About Short Sales

This is without a doubt the most overlooked rule in copywriting strategy. And even as a real estate investor about to embark on a postcard campaign, you should keep this uppermost in your mind.

Advances in information technology and consumer education have taught almost everyone to make informed purchasing decisions. Seldom do we buy anything that we haven?t first checked the reviews in internet forums.

However, don?t let this mislead you into thinking that logical reasoning alone can persuade people to accept your offer. Do not send your target market a real estate direct mail that only lists the practical benefits why they should sell their home and not the emotional benefits.

Hence, influencing your target market will require you to write a real estate direct mail that creates an emotional affinity with your prospects. So what are these possible benefits that can appeal emotionally to your prospect? You can read more articles on motivation but what I can give you right now are financial security, freedom from worry and fear, increased self-esteem, social status, and etc.

Never assume that emotional marketing only applies to consumer purchases. Especially today, emotions in the real estate market are high. Your real estate direct marketing communication with your customers should aim to reduce their fears and increase their optimism about the benefits you offer.

One classic example of the power of emotional marketing is the1960 presidential debate between Nixon and Kennedy. Radio listeners, who were only given the opportunity to focus on the arguments of the debate, picked Nixon as the winner. However, people who watched the debate on TV picked Kennedy instead because he was more emotionally and visually appealing on screen.

One recent example of the successful application of rational and emotional marketing is the 2008 Presidential Elections. Whether you are an Obama supporter or not, Obama?s emotional charisma and poise overcame rational arguments against his lack of experience.

This election also revealed the nation?s growing preference for positive emotional appeals, as against negative emotional appeals. Hence, do not minimize the importance and credibility of emotional marketing.

Those who had viewed the debate on television believed that Kennedy had won. In fact, this was the overwhelming opinion. Why? Because Nixon wore a five o?clock shadow ? the telltale shadowy outline of a beard that had been shaved too far ahead of the debate. Kennedy just looked more presidential.

Emotions. Never underestimate the ever present emotional appeal of a major decision? whether it?s a minor purchase a major consumer decision or even the choice of the president of the United States. If you can not only logically persuade your audience to your side, but win them over emotionally, then you have closed that sale. And yes, you can do this through your postcard mailing for your real estate investment firm. Guaranteed!

Writing content for real estate direct marketing is especially challenging because it uses up a lot of your energy. Producing a successful copy requires you to write with passion, energy, and emotion. But of course, this is impossible if you yourself are not excited and convinced about the value of your offer.

This description may seem over-the-top to new real estate investors. But the way people think are always influenced by their emotions. And since we think as we write, our emotions also affect our writing. In real estate marketing, the investor who is more confident and passionate about the benefits he can provide has a significant advantage.

We also need to take into account our recent economic experiences and how it shapes the perception of our customers. People are more skeptical about real estate direct mails, and perceive real estate investors as sharks. Moreover, their need to keep their homes at the moment, rank higher than the benefits you have outlined for them.

In other words, you must ? in order to be effective ? create enough enthusiasm to overcome your reader?s natural hesitancy and cynicism toward advertising in general? as well as any personal objections to your offer.

In addition, how can your customer connect with you, if you are not totally present or uninvolved? To fully engage your customer, you need to get fully engaged when writing your real estate direct mail.

But how do you know you?re writing from your heart and not just your mind? If you feel drained then you are using both your mental and emotional resources to write. If you are not bored and easily distracted, it means you are fully engaged in your writing.

Most importantly, writing for real estate marketing also requires setting aside your copy for a few days, or at least 24 hours to refresh your mind and evaluate the copy more objectively. After reading the copy again, honestly assess if it is persuasive and engaging.

Don?t be too disappointed if it didn?t. Many times, even for those professional copywriters who have been in the business for years, the copy fails this ?overnight? test miserably.

Important thing is do not give up. You?ll hit a snag every now and then but once you get the hang of writing a postcard copy with a passion, it?ll be much, much easier.

And finally, real estate marketing strategies that you feel confident, excited, or passionate about will greatly help you produce effective real estate direct mails. Because, if you don?t believe in what you are selling, or you can?t get excited about the benefits you offer, then writing effective real estate direct mails will be impossible.

This is without a doubt the hardest thing for most real estate investors to do. And it?s especially hard when they sit down to write it on a postcard. Most people automatically envision that there?s just not enough room for what they truly want to say.

Don?t be fooled by the seemingly small size of the postcard. And don?t be intimidated by the actual act of ?writing.? Writing ? especially the writing of direct mail copy ? is nothing more than telling someone about all the great aspects of your service.

One way to overcome ?writer?s block? is to record first what you want to write about. This way, your thoughts are uncensored and consequently, get those creative juices flowing.

So if you are finding it difficult to start writing, just imagine yourself with a customer and start talking naturally about the benefits of your service. Record all these with a digital recorder, or type in your computer as you talk.

Don?t be concerned about what idea should come first or having the perfect words and sentences. Just talk. And when you?re done, transcribe your recording and review the material. Just reading it again, will give you an idea on what sentences to use to start your real estate direct mail; what should be placed in the middle; and how to end your copy with a strong call to action.

The reason why there are successful directs marketing campaigns is that smart real investors know how ?to talk? to their customers as if they are relating to a friend or acquaintance. This technique is one of the most preferred methods of most successful real investor gurus.

Uncensored thoughts and ideas are better than edited posts. It doesn?t matter if you come up with a jumbled mess of information. Bottom line is, you are generating original ideas which you can later edit.

It?s hard to lose the habit of writing for an English teacher or a boss, who is obsess with grammar rather than making a sale. But try to lose the formal tone and make your writing more approachable. Write your message using ideas that your customer can relate to. Hence, to further increase customer rapport and readability, try to write the way your customer speaks when writing your real estate direct mails.

Before you even think about doing this exercise, though, it?s vital that you not worry about anything. It could be that you?ll end up with enough complete copy for two versions of a postcard mailing. That?s great! You can either test these variations, or have your next mailing practically completed right now.

So use your strength in talking and getting to know your customers to write effective real estate direct mails.