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 This morning's email included a request for a recommendation on LinkedIn - and I really don't know what to do with it.
The request came from a fellow Active Rain blogger - someone I think is probably well worth recommending.
But I don't actually know that. I've never worked with them - never even spoken with them. I've read some of their blog posts and that's the extent of what I know.
So when you get to the place that says "how do you know this person?" what do you say? You can't choose:
- Colleagues working for the same firm
- They've worked for me or I've worked for them
- We've worked together but for different firms
None of that is true, and there aren't any other choices.
So what do you do?
I don't feel right about just ignoring them, but I can't honestly write a recommendation when I can't honestly answer the first question - and then don't know anything to say about how they do business.
Should I write and tell them I'm sorry?
I do write recommendations...
I'm happy to write a recommendation about (most of) the people I have worked with or done business with. In fact, if I see one of them on LinkedIn and haven't already done so, I'll take a few minutes to go and write something.
One day I even took an hour and went looking for my past clients, just so I could write recommendations for them.
But I don't know what to do in this case.
How do you handle this kind of request??
What bothers me is that the citizens go along with more and more restrictive rules. What will it be next? Banning their surfboards? Not allowing a picnick basket?
Robrt Ringer calls this ever-increasing loss of freedom "gradualism." We just gradually give up more and more little bits of freedom until one day there isn't any left.
When will we say "enough!" Via Fred Griffin Real Estate LLC:
Throw a Frisbee or a Football on a Los Angeles County, California Beach, and get a $1000 Fine! Dig a hole in the sand deeper than 18", you pay $1000. Why would anyone go to a California beach?
Florida welcomes you to throw Frisbees and Footballs on our Florida Beaches. Enjoy yourself, and keep the $1000!
Los Angeles County California Supervisors, using the rubric of "Safety", have found yet another Revenue Generator for their bloated Government.
You can be Fined $1000 for throwing a Frisbee on a Beach between Memorial Day and Labor Day!
If your CHILDREN throw a Frisbee, you the parent will pay.
Memorial Day to Labor Day is the height of the Tourist Season. $1000 Frisbee Fines will be Bad PR for California!
Why go to California, and have your Vacation Ruined by a costly fine for throwing a Football?
Come to FLORIDA, where we welcome Tourists and Locals to have fun on our Beaches.
You can Drive your Car on many Florida Beaches.
You can THROW A FRISBEE or a FOOTBALL on Florida's Beaches, without fear of a Police State busting you for $1000!
Daytona Beach, Panama City Beach, Miami South Beach, Cocoa Beach, St. Augustine Beach, Key Largo, Key West, Clearwater Beach, Venice Beach, Jacksonville Beach, Ponte Vedra Beach, Sebastian Inlet, Naples, Destin, Fort Lauderdale, Sarasota, St. Petersburg...
Florida Welcomes You!
________________________
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Fred Griffin, Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker and Social Media Consultant
Tonight a friend sent me a fun little quiz, the purpose of which is to reveal your accent. That, of course, is supposed to reveal where you're from.
According to this, I talk as if I'm from the Great Lakes area - which is funny because I've never even visited there.
What really amazed me was the little blurb. It said that I probably call soft drinks "pop." Well - of course I do. I always have. Why would I want to call pop anything but pop?
There are only 13 questions, so take a break and take this quiz. Then come and tell us if it was right or wrong.
OK - updated. This time I'll test it!
Want to write more effective real estate marketing copy?
Pay attention to your compliments.
When you've done a fantastic job for your clients (as in all the time!) then they've probably thanked you for it. They may even have paid you some specific compliments.
These are like gold nuggets, so treasure them - then use them.
First, ask them for permission to use their comments as a testimonial. This is easier if you've sent a feedback form and you have it in writing, but even if it's verbal, go ahead and ask. Most people will be glad to say yes. Be sure to verify permission to use their names, because names of actual people are important in testimonials.
A case study might be in order...
If theirs was a difficult transaction and you pulled it off despite all odds, you might even want to ask if you can use them as a case study – and even include their photos or a short video of them talking about how well you handled things.
But the "big compliments" aren’t the only ones that count.
The small "thank you's" also give you insight into what you should stress in your marketing copy.
Because you're a top agent, you do things as a matter of routine that lesser agents don't do. You take those things for granted because you feel it's the right way to do business. So when someone gives you a seemingly small "thanks," you might not even notice. Start noticing.
Those are things that set you apart from the crowd, and they do belong in your marketing copy.
For instance: When you return a call a few minutes after a client left a message and they say "Thanks for calling back so soon." How about when you guide buyers to a house that has some special feature they were hoping for and they say "You remembered!" Or even when a client thanks you for meeting with them in the evening because they couldn't take time off from work earlier in the day.
Your clients aren't taking those small things for granted because in their eyes, they're not only important, they represent better service than they've had in the past.
Before I write marketing copy for real estate agents I ask them to fill out a questionnaire. One of the questions asks what they do different/better than the average agent. Unfortunately, many agents can't answer that until I poke and prod for a while. They simply don't realize that what they do is superior to what the majority does.
So - pay attention. Keep a notebook handy and jot down the compliments you get. Then use that information in your marketing copy.
And if you aren't sure how to work it in, get in touch... I love writing copy that helps real estate agents let their prospects know that they are the one to choose.
Copywriting – marketing with written words – has dozens of "rules." They range from keeping your copy "tight" to staying on one topic to avoiding jargon.
But there’s one rule that every marketing guru and copywriting instructor stresses and repeats - and yet I see it broken every day.
Maybe there's another rule that tops the list, but I really believe it to be the #1 most frequently broken rule of all. Unfortunately, it's the most important rule of all.
It's so important that I first learned it about a century ago, when I took a college course in business writing. It's one of the two specific pieces of information I still remember from those 4 years. 
What is it?
Never, ever, ever begin a marketing message with:
Why not?
 To do so is to almost guarantees that your letter will be headed to the waste basket before the reader gets past the first line. If you've sent an email, it almost guarantees a fast finger on the delete button.
If you stop and think about your own reaction to the letters and email you receive, it shouldn't be too hard to understand this cold, hard truth:
Your prospects don’t care about you.
They care only about you might do for them.
So begin your letter with a "you" centered statement or question. Then continue with more about them and their concerns.
Look at the difference between these two introductory sentences to an expired listing letter:
"I see that your house just expired off the market unsold." (Yeah, so. What's it to you?)
"Are you wondering why your house didn't sell?" (Yes, I do wonder.)
Later on in the message you''ll need to mention how your service will benefit them. But even then, keep those words to a minimum. Try very hard to use a form of “you” 3 times more often than any form of “I.”
If you aren’t sure of your ratios, go to your "find" feature and count. Then if need be, go back and re-work the offending sentences to turn the focus back to your reader.
Always remember this: It isn’t about you. Ever. It is always about your prospect and the benefit he or she will gain from reading your letter and acting upon it.
For more reasons why your copy might not be getting the results you want, see:
Excessive Adjectives – too Much of a Good Thing."
Blame Your English Teacher
Blame Your Mom
Blame Your Fear of Breaking the Law
You aren't addressing your prospects' concerns
You aren't spending enough time
And of course, if you want help with that copywriting, get in touch. Helping agents succeed through the written word is what I do.
Why you can sell in person, but your marketing copy fails: You aren't devoting enough hours to writing.
Really good marketing copy looks like it took no effort at all. It appears to be stream of consciousness thinking from you to your prospect.
The truth is – to achieve that effect you have to spend some hours. 
You start with what you want to say – and get it all out on paper. Then you re-arrange it so it makes some kind of logical sense as you progress from one point to the next.
Then you edit and smooth it out.
Most of us throw in a whole lot of "thats," "justs," and other favorite words and phrases from our own spoken vocabularies. They don't add anything to the message, so remove them.
Or we write a long sentence when we could simplify. Here's an example from a site I revised recently:
The original: "In the context of consideration for short sale approval, "hardship" is not defined by law."
The re-write: "Hardship" with regard to short sales is not defined by law.
Some folks use "$40 words" in everyday language. If you do - get them out of your copy.
For instance, "Choosing a real estate agent who possesses experiential knowledge in this particular scenario can be instrumental in developing a resolution strategy satisfactory to all." will just look like a lot of words to many prospects.
Simplify by saying something like "Choosing a real estate agent with knowledge, experience, and a track record of success is the surest route to a successful short sale."
If it's really important, ask for help
Much of what you write – like a blog post or web page copy – can be changed later.
But if you're writing an important piece that can't be changed – such as copy for a print brochure – get one or two other people to read it before you consider it ready for publication. Ask them to look for three things:
- Confusing or unclear points
- Rambling, and unnecessary words
- Typos, doubled words, and missing words
Remember – the writer is the worst person to proofread the copy because he or she already knows what it says. For some reason, that causes the brain to see what was intended rather than what's actually there.
One more thing…
Stay focused. Keep to the point and don't try to cover too much ground in one marketing piece.
And of course... If you don't have the time or don't want to use the time to write your own marketing copy, get in touch.
Writing for real estate professionals is what I do.
For more reasons why your marketing copy might be falling flat, read:
"Excessive Adjectives – too Much of a Good Thing."
Blame Your English Teacher
Blame Your Mom
Blame Your Fear of Breaking the Law
You aren't addressing your prospects' concerns
Before you begin to write any marketing copy, consider who you're writing to, what matters to them, and why it matters.
It isn't your years in the business or your designations or even how many homes you've sold. It's what's going on in their lives that matters to them.
Unless your message zooms right in on your prospects' concerns, they probably won't read past the first sentence.
- Is it their fear of choosing an agent who will ignore them?
- Is it their desire to find an agent who can lead them through the buying or selling process and protect their interests?
- Is it that their house didn't sell the first time around?
- Is it that their buyer agent didn't keep them informed of new listings, so they lost out a house they wanted?
It could be something as simple as methods of communication – they  wanted their last agent to pick up the phone and call, but the agent insisted on texting or emailing.
For every bad experience that a prospect has had with a Realtor, there's a concern, if not a downright fear. And it doesn't have to be their own experience - it could be something that's happened to a friend or relative.
You can't pretend that those things don't happen, but you can address them head-on and give assurance that you are the solution to their problems.
Before you write... Take a bit of time to think about your prospects as individuals with concerns and problems you can solve.
Then tell them how you're going to do it.
I'm not a big fan of WalMart. They buy too much of their merchandise from overseas to suit my taste. Since I've quit buying anything that says "Made in China," I restrict most of my shopping there to the grocery aisles.
But... it's only right to give credit where credit is due.
We visited the Ponderay WalMart last night when the store was not crowded. There was only one regular checker working and I sighed as I realized that the person ahead of me had a rather large basket full of merchandise.
But... much to my delight, the two ladies standing by the "10 items only" checkstand called me over. They said "We aren't busy, we can check you out."
As they did, I could feel the good vibes. They were friendly to each other and to me. We all "chatted" a little as they rang up and bagged my groceries.
Later we stopped at another store - a newer grocery store we hadn't visited before. The checker was efficient and precise. Not an extra word to us or to the girl who bagged the groceries. She wasn't impolite - she just wasn't friendly and she didn't smile.
While the store was beautiful, clean, and offered some good buys, I didn't have a warm feeling about shopping there.
On the way home I mentioned it to my husband. With the exception of a bad experience when they first opened that store, every time I've gone to the WalMart in Ponderay I've been treated in a friendly manner.
The people working there smile. They ask if they can help you find something. They chat a little as they ring up your purchases. I like that.
And besides that... they have the best sliced French Bread I've found anywhere. Just thinking about it makes me think I should go make toast.
Can you be a little too aggressive in selling your services? You sure can!
My husband, the original do-it-yourself man, has been talking about needing to fix the brakes on his pickup.
He got the price of the parts ($150 at the local Napa Auto store) and he talked to Jeff - the man we trust at Les Schwab's. He quoted $250.
Finally, this morning, he decided it was just too cold outside to wash the underside of the truck and for $100 extra he would take it to Scwhab's and have Jeff do it.
Well... He arranged with our friend Terry to come and get him, and off he went to leave the pickup. Two hours later he was home again - with the pickup.
It seems that Jeff wasn't working today. The person who WAS working told him that before they could do the brakes they'd have to do this, and this, and this - and the price would be $750.
He and Terry went out for a nice breakfast and now my husband is out in the shop - being a do-it-yourselfer as usual.
A bit of greed made the job go away entirely for Les Schwab. Too bad.
Over the past couple of weeks I've brought you a couple of reasons why you can sell in person, but your marketing copy falls flat.
First I told you to "Blame Mom" and then to "'Blame Your English Teacher."
This time ... blame fear. Fear of bringing the "Advertising Police" down on your head.
True, a whole lot of agents don't pay much attention to the rules. Just today I was searching through the Omaha MLS and saw a listing that was within "walking distance" of somewhere. It made me cringe.
But then there's you. You may have no desire to be found in violation of the rules.
Keeping in mind the ADA and the Fair Housing regulations, you know you have to be careful about what you say. The last thing you want to do is get hit with a fine or lose your license because your advertising seemed to exclude some group of people.
Fear can keep you from marketing to the niche you most want to serve – so you end up with bland, "reach out to everyone" marketing copy.
You may want to specialize in helping people in your own ethnic group, young families with children, or "swinging singles," but you know you'd darn well better not come right out and say so.
If you haven't learned how to weave that focus into your marketing without also excluding others, you may be afraid to even make reference to your niche.
So stop and think how you can get around it. Remember that you can mention that you specialize in a specific neighborhood – as long as you talk about it in geographic terms.
You can also talk about the price range or type of property you love most. For instance, you can tell your prospects that you specialize selling single family homes in suburban subdivisions, condos on the waterfront, or homes in probate.
You can also mention that you specialize in selling homes listed between $X and $Y and that you've studied the listings and viewed many of them in person.
- For buyers, that means you can guide them straight to the ones that match their want list.
- For sellers, it means you'll show them accurate comps.
You can't talk about the people, but by focusing on the price, location, and style of the property, you CAN reach out to the people in your chosen niche.
In the meantime, the testimonials you display can give extra insight into your area of specialization.
If you can't figure out how to work your niche into your marketing materials, get in touch. My specialty is helping real estate agents make more money by providing them with marketing copy that attracts clients.
(And isn't it interesting, there are no laws to come down on my head because I don't offer the same service to stock brokers, pharmaceutical companies, or porn vendors. Not fair, is it?)
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