AGENTS: what's your appetite for ...

Would you post a sample?

I'd be happy to send you one, if you'd like ... posting it here would be super long and would render it formatless.

Didn't intend for this to be a sales pitch, by the way :) rather gauging appetite ... much like a mini focus group of sorts.

AGENTS ... also, forgot to mention ... what would such a service be worth to you, price-wise?

Thanks, again

Mini-focus groups usually get compensated. What would such a service be worth to YOU, price-wise?

A_M, I was a journalist for over 20 years and also wrote ad copy from time to time.

There are companies out there already providing what you propose, in and outside of website packages, at extremely attractive rates. I don't know how you would compete, really, unless you could do the work to come up with information that couldn't easily be found elsewhere. That's a journalism job, though. Literature and MBA degrees are not what's called for, in my view.

If you're looking for writing work, you might want to try writing apartment descriptions for a fee. The NYT did a story about a woman who does that, at Corcoran as I recall. You could do it on a freelance basic and charge, maybe, $15 per write up.

I notice there is just a lot of bad writing out there when it comes to apartment descriptions, and I am finding that a good description is quite a powerful tool to attract buyers. Not as important as photos and a good price, but important.

Agent bios are another possibility for writing work. I will re-write any new agent's bio for free if they ask me, just because I believe it matters and people really struggle with this.

Karla Harby
Charles Rutenberg Realty
kharby@rutenbergrealtyny.com

thanks, Karla - your comment is much appreciated

i've actually searched for such services and only find third-party writing that's very detached from what's happening on the ground. the reason the degrees are important is 1) the writing skills and 2) the ability to analyze and not just report. it's about tackling relevant and timely information that would truly empower buyers, sellers and renters ... objectively and intelligently.

the services that i DID find in my search are super expensive $2k+/month and even THOSE are not written from the agent/client perspective

i'm not looking for writing work - i'm looking to offer an agent-side solution
agents have to wear dozens of hats in their jobs: PR specialist, web designer, copywriter, lead generator, accountant, branding expert, etc etc etc
... this all takes away time from doing what agents should do best: sell

agents who DO write their own newsletter spend hours if not days (the good ones) researching, writing, editing and sending quality content to their clients. we want to help outsource that effort. many agents either don't have the time, will or skill to do this on a disciplined basis.

we want to provide a unique, best-in-class solution to differentiate agents in a market that is more hungry than ever for quality guidance and information

Since most agent newsletters are targeted to small communities, you might encourage potential content buyers to recoup the cost by selling advertising space to other non-competitive local businesses or perhaps developers who will work through the agent.
I would also encourage you to figure out with the agents how to build their audience for digital distribution...anything that comes via USPS is becoming increasingly seen as outdated.

I would pay a third party to proofread and edit a newsletter that I authored. I would pay a third party to perform research according to my specs so that I could track trends over time and write about them in my newlestter. (e.g. "Each month, I want you to populate this spreadsheet with all new closings on the Upper West Side...") .

I can't see paying a third party to WRITE a newsletter. I think a service provider's personal newletter needs to be *personal* - an extension of the agent's personality. That's an elusive quality in ghostwritten copy.

*Newsletter*, that is. Hence the need for professional proofreading.

destruction?

thanks, everyone ...
lizyank - indeed, this is an e-newsletter, such that it's fully trackable in terms of open rates, click-through rates, etc ... therefore not as specific or targeted as hard copy newsletters

topics potentially dealt with:
- condo pricing trends
- specific situations like what happens when appraised prices fall below contract signed prices
- whether r.e. is a good inflation hedge or not
- whether to renovate before you sell, etc.

trying to create a very high-level, intelligent monthly market report, so to speak, unlike what currently exists out there

in any case, based on your input so far, doesn't seem like this small sample size is particularly excited about it :)