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real estate marketing: Add this Reminder to Your Real Estate Marketing Materials - 03/18/12 12:32 PM
Your real estate marketing materials no doubt give buyers plenty of reasons to get off the fence and purchase a home now - while prices and interest rates are still low.
There are many good reasons, but one I don't see mentioned very often is the income tax advantage. And even at a 4% mortgage interest rate, the tax savings for couples purchasing homes with a mortgage balance of $300,000 or more can be significant. For single individuals, the savings become significant with a mortgage of $150,000.
Your buyers could save enough on income tax to make a house payment or … (2 comments)
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real estate marketing: Do you misuse this word in your real estate marketing materials? - 03/09/12 01:10 AM
If you misuse this word in your real estate marketing materials, chances are good that many of your readers won't notice. That's because it's so commonly misused as to have almost gained a new meaning.
What's the word? "Literally."
How many times have you seen someone write something such as "The house was such a disaster that my buyers literally ran screaming out the door." Or "I was so frightened that I literally had heart failure."
I've heard statements like those many times, but never thought much about it because it's not a word I use. After all, I knew … (11 comments)
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real estate marketing: Is this a goofy real estate marketing idea or a good one? - 03/02/12 11:39 PM
Real estate marketing has changed drastically over the past few years - with more and (hopefully) better ways to get yourself and your listings in front of the "right" people.
You put your listings on so many Internet sites that it makes my head spin just thinking about it. And your clients may be helping out by posting links or information on their social networking sites as well.
Here's another way they can help you help them. Maybe you're already doing it and I just haven't seen it anywhere...
You know your email signature has value.
And you … (60 comments)
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real estate marketing: The #1 Rule in Writing Marketing Copy - Don't Break It! - 02/08/12 10:33 PM
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 … (39 comments)
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real estate marketing: It's a Small Detail, But... - 10/28/11 04:01 PM
This is just a small detail, but something I notice over and over - and I think it could make a difference.
When I get copywriting inquiries from agents, most have their contact information as their signature at the end of the message. But it's missing something!
If they've asked me to give them a call, before I do I have to go on line to look up their area code and see where they are. The last thing I want to do is call and get someone out of bed.
Most signatures have a company name, an email … (14 comments)
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real estate marketing: Last Week Brought this Real Estate Copywriter Some Special Treats - 10/09/11 02:54 AM
Last week came with a special treat for me – a phone call from an agent who had purchased one of my real estate prospecting letter sets.
She had a question about using the letters, but after I answered the question we visited for a bit. I got to learn a little more about the real estate market in Las Vegas and she shared her situation and her dreams for the future. Although licensed for some time, she's just getting into full swing with marketing her services now that her youngest child has entered school.
Of course … (10 comments)
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real estate marketing: When you need to write a real estate marketing message and can't get started - 10/07/11 04:04 PM
When you need to write a real estate marketing message and can't get started...
You have an idea for a real estate marketing letter or perhaps a new web page for your site. It rumbles around in your head; you visualize plenty of good lines and important points you want to make.
So you sit down to write and… you can't get started.
Here's what to do:
1. Just start writing Start anywhere and write down all those random thoughts in any kind of order. It doesn't matter - just get them out of your head and onto … (30 comments)
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real estate marketing: Is Google +1 Taking Off As Expected? Does it matter? - 09/21/11 01:36 PM
When Google +1 was announced, the idea was that it would soon overtake the Facebook "like," but I'm not so sure that's happening.
I see plenty of good sites - and blogs with enough comments to indicate that a variety of people enjoyed them - but they're painfully low "+" numbers.
My feeling is that we just forget to click.
Or perhaps there's a reason why we don't bother.
When we "like" something we're usually offered the opportunity to make a comment and share the information with our own contacts. The same with Twitter - we tweet because we think … (8 comments)
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real estate marketing: Do Case Studies Have a Place in Real Estate Marketing? - 07/20/11 03:48 PM
Do Case Studies Have a Place in Real Estate Marketing?
I think so. You don’t see case studies widely used in real estate marketing, but why not?
Wouldn’t they lend more credibility than short testimonials?
We know testimonials work in every service business. But we also know that they are not always believed. It’s illegal, but marketers in every profession have been known to write a testimonial and assign it a fake name – or simply something like “J.W. in Phoenix.” Who is to know, when no address is given?
A case study, on the other hand, tells … (10 comments)
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real estate marketing: Postal Mail is Expensive: How to Get Email Addresses & Permission to Write! - 06/07/11 03:19 PM
Whether you’re farming a territory or prospecting for a specific type of buyer or seller, staying in touch regularly is the way to maintain “top of mind awareness” with them.
And of course, when you’re the agent on their minds, you’re the agent they’ll call when they’re ready to sell. Well, that's assuming that you haven't done anything to irritate them!
So how to get those addresses and permissions?
By offering a bribe, of course!
Whether you go introduce yourself in person or send a letter in the mail, you can offer something to be delivered via e-mail … (10 comments)
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real estate marketing: Realtors® Also Need to Make Promises - 06/06/11 03:28 PM
After reading Rebekah Radice’s excellent post about re-using old blog posts, I decided to go back and take a look at the very first post I did on Active Rain – on January 7, 2008.
It got 5 comments – including my response. But what stands out about comments on that post is the one from Karen Anne Stone. She took the time to tell me about AR Groups, why I should join and use them, and how to choose groups that would get more “eyes” on my blog posts. I wrote and thanked her, because I sure did need the … (6 comments)
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real estate marketing: It's Not Gossip, It's Real Estate Marketing Ideas - 05/02/11 04:48 PM
When I was growing up, our family had a long-time friend named Jimmy. We spent part of the year in "his" small villiage at Priest Lake, where he was unofficially known as "The Mayor." (There was no offical Mayor.)
Jimmy had a LOT of friends and he would travel from place to place, sometimes in his car, and sometimes on foot. Everywhere he went he picked up some tidbit of news, and when he stopped at the next place, he'd drop it there.
We all kept track of other people's lives by the news (gossip) Jimmy carried with him. It wasn't always … (10 comments)
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real estate marketing: Time to Plant Seeds for Your Summer Crop of Closings - 03/12/11 05:25 PM
What every business person needs is a growing crop of prospects
– future customers who will ripen one at a time and bear fruit in the form of a steady stream closings and commission checks to fatten their bank accounts.
(That might taste even better than a fresh ripe tomato every day or two!)
But, as we all know, real estate can be a roller coaster ride when it comes to income.
You prospect / farm / market like mad for a while and get some closings in the pipeline. Then you get so busy taking care of those clients and … (8 comments)
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real estate marketing: Should You Choose a Niche for Your Real Estate Business? - 12/08/10 07:34 PM
I think so. I do it in my copywriting business and I think its beneficial to you in your real estate business. Here's why...
Choosing a niche may sound at first like limiting your real estate practice, but it's not. Unless you live in a very small community, it is actually a way to expand your business while spending less money on marketing.
Once you’ve chosen a niche you can not only market exclusively to that niche, but you can become the expert that others naturally choose when buying or selling in that niche.
So how do you choose a niche?
… (38 comments)
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real estate marketing: How to Be Sure You Have Presents Under The Tree - 08/28/10 01:35 PM
Jennifer Allen, in her Selling With Soul newsletter yesterday, reminded us of something important:
What we do today will determine the business we'll have 90 days from now.
So, if we want to be sure to have money for those presents under the tree, now is not the time to slack off on marketing.
It's hard... now is a busy time, and when your day is filled to the brim with taking care of current buyers and handling all the details for upcoming closings, whre is the time for marketing?
Somehow, you need to carve some out. Otherwise, … (7 comments)
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real estate marketing: Before You Write a Marketing Letter or E-mail, Choose Your Audience - 05/25/10 01:10 AM
Real estate agents who don't enjoy writing often fall prey to an unworthy goal: That of trying to write an all-purpose letter - just to get it over with so they don't have to do it again.
The result, unfortunately, is usually a "no-purpose" letter when it comes to results. A letter came to me recently that underscored the problem. In reading it, I couldn't decide if the writer wanted me to list a home, buy a home, or sign up as an agent with the firm. The subjects kept bouncing around, bumping into each other at every turn. The sender … (14 comments)
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real estate marketing: The Problem With Real Estate Websites - 03/27/10 11:59 PM
First, let me say that I know a whole lot of people disagree with me about this. But I still need to say it, and I hope those who disagree will at least consider my point of view.
So… onward.
What do you see first when you visit a real estate website? Most of the time the first thing you see is an advertisement for the community.
Why?
It’s true that in my 19 years selling real estate I did come in contact with a few people who were cruising the entire Northwest looking for a place to settle. Perhaps … (14 comments)
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real estate marketing: Real Estate Letters - How to Write a Series With Continuity and Why You Should - 03/22/10 01:09 AM
Real estate letters show up in my in-box all the time, because I visit real estate websites just to see what people are doing. Sometimes I sign up for their “newsletters” so I can see what they’re writing.
Sadly, I have yet to see anything resembling a newsletter. And I have yet to see letters that make me eager to read the next one. I always do read them because that’s what copywriters do. If we aren’t writing copy, we’re often reading it. I guess you might call it an obsession.
Some of the letters just say “If you want to … (32 comments)
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real estate marketing: Why Use a Photo on Your Business Card? - 11/29/09 02:35 PM
Last week I got into a small "discussion" with someone on LinkedIn about using photos on business cards.
He said that since his doctor, attorney, accountant, and insurance man didn't use them, he saw no reason why he should have to do so.
And of course he's right. He doesn't HAVE to. There's no rule. But in a business like real estate, it's still a smart thing to do.
We need to face the facts of human nature. And one of those facts is that we forget more than we remember. Some of us are especially good at forgetting names, especially … (16 comments)
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real estate marketing: How Many Business Cards Did You Hand Out Today? - 10/01/09 03:14 PM
Hopefully, a whole handfull, but I've known agents who guarded those cards like they were gold - they'd only give one away if someone specifically asked for it! Really, I know agents who can make a box of 250 cards last a year or more. (They cost money, you know!)
Instead, you should be handing them to everyone you interact with during the day - even if you've given them one before. If they ask why, tell them it's so they'll have one handy when they want to give your name to someone.That's a subtle request for referrals and just might … (6 comments)
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