Barry Gabster, Founder of InitiateU, specializes in traditional mailer marketing and has grown his business in the past year from $800K to $8M. The most amazing part, he hasn’t done a lick of advertising for himself or his business — all of his growth is attributed to word of mouth marketing. And now, he is expanding to all clients in the mortgage lending space.
Gabster is the leader of the mailer marketing revival revolution.
“People don’t think that ads by mail do much anymore, but they are so wrong,” said Gabster. “My clients see outstanding ROI with mailer marketing, because we put them right into peoples’ hands — no links or posts to click on to get away.”
Gabster’s Beginnings
Gabster began working in the mortgage industry in 2003, but in 2008 the recession forced him to look for a new career path. He always had strengths in connecting with people, networking and linking up with potential clients.
“I know how to make the phone ring,” he said. “This is who I am as a person. It’s in my DNA.”
Making clients come to him rather than chasing them down himself, makes Gabster an asset to any career path he ventures down. Knowing this about himself, Gabster took the plunge and switched to a marketing profession.
There comes a point in most peoples’ lives when they realize that what they are good at might be different than what they think they love to do. Once we realize what we’re good at, we begin to love it and focus all our energy on that skill, strengthening it to the max potential.
He has a knack for marketing, an innate talent — and now that he knows it’s unique, he loves to use it to help others grow their businesses.
He didn’t set out to start his own business at first, opting to join a direct mail marketing agency as Vice President of Business Development. There, he built connections with other industry professionals that would serve him later and bolstered his knowledge of marketing.
“I built that bridge from what’s going on inside the company to what’s going on out on the street,” Gabster said.
What Happened Next?
In 2018, Gabster went solo on the basis of sheer will. He had gotten complacent and too comfortable in his current position, so he founded InitiateU to shake things up for himself and spark some new fire in the marketing sector. He waited eight years before going out on his own, a clever decision, because he used his time wisely and educated himself by observing and learning from his peers at his job.
“When I broke away, I had new energy and got fired up,” he explained. “I started going for it; taking on clients and working late and hiring more people.”
We write about outstanding business people all the time, but this guy is insanely impressive: Gabster grew his business from $800,000 to $8.5 million in one year using nothing but word of mouth. And we’re talking about paper mail ads here — that is just incredible. His clients trust him to get the job done, and it shows.
Another Man’s Crisis…
Gabster thrived during the pandemic. The real estate market was in flux, and mortgage lenders turned heavily to mailer ads, leaning on businesses like InitiateU.
He sends over 450,000 mailers for his clients every week, totalling two million a month and 24 million a year. He has worked with Mutual of Omaha Mortgage, Sun West Mortgage Company, AmeriSave Mortgage Corp, and more.
Customer Service Fosters Word of Mouth
“I don’t burn bridges,” said Gabster. “There’s always a problem to fix. I massage out the kinks if there’s ever an issue with a client to make sure they stay.”
Even if we are pleased with a service that a business does for us, we need more than that to be inspired to go tell our friends about it. Gabster knows that, and he uses his conversation and customer service skills to make friends with his clients. They aren’t dollar signs to him, they are real people worthy of connection, service, and results on his part.
And now, he is opening the door to all kinds of clients in the real estate industry, not just mortgage lenders.
“I created a community and a circle of support, a backing behind me and that is a testament to how I’ve gotten all my clients,” he said. “They are all friends of friends.”
We can’t wait to see how his business grows in 2022.
About Barry Gabster
Barry Gabster, the founder and CEO of InitiateU, is revolutionizing the advertising game. InitiateU has worked with up to 82 clients per month, mailing over 2 million mailers in one month, skyrocketing their sales from $800k to $8.5 million in gross sales in just one year. To learn more about working with Barry, please visit www.initiateu.life
