As a business person and writer of your own or other’s real estate marketing materials, plagiarism is an expensive mistake you cannot afford.
But you have probably read or heard about the practice of direct marketers to keep all the copies of direct mails they receive for reference. So is this considered plagiarism or a dirty practice of real estate direct mail heist? Not at all, so let me explain how you do this and why.
A swipe file is your personal stash of direct-mail copy. It comes from any number of sources. Some of it, no doubt, will be from your direct competitors. Other sources may be from areas of direct marketing that have absolutely no connection to your real estate investing business.
You then use your new knowledge on the marketing impact of these words in your own real estate direct marketing copy. You don’t use the same sentences or even impart the same idea in your real estate direct mail. You are just using the ‘words’ to market ‘your own ideas.’
In order to come up with something your own, you need to be creative with the help of other people’s work. In fact, some people gets to be more inspired and come up with better ideas when “using” other people’s work.
Be creative. If you find a headline with the word “turbocharge” excites you try to work it somewhere into your copy. If you like a certain phrase, or even an idea that urges people to call right now, adapt that idea for yourself. Go with your gut instincts. You’ll discover that not only does it make your copy sizzle, but it’ll probably increase your response rate as well.
A swipe file has been used by all of the most successful copywriters for years. If you aren’t already receiving some type of direct-mail from a variety of firms, contact some. Tell them you’re interested in being placed on their mailing list. You don’t need to tell them why!
One effective method we can borrow from poets and creative writers is to read these real estate marketing materials out loud. By doing this, you get to both hear and feel the power of the words.
So take time to collect and study other people’s marketing materials. Use them as a brainstorming device to help you get started writing.
A swipe file, if used properly, it’s neither stealing nor plagiarism; it’s inspiration, pure and simple. And who among us can’t use a little more inspiration?
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