Have you read instructional books on real estate investment? This week I had occasion to reveiw one for a client, and I was shocked.
The content was pretty good - telling students what to look out for, the importance of "buying right," and the wisdom of using a good real estate agent and a good home inspector.
But then ... the book included a dozen or more sample letters to send to homeowners. And that's where it fell apart. I wondered if perhaps they'd hired someone in another country to write the letters when I read:
I would like to introduced myself to you.
At best, it was a case of sloppy work - failing to proofread before publishing.
But that wasn't the worst problem.
Worse than silly grammatical errors was the writer's extreme case of "I-itis."
Each letter had
from 3 to 7 paragraphs, and with only 2 exceptions, each paragraph began either with the word "I" or the word "We." Let your eye wander down the page and all you see is "I, I, I."
Wading through them was some kind of torture. I felt like I was being assaulted! Buzzing mosquitoes and biting black gnats are nothing compared to the supreme annoyance of reading those letters. (It's a long story, but yes, I did feel obligated to read them.)
Obviously, the writer had no training or experience in marketing or in writing persuasive copy.
Fortunately, my client isn't the one who wrote either the book or the letters, so I could tell him how awful they are without insulting him.
What really bothered me was that innocent people will buy this book and believe that since the instructor recommended them, they're good. In fact, the book copy sounds as if the author had actually used these letters to get leads - and I don't believe it. They were the kind of letters that would make a recipient think "So what?" and toss them immediately.
I've seen similar letters for sale on websites that offer things like "100 real estate letters for $29.95." And again, I feel sorry for the innocent real estate agents who think they're getting expert advice.
The first rule in writing a letter meant to persuade is to focus on the reader. Write about what concerns them - not what you want to get from them or how wonderful you are. The letters in that book should have focused on the home owners' problems and how the writer could help them solve them.
"I want houses to buy" just isn't it any more than would be a letter from an agent saying "I want more listings." And the crazy thing is, with a little work you can say the same thing while still focusing on the reader. It's simply a matter of turning sentences upside down.
There's nothing I can do about it, but...
When I worked in dog rescue and would come home upset over some situation, my husband used to remind me that "You can't save 'em all." I'd say "No, but I can save the ones I can see."
This situation is much the same. I can't protect every investor or agent from buying or writing letters that will do them more harm than good. But I can keep harping about avoiding "I-itis" to the ones I can reach!
So... I'll keep on being a nag.
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