{"id":61,"date":"2020-01-15T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-15T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agentskills2.dvsrvr.in\/?p=61"},"modified":"2020-01-15T07:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-01-15T07:00:00","slug":"marketing-the-words","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agentskills2.dvsrvr.in\/?p=61","title":{"rendered":"Marketing the Words"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is the third article in a trilogy.\u00a0 Click here to see Marketing on the MLS<\/a> and Marketing the Images<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s pick up where we left off last week.\u00a0 You\u2019ve captured the attention of that elusive buyer\u2014the one with the short attention span\u2014with your incredible images produced by your celebrity photographer.<\/p>\n

You had to do that first because NOBODY is going to read your words if they aren\u2019t first attracted to the images. Great photography is step #1 in the multi-stage process of selling your listing.<\/p>\n

Step #2 is enticing the potential buyer to view the property in person, with your words. Now, let\u2019s be clear about a critical point before we go any further.<\/p>\n

The purpose of the MLS description is to generate as many quality showings as possible\u2014NOT to sell the property.<\/strong><\/p>\n

You don\u2019t propose marriage on the first date, and contrary to popular opinion\u2014you\u2019re NOT supposed to try to SELL the home with your write-up!\u00a0 NOBODY is going to buy your listing without first physically viewing the property.<\/p>\n

Here are some of the biggest mistakes I see in the painfully boring MLS write-ups I see every day:<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. The agent tries to describe every tiny detail of the property, but tiny details that make no difference to the reader\u2019s decision on whether they will book a showing or not.<\/p>\n

2. The agent fancies themself as a novelist, and tries to write flowery phrases in an attempt to \u201cpaint a picture\u201d of \u201chow it will feel\u201d to live in this \u201cfanciful abode.\u201d\u00a0 Barf.<\/p>\n

3. The agent uses so many clich\u00e9s and standard phrases that the home sounds exactly like every other home.<\/p>\n

Do you know what buyers (with short attention spans) want to know when they\u2019re reading listing descriptions?<\/p>\n

What are the best features of the property? Period. That\u2019s it. That\u2019s all.<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you can fit all the best features of the property into a single sentence, that should be the first sentence in your description! If you need to use two sentences to make it sound good, that\u2019s fine.<\/p>\n

The point is that the first sentence is the most important one; the second sentence is the second most important, etc. By the time you get to the last sentence in a long description, you should probably assume that nobody\u2019s going to read it.<\/p>\n

Less is more! A short, punchy description is FAR more powerful than a long, boring one.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The next time you write a listing description, as an exercise, try including all the best features in a single sentence. If it sounds good, use it! The rest of your description can reinforce the first sentence, while also including less essential features. But keep your description short and powerful! Leave out all the tiny details and avoid flowery words.<\/p>\n

Remember, your purpose is to generate as many quality showings as possible. So, tell people what they need to know to decide whether they want to see the property or not.<\/p>\n

When you explain how this works to your potential sellers, guess what? They get it! The following is copied from last week\u2019s Memo because it\u2019s so important to remember:<\/p>\n

Describe the psychology behind why you do what you do! Talk about the buyer with the short attention span. When you speak to potential sellers in this way, you build trust and rapport. This goes for your entire presentation, by the way, not just the writing part.<\/p>\n

Do you know how many REALTORS\u00ae even talk about this stuff in their listing presentation? Practically none. And yet, when you do talk about it, and you back up your words with actual examples from your listings, it can have a massive impact on potential sellers.<\/p>\n

The words you use are an essential part of your image. Start using them better!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Let\u2019s pick up where we left off last week. You\u2019ve captured the attention of that elusive buyer\u2014the one with the short attention span\u2014with your incredible images produced by your celebrity photographer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":62,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-12-marketing-the-listing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agentskills2.dvsrvr.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agentskills2.dvsrvr.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agentskills2.dvsrvr.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agentskills2.dvsrvr.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agentskills2.dvsrvr.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=61"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/agentskills2.dvsrvr.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agentskills2.dvsrvr.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/62"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agentskills2.dvsrvr.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=61"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agentskills2.dvsrvr.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=61"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agentskills2.dvsrvr.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=61"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}