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 – […]
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 […]
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 […]
Ouch! Spammer needs grammar lessons
Today’s email brought two identical spam messages within an hour of each other. The grammar made me say “Ouch!” Here’s a sampling of that letter… If you can stop chuckling, see how many errors you can count: “Unique loyalty program for real estate brokers, agents, developers to create incentive for clients to buy and sale Real […]
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 […]
Marketing your real estate services? Watch your words!
Small Words = A Big Difference in Marketing Copy You might not spend much time thinking about the emotional impact of everyday words, but when you hear or read them, they have a subconscious effect on you. For instance, look at the difference between “eager” and “anxious.” “Eager” creates an image of happy anticipation, while “anxious” indicates […]
Using voice recognition software? Be sure to proofread!
Voice recognition software is a big plus for those who have limited typing skills, or who simply do better speaking than writing. But if you use it, take time to proofread. If you don’t, you could end up looking silly. That software simply doesn’t know what you mean – and the fact is that no […]
Real estate marketing: Choose parallel language
Have you ever read a list of features or services in a real estate marketing piece and felt slightly confused? The information was all there, but something about it made it seem not quite right. More than likely, it was because the writer failed to use parallel language. OK – what the heck is parallel […]