Mr. Terry Yapp

Terry Yapp - Associated Realtors

To say Terry Yapp's business has changed since he launched his personal marketing campaign is a major understatement.In fact, it's like comparing apples and oranges, in more ways than one.

For more than 20 years, Terry has been a successful agent in Orange County, California.In 2000, Terry closed $18 million in sales, but he'll tell you something even more significant happened that year - he attended his first Hobbs/Herder seminar and decided to embark on a personal marketing campaign of his own.

Accentuate the Positive

As an Orange County native, it was Hobbs/Herder's creative decision to emphasize his longtime Orange County residence and knowledge of the market by employing the familiar metaphor of apples and oranges to go with the slogan, "Experience the Difference."To further reinforce the theme, the decision was made to have Terry tossing an orange up in the air on all of his marketing materials.Ever since, the difference in production in Terry's market could be described as, well - apples and oranges.Having launched his campaign in January 2001, Terry increased his production to $26 million for that year, and is on pace to surpass that figure in 2002.

"The thing that really caught people's attentions is the apples and oranges theme.It generates lots of comments," Terry says.
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To combat those elements, Terry emphasized the quality of his marketing materials in his listing presentations and showed how it is indicative of the way he approaches the business.

"The brochure definitely opened up doors," he says.
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Click here to open a pdf of Terry's PowerKard.

Terry's direct mail farm consists of approximately 1,500 upper-middle class homes in the $400,000-$800,000 price range.He launched his campaign by mailing his brochure to his entire farm, and continued the Hobbs/Herder mailing plan by sending two to three PowerKard messages to his farm monthly.

To handle the mailings, Terry has a marketing assistant who does all the mailings and also regularly monitors Terry's past-client database of more than 200 clients.Terry admits that the costs involved with getting his campaign up and running were daunting at first, but he's since learned to embrace it for its positive results.

"I had to gulp and take a deep breath, but once I bought into the whole idea I didn't really think about it anymore," he says."It's just a cost of doing business.All told, we were approaching $25,000 to get started, but the campaign more than paid for itself within the first year."

Taking It to the Next Level

Terry wasn't content to rest on his laurels, however, and he should be credited for having the foresight and initiative to expand his campaign with different marketing opportunities outside of the direct mail plan.His bus bench advertising is the best example of this forward-thinking mentality.

First, a little backstory: Terry's office is located on a main thoroughfare in his home city of Mission Viejo, and most people who live in his farm area probably drive down this street at least once a day.Whether it's on their way to work or just a quick trip to the grocery store, this street is unavoidable for local residents.

Taking this into account, Terry bought advertising space at two bus stops, one on each side of this heavily traveled street.Now, residents cannot go anywhere without seeing the familiar photo of Terry tossing the orange up in the air, along with his web site address and telephone number.By expanding his campaign into outdoor advertising, Terry has reinforced his message to those local residents in his direct mail farm, and introduced himself to others in the process.The results have been nothing short of spectacular.

He tells of a recent $525,000 sale in which he represented both the buyer and the seller where the bus-stop ad made all the difference.
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For the last 22 years, Terry has worked very hard to achieve his place in the market.At 54, he's ready to slow down the pace and achieve more balance in his life.Having attended a Hobbs/Herder Gateway seminar this last April, Terry's goals include further systematization of his business and training his staff so he can begin enjoying the fruits of his labor.

His decreased role doesn't mean his business needs to slow down, however.Terry recently added his daughter to his team of assistants to coordinate his E-mail farming campaign he'll launch this month, and he talks of the long-range possibilities of passing the business down to future generations.He also plans on exploring cable TV opportunities in the near future.

"We're positioning ourselves to be strong into the future," he says."My goal is to have a support team that will enable me to work less and have more balance.We're moving in that direction and I hope to have made significant progress by next year."

At the rate Terry is progressing, comparing this year to next might just be like - well, you know.

Terry Yapp of Associated Realtors in Mission Viejo told the (Orange County) Register , "Some homes in South Orange County have increased in prices to at or near the peak prices of the past and there appears to be no slowdown in sight."

Terry Yapp experienced the difference personal marketing can make, and he's nearly doubled his business in less than two years. An E-News Featured Article, July 2002

To say Terry Yapp's business has changed since he launched his personal marketing campaign is a major understatement. In fact, it's like comparing apples and oranges, in more ways than one.

For more than 20 years, Terry has been a successful agent in Orange County, California. In 2000, Terry closed $18 million in sales, but he'll tell you something even more significant happened that year - he attended his first Hobbs/Herder seminar and decided to embark on a personal marketing campaign of his own.

Terry Yapp - Associated Realtors - Mission Viejo realtor profile and featured home and property listings for the Orange County, CA area. Sound Dogs - Educating puppies and dogs through positive reinforcement training.Gentle approach to behavior modification.Program highlights and class contact information. Fineautomobile.com - Pre-owned luxury automobiles and SUVs.

Terry Yapp, a real-estate agent with Associated Realtors in Mission Viejo, Calif., believes a concept like Front Street is a good idea because it could decrease small-business owners' real-estate costs and local commuter traffic, but he thinks it might be right only for certain individuals and businesses.

"If [the owner] has a family, I don't know how well it would work.Even though you have the business portion of the property up-front on the first floor, it still seems like it might be kind of awkward for anyone who has a family, with children and their friends," says Mr. Yapp.
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Mr. Yapp, who sells properties in other parts of the Ladera Ranch community, is waiting to see if the live/work concept takes off.He notes that no other area builder has duplicated the idea.