Kirsty Dunphey

Real Estate Copywriting: The Lighter Side.

by Kirsty Dunphey, on 3rd December, 2009 • 1 Comment

(WILL and GRACE are eating lunch, while reading the apartment ads.)
WILL: $2,900 for a loft in Noho. $2,300 for a loft in Soho.
GRACE: It’s too much to pay for any… ‘ho.
WILL: OK, here: “Charming one bedroom, Chelsea adjacent, well-maintained, $1,500.” Sounds great.
GRACE: OK, let me decode: “Charming”? Tiny. “Chelsea adjacent”? New Jersey. “Well-maintained”? Super washes blood off sidewalk daily.

I giggled to myself as I watched this scene from television’s Will and Grace last night.

What does the public really think we mean when we write our advertisements?

Real-Estate-CopywritingCheck out this “decoding” from:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/340482_listing20.html

Very quiet interior: You can barely hear the freeway with the windows shut.
Convenient to shopping: Next to a strip mall.
Convenient to freeway: Next to the onramp.
2+ bedrooms: The room in the basement isn’t a legal bedroom but, well, you know.
Seller has left you to your own imagination: Hasn’t been updated since 1940.
Great bones: You’ll need to tear it down to the studs.
Build some sweat equity: See “great bones.”
Charming: Small.
Cozy: Tiny.
Cute: Small and fussy.
Dollhouse, adorable: Nauseatingly cute.
Turnkey: Just overhauled, complete with granite countertops and stainless-steel appliances.
Unique: Remodeled by someone on acid.
Handyman special: Bring boots.
Walk to Fremont: Fremont’s 20 blocks away.
Motivated seller: They need to sell before they default on their mortgage.
Dirty, ugly, smelly: Dirty, ugly, smelly.

And Barbara Corcoran has her say here about the most misleading words in real estate (and what they really mean)

  1. Cozy (too small)
  2. Charming (too old)
  3. Original condition(appliances are 50 years old)
  4. Needs TLC (it’s a dump)
  5. Conveniently located (noisy)
  6. Desirable neighborhood (this little house has been way overpriced because the neighborhood has some snob appeal)
  7. Efficient kitchen (too small to fit two adults)
  8. One-car garage (you can drive your Chevy in, but can’t get out)
  9. Peek at the park/river/mountains (if you angle your mirror just so)
  10. Useable land (no trees)
  11. Beachfront steal (no hurricane insurance available at any price)
  12. Country living (too far from anywhere to drive to work)
  13. Must see inside (outside is ugly)
  14. Unique (hard to sell)
  15. Just available (previous owner just died on the premises, hope you don’t mind)

(read the full article here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20215090/ )

New real estate copywriting website www.reallysold.com has some interesting alternatives to over-used clichés with heading suggestions such as:

  • A better position than you’ll find in the karma sutra
  • Dress Circle Locale (but with a mini skirt price!)
  • Penguins love the cold – but you don’t have to!
  • Grand Old Dame (the house, not the real estate agent)
  • Yesterday, let me introduce you to today
  • Very Viewtiful!
  • Nature is your Neighbour
  • Calling Winona Ryder (‘cos this one’s a steal!)

(To try out www.reallysold.com for yourself – head to the website, take the 3 minute tour and sign up for a free trial.) The next time you go to put pen to paper, I invite you to take a moment to chuckle about what the public might think you really mean! Life’s too short to write bad advertisements!

Kirsty Dunphey is an author, speaker and entrepreneur who started her first business at 15, opened her own real estate agency at 21 and retired a self made multi-millionaire at 27. To sign up to Kirsty Dunphey’s weekly email, go to www.kirstydunphey.com

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Kirsty Dunphey

Three Quick, Easy And Not Too Shameless Ways To Get Publicity For Free

by Kirsty Dunphey, on 4th November, 2009 • 2 Comments

If you’re looking to build your profile and/or brand awareness, then here are three quick, easy and not too shameless ways that you can get publicity for free.

1. Entering (and preferably winning) awards programs = free publicity and credible media opportunities. But you know what, entering, being nominated or being a finalist and not winning also has the fabulous benefits of the networking opportunities and in many cases it gives you an ability to sit down and do some very cathartic thinking about your business.

2. Perform a survey and put out a press release on the results. We just did one recently on the real estate industry here: http://kirstydunphey.blogspot.com/2008/09/real-estate-agents-trustworthy-is-new.html using a free online survey program and having 500 people respond. The results give journalists some statistics to work with and help get your name out there when you’re published as a source.
Online Survey3. Subscribe to HARO (help a reporter out www.helpareporter.com/)! There are lots of journalists / bloggers out there looking for great sources – it can be a bit US centric, but there are still awesome opportunities to be found.

Sign up to Kirsty’s weekly email online at: www.kirstydunphey.com/weekly.html

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Kirsty Dunphey

26 Ways To Build Subscribers To Your Newsletter Or Blog

by Kirsty Dunphey, on 27th October, 2009 • 4 Comments

The weekly newsletter we put out from www.kirstydunphey.com is currently circulating to over 5,000 people weekly. We’re often asked how we’ve built our database to that size in just a few years given that this newsletter started as just an in house newsletter to around 20 staff! To follow are some of our best success tips on building your newsletter (or blog) database.

Improve Newsletter Blog Subscription26 Ways To Build Subscribers

1. Have a sign up button or form on every page of your website.

2. Don’t make it too difficult for people to sign-up, people get bored if they have to jump through too many hoops. All we ask for is first name, surname (optional) and email.

3. Set up a facebook fan page for your email and encourage your friends / family and current subscribers to join.

4. To attract those ever present Gen Y’s have a presence on myspace. Some of my favourites:

5. Link your facebook, myspace and linkedin pages on your website and newsletter.

6. Any time you speak at a public event, mention your newsletter and encourage people to sign up. By public event I mean everything from a keynote presentation in front of 2,000 to a networking group of 5 – just mention it!

7. If you do any regular public speaking, grab a box, bucket or any receptacle and allow people to simply throw a business card in at the end of any of your talks if they want to subscribe.

8. Promote your newsletter on the bottom of your email (in your signature)

9. Make it easy for people to recommend their friends signup and mention that you’d like them to join in your newsletter (in ours we say we’re aiming for 10,000 subscribers – can they help?)

10. I regularly submit articles to be used in other newsletters. Our two most exciting contributions to date have been multiple entries in Zig Ziglar (www.zigziglar.com) and Jeffrey Gitomer’s (www.jeffreygitomer.com) newsletters.

11. Allow people to reproduce your articles in their newsletters – and make it easy. We do this by having a statement telling people they can reproduce our articles in every newsletter and a whole page of articles they can use here: www.kirstydunphey.com/usemebaby.html

12. We submit our articles (which reference our newsletter) to online articles. Try www.ezinearticles.com and www.articlesbase.com, www.goarticles.com

13. Solicit testimonials from the people who currently read your newsletter (even if it’s just 5!) and use them on your website.

14. Allow people to see archived copies of your newsletters – to give them a better idea of what they’re signing up for.

15. Don’t sell or loan your database and make it clear on your website that you won’t.

16. Mention your newsletter as often as possible (media, tv interviews, social events, networking).

17. Consider mentioning your newsletter on your business card / letterhead.

18. Link to your newsletter in your blog.

19. Oh yeah – have a blog (see: www.kirstydunphey.com/blog) and if you don’t think you have time to blog read: http://kirstydunphey.blogspot.com/2008/02/are-you-already-blogging-and-you-just.html

20. There are lots of online ezine directories that you can register your database at (we’ve not had a great response from these – but hey – if you’ve got a spare 10 minutes go for your life!)

21. Ask your friends / colleagues if they’ll mention your newsletter on their website (see: www.kirstydunphey.com/recommendations.html) More links to your website can also do great things for your search engine optimization.

22. You can pitch your product in your newsletter – but it can’t all be a sales pitch. Find a happy medium that works for you in terms of selling vs educating.

23. If you write a book (www.unleashedknowledge.com), mention your newsletter in it.

24. Make your database feel loved – have special offers that are only for those people who subscribe.

25. Use a reputable email marketing service to ensure a good delivery rate, we use icontact but there are several other options available.

26. Finally, the number one (and most simple) way to get more people subscribing is to put something out there that’s of value to readers. If people like a newsletter they’ll forward it on and it’ll grow without you having to concern yourself too much!

Kirsty Dunphey is an author, speaker and entrepreneur who started her first business at 15, opened her own real estate agency at 21 and retired a self made multi-millionaire at 27. To sign up to Kirsty Dunphey’s weekly email, go to www.kirstydunphey.com

Follow Me on Twitter:

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