Never Ignore Real Estate Marketing Basics

One day a fellow copywriter wrote and asked me to take a look at something a prospective client had sent her. She wanted to know if I could help her figure out what he meant.

She's not normally a real estate writer, but she knows I am and she was pretty sure it had to do with real estate. (Yes, it was that bad.)

A whole lot of the trouble was that he assumed the reader knew what he was talking about. He had started in the middle, assuming that his reader was already "with him."

The second problem was that he rambled on and didn't get down to the benefit of his offering until the end of the 3rd page.

And then, when I checked out his website, I saw the worst sin of all. He had "We-we'd" all over his website!

It's all too easy to slip into that mode of thinking your marketing message is about you instead of your client. Those words "we" and "I" begin appearing at the beginning of paragraphs – worse, at the beginning of pages.

And the truth, as every good marketer knows, is that your prospects don't care about you. They don't care what you want or what you think. What they care about is how reading your words or using your services will benefit them.

Every single reader is tuned in to Station WIFM. (What's in it for me?)

So don't say: "I've been selling real estate in Mytown for 15 years and I  ..."

Switch that to:

• "When you want a guide who can show you…" 
• Or "Save time and streamline your search for the perfect home when you …"
• Or "Your search for the perfect home can be easier than you expect, when…"

On the listing side, instead of saying "I sell X houses per year," or "My listings are showcased on 47 real estate portals all over the Internet," try something along the lines of:

• "Has your current home become more of a burden than a pleasure?"
• "If you’ve thought about selling, your mind is probably filled with questions."
• "Are you looking for just the right agent to help you market and sell your home?"
• "Do you wonder why your home hasn't sold yet?"

See how easy that is?

Just turn the focus from you and what you do to your client and the benefit they gain.

"Rambling Rose" is a nice song, but a bad writing practice.

Some of us love words – too many words! In order to reach our prospects, we have to eliminate some of them and get down to heart of the matter.

Do go ahead and write all those words. But then go back and look at each sentence, thinking "Does this add anything, or is it just extra fluff?" Cut the fluff.

Don't leave your readers thinking "Will you get to the point?" Because once they start to think that, they will soon be gone. How many websites have you left and how many emails have you deleted, simply because they didn't get to the point in the first few paragraphs? 

And then there's the looks of your message.

Face it – we're all just a little bit lazy. If it looks like too much work to read something, we simply won't do it. A "wall of words" will turn away a reader as fast as if you gave them a page of small print out of an encyclopedia.

So break up the message. Pretend you're a makeup artist working to emphasize the finest features on a face. 

• Use short paragraphs.
• Add a blank line between those paragraphs.
• Use sub-heads.
• Use bullet points.
• Use interesting graphics that will somehow tie to your message.

Make it easy for a reader to scan down your pages and see something more that's interesting. The truth is, even if you make it easy to read, they're wondering if continuing is worth their time. So give them the answer: "Yes, keep reading."

What about your bio?

Your bio is about you, so how can you avoid saying "I, I, I" all over the place?

First, write it in 3rd person. Just because it's about you doesn't mean it needs to be you talking about yourself.

Then, tie those things "about you" into benefits for your clients. Show how they give you greater understanding of your clients and their needs. Show how they make you more able to help them make their dreams come true. Then finish up with a few tidbits of personal information that allow your prospects to see that you are somehow "just like them."

To see samples of how this works, visit my agent bio page and follow some of the links. 

Pass or fail courtesy of Stuart Miles @ freedigitalphotos.net  Painted girl courtesy of Morgue File