ANSWER:  It depends on when the product was created…

Have you ever been faced with these questions in your own business?

• “How do I increase my sales?”
• “What do I say in my ad that will make people call right away?”

If so, you could gain a lot of insight by understanding the lesson that is clearly demonstrated in the series of ads shown above.

The ads are for two well-respected corporations: Dell and Mercedes-Benz.

What do cars and computers
have in common?

Not much if you approach things in an ordinary fashion.  An obvious difference would be price: computers cost hundreds of dollars, while a car costs tens of thousands.  One product sits on your desk…the other on your driveway.

The first two ads on the left were used by each company in its early years, and the second set are current examples.  Even though the two “products” appear to have nothing in common, note how similar the first two ads are.  The layouts are similar and each is copy-dominant.

But look what happens in the second set of ads—they both rely on photos and graphics and there is almost no written information.  At first blush, this seems a little confusing because one set of ads uses words to do the selling, but then it gets reversed and the entire pitch is communicated with pictures.

However, it all makes sense if you consider the ads in terms of life-cycle of a brand.  Long ads—ones with lots of copy—are needed when a company or product is unknown.  Long ads are helpful because information can be used to educate the consumers about what sets the product APART from the competition.

This is branding’s sole purpose—it tells consumers what makes you different.  Dell was the first company to sell computers direct, and Mercedes was first to introduce a super luxury brand to the American market (when launched in this country, a Benz was twice the price of a Cadillac).

The question is not as simple as, “Does a long ad work better than a short ad?”  The better question is whether you’re selling a new product or a well-known one.

What do these examples have to do with selling homes?  A lot.  As you’ll soon see.

Remember: Branding is nothing you do to the product…it is a perception that exists in the mind of the consumer.  For example, if you stopped the average person on the street, he knows that “Blockbuster” means video rentals…that “Dominoes” delivers pizza…and that “eBay” stands for online auctions.

Long ads are well suited when you are building a brand.  Short ads are fine for maintaining an established brand.  At this point, Dell and Mercedes-Benz are household names so long ads are not needed.

What’s best for selling a house…
LONG or SHORT ads?

Because homesellers are too close to their situation, they often make a misstep when they put their homes on the market.

They know all about their home and what makes it special, and they assume prospective buyers will easily recognize its positive attributes.  But the consumer has never seen any of the homes that are on the market.  Buyers start with a blank slate.  They will form an opinion about a home based on the marketing material they see.

Unfortunately, most houses end up being promoted with “me-too” real estate flyers that simply list boring statistical data such as:

• Bedrooms: 4,  Baths: 3,  Year Built: 1994,  etc.

If you allow a house to be marketed with details that are COMMON to many other houses, it may never escape from obscurity.  For example, houses in Westlake (an area outside Austin, Texas, where I sell homes) are often marketed with a theme that stresses the highly acclaimed Eanes School District.  But why rely on a feature that is guaranteed to be available at every other Westlake house?

A seller may in fact have the best home in the neighborhood, but it may not make a difference if the consumer never gets the message.

When you set out to market a house, it tracks the same path as bringing a new product to market.

This means that houses are tailor-made for using long ads.  Since no two houses are alike, there is always plenty of information you can communicate to the consumer.  And you cannot bore consumers with straight facts.

It is better to use a “story ad”—ads that sell by telling an interesting story.  In theory, holding an open house is a sound marketing idea because the consumer gets to use all of his senses to see the house and get a “feel” for the floorplan, the yard and the neighborhood.

But an open house may only produce a handful of people who walk through.

However, a well-written ad, that is widely circulated, has the effect of one voice speaking to thousands of potential buyers.  The law-of-averages kicks in at this point, and your odds of finding the right buyer increase exponentially.

Here’s an example of a “story ad”…

(click the image to open the ad in a PDF)

This ad is an example of the type of message needed to bring a beautiful home to the forefront in a glut of inventory…

When the seller called me, this house in the Lakeway area of Austin had already been on the market for a year, and there were about 90 other “for sale” houses in the immediate area.

This home really was the best house in the neighborhood, and there was not a thing wrong with the seller’s price.

How do you get a prospective buyer interested
enough to come see your listing?

I wrote this long ad above that told about the home’s unique design, materials and lot.  The seller got THREE offers, and the home sold in less than 30 days!

Here’s how I did it (and the same steps you can follow to sell your listings quicker):

STEP 1: Interview the seller on what made THEM interested in the house

STEP 2: Find your story-line by pulling out some of the unique benefits of the home from your research

STEP 3: Write a “story ad” that communicates the home’s difference

STEP 4: Place your ad in local publications where it will find the right buyer

Believe it or not, it really is that simple.

All kinds of excellent products fail in the marketplace because of weak, tame, and ineffective advertising.  This includes homes when all that’s used is a traditional flyer to communicate a list of features.

Learn how to investigate what makes a home truly different than the others on the market.  And then communicate that difference in a way that targets and benefits the potential buyer.

More examples to come in my next article…stay tuned!

[Ed note: Copyright Stan Barron.  Reprinted with permission.  If you, or someone you know wants to sell a house, please give Stan a call at 512-345-8585.]

In a previous article I described some of my best marketing advice for building a successful business in 2010.

Here are FIVE more million dollar marketing strategies that will help you generate more clients and build a long-term viable business.

1. Use Education-Based Marketing To Prospect

No one wants to get “sold” yet everyone loves to buy. “Selling” implies manipulation; buying implies control. Use marketing that prospects will welcome, or even desire. Help your prospects understand the important tips, issues and secrets related to their buying or selling situation and you’ll win their hearts.

Use the pre-written special reports I provide in the Service For Life!^® personal marketing system (www.ServiceForLife.com) to attract leads with your marketing, give valuable information, win their hearts and minds, differentiate yourself, and generate them as a client. And don’t forget to follow-up. Even dead leads can go onto your database to receive Service For Life!^® each month.

2. Use Direct Response in ALL Your Marketing

There are many elements to direct response, but remember this:

No one will reply to any of your marketing without a specific, self-serving REASON to respond.

95% of the agent community is hopelessly ignorant of this fact and they keep using “image” advertising with the same lousy results. I’m talking about making an OFFER to prompt response from prospects:

• a special report
• an area analysis
• your “Maximum Home Value Audit”
• a “Free Home Package” of a listed home

Make sure everything gets an irresistible offer and call to action to prompt response.  See Step 1 of the 3-Steps System (www.3-steps.com) for more.

3. Sell With Emotional Benefits

Whether it’s a listing presentation, lead generation ad, classified, home ad, showing property, etc….people buy because of what the home, offer, etc., will DO for them.

Features are what something IS (3 bedroom, pool, tennis court, etc.), benefits are what something DOES for the prospect (save/make money, minimize time, beat other buyers to the market, reduce hassles, etc.). Know the difference.

People buy for the emotional benefits they perceive they’ll get – then they justify their purchase with features/logic.

4. Give Compelling Social Proof

People are skeptics. No one believes your own claims. You must give as much believable proof as you can of the benefits you offer. Generate testimonials from every client after close (you can even get them from friends or family at the outset), and make them believable by including:

• photo
• full name
• city, state
• quote
• story

Then use them everywhere: ads, listing packages, etc.

One agent I know created his “Little Blue Book” – a blue booklet overflowing with testimonials. He uses the testimonials and booklet in all of his marketing.

Other examples:  Use statistics to give yourself/your brokerage the competitive advantage.  Use media clippings to prove a point.  Get interviewed or write an article about real estate, then clip the article and use with farming, listing presentations, etc.  It will prove you’re a professional and expert.  Bottom line:  Give people more than your word to rely on.

5. Make Using Your Services Risk-Averse

Agents are afraid of risk reversal because they think their clients will take advantage of them. Just the opposite happens: Ten-times more people will use your services because of your risk reversal than will ever take advantage of you.

Examples:  “Easy Exit Listing Agreement”…

“If you buy a home from me and within the first year don’t like it, I’ll sell it for you for free” (seller commission would apply), etc.

If you’re not willing to stand by your own services, why should your clients? Your risk-avoidance is designed to let people know you believe in your abilities, and make the “yes” decision easier for them.

Would you like to have a unique system that produces referrals 24-hours a day?

Who wouldn’t, right?

You can give your House List (past clients, friends, family and acquaintances) and others 24/7 Access to send you referrals by setting up a simple “Referral Hotline System^™.”

What is a “Referral Hotline System^™ (RHS)?”

It’s a dedicated voice-mail system created exclusively for people to easily and conveniently send you referrals.  It’s cheap to set-up and folks can easily send you referrals anytime they so desire.

Why is this important?

Well, a past client, friend, family member or acquaintance may think of someone needing your services, and then forget about it if they have to wait for a convenient time to call or email.

With an “always-on” hotline system, they can call immediately 24-hours a day, 7 days a week.

And here’s the most important point: The sheer fact that you’re promoting your “24-hour Dedicated Referral Hotline” subtly reminds people that you work by referral in a way they’ll remember.

Plus it’s so unique from what other agents do, it will set you apart in a very positive way.

Here’s how to set-up your referral hotline…

STEP 1: Rent a HOTLINE with a Dedicated Voice-Mail System

You should already have a hotline to capture new leads that come in from your promotions, but if you don’t have one, go to www.sixfigurehotlines.com.  They’ll give you a great price and their system includes pre-done marketing promotions you can use with your hotline.

STEP 2: Record a Simple SCRIPT for Callers

Here’s a suggestion:

“Hello, this is _____, and thanks for calling my dedicated referral hotline.  I created my hotline to help your friends and family save time and money when buying or selling real estate. My exclusive marketing systems and personal attention make buying or selling real estate easy and convenient.  At the tone, please leave the name and phone number of your referral, and also leave your name and number so I can keep you updated on our progress.  Thanks for thinking of me with your referrals!”

STEP 3: PROMOTE Your Referral Hotline

Keep in mind this service will be best received by people who know you, or know “of” you – I call this your House List.   But it can be promoted in lots of different areas, by simply mentioning your “Free 24-Hour Referral Hotline.”  Let’s face it, if you don’t ASK for referrals (in a professional way) you’ll never get them.

Here are a few ideas (plus see some prepared copy you can use below):

• Use it with ALL your correspondence, such as in a “P.S.” of a letter…
• Create a slogan around your RHS and place it everywhere…
• Promote it with any Print or Email newsletters you send monthly – such as your Service For Life!^® newsletter (www.serviceforlife.com)…
• Put a snippet on the back of your Business Card…
• Use a snippet with any social media sights you use, or your blog…
• Make sure you place a message on your web site or any emails you send…
• Place a RHS message anytime you run homes ads – whether online or print…
• Use with any farming promotions you send…

The places to promote your RHS are really limitless. And you’ll be amazed – people WILL call it.  The more places you use your benefit-rich message, the more referrals you will get.

Here are a few benefit-rich messages, or “slogans” to help in creating your promotions for your RHS…

• Help a friend save time and money when buying or selling a home…Call my Dedicated Referral Hotline 24 hours at 999-9999, ext 1234.
  
• My business is built on referrals from people like you.  If you know a friend or family member thinking of buying or selling real estate, I’d like to help.  Simply call my 24-hour “Dedicated Referral Hotline” at 888-8888, ext 1234.
  
• Introduce a friend or family member to my Free Report, “Sell Your Home For All It’s Worth, NOW!” simply by calling my 24 hour Referral Hotline at 888-8888, ext 2222.  I’ll rush their report out to them.

Bottom line: Every agent should have a referral hotline – if for no other reason than the process of promoting it makes you unique and puts you top-of-mind for referrals.

Plus, I frequently tell agents that the more “marketing systems” you have working in your business, the more clients you’ll generate, and the greater your production.

Look at your business as a wagon wheel and spokes:  The more spokes you have, the stronger your wheel.   Your RHS is a powerful “spoke” that will pay for itself many, many times over, and help you create a lasting, ever-growing production in real estate.

Oh…and do I REALLY need to say this?  Yes I do (well, for some agents at least)…

Don’t forget to, CHECK your hotline regularly, immediately CALL the referrals you get, AND to reinforce the “referral behavior” of those who send you referrals by:

1. Keeping them posted on the status of the transaction,
2. Showing your sincere appreciation for their confidence in you, and…
3. Finding a way to reciprocate the behavior.

Promise me you’ll get yours created today, and that you’ll Promote it, OK?

You’ll be glad you did!

[Ed note: This article is a small excerpt from the "Fast-Track to Success" Turn-Key Real Estate Business Building System. To learn more click here.]

Don’t you wish every FSBO understood the value your services bring to the transaction?

If you’re tired of cold calling FSBO’s to “convince” them to list with you…take just 2 minutes to read how a veteran agent in Illinois gets FSBO prospects to beg her for representation…

Linda’s proven process is a winner if you take this easy strategy and use it in your practice. Here’s her idea (in her own words)…

“I have found that cold calling never works to persuade FSBO’s (or anybody else) to list with me.  Instead, I use the following 4-steps to get FSBO’s to beg me to work with them:

STEP 1:  Gather FSBO Contact Information

On Friday’s I go through our local paper and the FSBO web site and pull all the “open house” notices in the paper (with phone numbers and addresses) in the areas I’m working.

STEP 2:  Contact FSBO’s and Get Appointments

I start making calls to the FSBO’s. My conversation goes like this:

Hi, My name is Linda Fogarty and I’m a real estate broker with Coldwell Banker. I noticed you have your house on the market (NOTE: I DO NOT TELL THEM I KNOW THEY’RE HAVING AN OPEN HOUSE), and I like to stay on top of the market and was wondering if I could preview your home.

Nine times out of ten the FSBO will be more open then any other time. They are getting their home ready for an open house and are afraid no one will show up. So they usually respond by telling me they are having an open house so I can come over. Then, I respond with:

Oh, I would love to but I’m having an open house myself, could I come over AFTER my open house?

They always say, “YES”! The reason I don’t go over during their open house is because I want their undivided attention. I continue to call FSBO’s in the same general area until I have a minimum of 3 appointments.

STEP 3:  Make the First Visit and Become the “Helpful Agent”

When I arrive to their home, I start asking questions about their open house and of course my open house was always better.  I am building rapport while I’m looking through their home and noticing they don’t have any of the following home marketing tools…

• brochures
• seller’s disclosure forms
• sign-in forms

I give them a few extra copies of the forms and tools they need to have a good open house.  In essence, I become their helpful REALTOR^®.  Plus, I just happen to have a copy of one of my beautiful brochures of my listings (so they see what they’re missing out on).

STEP 4:  Follow-Up Each Week with Valuable Resources

During the next few weeks, I drop by with helpful articles that I read and thought might interest them, or I drop off forms I think they might need, or I do a market analysis for the neighborhood and go over it with them.

I have created 10 weeks of “stuff” in files that gives me another reason for going back to them again as a “helpful REALTOR^®.”  I rarely or never ask for the listing.  In most cases it comes right to me.  Why?

Because most agents I know who prospect FSBO’s give up after the 1st or 2nd try.

BIG TIP:   I stay persistent when other agents are unwilling to keep going back.  My average number of contacts with the FSBO is FIVE! I get most listings by the 5th visit, but I don’t give up even if it takes TEN visits. When they’re ready to list, I’m getting the listing.

I’ve calculated the amount of time it takes to call 100 FSBO’s to simply get one deal, and found that following up with a handful of open FSBO prospects each week is far more profitable.  I know it will be for you too.”

Thanks for sharing, Linda. I don’t think there’s any agent reading this who couldn’t immediately start using your system. Best of all, there’s almost no money needed!

One final thought: even if the FSBO sells on their own, you can add them as a contact to your database for regular monthly contact.  And then you open yourself up to getting a flow of referrals. Remember, it’s all about building market share. And market share comes from building and nurturing your House List!  Learn more about maximizing your referrals here.