One of the corrections it routinely makes is to change my “who” to a “that.”

And then this morning I got feedback from a client on some copy and she had changed my “who” to a “that” in a sentence that said “seniors who are downsizing.”

We writers are an insecure lot, so I decided to get some reassurance on the subject. I visited “Quick and Dirty Tips” from Grammar Girl  and learned that the “rule” is just as I thought: Use “who” when referring to a person and “that” when referring to an inanimate object.

I agree with Grammar Girl when she says “Using that when you are talking about a person makes them seem less than human.” I also agree with her in that I

“Don’t call me THAT. I’m a WHO.”

would never dream of referring to my dog as “that.” (A pack of mean dogs, perhaps, but not a dog who is part of my family.)

BUT – While she states the rule, she also says that American Heritage Dictionary says it doesn’t matter. You can use either one and you’ll still be correct. Some very famous authors call people “that.”

So, you can do as you please and still be correct. The only danger is that some of your readers – who are hopefully potential clients – may see your choice of “that” as a grammar error. And to some clients, it really does matter.

As for me – I’m going to continue calling people and beloved pets “who.”

I find this with my Realtor clients more than any others.

When they hire me to write letters, web copy, or an agent bio I ask them to fill out a questionnaire. One of my questions is “What do you do that’s special? How is your service different from your competitors? What makes you stand out from the crowd?”

Most of the time, they can’t tell me.

In fact, some even tell me there’s nothing different about their service. They swear that they do the same things everyone else does.

I know better.

For one thing, they wouldn’t be bothering to hire a copywriter if they weren’t a cut above the rest. They’d be sitting at their desks playing video games or hanging out in the break room, whining about no customers.

So… quite often my challenge is to drag that information out of them, one little chunk at a time.

If you haven’t figured out what makes you special – and if you aren’t using it in your marketing, then I issue you this challenge:

First, take a few hours away from everyone – find a spot where you can be quiet and think. Take a notepad with you.

Now, envision what you do for each buyer – no matter how trivial you think those things are. Write them all down in a long list. Believe me, if you really think about all the things you believe are small and unimportant the list will be long.

Then do the same for sellers. Mentally walk through your day and notice the things you do. Put them on the list.

Then stop and remember comments clients have made to you – or testimonials they have written. My guess is you’ll find some of those small, unimportant (to you) tasks included in their thanks.

Compare what you do to what others do…

Think about the last few closings you did that involved another agent on the other side of the transaction. Did you do part of that agent’s work? Did you catch her in a small falsehood or two? Did he return your phone calls promptly – or make you wait for needed information?

Take a new sheet of paper and write down all the things you saw those agents NOT doing.

Next take a mental look around your office. See that agent over there shopping on eBay? See the guy wandering around bothering everyone who is trying to work? See the pair in the break room discussing last night’s TV shows?

Don’t you think you’re doing some things that they aren’t doing?

It’s too bad, but those “not doing” agents make up 80% of the people “working” in real estate. (Just like they make up 80% of the people “working” in every other field.)

That’s why your service is better – and why customers and clients NEED you!

Don’t be afraid to use some of the things you think of as routine in your marketing – because they aren’t routine to buyers and sellers who have worked with anyone in that 80%.

In case you’ve forgotten – Claude Hopkins raised Schlitz beer from obscure to #2 in the country, just by talking about a process that every beer manufacturer in the country was also using. They just didn’t mention it, because everyone did it.

Mentioning the little things you do for customers and clients also helps them see why you are worth every penny it costs to have your help – and I doubt if there’s an agent who has worked for more than 6 months who hasn’t had a client try to negotiate the commission down simply because they couldn’t see what the agent did that could be worth “so much.”

You can create a web page entitled “What you can expect from me when I list your home,” or you can mention the bits and pieces as you go through a listing presentation. Then you can do something similar for buyer prospects.

Surely you realize how many buyers have been “hung out to dry” by an agent who insisted they sign a buyer agency agreement and then left it up to the buyers to find homes to view. Your marketing can assure them that you’ll be the one searching for their perfect home.

You also have to know how many agents fail to return phone calls. Make a promise to return calls within X number of hours – and then, of course, keep the promise.

Look at what you do – compare it to the 80% -  let yourself feel a bit of pride – and then use it in your marketing!

Do you want to lose a potential client because your blog posts show you don’t know the basic rules of grammar?

I didn’t think so.

I’m being picky again… Sorry, but I do think a potential client might cross an agent off their list for breaking these basic rules of etiquette and grammar.

Every now and then, in a real estate blog post, I see a “manners and grammar” mistake that sets my teeth on edge.

It goes like this: “Me and my clients” used as the subject of a sentence. It reminds me of high school when I used to hear “Me and John went to the movies Friday night.” It was usually spoken quickly, so it came out as “Mean John went to the movies.” People would look at me strangely when I’d ask “What makes John so mean?”

So… first the manners.

Aren’t we taught from pre-school years to always state the other person’s name first?

Yes – it’s just good manners. So in these examples it would be correct – and polite – to say “My clients and…”

But then… the word “Me.”

“Me” is an object word – never a subject word. Use it after words like for, with, to, before, or after. 

When you yourself are the subject of the sentence, the word to use is “I.”

“My clients and I arrived early and found …”

Would you say “Me arrived early?”

Use the “leave them out” trick…

If you aren’t sure whether to use “me” or “I,” simply omit the other person. Then read it and listen to how it sounds. Just as you wouldn’t say “My client referred a friend to I,” you wouldn’t say “Me toured a beautiful home on Sunday.”

At least I hope not.

In the meantime… just remember: Never begin a sentence with the word “me” unless you’re talking about the word itself. For instance: “Me is an object word.”

How often have you to wanted to leave a comment on a blog post – only to find that you need to log in first? Or even worse, that you need to register first and THEN log in.  I don’t know about you, but I don’t care enough about commenting to take the 5 minutes or so to do that.

Are you using these tactics to put a road block in front of people who might want to interact with you?

If you want people to respond and leave comments – let them do it!

Here’s another one that can send people away…

Require readers to click 3 or 4 times before they can read your complete message.

If all you’re doing is providing news, OK.  Go ahead and make it difficult.  But if you want your prospects to stay and read what you wrote – and then follow your call to action – why are you making them work so hard to get there?

I’ve clicked away without reading the entire message at least a half dozen times just today.

It starts with an email with a headline. So you click and get to another page that offers the headline and a paragraph or two of the story – then you have to click again. But is the whole story there? NO, not always. Sometimes you have to click yet a 3rd time to read the whole thing.

Do you do it? I don’t. I have satellite Internet. It would take news that I simply HAD to know to get me to click that third time. It had to be pretty darned interesting just to get me to click twice. Three times is out of the question.

If you have a marketing message – make it easy for your prospects to read.

Trust me when I say that they aren’t going to work hard just so you can sell them on your goods or services.

For example: nice, large, small, great, pretty, cozy, cute, huge, and spacious.

You’ve read hundreds of real estate ads filled with those empty adjectives.

If you’re writing them, it’s time to stop. Your goal should be to paint a word picture that entices both buyers and buyer’s agents, and you just can’t do it with empty adjectives.

Before you panic, realize that most of the time, it’s not that difficult to write a better ad. It just takes a few extra minutes.

Instead of saying that your new listing has a “great” view, say it has a view of (whatever is out there.) If you have to be really brief, choose a word or phrase such as “panoramic,” “180 degree,” “ocean,” “mountain,” “city” or “valley.”  Just don’t call it great, because that doesn’t mean a thing.

After all, what does “great” mean? Different things to different people.

For instance, you might say the yard has a great fence. To me that would mean it’s tall and dog-proof so I could let my critters out to play without worrying. Chain link comes to mind. To someone else it might mean a rustic split-rail that only keeps people from walking or riding bicycles through your flower beds.

And then there’s that wimpy, meaningless word: “nice.” Instead of saying the home is surrounded by nice trees, say it’s surrounded by “100′ pines.”

But of course, if you have the space – such as on your own website – you can paint a word picture that includes privacy, shelter from the sun and wind, birds nesting in the trees, or whatever fits. Just don’t say “nice trees,” because “nice” doesn’t paint any pictures (and “trees” is too generic.)

Any time you’re tempted to describe a feature as “nice,” stop and think about what makes it nice. Then say that.

If you want to talk about size,  say how large it is. A “12′ X 40′ deck” paints a better picture than a “large deck.”

Remember that while you’re painting word pictures of the features in a home, it’s good to add some action/benefits. You do have to be careful to follow the ADA rules, but try to suggest how the occupants will live in the home and benefit from its features.

A purchase is an emotional decision, justified with logic. And it’s benefits, not features, that affect emotions.

Write your ad. Then read it. What do you see in your mind’s eye?

http://www.drawastickman.com/index.htm?o=66-69-32-67-82-69-65-84-73-86-69s69-86-69-82-89-32-68-65-89

It amazes me that someone can create a program that will behave this way…

Because they could become victims of a zombie foreclosure – and that would be a disaster.

Not ONLY could they end up owing the city because the house they left was not maintained, they could end up owing Federal income tax on all the equity they lost.

Read this post and watch the video clip – then pass the warning along to your short sale prospects.

Write your own letters, or use my Short Sale prospecting letters. Zombie foreclosures are real and they pose a huge threat to underwater homeowners.

How do you make sure you’re doing that?

Each client is different, but there could be a trend in your marketplace that you could subtly address.

For instance:

• If houses are selling quickly, your client may be worried about listing too low.
• If the market is slow, he may worry about listing too high.
• If your prospect is underwater the concern may be getting the house sold quickly, before it goes into foreclosure.

Those are problems that you can address in your overall marketing, but you can take it one step further. Simply take a little time to talk with your prospect on the phone before you go to the listing presentation.

Before you call, prepare a list of questions that will prompt that seller to open up. And when they answer, really listen. You’ll not only learn about both their concerns and their goals, you’ll create a good atmosphere for your presentation. And once you know that prospect’s concerns, you can adjust your listing presentation to address them.

People make decisions based on emotion – so give your prospects plenty of reason to feel drawn to you. Then back it all up with facts and figures, so your prospect can justify his or her emotional decision with logic.

Just today a message arrived that begin “We are trying to reach people who need website design services.” It went on to apologize if the message has reached me in error – and to beg me not to label it as spam.

Oh boy – what else could they do wrong?

Beginning their letter with “We” and explaining what they wanted was the first mistake. Do I have any reason to care what they want? Not even one.

And then, of course, it WAS spam. I have no idea who those people are and surely didn’t ask for their message.  Some will no doubt label it spam, simply because the message made them think to do it.

I feel sorry for them because they ARE trying to promote their business, but don’t have the first clue how to reach out to prospects. Their approach is sure to cause hundreds or thousands of people (whose addresses they have no doubt purchased from some crook) to hit the delete button without giving them a second thought.

Wouldn’t you think that with all the instruction and information available here on the Internet, that these people would learn?

Last week a real estate agent contacted me about writing a letter of introduction to go with my 10-letter expired listing prospecting letter set. He had decided to mail just once – and include all ten letters in one package.

Here’s what I said when I wrote back:

Are you up for some advice? I understand you wanting to get your information out to these people in a hurry, but unless they have specifically requested it, sending it all at once would probably be a mistake. That would give you only one chance to impress – and if they didn’t happen to be in the mood that day, your entire package would be tossed.

Instead, consider drip marketing to them. That way, you’re giving yourself multiple chances to catch their attention. Plus – you’re giving them information in small enough bites to keep their interest. I doubt if any seller would sit down and read everything in a packet of 10 or 12 pieces. People are just in too much of a hurry these days, and attention spans are short.

Effective marketing requires patience and persistence.

People who test marketing campaigns say that it takes between 5 and 12 contacts before a “cold” prospect will respond to a marketing message. The more messages, the higher the response rate, but you begin to see an actuall return on investment with letter #5.

Why does it take so many messages? For a few reasons.

First, any one of your messages may arrive on a day when they won’t even look at it. They might be extremely busy, they might be ill, there might be a family crisis going on, they might simply not be in the mood, or they might even be away from home.

Second, when you send just one message, they don’t know who you are. Why should they trust a stranger? Why should they spend their time on you?

Third, when you send too much information at once, reading it takes too much time – and people today all seem to be in a hurry.

Drip marketing accomplishes four things:

• It increases your chance of having at least a few of your messages arrive on a day when they’ll read it.
• It presents your message in small bites – making it easy to read and understand.
• It builds name/face recognition.
• When you send interesting and informative information, it builds trust.

Just as dripping water can wear away rock – the steady drip of useful information from you can wear away resistance to your marketing message.

My advice to anyone thinking of mailing just one letter is: Don’t bother. 

The time and effort (and maybe even money) you’ll spend getting your list together and getting that letter ready to go is not likely to give you a good return on investment. It’s the cumulative effect of many letters – possibly interspersed with phone calls, emails, or personal visits – that will bring the results you want.