0

5 Essential Strategies to Become a Real Estate Leader without Doing Anything Shady

Machiavelli. Hobbes. Nietzsche.

These classical thinkers and their power philosophies may guide the behavior of the world’s dictators…but they are grossly inconsistent with true ethical leadership in real estate sales.

Case in point: If we judge according to a high standard of leadership, Hitler, Idi Amin, and Jim Jones were never leaders despite enormous but temporary power and materialistic success. [Neither were these naughty agents ever leaders.]

Louis B. Lundborg states this truth:

“A leader is one whom others will follow willingly and voluntarily. That rules out tyrants, bullies, autocrats and all other who use coercive power to impose their will on others.”

Or as Kenneth O. Gangel correctly observes:

“Leadership is not political powerplay. Leadership is not authoritarian attitude. Leadership is not cultic control.”

Yet we must never think that a leader is powerless…

The World’s Idea of Power Is False

Indeed, to suggest that a leader is without authority is to pose the anomaly of a leader with no followers. In fact, leadership is a special kind of authority: legitimized power–the power of ethical, inspiring influence and enablement.

This kind of authority can be awesome in its effect upon individuals and families and colleagues. It is the kind of power an excellent teacher or guide brings to bear upon the people he or she serves.

Legitimized power avoids manipulative tactics to enhance the leaders status or to accomplish the leader’s agenda. The real ultimate test of genuine leadership is the realization of enduring change that meets people’s most basic physical, emotional and spiritual needs.

There is the almost irresistible tendency to judge leadership by production statistics and materialist standards and to grant esteem and promotion to such successful people.

But if actual needs in the lives of people are not met…no meaningful leadership has taken place despite whatever production numbers were exceeded or income achieved.

Leadership Versus Management

We should distinguish between leadership and management, although sometimes the differences are pushed too far and become contrived. Of course, there is overlap, and the differences are not always crystal clear.

As is obvious, a good leader must have good management skills, and good managers usually have leadership qualities. It is difficult to imagine a good manager who is not also a good leader and vice versa.

1. Vision: A leader has greater vision than a manager. Leaders go beyond the day to day and see the whole relationship in the scope of a lifetime. Leaders envision objectives never dreamed of. And they inspire others to share those dreams.
2. Renewal: Leaders want change. They want revision of process and structure, with an eye toward changing outmoded methods, defining new goals, tapping new resources, motivating or enlisting personnel and invigorating the family, the company and it’s individuals. Managers give directions and evaluate performance. Leaders stimulate achievement and energize everyone. Leaders are more creative, innovative and transforming.
3. Orientation: Leaders are people-oriented. They think in terms of people and their needs. Managers think about getting things done. Managers tend to be more task- and program- and profit-oriented. Leaders think about doing right things to help people maximize their potentials. Managers supervise people, but leaders energize people.

5 Essential Leadership Strategies

Real leaders must be distinguished from mere power wielders. Real estate leaders never use people to accomplish their own agendas, but inspire others to achieve their own goals. The test of genuine leadership is change that meets family and personal needs and enables people to feel fulfilled after the transaction is done.

The primary task of good leaders in influencing people are:

1. Leaders listen. Their decisions and actions are based on real understanding of their clients needs.
2. Leaders build cooperation. They never set out to use people to accomplish their goals and purposes. They disavow personal partisanship in favor of developing a spirit of cooperation and loyalty.
3. Leaders inspire. And then get out of the way. Good leaders infuse others with an animating, quickening and exalting spirit of enthusiasm for the task of buying and selling a home. They do this primarily through their personal optimism, authenticity, enthusiasm and example.
4. Leaders emphasize values. They focus on the fundamentals of value systems, reasons, philosophies, intrinsic truths, structures, objectives, designs, moods, emotions and environment.
5. Leaders balance priorities. There is always awareness of the person, the family and the job to be done. No one of these is sacrificed for the benefit of the other.

In fulfilling these primary tasks of leadership, the real estate agent may do a variety of other things, yet all is done under the spirit of personal value, cooperation and service.

Now it’s your turn: tell me about leaders in your life who have had a profound impact on you? Did they use any of these strategies? If not, what made them leaders in your eyes? What strategies am I missing?

0

What Should You Know Before You Write a Press Release?

It seems Vivianne did not like my straying from my roots.

I think I was feeling a little weepy on Friday. A little metaphysical. Which is okay. As Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.”

Today then, Monday January 14, I’ll get back to business, and focus on one of the four pillars of real estate success, marketing, by showing you how to generate positive press on a tight-budget with press releases.

Press releases are one of the main ways businesses, organizations and individuals share their news with the local and regional press.

In fact, a Fleischman Hilliard marketing and public relations specialist I know recently confessed [and this was not the first time that I’ve heard this] that they’ve often had to rely on press releases when marketing budgets were tight as a main means of generating press.

Trial, error and desperation have helped them to come up with some surefire tips for writing good press releases. I share those tips with you now.

1. Keep the press release content brief

This isn’t the place to send out an 6-page history of your business. Keep the release brief–to one page, if not, two pages at the very most–and accessible and get all the necessary information as close to the lead paragraph as possible.

It is okay to format the document to single space in the body, but only if there is plenty of white space in the header and the margins. If the page looks cramped and crammed, it won’t entice anyone to scan it over to see what it’s all about. Two space between lines then.

2. Write the press release heading

The heading on a press release should be in the upper left hand corner of the page and should include:

• Release date or, “For Immediate Release”
• Contact name, title and contact information. If possible, include two contact people and their phone, FAX and e-mail, as well as their titles and company name
• Brief preview listing of : who, what, where and when – above the headline and before the copy of the release.

3. Create a compelling headline and sub-headline

Next, give the document a good headline and sub-headline. The headline should be creative and intriguing and the sub-headline should be more factual and fill in some of the specifics.

For example, the headline might say, “Local Realtor Saves the Environment with Unusual Festival” and then the sub-headline would say “Sammy Smith’s Water Festival Shares and Spreads Convservation Agenda.”

The harried reader will get a good, tantalizing idea of what the release is about just by scanning those bolded headlines.

4. Develop intriguing body copy

The copy of a press release should read like an article.

My public relations friend said she cannot count the times she’s had her copy lifted line for line from a press release and put in the newspaper. This is fine with her since she knows she’s getting the story out in her own words. For radio, this is especially helpful. A great release will often just be read aloud on air. All the main information should be easily gleaned and accessible. Use quotes in the copy, if possible, and make sure names and particulars are spelled correctly.

5. Include the essence of who you are

After your 3 or 4 paragraph “article” copy, include a statement about you and your company. Even include a headline such as “About Sammy Smith.”

This is the place to write a brief paragraph saying how long you’ve been a real estate agent, what you do and where, how you can help people and your contact information.

6. Closing the press release properly

Include a final, separated paragraph or sentence letting the reader know who to contact for more information or quotes.

If there are photographs, images, or an interview can be set up–put this at the end and in bold or all caps: “Photographs available in jpg.” or “Sammy Smith Available for Interview.”

The important thing to remember in creating press releases that get results is to make the information as interesting and accessible as possible. Like any other type of marketing or public relations or writing, a press release must compete with dozens, if not hundreds, of other stories.

With effort and practice, you can create press releases that stand out and get noticed. If you are interested, check out these articles on copywriting for tips and advice on how to write compelling copy.

[Enjoy, and I hope this article makes sense. *wink wink, nudge nudge*]

3

The Lost Child: Advertising and the Human Condition

A little girl strays from a party of sight-seers and becomes lost on a mountain, and immediately the whole mental perspective of the members of the party is changed.

Rapt admiration for the grandeur of nature gives way to acute distress for the lost child.

The group spreads out over the mountainside anxiously calling the child’s name and searching eagerly every secluded spot where the little one might chance to be hidden.

What brought about this sudden change?

The tree-clad mountain is still there towering into the clouds in breath-taking beauty…but no one notices it now.

All attention is focused upon the search for a curly-haired little girl not yet three years old and weighing less than thirty pounds.

Though so new and so small, she is precious to parents and friends than all the huge bulk of the vast and ancient mountain they had been admiring a few minutes before.

And in their judgement the whole civilized world concurs, for the little girl can love and laugh and speak and pray, and the mountain cannot.

It is the child’s quality of being that gives her worth. And it’s your client’s quality of being that give her worth.

It gives her worth over a Mercedes Benz, 35-foot yacht, snorkeling in Belize. It gives her worth even over a mortgage payment, a retirement fund or college savings.

Because she has her own mortgage to pay, her own savings to worry about. But it’s more than that. Deeper.

She’s got her host of fears, worries, anxieties. Personal failures to overcome, day-to-day battles to combat and a host of dreams she nurtures.

Just like a three year old girl. Which in some ways she still is. She just doesn’t trust nearly as many people she did before.

But there’s something more.

Hugh McLeod, in his Hughtrain Manifesto, said this:

We are here to find meaning. We are here to help other people do the same. Everything else is secondary.

Last Sunday he went on to say this:

We humans want to believe in our own species. And we want people, companies and products in our lives that make it easier to do so. That is human nature. Some people find the whole “Marketing as Religion” angle a bit squeamish. Some people much prefer the straight-talking “This is what you get, this is how much it costs” way of doing business. I don’t see anything wrong with that, if it’s working for them.

But one thing I’ve noticed over time is, the search for personal meaning is a never-ending journey. It’s something that all normal, healthy people share. And the way said meaning is found is mostly through Love. And Love is found not just in the intoxicating blur of romantic, sexual love, but in an endless myriad of ways. Most of them pretty ordinary and everyday.

That search for meaning I call the “human condition.”

Religion and philosophy have been its main sources for an answer for thousands of years. 300 years ago philosophy dominated. Mid 18th Century, psychology emerged and peaked and now advertising reigns supreme at the 21st Century.

Advertising is the “new humanism”: The discipline to quiet that inner groaning.

We don’t turn out theologians or philosophers any more. Even psychologists are having a hard time. In fact psychologists are turning into advertisers.

We say “It’s all about you. How can we crack your code?”

Because it wants to be cracked, coddled and acknowledged.

We are here to find meaning. To help other people to do the same.

Can you change your vision so you no longer see the mountain but the little girl? No longer see wealth and power, but the customer?

Recognize the deeper need you can satisfy for someone–like trust or companionship or meaning–and you will become a well liked person. And business will be easy for you.

You have potential. I believe in you.

0

Pleasure and Pain: The Seemingly Dark Art of Manipulation

0

Cooking Up Persuasive Copywriting with These Two Crucial Ingredients

On Friday I wrote about Copywriting and the Art of Persuasive Advertisings and in other articles I go into detail the help you craft successful, lead-building, client-accumulating mail, ads, emails, web sites and more.

But here are two of the common and most powerful copy ingredients for effective direct response marketing, regardless of medium.

The One Thing You Cannot Forget

It seems so obvious and basic that you can’t imagine anyone would fail to do this, but I have to say upfront because writers frequently and regretfully neglect this point: Present your offer–the thing you are selling and the terms you’re making–as soon as possible.

And after you say it once. Say it again. And again.

Copywriting is like storytelling. You create drama. And you can create drama one of two ways:

1. Demonstrate how you can achieve their desires
2. Show how you can conquer fears

But in one very important way, direct response copy is not like a story…you give away the end at the beginning. That is the offer.

Even when you have a lot to say about your offer, you bring the conclusion [your offer] into the story right away.

And then backfill with persuasive material as you move along.

How to Achieve Your Greatest Desire

This is a a rough sketch of a marketing strategy when you’re making an offer for something desirable, such as a beautiful home or knowledge about the worth of their home.

1. Show the readers the vision.

Within the headline or the opening copy, tell the reader about the benefit: living well, saving money, entertaining grandly.

2. Offer the “prize” inside.

Either within the same headline or within the first few lines of copy, introduce your offer as the means for obtaining the desired end: the infinity pool that makes you to live well, the low property taxes that allow you to save money, or the finished basement with wet bar and 50 inch plasma screen.

3. Go on the quest.

Show the reader how and why your offer, in Step 2, fulfills the desire in Step 1. And bee sure to restate the offer along the way.

Now, the flip side of desire is fear. That’s the other persuasive ingredient of successful copywriting.

Overcoming Pain and Fear

This is the formula for benefits that help you overcome things you don’t want, such as high taxes, foreclosure, drop in property values, ill health or being left behind:

1. Make the readers hurt.

Describe the pain to be avoided: the rising property taxes, the crush on their credit if they foreclosure, loss of equity of they don’t move, diseases from contaminated soil or being the only one who didn’t invest in a rising market.

2. Show readers the cure.

Introduce your offer–the market with low tax dollars [maybe a way to lure people from one state to another], short selling, healthy lifestyle in your city or system to sell their homes fast for the most money.

3. Prove it works.

This is where the rubber meets the road. Your lofty promises better be backed up. Use testimonies, statistics, reports, anecdotes, professional statements. Anything you can get your hands on that support your claims.

Without evidence, your claims will be ignored. So do your homework. It will pay dividends.

Conclusion

One more word: In each of these approaches, it’s important that you repeat the offer often.

The reason? You want people to remember it.

In the next post, I’ll describe how to write good offers, offers that articulate the favorable consequences of accepting your offer and the undesirable consequences of doing nothing.

See you then.

0

The Nine Naughtiest Real Estate Agents in History

In an inaugural sort of “Human Nature” roundup for the last century and seven years, we stooped to the naughty and outrageous. We didn’t go for the buttoning up.

Of course this doesn’t mean these people are creepy because they are real estate agents. They are creepy people who happen to be in real estate.

In the long run, who will history judge as the naughtiest real estate agent? Here are our top 9 guesses.

1. Real Estate Agent Arrested: Woman Accuses Howard D. Van Sant of Embezzlement

What I like about this one in particular are the prices and the language. The prices: “Van Sant agreed to sell her a piece of property at Island Heights for $450.” The language: Mrs. Cuppers swears up to the present she’s received but $75.

That’s like small claims stuff, right? Remember, this is in the year 1901.

2. Police Arrest Real Estate Agent in Raids on Pot-Growing Homes……21 pot growing homes to be exact.

Hoang was one of 15 people arrested in the raids, which followed a 10-month investigation. Police seized 6,855 marijuana plants, 36 pounds of processed marijuana, more than $200,000 in cash and 10 vehicles.

3. Real Estate Agent Arrested for Arson: Herman Jonas Accused of Setting Fire to an Apartment House

This is another one from the early 1900s:

There was great excitement at a fire which started in the five-story apartment house, 16 East One Hundred and Ninth Street, at 10:30 o’clock last evening, terminating with an arrest on the charge of arson. The accused man is Herman Jonas, a real estate broker, who has an office at 111 Rivington Street.

4. Man Profiled in WSJ Is Freed In Nicaraguan Murder Case

American Eric Volz, a surfer turned real-estate broker who serving a 30-year jail term in Nicaraguan prison, was ordered freed Monday after an appeals court threw out his conviction in the murder of his Nicaraguan lover. [Note: Subscription required to read entire article.]

5. Kidnapped Boy Found; Stolen by Ex-Broker:

Another story from the dustbin, this time 1906: J.J. Kean of New York abducted Philadelphia jeweler’s son…hiding him in a vacant house. The police eventually capture the “thief” at “pistol point.” Seems this “robber” stole more than just little boys: Two years before he “abducted” $20,000 from a Harlem bank. The blow-by-blow narrative, complete with dialog, is worth the read.

6. Realtor Leader Of Arson Ring Headed To Prison

Sixty-one year old James Insinga gets ten years and must pay over $400,000. In one case, Insinga had solicited an individual to purchase a home, furnish it, place insurance on it and then burn it.

Naughty, naughty.

7. Three Accused of Stealing More Than $2 Million Dollars from Lenders Using False Documents

The mastermind behind this scheme, Eric Braun, created a non-existent straw buyer, “Seth Davis,” who he’d later say “left the country with all the money.” Braun’s accomplice, Noah Yates, ran a website that said people legally can eliminate their mortgages. Prosecutors allege that the Web site Yates created was meant to make the venture, and “Seth Davis,” look legitimate. Yates and Braun said they got the idea for such transactions by attending a seminar held by a Bay Area group that is in trouble with federal authorities. And here’s how they got busted: after taking a look at Braun, who showed up in a new Cadillac Escalade, Morris, the lender who was being scammed, said the brokers began to think they had been taken…because the young man didn’t seem sophisticated enough to be a businessman who needed to pay off a palimony lawsuit, as he claimed.

8. Crazy Realtor Torments Rival with Sex Ads

In December 2007, Dean “Cookie Kwan” Isenberg was arrested and charged with “posting fake escort ads on the Internet using a rival’s phone numbers, sparking hundreds of raunchy calls” and text messages to the woman and her daughter. The victim, Debbie Blasberg, was a former coworker of Isenberg’s who had “closed on a property he had been trying to sell.” Yikes.

9. Creepy Real Estate Agents Walk a Fine Privacy Line

No peeping Tom here. But questionable behavior to say the least. A pair of real estate agents sent out a calendar to a homeowner with a photo of his home on the calendar. What I’d like to know is, when did they take the photo…and was he home? This would tee me off. What about you?

0

Copywriting and the Art of Profitable Advertising

Yesterday Brian Clark asked the question “If content is the new advertising, what is it saying about you?”

Knee deep in the article he brings in a good point:

Think about it… the advertising we actually enjoy is often witty and entertaining, but it doesn’t persuade us to do anything.

This is true for your blog. Or your articles. Or your email newsletter. And not only does it not persuade us to do anything, you’re not really sure what it’s doing.

Enter copywriting.

In this post I’m going to give you the five-cent tour of the copywriting world and how it can elevate everything you say or write to a level of scientifically precise persuasion.

I hope it provides some insight into effective advertising, or, at a minimum, gets you to think differently about your current notions regarding advertising and the attention you seek from it.

What Is Copywriting?

Copywriting includes all the written communications used to sell, market and promote your service to prospects.

As a category, it’s bigger than “advertising writing” because it also includes things such as brochures or web sites. Buit it’s smaller than “business writing” because it doesn’t include non-marketing communications such as interoffice memos.

This said, let me introduce to you three important ideas about copywriting repeated through this website: targeting prospects, inspiring action and measuring results.

These three ideas put together make up what is commonly called “direct response advertising,” which is different than brand or awareness advertising.

All direct response advertising appeals to specifically targeted audiences, is crafted to inspire action or response and can be measured to determine its effectiveness.

Targeting Prospects

Instead of making communications that impress a message on as many eyeballs as possible, direct marketers do everything they can to limit their efforts (and dollars) to the prospects most likely to be interested in their offers.

Instead of broadcasting, they narrowcast to increase their customer base.

Why the List Is So Important

Your audience is the single most important element of a targeted direct response campaign. In fact, in descending order, list is more imporant than copy, which is last [list, offer, format and copy].

Keep in mind that a weak message to the right audience has a far greater chance of success than a beautifully designed, brilliantly written message to the wrong people.

If you have limited time and money, concentrate most of your efforts on the list.

And lists need not be complicated.

Building lists are easy. For you, the most effective list is the one you gathered from past clients and propsects who have given you permission to send them meaningful stuff.

And that’s the secret: giving them something meaningful. Whether it’s a newsletter, blog, market updates, housing forecast information or new listing postcards…send people something they care about…something they’d trudged through 3 feet of snow to their mailbox or wait 3 minutes while their computer booted up to read.

Inspiring Action

Dig this: Copywriting provides a means for generating a lead in the here and now. This is done via a toll-free number, your web site, email address or postage paid reply cards. Prospects are encouraged to take action….

This “take action” quality is what separates copywriting from other business communications. It is intended for one thing: increase response.

Brand awareness advertisers attempt to create a set of ideas or emotions they hope you remember. But copywriters and direct response advertisers don’t give two hoots and a handshake about what people remember: They want to motivate action now.

That’s why it’s important you don’t rely strictly on “image” campaigns or “name recall.”

Years ago David Ogilvy demonstrated that brand recall and celebrity endorsements stuck in peoples’ minds…but nobody could remember why.

If you are spending hard-earned and hard-to-replace money on ads, make sure you are investing it wisely. Which brings me to my final point…

Measuring Effectiveness

In the last century, the following words have been put in practically every significant business leaders mouth:

“I know that 50 percent of my advertising doesn’t work…what I don’t know is which 50 percent!”

The truth is nobody knows who exactly said this. But that’s not important. What’s important is this: copywriting and direct response advertising can help you discover what is working and what is not.

The above adage was probably quoted by every business leader at one point in his career because all he knows is that they are selling products…but they are not sure which commercial or which magazine ad motivated people to go out and purchase paper towels or car tires.

Something spurred sales, but despite the best efforts of the best market researchers and MBAs, no one knows for sure.

You never need to be in that position.

You can know scientifically, objectively and absolutely down to the last dime what ads worked and which ones didn’t.

Imagine you send out a thousand letters with postaghe paid reply cards and get 20 cards back requesting a CMA.

Simple maths says you got a 2 percent response rate.

Now, add up the sum of the total houses sold and subtract the cost of the mailing [list fees, if any, creative time spent or charge, production costs, postage, and so on]. The difference is the money made–or lost.

If the cost exceeds revenues, you know you need to change something: the list, offer, format or copy.

As you probably figured out, you can get even more sophisticated and the run the numbers inside, outside, up side down to give you even more information about costs, values, revenues and profits.

In the end, one point remains constant: Action is measurable, and these measure give your business meaningful information on which to base future decisions.

On Monday, I’ll give you some tips on how to actually test your copy.

Stay tuned.

0

11 Guilt-Free Tips to Making Your Blog Posts Sexy

For some reason, sex sells…and real estate agents get way up in arms over it.

Seth Godin says objectifying women is a short cut to cash [one only has to look to Hugh Hefner]…a short-cut people are tiring of.

Of course, ten, fifteen years ago [or was it thirty?] Gary Halbert, crudely and crassly…but classical in form…said the quickest ways to boost sales for a product was to put a photograph of a woman in a bikini in the ad.

Keep in mind, this will not work for all products.

Ogilvy points out in his book Ogilvy on Advertising that sex has has to be pertinent to the product.

Read: will work for Viagra. Will not work for a rotor rooter.

I lean towards the view point that sex in ads degrades women and is not a healthy strategy. I certainly wouldn’t want my daughter nor my wife posing half naked on a magazine spread or website. Or billboard.

Or a blog.

But that’s neither here nor there…

My real point about this post is how to format your blog posts so that it is attractive to your readers…

So that it captures their attention and forces them to review what you wrote.

With that in mind, here are 11 tips to help you write with flair and make your posts appealing, approachable and seductive.

1. Use short sentences. People crave brevity. Especially on the web. And like it or not, people read best at about a fourth grade comprehension. So short sentences are key. Especially on the web: in fact, people scan. Short sentences makes it easier.

2. Write short paragraphs. Copywriting is in my blood. So everything I write flows from that. Thus you’ll constantly see tiny paragraphs…sometimes only one sentence long.

This is also a trick newspapers like. Just look at USA Today.

People can scan short paragraphs. And scanning is the presiding world view for most online readers today.

3. Bold important thoughts. As the eye scans your post, it is looking for important information. Make important information abundantly by bolding it.

Also, look to have your bolded sentences and phrases tell a story in themselves. As best as you can.

4. Use Bullets and Numbers. Any lists you provide should be bullets or numbers. Think a litany or a grocery list: easy to remember.

5. Strike hard with action verbs. Start sentences, lists with verbs. And not just any verbs. Verbs that resonate, thunder, strive, yearn, force. Verbs that work hard. Verbs that will manhandle people into slowing down and reading what you wrote.

Arresting attention is what you want.

6. Confuse people. “Rub a chicken against your ear. Now go buy my book.”

Joe Vitale, the so-called hypnotic copywriter, uses this technique because “confusion will arrest people. It will cause them to stop and scratch their head. That’s why after the confusing phrase you insert the most important piece of information…and that point you know people are paying attention.”

7. Pepper your post with ellipsis. This is an ellipsis …. It’s a suggestion of a pause in speech. It’s a suggestion that there is more to come. Something you can’t do with out…

It naturally leads the eye along the path of the sentence…

And encourages the eye to clamber down to the next line. Which brings me to my next point…

8. Mimic conversations. In other words, ignore the rules of grammar. Start sentences with verbs. Rely on the implicit “you.” Abuse punctuation! Kick off sentences with the words “and” and “but” and “also.” However…

Remain within the boundaries. Otherwise it will back fire on you.
If what you write is obscure or artsy, people will turn their noses up at you.

Your best course of action is to listen to conversations. Don’t always be the person who dominates at the dinner table. Let others speak. And spy on other conversations.

9. Employ sub headlines. Sub headlines work like the sentences you bold…easy to scan and tells a story.

A reader should be able to scroll down your post and gather the important points immediately.

From the important points they’ll then decided if they want to read the post carefully.

10. Publish provocative photographs. Tech geek blogger Robert Scoble once shared his method to work effortlessly through 600 blogs in about 10 minutes…

One of the things that caused him to slow down as he jogged through his RSS reader where photographs.

The eye naturally sees something visually stimulating and tells the hand to stop. If the headline is compelling, Scoble looks for more clues to whether he wants to read more of the post or not.

What are those other clues? Read on…

11. Embed links in your posts. Greg Swann once nailed me on the absence of links in one of my posts. He said I was “inaudible to the conversation,” meaning, in essence, not sharing my sources…

And sharing your sources adds credibility.

Robert Scoble also said “It shows that someone took time to write the post. Demonstrates he did his homework.”

Links demonstrate your post was thoughtful and planned. That it is worth the time to read and not just some random brain dump.

Calculation and research, oddly enough, seduces people, my friend. Gets them to pay attention.

Final Thoughts and One Suggestion

As is shown in the Scoble video, not one single element here will make your blog posts sexy to readers.

In truth, it will be a combination. Employ more of these elements and the better you will do.

And finally, if you write and have not read The Elements of Style, read it this weekend. It’s the single greatest book on writing that you’ll ever read. And it will take you less than four hours.

Enjoy!

2

Political Pollster Spills the Beans: How to Find Those Hidden Desires

Republican pollster and strategic researcher Frank Luntz advises politicians on the language they should use to win elections and promote their policies.

Here’s how you can use his secrets to work with more clients…sell more houses…and grow your business.

His Work Proves One Very Important Point

Although he works on one side of the aisle, he says that what he does is essentially nonpartisan, seeking clarity and simplicity in language.

His critics disagree…and have accused him of using language that misrepresents policies to “sell” them to the public. Frank Luntz is the author of Words That Work.

But whatever you think about Luntz, what he does proves one very important point: it’s not about what you say…it’s about what they hear.

That is, potent persuasion is built around finding and using words that hit people at the gut level.

It’s interesting that one little word can have such a influential impact on an entire population…

But it can.

The Most Controversial Word

Take the term “estate tax” for instance.

Before Luntz, this tax was relatively non controversial. Luntz said that only 50% of Americans thought such a tax should be abolished.

What he discovered in his word lab, where he used focus groups and polls, was that when he replaced the word “estate” with the term “inheritance” 60% of Americans thought such a tax should be abolished.

However, with further research he discovered that 70% of Americans wanted the tax abolished when it was referred to as a “death tax.” [via PBS video “Give Us What We Want”

“Death” takes it to a whole new, deeper level…

When people think of “estate” or “inheritance,” Luntz explains that they think of people like Warren Buffet and his billions of net worth…they think of JR and the 70’s television show Dallas.

They think of people who deserve to be taxed…

However, “estate” or “inheritance” puts an emotional distance between people and the real issue. They are cold, unemotional words that obscure the fact that this tax does not occur until you die.

And that is justifiably hard to defend.

But what does this have to do with real estate? Good question.

Heed This One, Simple Piece of Advice

Bottom line, be the person in your real estate market who has their finger on the pulse on what people are saying, feeling and thinking.

And keep this rule in mind: cab drivers and antique dealers know more about the world and what is going on than anybody else. And when the cab driver feels a certain way, you need to listen.

In smaller towns where there aren’t cab drivers, it’s probably owners of the coffee shop or corner deli who know the pulse of your market. Hang out with these people…visit their spaces…and interview people in these places.

And if you want to get real technical, poll people in your community. Or hold informal focus groups.

This rule is built upon a simple idea: It doesn’t matter what you want to tell the public, it’s about what they want to hear.

And you have to find that out.

Discover the Hot-Buttons That Compel Us to Act

Luntz, when talking to clients, gives them one consistent piece of advice: Heed the public will.

And there’s one technique that’s more important than anything else: listening. That’s exactly what you have to do.

You have to listen to what people are saying, how they are saying it, their body language when saying it, where they are saying it and figure out why they are saying it.

I know most of the public is down on real estate agents…so what are the words, the facts, the data that would get people to say, “You know, my real estate agent, he’s okay”?

You have to find those words when working with the public, clients or prospects.

A few, carefully chosen words can make all the difference. These are words that grab our guts and get us to move on an emotional level.

It matters what you talk about. And it matters what you name things. For example:

• Don’t talk about “energy efficiency.” Talk about “lower bills.”

• Don’t talk about “square feet.” Talk about “breathing room.”

• Don’t talk about a “long commute.” Talk about a “rolling university.”

• Don’t talk about “house.” Talk about a “home.”

How to Get Those Words

When you are with people [and make sure you are hanging out with people from all walks of life, not just a certain strain]…

…talk about a wide range of community subjects…broach controversial topics…and watch people nod there heads and look at each other.

When they all do that at the same time…at that point you’ll know that you’ve struck an emotionally charged issue that people are willing to fight for.

At that moment…that is your Eureka moment. Those are the words that you want to use, those issues. Those are the words that resonate with those particular people.

And don’t forget, just like fire, use those words for good and not destruction or ill gain.

0

How to Settle the Long v. Short Web Copy Debate

This is a topic that has been around for awhile: long v. short articles as web content strategy.

Yet, yesterday someone new in our web department asked me what I thought about the long v. short copy debate on the web.

Of course as a copywriter who has specialized in the web for the last seven years, I had just a little to say…

…and whether you are a blogger or copywriter churning out ad pieces for your business or any kind of persuader…

You can learn something from copywriting.

Here are my thoughts.

I’m familiar with the top 8 reasons why copywriting is important to real estate, and I do recommend them.

I think what you’ll find as you dig deeper you’ll discover that people will disagree on short v. long copy on the web…but in general compelling long copy will out duel compelling short copy, even on the web.

Here’s what you have to keep in mind, though:

Test Everything

And here’s the thing about long copy: long copy for the sake of long copy is not right.

When a copywriter says long copy works better than short, what he should be saying is “I want to lay out every single benefit I can to a reader…leaving nothing behind because I have only one shot at this. And if it takes 5 pages to do that, why wouldn’t I write five pages?”

A sales man would never go into a presentation and give the ten minute version when it really takes an hour to present.

Neither would you pencil in just five minutes to rehab an alcoholic.

But if the writer can layout a compelling argument in half a page, he should do so. Most of the time the length of the copy is determined by the complexity of the product/service and the offer.

If you are giving away a free book, 3 pages might be excessive.

Where You Spend Most of Your Time…and It’s Not at the Keyboard

But if you are trying to talk people into parting with money, say for contributions or to buy a house or trust you as their agent or buy a book, 3+ pages is probably the minimum you could get away with.

Again, depending on the complexity. And you have to test and see what works.

If the 3 pages doesn’t work, then you are not hitting people’s pleasure/pain buttons. Back to the drawing board.

Which means writing compelling copy is more about research rather than writing. You can really never prepare enough.

I’ve known successful writer’s to spend weeks researching before touching the keyboard. They don’t until they have that ‘ah ha’ moment.

And usually when they have that moment, the piece writes itself. This is pretty much my process, too.

The Mindset You Must Have

Picture yourself trying to lead someone from an addiction to alcohol.

It could take fifteen minutes, half hour or hour. A day. Weeks. Probably, though, months. Even years.

But you always give them what they want when they ask for it. And you always try to figure out what will resonate with them.

The thing with print/web copy is you have to think ahead and answer all the questions you think they might be asking, most important, “What’s in it for me?”

Then in the copy you have to answer those questions with enticing benefits…because this might be your only shot at having their attention.

It might take you ten questions. 20. 30. Or even 50.

You don’t know what they are going to ask for sure. So you ask them all (maybe).

You have to have available that one question that might make them go, “That’s it.”

Why People Stop Reading Your Blog or Sales Letter

It’s likely though that most people will not read every word. Especially on the web. People scan.

That is why potent headlines and sub headlines are important. To draw in those scanners.

As far as clicks, etc. what you have to keep in mind on the web here is there has to be a marriage between reader friendly web design and persuasive copy.

Think about online newspapers.

Most articles are broken into pages. They are never a single page. (Unless the article ends above the fold.) And because readership is very important to newspapers, they probably found breaking pages up improves important metrics of readership.

Furthermore, print sales letters are broken up into pages. As are books. (Doesn’t there seem to be an argument for everything?)

But here’s the point I wanted to get to: the reason people stop reading a sales letter, article or book is not because they have to turn the page or click to the next…we lose people because the copy isn’t compelling.

You are right when you say that “the user feels more ‘accomplished’ by browsing / clicking-thru” and good web design tries to accommodate this.

See, the marriage comes when the copy is persuasive. When the monkey with the red fez can EASILY follow the banana.

Personally I find one long page of copy exhausting and intimidating. And I’m not alone, as copy blogger Brian Clark explains in his post The Death of the Long Copy Sales Letter.

But here’s the thing: I’ve clicked through 8 pages of news articles I found fascinating. I’ve scrolled through very persuasive sales letters online that when printed equal 16-21 pages.

Thing is, I’m sure these people have tested the layout, one single page v. 4 web pages…and found where they get there better response.

They tested to see what works.

To Drive My Point Home

The reason I ever bought a product online or read an entire article is not because it was long or on one page.

I bought because I got an emotional charge out of it…found it compelling…convinced I couldn’t live without it.

A great writer constantly struggles with this thought: is this the least bit compelling, passionate?

It gnaws at him.

That’s why human psychology and emotion are so important to copy.

We have to know what plucks people’s heart strings. Constantly.

That’s why, if you are going to write a five page article or letter, every sentence counts.

Here’s the thing: we are missing opportunities when we make categorical statements like long copy on one page is better than short without explaining why…and without ever testing the boundaries.

In summary, the first order of business, is to make sure the piece is compelling and passionate.

Then we can talk about layout, length or page breaks.