real estate marketing copy: When Real Estate Marketing Copy Just Seems "Off..."
- 10/08/18 10:59 PM
There's nothing glaringly wrong; you think you understand what the writer was saying; but somehow what you just read - or wrote - seems "off."
There's something wrong with it, but what?
Sometimes the problem is “parallel construction,” or rather lack of it.
What does parallel construction mean? It means that when you use 3 or more items in a series they need to match.They need to be all the same part of speech and the same tense.
If you saw a sentence such as "You need to stop, look, listening,” the error would jump right out at you. You'd instantly see … (52 comments)
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real estate marketing copy: Make your real estate marketing copy the best it can be
- 10/01/18 12:36 PM
How can you make your real estate marketing copy the best that it can be?Different methods work for different people, but here’s one that has worked for me – and may work for you as well.
The first thing to remember is that in most cases, good real estate copy demands an investment of time, as well as thought.
Once in a while you’ll get inspiration so clear that you can write it in minutes, but for most of us, it doesn’t happen often.
So – onward.
When you sit down to write, whether it is a web page, a blog post, a real estate … (15 comments)
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real estate marketing copy: Google Wants Content, But People Get Bored...
- 07/01/18 10:13 AM
Did you miss this gem when it was first posted? Even though it was a feature, I just found it today.
Listen to Tammy - and be careful to balance your copy to appeal to BOTH the search engines and the real people who will (hopefully) read it.
You're online, you're writing, but are you getting anything in return? We've all heard content is King so why are people not responding to the gazillion blog posts I'm putting out there?
Google is the King and we all want to play in the kingdom so we kind of have to follow their rules. We … (12 comments)
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real estate marketing copy: One more reason to use a proofreader: Clarity
- 09/25/16 08:50 AM
It’s a given that we all make mistakes in our writing. It might be a typo or a misspelling. It might be a word doubled or left out when we were editing.
Often we can catch those kinds of mistakes ourselves, but there’s another mistake that we’re less likely to catch when we do our own proofreading. That one is lack of clarity.
When we write something, we know what we mean. That doesn’t guarantee that someone else reading it will also know what we meant.
This week an agent sent me the link to a long web page that he wanted re-written. It wasn’t … (5 comments)
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real estate marketing copy: Self-promotional real estate copy – remember the basics…
- 09/20/16 06:44 AM
One of the basic rules in writing self-promotional marketing copy is this: Remember that it’s not about you.
A few months ago I wrote about an agent who started sending postcards to my son after his listing expireds. Now we've gotten ten of them, and every one violates the basic rule...
Every card begins with "I," and every paragraph is about the agent. Ugh. But he's definitely not alone in this practice.
When you want to promote your services, it’s easy to mistakenly think that your message should be about you.
But effective self-promotion is never about you. It’s always about your prospect and the benefits he … (22 comments)
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real estate marketing copy: Do you think your prospects don’t know this?
- 09/03/16 05:44 AM
How many times have you seen this line or a variation of it?
“Your home may be the most expensive purchase you’ll make in your lifetime.”
It appears in dozens (Hundreds? Thousands?) of real estate websites across the country – perhaps in every country.
Why?
Do the folks writing that line think their clients don’t know this?
While there are many, many points to be made to help buyers and sellers make wise decisions (sometimes in spite of themselves) this one seems almost insulting to me. It’s kind of like saying “Now honey, remember that this is a lot of money we’re talking about.”
I … (27 comments)
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real estate marketing copy: What ELSE does really good real estate marketing copy look like?
- 06/22/16 02:17 AM
What ELSE does really good real estate marketing copy look like?
Yesterday's message was about making your words transparent by avoiding errors and making the copy physically easy to read.
Really good real estate marketing copy has two more important attributes:
It looks like it's about the reader. It looks like it was written to just that one person. First – it's all about them.
Even though your message is "about" you and what a superior agent you are, it can't look like it's all about you.
It has to be about the reader and what interests that reader. Of course you'll get to … (13 comments)
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real estate marketing copy: What does really good real estate marketing copy look like?
- 06/20/16 06:37 AM
Invisible.
No, I don’t mean it isn’t there at all. I mean that the words disappear behind the message. No one "sees" the individual words or sentences. Instead, readers absorb the message the words were written to convey.
When you can make the words disappear, it's as if your thoughts were being transferred from your brain straight through to your reader's brains.
That’s why it’s so important to proofread for typos, misused words, and misspellings.
As soon as a reader gets stopped by a word that’s somehow “wrong,” they see the words instead of the message. You might as well put in a sign saying “Stop reading here.”
It's … (32 comments)
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real estate marketing copy: In Real Estate Marketing Messages Redundancy Can Make you Look Silly
- 02/12/15 12:38 AM
How many times have you heard an automated message like the one on my answering machine today: "Right now Idaho roads are currently underfunded at a rate of …"
I don't know what the rest said, because I deleted when it got that far, but the first sentence is an example of messages I've heard many times, as in "I'm currently away from the phone right now."
It crops up in computer messages too – as in "The item you've ordered is currently out of stock at this time."
Somehow, those statements make the speaker sound a bit ridiculous. Don't they know that … (21 comments)
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real estate marketing copy: Do You Really Want to Write Better Real Estate Marketing Materials?
- 08/13/14 07:43 AM
Effective real estate marketing materials are a combination of many things:
A good message to convey is, of course, primary.
After that you need to work on getting the words organized so they flow nicely and look good on the page - so they invite readers to come on in.
Of course you have to proofread for spelling errors, typos, and mis-used words, but today let's just think about the flow.
Your objective - whether you're writing a blog post, a prospecting letter, or a simple email - is to get from one sentence to the next and one paragraph to … (53 comments)
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real estate marketing copy: How is Your Real Estate Marketing Copy Like a Musical Composition?
- 08/12/14 04:49 AM
How is Your Real Estate Marketing Copy Like a Musical Composition?
Have you ever thought about what goes in to a great piece of music?
The notes, of course. But those are just the base. Next there's the emphasis on certain notes – and the spaces between the notes.
Without that emphasis and those spaces, it would just be a long boring string of musical notes. Nobody would hum along. Nobody would get the tune "stuck" in their heads all day. Very likely, nobody would even listen for more than a couple of seconds.
Together, the notes, the emphasis, and … (9 comments)
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real estate marketing copy: Dense Real Estate Marketing Messages = Delete
- 11/05/13 03:43 AM
It's a fact of life that we read for two reasons: One is because we're interested and want to - the other is because we have to.
When we read because we have to – as in a textbook for a course we want or need – we put up with small print, long paragraphs, and no breaks to give us breathing space. We slog through.
When we read because we're interested it had better be easy to read or that interest will go out the window.
Nobody HAS to read your real estate marketing messages. Nobody HAS to read your … (7 comments)
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real estate marketing copy: Real Estate Marketing - Make Your Message Stand Out
- 03/05/13 02:00 AM
If you read many real estate websites, you'll see that most agents have a similar message. They're the neighborhood specialist, the expert guide, the professional, etc. On top of that, they're educated, honest and dedicated to their client's success.
My thought – prospective clients expect their agent to be all those things. Unless they've had a bad experience, they don't realize that some agents don't have those qualities. And if they have had a bad experience, they'll look at those words as "just talk."
If you want to stand out, your marketing needs to show what makes you special. … (6 comments)
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real estate marketing copy: What does the best real estate marketing copy look like?
- 11/04/12 06:44 AM
Invisible.
No, I don't mean it isn't there at all. I mean that the reader isn't aware of individual words or sentences, but instead absorbs the message that they were written to convey.
That need for invisibility is one of the reasons why it's so important to proofread for typos, misused words, and misspellings. They're like big stop signs – or at least speed bumps – in the copy. They interrupt the flow by forcing the reader to stop and focus on the words themselves. Then the magic of the message is gone.
Of course, that's only one reason … (27 comments)
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real estate marketing copy: Why are Me, Myself, and I So Often Confused?
- 09/25/12 09:44 AM
Today's email brought an invitation to a free webimar. I'm pretty sure it was about financing, but that's not the subject of this rant. The fact is, the errors made me stop and look at the words instead of the message.
It began: "Join myself and my (name of partner) as we enjoy a webinar …"
Ugh. One shrieking word usage error and a typo. At least I think it was a typo. We don't generally use "my" ahead of a person's name in any but a personal, loving relationship. Well, unless we add a description. For instance: "my friend … (8 comments)
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real estate marketing copy: Where do homebuyers come from?
- 09/22/12 08:07 AM
Researching for clients often turns up interesting information that I wasn't precisely looking for. And that's what happened today.
For years we've been talking about the importance of marketing online, because the majority of buyers search the web before they do anything else.
The statistics I found today say that's true. But they also say that agents shouldn't discount the power of the press - and sellers should welcome signs in their yards.
Here's what I found on the NAR website:
Information sources used in home search:
Internet: 88% Real estate agent: 87% Yard sign: … (22 comments)
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real estate marketing copy: For More Effective Marketing Copy, Pay Attention to Your Compliments
- 02/09/12 05:35 PM
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 … (14 comments)
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real estate marketing copy: Why you can sell in person, but your marketing copy fails: You aren't spending enough hours writing
- 02/07/12 02:33 PM
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 … (8 comments)
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real estate marketing copy: Why You Can Sell In Person, But Your Marketing Copy Falls Flat: Blame FEAR
- 02/04/12 04:30 PM
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 … (12 comments)
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There's nothing glaringly wrong; you think you understand what the writer was saying; but somehow what you just read - or wrote - seems "off." 
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