Advertising Quotes from Harry H. Culver, Founder of Culver City
Harry H. Culver, the Founder of Culver City, CA
from The Realty Blue Book of California: A Compilation of Statewide Authorities on California Real Estate 1924
Advertising should be regarded as “news”, just as a newspaper handles important events, as murders, divorces, and such, on the first page, although the high grade advertiser avoids sensationalism.
“It pays to advertise” has been quoted so much and so often most people believe it, and with good reason. It isn’t strictly true, however, that any kind of advertising pays; but it does pay to advertise truthfully and consistently.
When a proposition is well advertised it creates a background to the salesman’s great advantage, rendering it unnecessary for him to go into full details which each individual customer. Under such conditions a salesman can cover a great deal more ground, more more sales in less time and at less cost.
It is more important to create satisfied customers than simply to make sales, particularly in real estate advertising. When a real estate proposition is misrepresented and the customer discovers this by investigation, much harm and no good can result from such methods.
It is better that there should be understatement rather than exaggeration.
One of the most effective methods of advertising is through the use of the mails, by means of letters, circulars, booklets, broadsides, and other forms of advertising literature sent direct to a selected list of prospects. When a a mailing list can be compiled containing only the names of persons known to be in the market for property one is selling, this method is especially successful.
The [display] advertisement should be so designed that the main headline, the sub-heads and the signature tell a complete story, so that your story may be visualized almost at a glance. Those who are attracted by the headline with naturally read the details. No set rules can be laid down as to what sort of headlines shall be used; however, headlines that contain specific facts and which suggest action are the most effective.
Unfortunately a great deal of the so-called publicity which is running in the newspapers is what is known as “hokom” and contains little or no news interest. In order to make a good publicity story it is essential to have something to say.
As in the case of the headline, the “copy” or main body of the advertisement should be free from “glittering generalities.” Specific facts are more convincing than fanciful language.
The sum up, the sort of real estate advertising which is most profitable is the kind which tells the truth about the property in an attractive, interesting and consistent manner.
source: The Realty Blue Book of California: A Compilation of Statewide Authorities on California Real Estate 1924