You need to tell your customers WHY.

Your “About” or “Meet the Team” page is the most important page of your website.

Read that again. THE MOST IMPORTANT PAGE IS YOUR “ABOUT” PAGE.

How could that possibly be? Surely it’s the wonderful products and services you supply, or the amazing places that you have been, or the cool photos you have showing you looking young and vibrant and hip? Surely?

NO!

IT’S THE “ABOUT” PAGE.

Why?

Because business is competitive and these days there are very few truly unique offerings. But even the unique stuff is rarely unique because it looks or functions differently.

You know those amazing Kickstarter projects? Things like amazing backpacks with a GAZILLION POCKETS THAT WILL REORGANIZE YOUR LIFE? Yes. Those. Well, they all start with the reasons why the guys started in the first place. They have a little story to tell.

The strong impression created is that they do not care if no one at all buys their backpack. It’s like they just want to share their hard-wrung solution to a very personal problem they had at some point while travelling in eastern Europe while, actually what where they doing, spying? I mean who needs that many gadgets anyway? I digress…

The point is, at some point, you’re hooked on their story and if that resonates with you, they’re half way to signing you up.

So, their reason WHY, becomes YOUR reason WHY!

You buy the why, not the how and certainly not the what. It’s a backpack for crying out loud.

Back to About pages. If you run a business and especially if you’re in an established field, like real estate or gold mining, then I know as well as you do that the core of your business is the same as everyone else’s.

Hard truth right there.

Your business is, essentially, on an even keel, product- or service-wise, with your competitors' business.

I know you’re stressing now. Something in your brain is saying, “BUT I GOT INTO BUSINESS TO CHANGE ALL THAT!”

And you’d be absolutely right. But it’s still gold bars or suburban homes, right?

Look again at that question: “Why did you go into business?”

Forget money or income (that’s merely an outcome). Forget “being your own boss” – that’s a platitude. And everyone works to provide for their families – that’s universal.

What part of your life’s mission was served by going into business. Why are you doing it? What gets you excited about going to work in the morning?

I’m not going to answer that for you, because we all have different answers. It’s emotional.

It’s personal, and that’s the point. Our personal drives shape our lives. Your next customer very well might choose you because your reasons why resonate with hers or his.

How are they ever going to connect with you without knowing ABOUT you?

Hence the ABOUT page. It really is that important.

In many ways, my ABOUT page is all about YOURS – telling that side of you is hard, because translating the emotional side into words is hard. But doing that is one of the things I like to do. It’s why I’m here writing this…

Get in touch!

This is why you need me.

Why?

It's the crucial question, isn't it?

If I can make you believe that my services will make your life better, then I'm at least half way there, right? Then it's just "how does it work?" and "what will it cost?" and other minor questions.

Professional writers produce professional writing. Obviously.

You can expect that if you use a professional writer like me (letter writer, copywriter, ghost writer, editorial/advertorial writer etc.) you will get professional text at a high level of competency - good spelling, grammar, structure, and a little pizzazz that makes the copy sing (and makes you look great and sells your product/service).

So, great writing skill is not really a selling point, it's a given.

Do better things with your time.

As I am sure you are aware, writing takes time. Researching, planning, crafting and drafting a piece of writing requires care and time. It is also something you probably don't do regularly because you are busy with your core business (or your life – you know, enjoying it!)

There are a lot of writing tasks that are secondary to your immediate business, but which are critical to your image/marketing and therefore your future business. These all take time.

Some examples

- Writing a column in a newsletter or magazine – makes you stand out as an expert.

- Posting regular blog posts gathers followers and improves your profile.

- Writing copy for your website that actually works for your business.

- Writing brochures and reports.

- Simply writing a well-worded and persuasive letter.

A major benefit.

What is the major benefit for my clients? You guessed it: time saving.

Just brief me and you'll get well-written copy promptly, rather than have to slave all day over it yourself.

I'm available to work through it with you to ensure it meets your needs precisely.

What is your time worth? 

(Most people in business can estimate this fairly well and it can be shocking to realize how much you have “spent” by trying to write a blog post for 6 hours).

So, the why is straightforward – make writing an easy part of your business. Stand out as a great communicator without cutting into the time you need to run your core business. And, of course, save a whole lot of time and stress.

It’s a no-brainer really. Except that it isn’t: getting me to write for you is a really smart move.

Get in touch today!

The Holy Trinity of Service, or is it?

Sometimes it's known as the Iron Triangle. Which to me sounds like a cross between a Tory Prime Minister and a Caribbean vacation.

When you're deciding how to run your business you, supposedly, have to decide which two of these three goals you're going to focus on as "your product". 

Will you be Cheap and Fast? This is great because it gives you high turnover which is pretty important to running a successful business. But quality will suffer and, depending on your field, that could hurt you in the long run.

Will you be Fast and Great? This is close to nirvana, but also very hard to maintain. It requires hard grind, a toll on your employees if you have them, and likely sleepless nights. To do this you have to charge your clients more to justify the effort and/or put on more staff (or end up in an asylum).

How about Great and Cheap? Well, ok. This is probably only your side-hustle, right? I mean, you don't actually earn a living from this do you? No, didn't think so. Clients can expect great work, but you know, when it's finished and stuff. 

Which brings me to a more nuanced look at this. For me, rather than speed, I value reliability. What this means is I do what I say I'll do and deliver it when I say I will.

Or, to put it another way: I deliver on my promises.

So, instead of breakneck speed, I use schedules and calendars and make damned sure I'm not making spurious promises to clients. 

Maybe I'm cynical, but to me, that is a kickass proposition: I would hire a service that offered reliability as a central goal. Perhaps because it seems so rare these days, it is such a pleasure when someone delivers on their promise. 

What it means is that I can focus on Quality, without having to make my prices "premium", because I am not chasing my tail constantly. (I am busy though, don't get me wrong!)

In the end, services with a creative bent, like writing and editing, simply cannot compromise on quality: the quality of our work is our brand. It's our calling card. Do bad work and people simply wont be interested. So really we only have price and speed to work with. Instead, I focus on reliability, which allows me to be realistic with price.

How does this, for instance, translate to my business? 

I'm not cheap; I'm not the most expensive, either. I do high quality work, that people recommend, which is great! I do work quite fast, but I won't rush it if that compromises quality - I will consider each job on its merits, estimate the time it will take, and tell you. Then I'll stick to that timeline to the utmost of my ability (barring major illness, I never miss deadlines). Together this makes for an upper-middle road that I think clients can actually believe in. No unicorns here.

How do you manage this wobbly triangle?

3 things I've learnt from writing real estate copy

I have a few suggestions; both for real estate agents, and for buyers and sellers, but we'll get to that.

I've written copy for hundreds of properties. It means that I walk in and visit between 15 and 30 properties a week. It can be even more during the busy seasons of Spring and late summer. Every day, after visiting all these properties, I have to sit down in front of my computer and come up with creative ways to present the benefits in a way that not only describes a property but also sells it to the right kind of buyer. What do I mean by that?

You only need one

Well, as any real estate agent knows, sure, you have to market a property broadly, but in the end each property only needs one buyer. In the end, all this marketing eventually comes down to one person, one individual who thinks "that's the kind of property I want."

Nudging you towards the property

I seem to be saying vague things here. I use the words "kind of" because an important distinction needs to be made between what the advertisement for a property does, and what the real estate agent does when there's a potential buyer in the property. Put simply, the written copy on the ad does not sell the property.

Instead, the purpose of the ad is to start the customer down the slippery slope towards a sale. If my ad causes an individual to decide to turn up to a home open, then the ad has been a complete success. This might sound like a cop out, and for a while I was a bit uneasy about thinking of it in these terms. But then I stopped and I thought about how you actually search for real estate; something I am personally in the process of doing right now for my family. When you go onto a listing site like realestate.com.au you're already a fairly motivated and interested consumer. You've already got and idea of the kind of property that you would like to rent buy or invest in. You've probably got an idea of the area if you're looking in, and some pretty firm opinions about price range and the basic features that a property requires. You may also be educated in the state of the market, and particularly in what you're looking for; how to spot quality etc.

You are a highly educated and motivated consumer; but there's a lot of property out there and you only have so much time. How do you decide?

The copy paints a lifestyle picture

You search for your basic requirements and you look at the photos and see if it's something you might like. You look at the floor plans to see if it'll work for you.  You look at the map to see if it's in the area that you want to live in and then you read the copy, because you might have missed something like a garden studio, attic storage; something that you can't see in the photo.

Then the copy will relate to you the feel of the property and lifestyle it could grant you. Which school zone it's in, other delights. These are the details that bring it home, that get you emotionally involved. This starts make you feel warm about living there. It begins to put you inside the property and make you imagine how it will make you feel. Think of this as the point at which a car dealer might say, "Hey, why don't you take it for a test drive?" If all of this resonates with you there's really only one more thing you need to do and that is going have a look at the property. So, assuming the agent makes that easy for you, the advertisement has now done it's work.

I said I had some advice. I do, but my real purpose in this post was to describe what a real estate ad is doing, and what it is not doing. It's not a plain description of the property, and yet that is in there. It's not a strong sales pitch, nor a novel, because no one has time for that. Instead, it is a quick picture of the place and how it would be to live there/own it.

What are the three things then?

Well:

1. It's not just a description.
2. There's actually a lot to it, and a lot to consider and include.
3. You need to remember standard sales copy principles, such as a hook, and call to action.

I guess I should also add that I am busy as the proverbial one-legged riverdancer right now, and it takes a lot of effort to get around and see properties (especially with big family homes, it's better to visit to get that personal feel and touch, but it's a nightmare on scheduling!)

For the buyers, allow yourself to get lost in the copy - if it resonates, go view the property. These things are written with what I might term, "exuberant honesty". It paints the property in a positive light. If you don't subsequently like it, well it's not the property for you. No loss but a bit of time, and you've made your way closer to the perfect property.

For sellers, demand the best. The copy, the photos, the floorplan, they all make a difference. A big difference.

For agents, get it right and the campaign should be a breeze. Take the time, or get some help, it's more cost effective than you might think. If you want great, effective copy on your property ads, drop us a line today.