Advertising In Selling Real Estate By C.c.c. Tatum

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The Rdtl,tu BtrueBook ol (hlilornia

C. C. C, TATUTT Vi.t Pr4ident Nalional Assactatiah Realty Boards Pt.titkrt cililortLkr R.4t Esk|le Associdlion,1922 Mertb.r lrrlitariot Comrrittee Reuu! Blre Roek

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Advertisingin SellingReal Estate Btl C, C. C. TAIUM The Growth ol A&)erti,sing-Calilomiat in the L.odHea.dlines-Cep! Art Work-Classified Ada-Newspaper Ri.gllts- Atu) ertising i.s Suwlementua-T he Awropiation. DVBRTISINC is indispensablein the successfulselling of r.eal estate. Its quickeninginfluenceis a powerful salesstimulus; it is a vital part of realty progress; and it is a mighty factor in stabilizing the brokerage business and in raising standards of practice. Advertising means "pep" or gtnger; it means a crashing into resistancewith characteristic Yankee snap and vim; it meam that factt may be relayed to the public conceming the ideals and purposes of the realtors; it means a greater knowledge of rcal property problems will bc disseminated;and last analmost important it meansa more nearly completeepplication of honest practices to the real estate busineas. But in all lines of busiless it must be rememberedthat there ara more dishonest frms and individuals among the no[-advertisers than there are among the advertisers. The tmth of thls assertion llo mai can deny. A shrewd advertiser is a constant advcrtiser &nd lro one can advertise dishonestly over a long period of time. It simply crn not be done,because"you cannotfool all the peopleall the time." TIIE GROWTII OF ADI'EBTISINC

Advertising is tlTically an American institution. No othe! !Iation has business men who advertise like they do in the Unit€d States; no other nation has gone ahead so rapidly cornmercially nor has any other nation increasedits realty values so quickly. One writer well expressedthe situation regarding real €state advertising when he said it "began as an afterthought of business and becamea forethought." Advertising is beiug used much mote generally by real estate interests today tian ffve years ago. Before the war there was a fair number of firms that believedin publicity, but th€& 'pas still a large percentage that felt it .was not imperative to adveruse. Someten or twelve years ago a subdividerin Chicagousedfull page newspaper advertisements and everybody gasped, Such a custom today is not unusual enough to attlact undue comment, especially in California. The volume of real estate advertising fu increasing ov€rthe entire United Statesand in this statewe havethe satisfaction

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The RaeLtU BLueBoolrof Cat;fornin

of having our unusualreal estateactivity reflectedin the equally un_ usual quality and qua-ntityof our real estatepublicity. CALIIIRNIA IN THE LEAD Wh€ther it be a sign or a slide, a double prge newspaper adver_ , lisemenl or somF other form ot publiciry, Califor-niaha; ieachedan aclvancedslage in perfecling ihat padicular phase of real estate aovertNDrg. From the north to the south of this second largest state in the unron rpal estate men and women are progressiv., They have bv vlrlue or tnetr prolpssiontruly blazeda trail for developmenlof not onry th-ejrown businpss,bur oLherlinesot business.Onebf theif most poweflxlalds h-csbpenpublicity.and from the starl California }ealty rnrere,sr€.naveoepn known throughout the Union for their effectivp use ot thrs el€ctrjcity of business." . .Adv€nising is parti.ularly adapted to the west and q.estern splnr. rt makesse rng more outspoken,frankpr, and it quicklv brinss people togel,her.on any given ploposition. In this siale we taire pride In our hospitati{y.lhe absenceof cliqu€s,factions, traditional iocial rrnes.anct-for this leason advertising has formed a most fedile field ror"gTowth \!rlhin thecon6nesofCalifornia. It has ffourishpdand as a resxlt has }endered a great service in the rapidity vriih \phjch the easl-n:rs Deenacquainled with the innumerable advantag€s of living on the Pacific seaboard. . Californians_ have utilized every forrn of advertisins to tell the [rulh.about thrs state and Lhe values of il,s real property: They have serzed.upon the newspapers ofthe nation and of t}eir own com_ tlr:y have u-lilizpd motjon pictures. signs of every descrip]l-ulr-t*:; LronLo-rnpet _lheeye. Magazines that contain a mpssageof California, pampnrers or-every variety and size have been mailed to ail parts of the globc and on doun the line wp find thal there has bepn no hesi_ iancy to use legilimaie publirily mcdia which could be adapted to tne putposes. In a talk which the writer made before the Home Builclers and Subd-ividersDilision of the Nationat Association at Cleveland. biiio. rn.i_92J, the clrflerent forms of advpdising ul,ilized by Los Anceles subdividers were enumerated, This tal[ was i uitraiea o"-lfr" screen so t}lat the real estate men of the nation mlght -partsee samples ;f our reel estate publicity methods in the southern of thij state. HEADLINES

- The excellenceof the headingsulitized by advertiserswas emphasized in this talk and exampleswere also shownof effectiveuseof small spacein newspapers.Much interesl was evincedin fhe following staternent: ;The spaceuspdby one advertisemenlwas onlv two cofumnsby six inchesand the ads were swalloweduD jn a news;aDer which prints more display advertising than any pairer in ttre 6oilO. 'lne headrngsand l,ext made theselil.tle sds distinctive, furthermole excellentresultswere obtainedwithout the useof arl work or strikinc

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borderc,but the ads appearedregulsrly and no pieceof copy\tas used Slides were also shown of the advertising which helped in corlverting a barley field into a suburb of sevenor eight thowand persong within a fve year pedod. The possibility of using the broker's personality in the advedisements was touched on and a campaign was also described in which the peNonality of fanous historic characters was usd, The value of difierent backgrounds,borders arld various tlTes of appealswere mentionedas were also the advertisementsof negativealld positive suggestion. ANT WORK

The subdividerswere vety much interestedin the slidesshowing art work, becauseone of the most distinctive features in Califomia real estate advertising has been the remtrkable progress made in utilizing drawingB which quickly imprinted the selling idea on the mindsof the readers. During the talk, advertisementswere shown for residential,induslrial.agri.ulluraland ouiing subdivis'ons. Examplesof newspaperadvertising, booklets,pamphlets,signs, dodgersand similar foms of media were also thrown upon the scr€en. CLASSIFIED

ADS

Tvo slides were devotedto classifiedads which we called "the infantry of subdivisioDadvertising," and in this conrectiona atatement was made that with four or five lines, maybe more, it is possiblethrough thesesoldiersof the classifieds€ctionsto sell much real estate,rrherever that property may be located. NEWSPAPEBCO-OPERAAION

In Caiifonria real estatemon are particularly fortunate in having newspapelsat.their cohmand which are public spidted and x.hich 8p to the half way mark and often considerably beyond in promoting the best interests of Pacific coast realtlt. These newslapersnever hesitate to give ample spaceto real estatenews and the larger metropolitan papem have large sections each week devoted to t}Ie welfare of fealty advancement. As a result of this valuable co-operaiion from the "Fou.th Estate," real estatehas boundedforward in a way that it couldnot have goneahead had this co-operation anal assistancebeen lacking. There fore, iD California, the opportunity constantly confronts the real estate men and women of utilizing the news columns of the press as well as the advertising columns. NEWS INTE&ESI

Newspaper men have told the \aryiter that there is much legitimate news about real estate activities always available for "stories" if the broker is only elert to what constitutes "news," In talking to the subdividers at Ctevelaild, the writer said "Do not forget for a momentthat there is often real news about subdivisionactivities and

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TheR@)tABlue Bookot'@,lilor.nb,

with proper_procedure on your pall, it is always possibleto Cet the ear -of a \Mrde-awake reporler. In this way il, is possiblel,o tell the publlc through the news columnswithout any additional cost exceDt taat and frankness,certain new developments about your subdivisi6n operations." T'his suggestionwas also madeaL the sametime: ..Or there.is anofter angle in which publicity rnay be given. lmportant quesnonsrnvot\,'lngreal estate ofl,en alise. Do not hesifate,where you have_thestrength of your convictions,to preparea*icles'for the pressand sigr them in the newspapeN. It ivill- hurt neither your suoolt'lsronaclr\,-ltlesnor your standing as a uselul citizen in lhe community." SIGNS

_ Pe6onally, I have always been most enthusiasticabout the use ol s-rgna.-ln Lhe state of Caiifor.nia.owing !o our well known cli_ matrc.conctrlrons, motoring has reacheda stage of developmentlitde expenenceal ekewhere. While the automobilewhizzesbv real oror:_ erty at a rapid speediL is nevertheless possiUlew;ttr targe,rreit p'iac6a car€ruly wofdect.alg]ts to altracl lhe eyeand fash a story to the mind oI me peoptetn tne automobile. ..A.large pa:l of our popula{ionis found in molor cars every day, so rnar rne lrarlc on every slreel and every lhoroughlareof any consequencegraranteea.thal the signs will be observedby a large per_ ceNag€ol the motor:rngpublic. Our real $tate frms have made a clos€ study of different trade marks and othpr attention getting devices.They havealso lookedinto the.questioD.-ofcolors exlensively. Tte average]eal estate man in wrll most enthusiaslically tell you his own lheofies resard_ Ualrlo_mla ing whlch color can be sepnthe farthest with i,he best effecl_ I4 some parts of the state tlere las been ma.rked sentirnent against real $tate signs and rodat iI the others in my o1i,rcitv are willing to fakpdownthe signs.I \aouldquicklvacquiesce and enthusiastically support the movement. There is no doubt that with the rapid progressof real{y devolopmenb in California the siqn aclivitv haa grown.into ax evil jn many placesand lhe large numbir of sigrx on vacant lots often give rhe visitor Lhe lvrong impression reqa-rding real estatebusinessas it is practicedin our state. Nevertheless signs have done their share as f&r as an effective stimulus of real estateactivities is concemed,a facl which T believeis recosnizedbv tlose who are most aclivF in the movementto eliminrl,etlem. TRADEMAN,KS

In connectionwith the subjectof signs,mentiod shouldbe inade of the trade mark, This brings up the sobjectot copyright iaw. Many desigls calculatedlo atiract attentionhav-ebeendeviied-byreal esrat"e men in this state.Thpreare a numberof firms wh ich usesucha trade_ mark or deviceon l,Ieir letterheads,on their businesscards and in thetr other-iorms.oLactvertrsrng, so-that the publicin tjme gels to Knowlnrs rum and assocratelne trademark with that particular con_

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COPYRICHTS

In relation to the copyright law it is interestingto note that "a meredeviceto attlact the attention which is usedin different pieces of copyand wlich is in effecta mark of idertification,is in a doubtful position,"so fax as protection by copyright is concerned. If it has artistic merit, it might be admissible,but if the copydght protection is to be valid, it cannottheleafter be varied, but must alwaysbe presentedin the exactform it took whenpresentedfor copydght,according to one authority. ADWRTISING IS SUPPLF)MENTARY

In connection with the subject of advertising in selling real estate onepoint should be made especially clear; i. e., advertising is part of selling. It is not separate in any way. It is a segment of the selling circle. Adverlising in real estate is not a substitute for peNonal selling. It is supplementary, distinctly an aid and as was stated in the beginning, a stimulus for selling. THE APP&OPRIAAION

Th€ questionhas doubtlessbeenrecurring in your minds regarding the cost of adve*ising real estate. "How much shouldI spend?" "Don't you have to add on to the p ce of your lots to cover the cost of advertising?" and like queries are prcbably uppermostin your ihoughtsat this moment. The well known and provedprincipleof advertisingthat properly conducted expioitationreally lessensthq costto the purchaserbecaus€ it hastensthe rapidity of tumover to the seller in such a way as to increasethe volumeof his businessand give }lim the sameprofrt with less outlay in the end, is to my nind bome out by Los Angeles expe ence. I believeif the books of all the real estatefirms in LoS Angelesin the lsst year who beloDgto the Board were examinedthe speedof the saleswould revealthe fact that a lower rnargin of profit wis requiredbecauseof the stimulationprovidedby leg:itimateadvertiSing. AdvertisiDgin sellingreal prcperty must be do e intelligenttyand consistently-a procedurewlich necessitates muc}l time, energy,concentrationand counselas well as monel.raccordingto the experience of successflrl Califomia real estateffrms. No two individualsnor any two firms have conditionsconfr-onting themexactlyalike, eveniD the samecity. But thele are certain poiDts from the experieDce of successfulreal estatebrokersin their advertising $'hich can be seizedto advartageby the averageconcern,whether. they are locatedin SanDiegoor Eureka.