You might all speak English, but if you speak “text” and your prospects don’t – you may be losing them to confusion. As more and more people are texting, those acronyms and other abbreviated forms of communication are slipping more and more into email messages, blogs, and even newspaper articles! But are you SURE everyone […]
Why Effective Sales Letters Never Begin With “I”
Good sales letters never begin with “I” or “We,” and there’s a very good reason why. It isn’t because it sounds a bit rude and self centered, although it does. It’s because of a fact which many of us would rather not believe. That fact is that our readers really don’t care about us. What […]
“Too much also”
Several times lately I’ve seen a silly error in blog posts and emails. It’s one that makes the writer look like perhaps he or she lost the train of thought, or maybe did a re-write and forgot to remove something. But, perhaps that’s not it, because I hear the same thing over the phone – […]
Real Estate Marketing Word Usage – Perspective vs. prospective
Here’s a common word usage error that can throw a huge stop sign in the middle of your real estate marketing message: the use of “perspective” when you mean “prospective.” Just to clarify… Perspective is a noun with a Latin root meaning “look through” or “perceive,” and all the meanings of perspective have something to […]
Do these two words harm your credibility?
We all know that real estate agents rank low in listings of “most trusted” professionals. Members of Congress rank lower, but still… We all know agents who perpetuate this with their terrible service and sometimes dishonest dealings, but I wonder if honest agents are helping bring down the industry’s trust ranking by using words that sound […]
Same words, different people = different understanding
Same words, different people = different understanding Reading computer related instructions always frustrates me, because I’m not techie enough to know what the words mean. When they say “enter name” my first question is “what name?” My name, the website name, the web host’s name? What??? From there it generally gets worse. The people who […]
Good real estate marketing messages are like conversations
Good Marketing Messages are Like Conversations You want people to read your marketing messages, right? Then let your copy be a conversation… Not a lecture, not a demand, not even a blatant advertisement. Before you sit down to write, think about the people you want to reach. Then narrow that down to just one of […]
Question from a client: Can You “Clean Up” The Real Estate Copy I Wrote?
Q & A – Can You “Clean Up” The Real Estate Copy I Wrote? “I wrote my own bio, and it says what I wanted to say, but doesn’t say it very well. Would you be willing to fix it?” Every now and then this question comes up regarding bios, letters, articles, and even web […]
Do You sell historic homes or historical homes?
My first impulse would be to say “historic,” because for some reason it just sounds right. But… unless you’ve gotten very lucky, it’s not right. I wasn’t sure, so I went to Grammar Girl and looked it up. It turns out that the word “historic” refers only to events (and perhaps places) of significance in […]
How NOT to Impress a Potential Prospect
For starters, sending promotional mail through LinkedIn to a mass audience pretty much labels a person as a spammer, but in this case, it gets worse. The person who mailed me today sent a message that began: “This could be the perfect business opportunity that fits what ever else your doing!” If the person doesn’t […]