Case study · Greater Houston, TX

Dale Ross

“One of the first lessons I learned back in 1981 when I started my career was that if I have all the listings, I’ll have all the sales.”

Dale Ross, Dale Ross Realty Group

15 years

farming with postcards first

2005

the year he turned to Discover Publications

Dale Ross, Dale Ross Realty Group
Under 50¢

a copy, against 80¢ for his own newsletter

01

The agent

Dale Ross is a real estate agent serving the Greater Houston, Texas area.

  • His career as a premier Realtor began in the Houston and Katy areas in 1981.
  • Seven-time Top 20 Real Estate Agent in Houston, TX.
  • The Dale Ross Realty Group is consistently named as one of the Top 20 Real Estate sales groups in their region.
02

The Goal

Break into a higher value market

For the first 15 years of his career, Dale Ross farmed a small, lower-home-value market. He used postcards as his primary marketing tool, initially mailing 200 each month and eventually mailing 1,800 every three weeks.

After building a solid reputation and a steady lead flow in his farm, Dale was ready to expand into a higher cost market. But he was not a familiar name in this neighborhood, and he’d have multiple heavy-hitters to compete with. To stand out, he created a newsletter that cost him 80¢ apiece to mail (in 2004!) and 20 hours to complete.

After a while, Dale realized his newsletter wasn’t sustainable; it was expensive, time consuming, and too easy for his competition to replicate. He needed an easier, more cost-effective tool that no other agent could copy.

03

The Solution

In 2005, Dale Ross turned to Discover Publications. He learned that he could mail a turn-key 12-page publication for less money than his DIY newsletter (at the time, his per-unit cost was less than 50¢). He also found that:

  • His publication had more space; he could showcase his entire inventory of listings, statistics, multiple calls to action, and even paid advertisements
  • His publication was ultra-professional; it made him look like the big deal he wanted to become in the new, higher-end market
  • He got much better engagement from his publication compared to his newsletters or postcards
  • His publication contained information prospects cared about and wanted to read, rather than strictly promotional content that often went straight in the trash
  • His front-page articles resonated with homeowners; he always opened with a joke, and prospects would often tell him how much they appreciated his paper

Read Dale's Katy Real Estate Report

04

The results

Under 50¢a copy for his 12-page publication, against 80¢ for his own newsletter
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Dale Ross, Greater Houston, TX: Farming Case Study