Transform Transform July 2014 | Page 7

information in bite sized chunks, divided by periods; it’s how humans are trained to read English. However, when a sentence continues for a long period of time without a period, it makes the information much more difficult to remember. It’s better to break your message into smaller sections that are easy to remember, rather than try to get all the information across at once. Save the longwinded prose for Dickens and Bronte; consumers want their information delivered in the fastest way possible. 4. Write an Effective Headline be removed in the second draft of the work. The headline is read 5 times more often than the body copy. This fact holds true no matter what sort of copy you’re writing. When the consumer sits down to read over your real estate listing, they are focused on one thing only: finding out if the property is right for them. For this reason alone, your headline has to rock. You can’t afford to slack off with it. Take the time to write a headline that draws attention – include the key phrase as part of it. By keeping your focus honed in on that information you can better hold their attention and provide them with what they need. Pay attention to the headlines that catch your attention in day to day life and strive to mimic those. If a reader has to search for the information they want, they’ll likely pass over your listing for one that is clearer. 5. Remain Focused on the Information 6. Edit, Edit, Edit It is often tempting to allow your inner poet to run