To fully comprehend what I am saying in this post you will need to be BIG enough to put your feelings aside for the verdict, Caylee and Casey Anthony. If you can't do that, ..... move on to another post.
The Casey Anthony murder trial ended today and there is already a lesson for real estate agents to learn. Hello, my name is Stephen Garner, I am a former title rep for a national title insurance company in Phoenix Arizona and co – founder of PRO-Found Marketing.
Before I was a title rep, I was a college student, at the University of Nevada @ Las Vegas or UNLV. A Criminal Justice Major. I wanted to be a DEA agent. [long story as to how I ended up in the title insurance industry but it involves a pretty girl]. I wanted to be a DEA agent because many of the people I knew growing up [in upstate New York] were negatively affected by drugs, not just the drugs but the violence they cause.
The law has always fascinated me, human behavior has always fascinated me. Ask any of my friends growing up [many are federal agents today] and they will tell you that I have always had a sixth sense when it came to people. Who’s good, bad, weird, etc. Although I love the law, I have to admit I find it boring. Arizona Revised Statutes, Nevada Revised Statutes, New York’s consolidated and unconsolidated laws, Probable Cause, Curtilage, etc it’s all Gobbledygook to me.
The Casey Anthony murder trial ended today and I believe there is already a lesson to be gleaned for real estate agents. Follow me here. It would be hard for anyone to argue that Casey Anthony is a victim in this, in a way her own behavior convicted her long before the case actually began. We thought, “I would never do this or that if my child was missing” or “I would never party while my child was missing” and those Google searches! We just knew that something was wrong with her, with her behavior and therefor the slippery slope says she must be – GUILTY. We identified with the typical behavior someone would, rather WE would exhibit if this had happened to us and therefor, felt she had to be GUILTY.
While the prosecution presented it’s evidence to the jury, Exhibit A, B, C……Z I believe the jury got bored and overwhelmed. As is common is many court cases, I believe the jury got lost, they were not engaged in the evidence – in the prosecution’s story. The law, court room procedure, the typical demeanor of attorneys [especially prosecutors] is simply not exciting and therefor boring. While the prosecution presented it’s 1000′s of pieces of evidence, Anthony’s defense attorney, [Jose Baez] did something else. Jose Baez told a story. That she was a good mom, that her child drowned, that she was molested by her father and brother, that she was scared, that she really did care, that she was not guilty. Baez said Anthony’s father tried to commit suicide within a month of police investigating him [guilt?] and that “Lies are what lives within this family,”. Casey was raised to lie, he said. Baez gave the jury something they could identify with – as people, as humans – a story. Baez painted an alternate theory of this case, an alternate story. He said it was impossible for Anthony’s DNA to not be on her daughters body, and poked fun at the state’s forensics by saying, “she was smart enough to outwit forensics experts, but dumb enough to leave her daughter’s body 19 feet off a road” – near her own home?
In the end, one of two things likely happened. Either the jury was overwhelmed and couldn’t understand the states evidence or Baez’ story made more sense to the jury. Baez seemingly had an explanation for the prosecution’s evidence. Look at other high profile cases like OJ, again, you will find a story. He didn’t do it, he was set up by a racist cop, a racist department – out to get him. “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit” became OJ’s STORY.
So what can real estate agents, learn from this case, from all high profile criminal cases really? The STORY is vital to your audience understanding your evidence. Do you just launch listings on your website, Facebook or Twitter with matter of fact statistics like the prosecution did in the Casey Anthony trial or do you weave those facts and figures into a story? Can your ideal client identify with the content you are creating or are they bored and overwhelmed with it like the Anthony jurors? Does what you are creating, [blog posts, video, pictures, pod casts etc] make sense – broken down in a way consumers like to enjoy it or is it over their heads? This I believe, is the difference between a good and a bad attorney OR a good and a bad real estate agent. The real estate industry isn’t always sexy or even interesting for that matter, telling a story about what you do, about your listings about why you are the right real estate agent for that particular consumer in a way they can easily identify with and understand will help your ideal client identify with you – because they will understand your STORY – as it relates to them.
What do you think?
Original post can be found on mytitleguy.net my website devoted to real estate marketing and marketing title
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