{"id":703,"date":"2006-11-28T13:42:56","date_gmt":"2006-11-28T20:42:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/?p=703"},"modified":"2009-02-28T10:20:50","modified_gmt":"2009-02-28T17:20:50","slug":"charmed-im-sure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/703\/charmed-im-sure\/","title":{"rendered":"Charmed, I’m sure"},"content":{"rendered":"

DC: A very charming Georgetown house<\/a> in the very center of the east village…<\/p>\n

CHICAGO: Very charming Gunderson style home<\/a> located on great block…<\/p>\n

SF: Sunnyvale charmer!<\/a> Updated kitchen. Great neighborhood…<\/p>\n

Let’s step past the navel-gazing** about why most real estate copy is so dreadfully banal, and step up to the question: What can you do in the next 10 minutes or so to make your listings more attention getting, more interesting, and most of all, more effective?<\/p>\n

And let’s start by dispensing with the myth — if not mystique — that marketing and advertising is more difficult to understand than other professions.*** Doctor, lawyer, real estate agent: It’s all about problem solving.<\/p>\n

“Doctor, I’m feeling pressure in my chest.”
“Counselor, I’ve been sued for divorce.”
“[Your name here], I want to sell my house.”<\/p>\n

There is<\/i> one key difference. Those professionals are looking for solutions to clear and present problems. You, however, start with the solution in hand — a property for sale. Your job is to find the problem.<\/i> Advantage you, for therein lies the path to better copy.<\/p>\n

You simply need to become a method writer. At your keyboard stop and think: “What problems do my listings solve? And for whom?” Write your answers in simple declarative sentences. One after another. Action verbs preferred. And go easy on the adjectives and adverbs — no matter how charming, elegant, and delightful you find them.<\/p>\n

Here are two to get you started.<\/p>\n

For that in-town condo:
The end of your two-hour commute — this is a country home in the city with the kind of kitchen that causes suburban envy.<\/p>\n

Or that suburban ranch:
In the basement…your health club. In the master suite…your day spa. In the family room…day care. Out back…your florist. In this home…your new life.<\/p>\n

While I can’t see your listings, I already know the kinds of problems for which you have solutions.<\/p>\n

“I’m eating at the same three restaurants every weekend…”
“I never see my kids because I’m commuting hours each day…”
“I’m sick of taking my clothes to a laundromat…
“I’ll never meet a man living out here alone in the boonies…”
“Yada, yada, yada…”<\/p>\n

The more specific the problems you describe, the better your copy Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DC: A very charming Georgetown house in the very center of the east village… CHICAGO: Very charming Gunderson style home located on great block… SF: Sunnyvale charmer! Updated kitchen. Great neighborhood… Let’s step past the navel-gazing** about why most real estate copy is so dreadfully banal, and step up to the question: What can you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,6,5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-703","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-enduring-interest","7":"category-marketing","8":"category-real-estate","10":"no-featured-image"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1499,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/1499\/the-carnival-of-real-estate-35\/","url_meta":{"origin":703,"position":0},"title":"The Carnival of Real Estate . . .","author":"Greg Swann","date":"June 4, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"...is up at the Christian Real Estate Network Blog. Justin Smith does a nice job, and he includes a charming photo of a young superhero. Technorati Tags: blogging, real estate, real estate marketing","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Carnivals"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Carnivals","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blog-carnivals\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2320,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2320\/inman-bloggers-disconnect-absorbing-the-priceless-wisdom-of-brilliant-speakers-who-are-not-doing-what-youre-trying-to-do\/","url_meta":{"origin":703,"position":1},"title":"Inman Bloggers’ Disconnect: Absorbing the priceless wisdom of brilliant speakers who are not doing what you’re trying to do…","author":"Greg Swann","date":"December 4, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Here are a couple of salient facts, evidently unknown behind the Rust Curtain of the Inman Empire:To the extent that Glenn Kelman is a weblogger at all, he is a corporate weblogger. He doesn't know anything about real estate weblogging, as he made plain in his sweet, charming, engaging keynote\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogging"","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1038,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/1038\/the-carnival-of-real-estate-21\/","url_meta":{"origin":703,"position":2},"title":"The Carnival of Real Estate . . .","author":"Greg Swann","date":"February 12, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"...is up at ReyEstate. This week's winner is a fanzine article about Emmitt Smith, who is Dancing With The Real Estate Stars. We entered Kris Berg's podcast interview with Redfin.com CEO Glenn Kelman. I have an inkling the podcast went unaudited at ReyEstate:The \u201cKissing Booth\u201d was in full operation this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Carnivals"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Carnivals","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blog-carnivals\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2017,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2017\/the-odysseus-medal-dr-glenn-is-at-his-winningest-when-mr-kelman-is-nowhere-to-be-seen\/","url_meta":{"origin":703,"position":3},"title":"The Odysseus Medal — Dr. Glenn is at his winningest when Mr. Kelman is nowhere to be seen","author":"Greg Swann","date":"October 8, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Meet Dr. Glenn, CEO of a radically different venture-capital-funded real estate start-up. He's charming, witty, self-deprecating, baldly transparent about his means, ends and motives. The people who saw him speak at Inman Connect were amazed at how engaging he could be. Why amazed? Because his reputation has suffered from the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Carnivals"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Carnivals","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blog-carnivals\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":325,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/325\/only-in-the-valley-of-the-sun-is-a-home-built-in-the-1950s-considered-historic\/","url_meta":{"origin":703,"position":4},"title":"Only in the Valley of the Sun is a home built in the 1950s considered historic . . .","author":"Greg Swann","date":"September 12, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"There's a charming story in today's Republic about the push to designate a small subdivision of tract homes in Scottsdale as an historic district:With roomy kitchens and big kid-friendly yards, the homes were built during Scottsdale's boom. Soldiers were returning home from World War II and Motorola came to town.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marketing"","block_context":{"text":"Marketing","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/marketing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":413,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/413\/blogoff-post-36-ask-the-broker-why-do-people-hate-realtors\/","url_meta":{"origin":703,"position":5},"title":"Blogoff Post #36: Ask the Broker: Why do people hate Realtors . . . ?","author":"Greg Swann","date":"September 26, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"The question is Cathy's, and it really plagues her:Why do people hate Realtors?It's funny, truly, because almost nobody hates his own Realtor. Some people have real horror stories to tell, but most people don't. To the contrary, most people have very happy, funny, charming stories to tell about the Realtor\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ask the Broker"","block_context":{"text":"Ask the Broker","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/ask-the-broker\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=703"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7210,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703\/revisions\/7210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}