The biggest single challenge that you will face in using your sphere of influence mailing list is actually using it!"? Only an extremely organized approach will guarantee your success."? Each month, except for December, those on your mailing list should receive something from you."? You can mail to your list in December, but your message is likely to get lost in holiday cards and other festivities around that season."?

How do you make sure that you stay on schedule"?? First, decide what you are going to send."? This will probably vary from month to month and it will influence the day you select (see discussion below)."? There is no need to pick the exact day each month."? While ideally it is good to have your mailing spaced out uniformly, you should not be governed by this artificial standard if it doesn't make sense."? Pick the 11 (or 12) dates for the upcoming 12 month period that you will be going to the post office to send your mailing."? Select actual dates- June 23, July 25, August 18, etc.- and regard them as set in stone!"? Make a commitment to yourself that nothing will interfere with your task to do the mailing on that day."? Now, pick dates that are in advance of these dates to do whatever functions you will need to do to meet these mailing deadlines."? Write down on your calendar when you are going to do each step."? If you are writing your own newsletter, what day will you do this"?? For a June 23 mailing, you may decide that you will need to block off the afternoon of June 16 for this task. Write down when you will be copying the newsletter (say, June 18), addressing the envelopes and stuffing the envelopes (let's say that you pick June 20 for these tasks), and now you are ready to mail it out on June 23!

What you send depends on your budget, the time of year, and your personal tastes."? Here are my suggestions:

1. Do not send "canned" newsletters."? The reader will think that you don't care enough about her to take the time to write something original. If you are going to use the newsletter approach, write your own about topics that you believe that your audience will care about."? How do you get topic ideas"?? Grab a real estate industry magazine, your old textbook, or look on Realblogging!"? There are ideas everywhere!"? Make a list of those topics that you think will be interesting to your audience and that you care about."? If you don't know enough about the topic, research it.

2. Do send non-controversial seasonal items and cards."? Here is a list of what I consider to be good choices:

• Happy New Year cards at the end of December
• Seed packet with letter in March or April
• Patriotic-themed card at the end of June
• And my very favorite- a Thanksgiving card on November 10

Just for a moment, let's explore why Thanksgiving cards are so good for your sphere of influence members to receive. First, unlike Christmas cards, Thanksgiving cards are not likely to be controversial at all."? Second, Thanksgiving cards are still rather unique, creating a pleasant surprise to the recipient."? Third, the recipient will likely display the Thanksgiving card until the end of December- which gives your card plenty of exposure during holiday festivities."? One word of caution- don't ever put a business card in the Thanksgiving card."? Your signed name and your brokerage's printed name is all that should appear."? To do otherwise may leave the impression that you don't really care about the greeting-just the money.

3. Keep in mind that ultimately it doesn't matter what you send as long as it is professional in appearance, design, and substance."? What matters is that they will see your name over and over again in a professional context."?For this reason, you want to include your business card (except in your Thanksgiving card) in your mailings."? I always used one mailing each year to send business card size refrigerator magnets to my sphere of influence mailing list as a way to create "top of mind" awareness.

Once you get into the habit of these monthly mailings and you see the benefits flowing from this activity, you will likely use this as one of your primary marketing tools.