Housing Trends eNewsletter is filled with local and national real estate sales and price activity provided by MLSs and the National Association of Realtors, U.S. Census Bureau key market indicators, housing market video reports, blogs, real estate glossary, maps, mortgage rates and calculators, consumer articles, and information on 50,000 neighborhoods.
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View the Housing Trends eNewsletter which contains the latest information from the National Association of REALTORS®, the U.S. Census Bureau, Realtor.org reports and other sources. It also includes key market indicators, real estate sales and price statistics, a video message by a nationally recognized economist, maps……, …mortgage rates and calculators, and more. Click here to view the April Housing Trends Newsletter
Thought this was a great article worth sharing. Enjoy! -Angela
7 Tricks For Creating Powerful Ad-Copy
by Jessica Swanson
As a small business owner, at one time or another, you will need to create a compelling ad. It doesn’t matter if your ad is a sales brochure, email announcement or a newspaper ad, ultimately, your ad-copy must grab your prospect’s attention, produce a desired emotional response that urges them to take action.
Here Are 7 Key Points To Keep In Mind, When Writing Ad-Copy:
1. Choose Your Words Carefully
There are over 175,000 words in the English language and, if used wisely, have the power to sway people’s thinking, change their perspective and even motivate them to take action.
Selecting your words thoughtfully and with precision will create an enormous difference in the quality and performance of your ads.
- Words that create a feeling of safety: peace, relaxed, serene, secure, warm
- Words that create a sense of control: confidence, mastery, balance, self-assured, composure
- Words that create excitement: edgy, exhilarating, explosive, juicy, sensational
2. Focus On Benefits
Many small business owners make the mistake of focusing on the features of their product or service. Unfortunately, your prospect isn’t interested in mere features; they are only interested in how your product or service will improve their life.
Therefore, eliminate focusing on the mundane characteristics of your product and service and instead concentrate on how it will benefit your prospect’s life. Will it make them thinner? Happier? Richer?
If you are able to effectively portray how your product will change lives, your battle is half-done.
3. Establish Trust
One of the jobs of your ad-copy is to establish trust between you and your buyers. People will never do business with companies that they don’t feel confident about. Therefore, you need to put their anxieties to rest and convince them that their fears are unsubstantiated.
There are various ways to establish credibility:
- Use statements that are truthful and original;
- Offer free product samples or free services;
- Include your name and contact information in your ad-copy;
- Use testimonials from satisfied clients/customers;
- Avoid generalizations and include specifics;
4. Create One Clear Objective
Every single piece of ad-copy that you produce (whether it is a Google Adword campaign or a piece of direct mail) should be deliberately simple.
You should have only one, crystal clear objective in your ad. Either you want your prospect to visit a website, call a 1-800 number or take out their wallet and make a purchase. If your ad contains multiple objectives, your prospect will only become confused and overwhelmed.
As the saying goes, “Keep It Simple Stupid!” This applies to your ad-copy as well.
5. Differentiate Your Company
One of the main ingredients in successful ad-copy is to convince your prospects that you are different and unique from your competition. Your ad should always convey at least one reason why you are different.
Do you offer superior customer service? Are you the fastest? Do you produce the highest quality materials?
Discover what main attributes motivate your particular target market and make this attribute the focal point when differentiating yourself.
6. Pack Your Headlines With Power
There are dozens of research studies that suggest that your headline is the most important part of your entire ad. In fact, you only have three seconds to capture your prospect’s interest, so your headline needs to be packed with as much power as possible.
You should always use “power words” in your headline such as:
Amazing
Announcing
Advice To
At Last
Bargains
Breakthrough
Discover
Do You
Enormous
Facts
Finally
Free
Great News
Guaranteed
Here
How Much
Inside Secrets Of…
Innovative
Love
Only
Proven
Sale
This
Which
Yes
7. Create An Emotional Response
Ultimately, your ad should produce a desired emotion in your prospect. It’s simply not enough that your prospect relates to your company in a logical manner. There needs to be an emotional connection as well.
Use words that bring about the emotions that you want your customer or client to feel: love, fear, desire, power, more control, etc.
If your prospect relates to you on both an emotional and logical level, you are engaging them in a fuller manner and they are more likely to connect with you and your company.
Although writing solid ad-copy isn’t child’s play, it can be learned through practice, patience and perseverance.
The difference between producing a mediocre ad and producing an irresistible ad that motivates your prospect to take action could literally mean thousands of dollars in extra sales, customers and clients.
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Jessica Swanson, “The Shoestring Marketer,” has helped entrepreneurs, all over the world, explode their businesses using cutting-edge, proven and completely free marketing strategies. To receive your FREE Shoestring Marketing Kit, which has helped thousands of entrepreneurs, just like you, learn the exact techniques for marketing their businesses for no-cost, visit: www.ShoestringMarketingKit.com
“Many Realtors agree, especially in a buyer’s market, that sellers who make these recommended home improvements often get their homes sold faster and at higher prices,” stated Louis Cammarosano, General Manager at HomeGain. “We have customized our Home Sale Maximizer online home improvement tool to help identify and prioritize the projects that can increase the salability and selling price of a home.”
Rounding out the top 12, the list of low cost, do-it-yourself home improvements includes: updating electrical, replacing or shampooing carpets, painting interior walls, repairing damaged floors, updating kitchen, painting outside of home, and updating bathroom/s.
Ready to put your home on the market or just want some information on the market in your area of town? Ask us about our highest price analysis for your neighborhood.
Austin Real Estate Services: Call Angela at 512.762.0923
San Antonio Real Estate Services: Call Lloyd at 512.363.8647
View my Housing Trends Newsletter for February for a one minute housing market video report from Chief Economist Ted C. Jones and view US home statistics.
Want to buy, but can’t get approved through a lender? Ask me about available owner finance homes in the Austin area. Call 512.762.0923 today for a list of Austin owner finance homes.
NAR has recently released the 2009 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. This annual report compiles the results of 9,138 surveys returned by buyers and sellers who sold or purchased a home between July 2008 and June 2009. The complete report is available for purchase at www.realtor.org . Here are some highlights:
47% of all buyers were first time buyers
62% of first time buyers reported that the primary reason for buying a home was the desire to be a homeowner, 35% of all buyers reported that as the number 1 reason.
The median age of all buyers was 39, same as last year
83% of all first time buyers are under the age 44
62% of all buyers are under age 44
90% of all buyers used the internet to search.
84% of buyers reported the photos to be the most useful information
The number one action taken after viewing a home online was to drive by or visit the home
36% of buyers found the home they purchased through an agent, 36% found the home they purchased online, less than 3%found the home they purchased in a print ad
1. SRS designees are members of an elite group of trained seller client advocates that know the importance of their client’s specific needs by using Seller Counseling Sessions to insure all needs are addressed.
2. SRS designees concentrate their efforts on the seller client’s ultimate goals to insure the client is at the center of the sale.
3. SRS designee is extensively trained in a wide variety of manual and electronic marketing methods to uniquely promote your property to the widest range prospective purchasers.
4. SRS designees understand that negotiation skills are critical to a successful transaction and are trained to position their client to receive the best possible outcome during negotiations of the sale.
5. SRS designees adhere to the highest level of professional ethics and business practices in delivering Client Level services with integrity.
6. SRS designees are uniquely qualified to exceed the expectations of their clients yielding client trust.
7. SRS designees know the importance of staging your property for best results. Staging is a critical component, along with accurate pricing, to attain desired results within a timely manner.
8. SRS designees have an advanced level of understanding on how to collaborate with a variety of cooperating agents of all skill levels in the marketplace to insure that the best buyer has an opportunity to purchase your property.
Yours in Excellence, Angela Sparks REALTOR, GRI, CHMS,SRS
There are thousands of homes on the market right now. What do you need to do to make your home desirable and obtain top dollar? Below are some tips to make this possible. 1.De-clutter. Take a look around your house. Are there items you no longer need or use or piles of books, magazines, or other materials? The home should appear spacious so potential buyers can imagine the home with their belongings. Give away the unused items or have a garage sale. 2.Repair Sheetrock. Do you cracks or holes in the walls? Repair those professionally to give the home a well-maintained look. 3.Repaint/Touch up. Do the walls have fingerprints, marks, and other flaws? It’s time to touch up or repaint entirely. This gives your home a new home look that buyers like. 4.Fix Anything Broken. You have lived in the home and know which items are in need of repair. Get them in good working order so that the buyers will know they are getting a home that has all appliances in good working order. 5.Shampoo or Replace Carpet. Carpets, draperies, and furniture are the main sources of unpleasant household odors. If the carpets are less than 5 years old, a good steam cleaning may improve things. If they are older or stained, it may be time to replace them. A home with fresh or new carpets is appealing to buyers. 6.Replace Burned out Light Bulbs. This will assure the buyer that you pay attention to detail as well as making your home lighter and brighter. Light and bright are quality features. 7.Replace caulking around tubs, showers, and sinks. If the caulking has mold, is stained, or has missing pieces, replace it. It is a very cheap way to make the bathrooms begin to look new again. J 8.Thoroughly Deep Clean Entire House. Your home must be immaculate and smell pleasant. Give the home a deep cleaning. No buyer wants to move in to a dirty home. Pay someone reputable to clean. It will be worth the investment. 9.Clean UP the Yard. People love driving up to a well-manicured lawn with flowers growing in the yard. It tells them that even better things await them inside. 10.Keep up With Pest Control. Make sure there are no ants, cockroaches, or any other pests to distract buyers from the beauty of your home. 11.Call US to Be Your Realtor. We can give you additional tips, evaluate the market value of your home, and lead you through the entire process to a successful sale.
Many Austin home buyers may not realize that buyers are entitled to representation when purchasing a new construction home. Keep in mind that the friendly person in the model home represents the builder, not you the buyer. Builders actively market to agents and they regularly attend local real estate office meetings to provide agents with information on their communities. The builder pays the buyer agent commission out of their marketing budget. There is also a special publication that Realtors have as a resource that lists the Austin builders, their communities and available homes which can save you the buyer, the time of visiting website after website to see if a community is right for you. Your Realtor can quickly direct you to the communities that fit your needs. In Austin, it is sometimes required that the REALTOR® accompany the buyers(s) on their first visit. So, if you think you may like to build or buy a new construction home, ask your REALTOR® to accompany you on your search. After all, your agent is there to offer professional advice, negotiate on your behalf and to facilitate resolving any issues that may arise through the process. As an accredited EcoBroker, I also have a list of green Austin home builders, including custom builders, that incorporate energy efficiency and sustainable building practices for your cost savings and comfort. You can also ask me about the green building features of the ‘national’ builders in the Austin area. Call Angela Sparks at 512-762-0923 to learn more or build today!