Thoughts on Real Estate Marketing…

Good sales letters never begin with “I” or “We,” and there’s a very good reason why. It isn’t because it sounds a bit rude and self centered, although it does. It’s because of a fact which many of us would rather not believe. That fact is that our readers really don’t care about us. What [...]

It’s easy to get stuck. You know the message you want to convey, but how to give it a lead-in that will keep readers interested long enough to see it? You probably know that the purpose of the headline or subject line is to get readers to read the first sentence. The purpose of the [...]

Your goal in writing real estate ads is to “Put the buyer in the home” and cause them to need to see it in person. To do that, you need to paint some word pictures of both the physical and the psychological benefits of the home. That means instead of writing “large kitchen” you should [...]

Copywriters are always on a search for words that will persuade the readers. Just yesterday I spent nearly an hour on the phone with a client who was trying to decide on the best word to describe an offer he was making. It can be a long process, pondering each word and trying to decide [...]

When you write marketing copy, you hope to persuade. But as it turns out, some of the more popular words that marketers choose have the opposite effect – they ANNOY. A recent Active Rain post posed the question: “Which words make you disregard a marketing message?” Here are some of the replies: Paradigm shift hard-worker [...]

I often get emails and calls from agents who really are embarrassed to admit that they need a copywriter. I find that embarrassment strange. Some of those same agents have no trouble hiring a professional photographer to help them show their listings in the best light. They have no problem with hiring a stager, either. [...]

A few weeks ago I told you I was working on a new e-book for real estate agents that would help. It’s finished now, and you can read all about it at www.promotemyrealestatecareer.com. In it, you’ll find 107 ways to promote your career, and all but about a dozen of those ways are either completely [...]

Years ago I attended a Realtor’s convention where one of the booth themes was “Don’t be a Secret Agent.” The whole idea was that when you’re in sales you’d better let everyone in your sphere of influence (and beyond) know, or they’ll use someone else and you’ll have hurt feelings and an empty bank account. [...]

Over the past few weeks, a self-proclaimed marketing expert has been filling my in-box with goofy letters. He wants me (and everyone else on his list) to promote his books and to invest in his new marketing company. He says he’s an expert marketer. But I have good reason to doubt that. The copy he [...]

Video is the wave of the future – I know, because “everyone” says so. But guess what? It’s not the be-all and end-all that some proclaim. Why? Because people like me will never see it, never hear it. We’re that bunch who live away from the cities – away from easy access to high speed [...]