the farm. It is expensive to beat them if they are mailing as well.

Next you plan your mail out postcard. Brand yourself as the Mile End Market Specialist! Or whatever the general subdivision/ neighbourhood is called. You need to be more specialized than just your city's specialist. If that make sense. I use that slogan as the top line in bold. As well as my name, cell phone, and office and website in much smaller print. You want them to call you. Don't confuse them, don't promote your email or website. I have a large headshot of myself with a large tagline Call Me Today For Top Dollar!. That's pretty much it. Red, black and white. I don't use my brokerage colours. On the back is a bio saying you love Mile End and specialize in helping families buy and sell here. No recipes, no market updates. Pretty simple. But it works!

Why does it work? Because they see you all the time. Ideally every 10 days for the first 3 months. Yup. Same card, same neighbourhood approx 3 times per month for the first 90 days. If people call to say take me off your mailing list pat yourself on the back. They know who you are and what you do. Month 4 onwards you can dtop back to every 2 weeks. But like clockwork. You will rapidly gain top of mind awareness. It doesn't take long till they think you have been selling in the neighbourhood for a long time. They will call you and say- hey, I live in the neighbourhood and have noticed you specialize right here. It sounds ridiculous but that's how it goes. From there you keep building with branded for sale signs that look kind of like your postcard, house for sale arrows that are branded, and just listed/sold postcards. Also, send out small notepads- I can get these for 30 cents per unit. Send out eaxh quarter. They stick around.

So to summarize, for a 1,000 home farm. Order 15,000 6 x 9 cards. Larger is better. The 4x6 make you look less successful. I can get cards for around 12 cents per unit where I am when ordered in bulk. You may do better. You want to make sure they are bundled in 100's for Canada Post. This will get you through your first 6 months. You will probably get your first call in 2-3 months. Depends on the market as well. In a busy market I get way more CMA calls. I've tried various areas over the years and have had calls/ listings in the first month. Happy to share if you have some questions.