Advertising Real Estate by Harry H Culver Founder of Culver City CA

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146 TheRdLIta BLueBook of Cal.ifornia

HARRY H. CULVER



The Raalt! BIua Iiook ol Calilonia 747

Advertisins RealEstateBy HARRY H. CuLl'ER

Ma,ss SeLLing Holu MxLclL o Spend. n Adoertia;ng-Apportionment of Au)ropri&tion-Selection of Medtu-Dir ect-by-M ail Ad1)ertisiw-I llustr d,tions-Pro lnable Pub-Lic'ita-Long N. Shol't CopU Sign-Boarala-Heddlines-InteIUg ence in Pretmration.

. I fT prys Io adverl ise hasbeenquotedsomuch and sooften mosl

I peoplebelieve l . and wilh good eason. l l jsn' l st f ict ly true,^

howeve*, hat any kind of ad!ert ising paysr bul i t doespay

to advedise truthfully and consistently.Wlile this chapter dealsparticularly with real estate adveltising,

there are many fundamental principl€s which apply to all advertisingin alrv line of endeavor.

o€dain maxims ar€ particularly applicableto advertising in gen-

eral. John Wanamaker is credited with the statement that "Adver-tising doesn't jerk-it putls." The old maxim, "Keeping everlastingly&t it brilgs success," s as true today as when it was first originated.

. MASS SELLINC

Advertising has been defined as 'Mass Selling," and as suchcovers the largest percentage of general advertising. I'he inainfunctionof advertising s to sell merchandise,rolerty, or simply anidea;but its function is ess€ntiallywhat may be ter'med "printedsalesmanship."Good advertising sells the greatestamount of mer-.chandise,or property, or converis he largestnumberof people o agiven dea. In actualpractice t is almost mpossibleo trace directly

the results of any given, or individual advertisement, lthough induny cases large numberof salesare made n this way. Sometimesttre advertisement ctually makesthe sale,so that a.ll he salesmanhas o do is to take the money, ssuea receipt,or contract, or ev€ndelivertle geods.

IMPO&TANCEOF ADEQUATEADVERTISING

When a proposition s well advertised t createsa backgroundto the salesman'sgreat advantage, rendering it unnecessary or himto go into full details with each individual customer. Under suchconihtionsa salesmancan cover a great deal more ground, mal{e more

salesn less ime and at lesscost.ADI'ERTISED AR,TICIE MUST HAI'E M'RIT

It is more important to create satisfied custome$ than simply tomskdsales,particularly in real estateadvedising. When a real estate



148 The Realfu BIrLeBaolt ol C|rliforntar

i s n r i s r e D f p s " n t . d r r d h P , u b r o m p rd i ' ' o v c i s t l " i s b y i n -

; , , ;h h; t . j rnd 'o good rarr Ipsr . l r f rnr *Lrch malhods '

THD ARUT1I IN ADVDRTISING

plopositionYestigation,

Thlough $'ell-organizecladveltisirg agencies,and the elTolts oJ'eetG Bu'siness" lr-ureausthloughout the Unitcd States, a 11e1l'

";;;l;"J;fuefiective campaisn lbr "tluth in adve ising" has been

pii"'iGii"J *itrl gleat suiceis. It is better that thele should be

ul]derstltenent lather than exaggeratror'

HOW I{UCTI TO ST'END N ADVERTISINC

f e " ' l a r s p b " - l r ' e ' n o o o r ' r r i \ : r r i . r i ] r i . o \ ' ' r r ' j l h l l " o r ' t i 1

, i o " i " r h . t I i i r r ; r r . . , _ h ' l F . i p l j l l F o ' l a r r r r i ' l l a d r a l a nT h , . I , e ' . o r ' l h g p , n l \ r ' ) f i o r . 1o r ' l a ' . n p ' i

"r . d e p € r r d r n ro n

Jitg".itties e""uultcteil a:rd resistance to overcorne A feir average

iruiiia Ue etrue"u ttt'ceand vc pet cent of the gloss snles

ILLISTRA'r'1oN. I.ol instuce, jJ a subdivisjon lv^s pl:lnlled 1r

such a wry th:rt the total retail vahre of the lots would approxnnate

; " ' ' l i ' o n ' d " i ; r " , p . i , ,a r ' i r t , : ' b ' r l o r r ' ) p r : r '$ o l d L e . " o t u r l e d

r . s " l i n s o r r i r l , ' f o o r ' i i o . r - 1J h ' t r " \ ' ' l n n ) l : l ' r l n ' i _

: r v r l r . e a ' r ' , p r ^ l 9 1 , 0 0 0 . r ' 0 0 n ,I S 3 0 . ( i n 0r " d I ' l o r l o r ' r r r gr r r

sum to be pent dul ing the teAr.

,{P|ORTIONMENT'fhe:rDDroDri:rtion should be distlibuted jD such a $'ay that 'r

.ou" ia., : ,rr , i"n.n :o i. ").1. d' J t h. f ir ' ' l 1nr ' r r of I v o. $ i t lr gr ' |rdrral

; : J ; ' . ; ; ; ; i , ' , ' , o u i . t s , o $ a , J ' \ . - ' d o i 1 ' . ' i r ' r ' a i r o ' r h ' ' r ' e . o r v

l h r r : , l a h p sit gets under' \\.l|Y.

S]'I,I]CTION OF I{I]DIA

Thc losical procedur€ is to adveltisc in those publications which

"t"t"od friitft" pinrtf" to Nhom vou e\pect to sell The \\'r'ite'"believes

i h n" e w s o a r , c l

i o t . t r " n o s r n t \ ^ - r r r r n .d r l " 1 r j r r l \ ' r t i " ; n g"Pa l

" j , ; i" .b; i ; ' " l ; ,"" ' i " r ,y i, , so. r l"d -r ' " . i : r" r,"L, l irn ^nq.$r i"h

may be enl oyed to good eilect

]NTDLLICIINCETN ]]FET'.{RATrcN

- c . d \ " r - . . i r , E ' h o r r . d r p ^ , r d e d : s h I ' F \ s l a f p i

l r r d l . - . r r n a | l n r r r r t l p r ' ' .d i J ' r ! - ' j ' n d ' ' l ' l o r r . r a l l s r

pi-e".- ,Jth;';gli il," hish slnde arlveltiser. avoids sensationalism'

DIRIICI'-BY-}'IAILADVDBTISTNG

O n .o t r r ' I r u s r F t l ' . i i . , n . r n w . l o i j ' . 1 \ e r l s i e r ' ' r ' r ' u s h l h '

l . e o l ' l r . I n i r i l c , f n ' r . r ." r

. . 1 " s . c i n r l l ' l s L o ' \ P ' ' L ' l o a d s l o p c

"iii "ir*t:.r".".'" "i'^avcltisinglilelatule sent dileci' to a selectedist

.? r."""""i".- ivi,",i a nlaitil; list c^n be conDiled(ontainins onlv

the'naniesof pelsonsknown lo be irl the nar'liet flD the ploDelty oDe

is seliing, hi i metnorl s especialiv trccess{ul Excellerrt esultsmay



Tke Real,tuBl,ueBoolcol C&l,ifornia.

also be secured by selecting names from the telephone book, or fromsources,particularly in the case of property that can be sold on

tenns.

The same undamental principles that apply in the caseof displayadvertising in newspapersand magazin€s also apply to direct-by-adveltising.

SIIOULDADWRTISING BE ILLUSMATED?

149

This depends ntirely upon the nature of the prope*y beingadvertised.When llustrationsare used t is desirable o usepictures

twify action. There is something aboui a moving object thatcatches he eye, and therefore has "high-attention" velue. Whereactualmotion cannot be obtained, a similar effect may be secured by a

e showing objects or persons n motion. An illustration of a

t train tearing along at sixty niles per hour has much highertion than one of a locomotive tandingstill.

Oneof the most mportantparts of any advertisements the mairlin€. The sub-heads re of almostequal mportance. The adver-rentshoulal e so designedhat the main headline, he sub-headsthe signature ell a completestory, so that your story may.berlized tlmost at a glance. Those who are attracted by the head_will naturally read the details.

No set rules can be laid down as to vhat sort of headlines hallused; however,headlines hat contain specific acts and v/hich

IIEADLINES THAT TELL THE SIORY

t action are the most efi€ctive.

COPY TIIAT CARRIES CONVICTION

isement houldbe free from "glitteringi generalities." Specificaremore convincing han fanciful language.

LONG OR SHORT COPY

PNOFITABLEPUBI,ICIIY

As in l ,hecaseof lhe headline, , Ie copy'or main body of the

Somevery prominent adv€rtising successes a,vebeen made fromhat is known as "poster copy," using a very few words, either with

of whit€ space or with illustrations. On t}Ie other hand, manyhaveb€enbuilt on advertisementsontaininga large amount

copyset in small lYPe.Someoneasked Lincoln iow long a man's legs should be. and his

rer was,"Long enough o touch he ground." This well illustratespoint. In the caseof advedisingthe copy shouldbe long enough6I the story. The impo*ant thing is that your advertisementuld be clear, even to the person of intelligence beiow the average.the story with shod, simple words that anybody can undeNtand.

A by-product ol advertising, \i'rhich with proper direction can bee very productive of results, particularly in adve*ising real



l l rc RulLt! /Rl lL Boakaf Coli lo ix

estate, is thc so-called"flee publicity." Most of the ne*'spapers areglad to publish stoi ies regar.dirg the activities of r.eal estate entcl-prises and thele is no qricstion but that stories of this sor"t are very

valuable-llnfDftunately a gr'eatdeal of the so-calledpublicitj* which is run-ning in ihe nervspaDets s $-hat is knowl as "hokom" ard conteinsl i t t le oI no ner-s ntelest. Irr order to make a good lublici l i .story i lis esseniial o have somethins o say.

''STUNT"ADVERTISINC

If the n€ws possibilities of the eDtelprise itself have been com'pletely exhausted. it max be advisable to originate some kird of aspecinl "stunt," lvhich will serve the double purpose of fulnishingsomething

oDwhich to haDg a ne$.s story and also to iDducepeople to

come out to the ]rlopclty.The use of so-called "stunts" for' :rdve*isillg real estate is men-

tioned in aD ar'ticle reg^rding the developm€rt of Cuh'er. City, Cali-folDia, which apDcared n the F.bIuaIy, 1924, ssue of The A ericarrMagazine. It nentioned rri :ruto polo game $hich was never reDeatedand which last€d only a few rrinutes. Four automobiles stalted fr-omfoul corncrs simultaneously.lnd mnde fol one big ball in the c€nter-of the field. Therc r-as :r roar, a cloud of dust, a few noments of wildexcit€DeDt, ard sonrcblokcn boncs. It brought a lot ol peopleand thepaDer-s ad a glcat dcal to sny rbout it.

Still another "stunt" which was nsed was that of putting a rer'autornobile out il l :1 ':1c:rnl ol ncal a highr.ay ard tt'irg the steer'ing rvheel in such :r position that the car l'!-ouldgo alound in a circle.The car \1'asstarted off with nobody ir it ard allowed to rur bj' itself.

Naturally a gleat numbel of peoplestopped,got out of their o$ nmachines aDd r':rDacloss the field to stop the "r'un-away" car. A sales-man or tl.!rcwould always be handy to clear up the mystely aDd inci-dertally to mention something about the troDerty $'hich \!as beingollered for sale.

SICN BOATIDS

As placticalll'cvcry subdivision has some flontage or a nlrun

trayeled boulevald, it can profitablv take advantage of thousands andthousands of cr,-s that p:lss by that point, by electing sigr-boards onthe propefty itself. Th€sc signs may be anlthing flom small Dres-sages o beautifully painled rnd illunrinated bulletir boards. Naturallythey should call :rttention lo outst:uding features of the properly andshould invite people to stop alld investigate fully.

To sum uD- he sort of Ieal estnte advertisirlg which is most profit-able is the kiDd which teils the tluth about the propelty in an attmc-tive, interesting and consistent mr:rnner.

Advertising Real Estate by Harry H Culver Founder of Culver City CA

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