Marte Cliff
writer@marte-cliff.com
HOME
Wondering how to
get and keep clients?
Get your own copy of "Getting Clients"
and be on your way to bigger closings, more often.
Remember to Subscribe!
HOME
|
|
Ezine Archives, Page 3
Go back to the index
Don't waste the next two weeks!
How is your Voice?
Truth in Advertising Works Best
Proofread first - Send it Second
Don't waste the next two weeks!
There is a time to let things happen and a time to make things happen.
Hugh Prather, Minister and counselor
Dear Friend,
Mother Nature is doing a number on us here in the Northwest today, so I can only hope I'll have a connection and be able to get this out to you. Power lines are laying under downed trees everywhere and the phones are out as well.
Thank goodness for efficient generators and satellite connections! As long as it doesn't snow too hard for the satellite reciever, we'll be OK.
Some things we can control - and make them happen. For others, we have to sit tight and wait until someone else does their job. I feel thankful for the power line crews who are out there braving the elements to get our lives back to normal. My own son is one of them, so I know their dedication to the job, and the kind of hours they put in to make it happen - sometimes more than 40 hours without stopping.
Last week I promised you a gift - and it is attached. I also just added it as a bonus to my Getting Clients e-book. But I wanted you to have it right now. If you do nothing else to improve your business this year, you need to follow the instructions it contains.
But I'll stop there. I'll leave it as a surprise for you, and just say that it is a way for you to make things happen in your career. Please do share it with friends, and help them increase their 2007 income as well.
Christmas is now only 10 days away - which means that Real Estate business has probably slowed to a crawl. Most of your customers and clients are busy shopping, baking, and making travel plans. You probably want to take some time off yourself, but don't waste the balance of the month!
Unless this is your vacation time and you're going to use it having fun and rejuvenating, keep on working! Now is the time to get your January promotions written, put your prospecting lists in order, research where you want to prospect next, and generally get ready to hit the ground running on January 2!
Don't fall into the depression trap because nothing much is happening. Instead, be thankful for the preparation time.
Take your listings out, one by one, and re-work your ads. Some of them were no doubt written in a hurry. Take the time now to consider the most attractive benefits of each listing and write ads that show those benefits to potential buyers.
Look at your personal brochure or bio sheet. Is it up to date? Maybe you took extra classes in 2006 and should add that. Maybe you got married, had a new baby, started coaching Little League, or got involved with a charity. Your materials should show that you are a real person who cares about other real people. The truth is, your customers don't really care that you have a GRI or a CRS or an ABR designation. Heck, most of them don't even know what that means!
If all you talk about is professional designations, they might even see you as stuffy and unapproachable - and that's not what you want!
If you haven't gotten involved with any community efforts, stop now and think about where you could volunteer your time. Yes, you want to consider the people you'll meet and the contact you'll make - but also consider what you truly care about.
Volunteer to help out with a cause that matters to you. Let the professional advantage it gives you be a bonus.
Oh - and do remember to do your shopping, wrapping, baking, and letter writing. Stay in touch with the people who matter, because if you don't, all the money you make won't bring you happiness.
Yours for success - both professionally and personally,
Marte
P.S. Plan now to use the information in your gift - and watch what happens to your income in 2007!
P.P.S. if you have an up-and-coming Realtor (or other professional) on your list this year - consider getting them a copy of my eBook: Getting Clients. In fact, unless you already have more customers and clients than you can handle, consider getting it for yourself! You can read all about it at www.marte-cliff.com/career.html
Back to the top
.................................................................................................................................................................
How is your Voice?
Your New Year message from Marte...
Dear Friend,
Here's to health, wealth, love, joy, and a sense of wonder for the New Year! I wish you all of those.
And to help you achieve the wealth part, here's advice on writing that will keep your readers reading - not snoring!
Have you ever read something that "should" be good and informative, but you just couldn't keep your mind on it?
You can probably blame passive voice.
If you're like me you probably forgot all those grammar terms from High School. After all, you don't exactly go around discussing "voice" or "tense" and diagramming the sentences you read in the newspaper.
But you do know what sounds good. You know when you read something that keeps you interested and when you get bored silly.
And yet, when you take pen in hand you may fall back into that old habit you learned in school. Teachers must have thought it sounded academic, because they encouraged us to write in passive voice.
Read the minutes from almost any meeting and you'll see it. It looks like this:
Fundraising ideas were discussed by those in attendance.
A committee was chosen to plan the next event.
Income and expense reports were given.
Refreshments were served by the hostess
Ugh. Pretty boring stuff! The secretary could just as easily have written:
We discussed fundraising ideas and chose a committee to plan the next event.
Betty read the income and expense reports
Susan served apple pie and ice cream
The trick to avoiding passive voice is to put a person at the beginning of the sentence. When somebody does something it becomes active - and infinitely more interesting. And of course, when you add some detail you paint word pictures and get your readers' minds involved.
So next time you want to give proof of facts, state who did the research and what they learned. Leave "Research was conducted and results were found that indicated…" for the scientific journals.
A good rule of thumb - write the way you talk!
I wish you success in all you do this year - and if you need help with promotions, remember I'm as close as your e-mail or your phone. Please visit my website: www.marte-cliff.com and check out the free offer for help. I'll be glad to help get your 2007 promotions off to a good start!
P.S. If you need articles for your own newsletter, feel free to use any of mine that you'll find at EzineArticles.com!
......................................................................................................................................................................
Back to the top
Truth in Advertising Works Best
Dear Friend,
Today's message was inspired by an ezine I read just this morning. It was from copywriter John Forde. I recommend his ezine to everyone who needs to write about or for their business, and also to everyone who likes to be a bit entertained by bits of wisdom. You can sign up at signup@jackforde.com
John's message was in keeping with a subject we've covered before: what it feels like to be on the customer side of a real estate transaction. Or, in his case, a non-transaction.
John told of a visit home for the holidays and an impulse to perhaps buy a house as an investment after they saw an ad that looked interesting. They called and the agent agreed to meet them at the house.
Upon arrival the agent greeted them with the "news" that there had been at least 50 people looking at the house in the past 20 days and that it would "go fast." She was making an attempt to create urgency - an attempt he recognized instantly since he's a copywriter!
Then they went inside... and what a mess they found!
Of course the agent wasn't responsible for the condition of the house. We all know you can advise sellers all you want, but you can't make them act.
Still, the condition was shocking, so she should have warned them. It had been vacant for a year or so and the rotted food was still in the fridge. John said the smell emanating from the carpet was overwhelming and they were afraid to even try to identify the spots on the walls.
Yet the agent rattled on about what a great buy it was, and how the sellers wanted an all cash deal with no contingencies - like inspections! Meanwhile, they didn't need an inspector to see that the termites had been hard at work.
John described the best feature as the ease of getting back out the front door to get the heck out of there.
In addition to this agent's insane comments about the house, she informed them that the area hadn't been hit by the slowdown at all. Sales were brisk and prices rising. How silly was it to make a statement that could be so easily disproved? By telling this lie she branded herself as - well, as a liar.
Why am I telling you this - when I know that you would never be so foolish? Because houses with problems can become a profitable niche when you know how to market them.
Lots of houses have problems - they can range from a long bumpy road to a leaking roof to year-old food in the refrigerator. Ignoring them won't help at all!
Instead, stress them. Be completely honest with your advertising, and when talking to prospective buyers. In fact, when you talk to prospects make the problem seem worse than it really is before you take them to see the house.
You have to point out the good features and benefits as well, or you'd never get a showing - but don't let buyers be taken by surprise by the drawbacks. Set them up to want to see the house for the sake of the good things - but to expect the worst.
Then, when they get there, they'll be pleasantly surprised that the problem doesn't seem as bad to them as it does to you.
And you know, some problems really aren't as bad to one person as to another. It all depends upon their level of expertise at repairing them. Or, in the case of the road, their attitude (and the vehicles they drive).
My husband appreciates that we live on a bumpy road - because it means far fewer sight-seers disturbing his peace. He would be miserable alongside a smooth, paved road. So when you're explaining how awful some feature is in your eyes - your buyer could be thinking "Wow, that's for me!"
Your sellers, of course, have to cooperate by setting a realistic price. A house in need of major clean up or repairs can not and will not sell for the same price as a home in top condition. You'll hopefully have overcome that hurdle with your market analysis and listing consultation long before you begin bringing buyers in.
Learn how to market and sell problem houses - and then advertise your expertise. You could find yourself with more listings than you know how to handle.
If you need help, call me! I specialize in marketing "Everything real estate" - including you as an agent. Together, we could create a marketing plan that will leave your competitors in the dust, shaking their heads, and wondering what happened.
Yours for prosperity,
Marte
writer@marte-cliff.com
208-448-1479
www.marte-cliff.com
.........................................................................................................................
Back to the top
Proofread First, Send it Second
I was confused by an ad that read:
Why go elsewhere to be cheated! You can trust us to do the job.
Steve Strosser, cited in The Peter Plan (Bantam books)
Dear Friend,
The quote above makes a good case for reading what you write before you send it away!
But, if everyone did that, then the humor might go right out of our newspapers,
advertisements, letters, and e-mail.
Still, if you're writing to be understood and taken seriously, its best to leave
creating humor to someone else.
One of the biggest humor sources around is misplaced modifiers. Sometimes they're
so bad that it takes a few times of re-reading a sentence to figure out the meaning.
Other times they just make the writer look silly.
Take, for instance, this sentence: That woman hit a cow driving a sports car in a
red dress. (I see similar sentences in every issue of our local newspaper) Had the
writer taken the time to read the sentence aloud, he or she might have decided to
re-arrange it.
I know, journalists are on deadline and have no time to proofread their work...
but when you're advertising something, you must take the time to convey exactly
the message you want people to hear.
Perhaps that means starting earlier - ads written in ten minutes are rarely good
ones. Yet people do it all the time, because they don't enjoy writing and find
sixteen excuses to put it off just a little longer - until suddenly they're faced
with an ad that is due right now.
This year, resolve to do one of two things:
1) Spend appropriate blocks of time creating every marketing piece you use - ads,
letters, e-mail blasts, web copy, press releases, postcards, etc.
OR
2) Hire a copywriter so you can spend your time doing what you do best - running
your business, meeting with clients, or dreaming up the next big project.
Even if you're not in business right now, you may be marketing in some way:
Perhaps you're writing a resume' to apply for a new job.
Perhaps you're trying to convince club members to support a project.
Perhaps you're supporting a cause, or a political candidate.
Perhaps you just want to sell a used car
Choose your words carefully - and be sure to proofread - so what you write will
produce the results you seek.
Meanwhile, just for fun, visit my blog at
www.marte-cliff.com/wordpress and comment on today's rants - or start a rant of your own!
Until next time, I wish you a successful and happy week. And remember, if you need
help creating marketing copy that gets results, write me!
I specialize in making people happy to give you money.
Yours for prosperity,
Marte
Marte Cliff, Copywriter
writer@marte-cliff.com
Back to the top
|
