Clint Miller has put together a pretty good blog post on power words and how to use them to market yourself. Try some of these words in your next marketing brochure or postcard to help prove you are the best agent/company to work with.

FRIENDLY — Of course your friendly. You work in a position that requires it. I have never met a single agent ever anywhere that doesn’t possess the ability to at least fake his/her way through an appointment appearing to be friendly. Go to an appoint and be an ass and see how far that gets ya…

PROFESSIONAL — Ummm…duh. I would hope so. Why would you waste valuable advertising space promoting something that the client is already expecting to exist merely by the fact that you hold the position that you do. McDonald’s food is safe to eat. Fords will help you get from point A to point B. My service is professional. See the problem??

HONEST — (See friendly and professional)

HARD-WORKING — I have met very few agents in this industry that are not working hard. I have met a bunch that don’t work very smart, but I think all of them work hard. Do you really want to be measured by how many more hours you will spend working for them versus how many hours your competition will put in? Or, would you rather be measured by how much more effective you are at selling homes?

Pretty much any word that you can use as an adjective about yourself falls into this category including knowledgeable, reliable, trustworthy (dear Lord, please don’t use this one!!) etc…

Now, by the same token, there is a group of powerful words that can be used to deliver a better message about your ability and maintain the aspects of your ability that the client is already assuming exist within you. Those are:

RESULTS — People are buying results when they hire you. It only makes sense to promote that fact in your tag line. You are hired to sell a home. That is a result that your client wanted. Bring that to the forefront so that other clients know you can deliver those results.

DELIVER — Delivering something is hugely important. You are bringing them something they want. I order a pizza…I don’t want to go get it. I want it brought to me. Bring me something I value and I will pay you for it. Do it well, and I will tell other people.

BEST — Being the best at anything positive will bring you results. Be the best blogger in your area, you will get clients from it. Being the best at any aspect of your job gives the ability for you to leverage this aspect and you will get new clients coming to you because of it.

YOU — If your advertising is a message to a potential new client, why talk about yourself?? Why not talk about what they want? Using the word ‘you’ implies that a specific focus on the individual client and will create a connection between you as the agent and them as your customer.

GUARANTEED — The value of a guarantee is implied by the client, not you. Offering something that is guaranteed implies that you are true to your word; you can produce a desired result and are willing to back it up. Guarantees provide that same feeling of confidence in your clients by removing doubt and potential risk.

LARGEST — It has long been thought that there is strength in numbers. The size of an organization has typically been thought as being the ’safest’ choice merely based on the size. Remember, nothing draws a crowd like a crowd. So, whatever you can say about being the largest in your market space will help you. It doesn’t have to be the largest brokerage. It could be the largest internet presence, the largest service network, etc.

You can view the entire blog post here: Choose Your Words Carefully

Joe Cline from RE/MAX talks about how landscaping can help improve the overall looks of your property, and make the property easier to sell. I found the following statistic very interesting: “Based on a recent survey or property owners, it was noted that 95% of residential homeowners and 86% of commercial property owners believe that good landscaping adds more value to their properties.”

“He who plants a garden, plants happiness” is an old saying. However, things have changed a lot nowadays. Today, the proverb could be thought of as “He who plants a garden, plants money!” When it comes to selling a house, landscaping is an important factor that determines the value of the property. Real estate gurus believe that gardens around a house can contribute more than 10% to the total value of the property. Moreover, the houses with attractive gardens, particularly mature trees, are easily saleable when compared to the other houses with limited or underdeveloped landscaping. Investing a little time in tending your garden can really pay dividends when it comes to selling your home.

To read the rest of the story: Real Estate Tidbits: Gardens More Than a Labor of Love

Here is an article I recently found discussing the benefits of staging a home. This extra attention to detail could make the difference in this tough economy. Many times a home will actually bring in more money when this real estate marketing tool is used.

The first encounter a prospective buyer has with your house may be your only opportunity to get him or her in to see and potentially buy it. Every Realtor will tell you that location makes all the difference, and it is a big factor in a buyer’s decision making, but if your house doesn’t make a good first impression, location may not save the sale.

Today, an increased number of home sellers are relying on home staging as a marketing tool to help them make sure they get first impressions right. Home staging helps people get their houses ready for sale with the aim of selling them fast and for the best price possible. This is achieved by making the houses look their best so they appeal to a wide range of prospective buyers. Studies by the National Association of Realtors, the Real Estate Staging Association and others, show staged houses sell in about half the time of unstaged homes and generally for more money.

Buyers will form their first impression about a property in less than 30 seconds, so making that first impression a good one is critical. That impression then has to be reinforced repeatedly as a buyer goes through a house.

Read the rest of the article here: Making a great first impression is as valuable as location