I cringe when I see ezines and e-mail campaigns that reference "All of you" or even "You guys." That doesn't make anyone feel special to you - it just makes them feel like they're part of a herd.
Today's technology makes it easy to customize your email messages with "Dear Sally" or "Dear Mr. Jones," and you should be doing that. But more than that, the body of the message should sound like it's just for them.
When you sit down to write, think about just one of your customers or prospects and write directly to them. If you're writing to people you don't know yet, hopefully you know something about them, so you can make up someone in your mind.
If you sell to young families, picture them in your head. See the mom and the dad and a couple little kids. Think about how they live and what they think about. Consider what they want and what they worry about, and then what you can do to ease their worries and help them get where they want to go.
If you market across different niches, separate your buyers and send a different letter to each category. The concerns of a young family buying their first home are different from those of the empty-nesters who simply want to change homes.
If you're writing to try to get new listings, write a separate letter for people in different situations. The seniors who don't have to sell, but want to move to be near kids or experience a different climate are far different from the people who are stuck between a rock and a hard place and need to do a short sale. And they are different from the person who needs to sell to relocate to a new job.
If you know someone personally who fits the profile of the person you're writing to, put them firmly in your mind and then write to them. Go so far as to write "Dear George and Sue," and then write the letter to them. You can come back later and change the "dear" part.
Now talk to them like you would if you were sitting across the table. You wouldn't sound stiff and formal, and you wouldn't say things like "People like you." No, you'd say "you" instead. Assuming that you have pretty good language skills or you wouldn't be in real estate sales, simply write like you talk.
In short, give plenty of thought to the person who will read your message. And don't try to create a "one size fits all" letter - because one size will end up fitting no one.
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About the Author: Marte Cliff is a Freelance Copywriter and former real estate broker who specializes in writing for real estate and related industries. She'll help you with one letter, or an entire marketing plan. For Real estate agents and brokers who are ready to get full value from their websites, she offers web copywriting and lead generation packages. She also offers a course called the Real Estate Career Builder, which covers best practices along with marketing methods.
