Carrie, you are not the only one. I wish I could remember what the other error was. There was one day that seemed every thread I read had at least two of each of the same common mistakes.

Jim, did you see my other post today where I admitted to being Dyslexic? Your post is how all of them look to me. That's why I finally brought up "alot". For it to stand out to me, it's got to be pretty bad. I was getting worried about you Jim. You have been far too serious lately.

Ruth

Jim, that was an undertaking. I was 6 words into it before it hit me! ROFL

Ruth,

I raed an atricle the ohter day taht porposed if you poistion the frist and lsat leettr rihgt in evrey wrod, the aervage raeder can sitll fugire the meannig of the snetence. (Thsi was hadrer than wirting accidetnal tpyos.)

I do w/ Buyers, but not sellers. I think its harder w/ sellers. I am much more serious w/ sellers. I would love to see market samples of those who do use humor in mktg listings or their services.

Ruth, I have probably been guilty of spelling alot instead of a lot. My fingers get to moving to fast at times. Oops! Thanks for calling us out. I personally like looking at ads with humor. I have an agent that had her picture taken in a shopping cart, had past presidents superimposed standing next to her desk, (she was sitting) etc. There are some zany ads that can be fun. I personally have not used the humor; I guess I am too cautious.

Great question and answers! Let me address TYPOs are a killer first. A LOT is NOT a four letter word. I have seen "alot" and some other very common errors by a couple of top notch agents on this forum. It's a killer! It is practically offensive to me. Humor in the MLS and most advertising will offend some people as unprofessional. But I agree, Craigslist, DOG properties, selling yourself and your company humor will help far more than it will hurt you.

Selling yourself and your company is a personality thing. If I'm a dry analytical person, I want to work with a dry analytical company. If being serious makes me gag, I wouldn't work with that big, cold, black suit company. Choosing who you work with is important and there is a match for everyone. But when selling a property, it is your responsibility expose it to as many potential buyers as possible. And that means not offending anyone. My husband has a unique humor. He has lived in Chicago, OK, PA, NC, MO and Chicago in that order. When he moved to OK he made no friends. When he moved to MO his comment was, "They get me." Here in Chicago, everyone thinks he is funny.

Here is my Craigslist humor (if you can call it that?). I target it to downtown Chicago and I'm not real estate agent nor am I (gee, is that correct English?) discriminating against people without children or pets.
"Dogs and Children deserve a yard, move to Oak Park"

Ruth

I saw one listing that had for the description something like....."This one's a DOG. Bring your toolbox and creative ideas that you'll need for rehab." It was a dog, but I thought it was pretty funny and I think it made the point that while the home was priced very agressively, they did not want any misunderstanding as to who should look at the house. I was appreciative of that as you don't want to waste a client's time that wasn't looking for that type of house.

I use humor to market myself. Sometime I come out with funny things during a listing presentation if it's going well. Then the seller says "We want to go with you and your company, we're very satisfied with everything you said, but we want to interview other realtors" and I ask them if they really want to spend another couple of hours going over all this again with someone else who may not be nearly as entertaining as I have been.

Oops! "positive has far outweighed the Negatives" Did I mention typos are ad killers? Arggh typos, sorry.

We are happy and outgoing people and it was natural for us to do something that made someone smile. Our humorous ad is our goldfish going to the larger bowl. Sure some may find it unprofessional, but did they remember the piece? There is a balance between being noticed for positive or negative reasons. We do run that risk, but the positive has far outweighed the positive so far and the positive feedback from people is SO rewarding. There are plenty of people who have safe and gray advertising and some of it is fantastic, sleek and classy or brash and cheesy. There are so many personalities of sellers and buyers to satisfy and appeal is individual. We know who we are targeting. I guess that is the most important part, knowing WHO your marketing is targeting and you perhaps have to accept to who may NOT appreciate your humor and be okay with that. We have had numerous people contact (high and low bracket) us specifically because of our unique approach. Some people prefer a stern, serious approach from a Realtor® and that is great, but we like to "keep it real" with our personality types. All marketing materials are one-click away from disappearing or floating to the trashcan. :-) People seem to be trying more approaches on Craigslist and I love it. I love variety of options.

Cindi....Great question1 In fact my office mate at the office uses humor all the time and it is really great. I believe she was a comedian and still practices her humor. I can work well with some clients and agents and then there are those you are a bit more serious. After all it is the largest investement one is making. ;)

Humor can sometimes work as a hook to get someone to stop when they are pouring through myraids of ads say on Craigslist. Sometimes a humorous headline will capture someones attention as it stands out from the rest of the ads reading Zero Down or Seller Motivated or Seller Desparate.

If a seller is willing to be creative and/or carry the financing I have used "Notes, Boats or Goats!" as a headline.

I agree with Ute though. You should always check with your client first to be sure you aren't ruffling any feathers.