Superior Flyer Design

Sometimes the easiest way to make a superior flyer design is to use one of our Superior layouts.  This article features samples from the Superior flyer design.  Note that all the listed designs feature excellent use of color themes (Especially June), which are provided along with the sample superior flyer design of each month.

May Superior Flyer

A Superior Flyer Design from May 2015

May is a truly unique superior flyer design, thanks in large part to its main photo.  The perspective and “cut-away” effect on the terrain is suggestive of a small, highly-detailed diorama.  The main image is also strong because of the way it “pops” against the background, thanks to the high contrast between the saturated green colors of the foliage and the relatively unsaturated gray shades of the house.  The rest of the flyer is largely standard fare, but the main image draws the eye and is truly outstanding.

June Superior Flyer

A Superior Flyer Design from June 2015

June’s flyer is a great example of a color theme.  This layout features our default Superior-Gray design, but what makes this design special are the photos that the agent provided.  A neat kind of complementary coloring emerges, as the slate gray of the flyer goes well with the blues in several of the room pictures.  The dark blue trim along the bottom of the flyer interacts well with the darker blues and browns in the image, and there is a neat play of yellow seen on several pillows in the pictures.

July Superior Flyer

A Superior Flyer Design from July 2015

July is special in that it features a custom font. Sometimes what is really needed to make a superior flyer design “pop” is a custom font or two.  In this case, the property is a listing out in the American west, and the agent wanted to convey a that sentiment with the design.  With relative ease, our designers were able to change out the header fonts, converting the normal script into the wood-carved façade of yesteryear.  While much of the flyer is unaltered, this simple change helps give the Superior flyer design a “wild west” feel appropriate to the listing.

Nothing Left To Add: The Virtue of Simple E Flyer Design

Keeping your e flyer design simple can make it easier to read and more accessible.  This is especially true of the body text!

“A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” Antoine de Saint-Exupery

While a potential client will often first notice of the header or main picture on an e flyer design, the soon shifts to the body paragraph.  Here things can get dicey: by providing too little information in the body, an opportunity to inform an interested party about a special feature of the property might be missed.  On the other hand, too much information can be just as detrimental to your e flyer design.

A ZYF e flyer design can feature a body text of 1000 characters (like letters, numbers, spaces) at the very most (any more, and the text will be abruptly cut off), though when using the maximum number of characters our designers are sometimes forced make changes to the font size.  Typically the font becomes smaller as the words become more numerous. This can give the appearance of a difficult, dense text that a casual viewer might be less interested in delving into.

Layout with about 1000 characters.

On the other hand, some of our customers provide too little in the way of their body text: by giving too few characters (say 300 or fewer) the body text is often left with large, awkward gaps that the designers will attempt to fill up by increasing the font size and spacing.

Layout with about 300 characters.

600-700 characters is ideal for most of our layouts. The vast majority of orders we receive are around this number, fitting neatly into our designs.  Our designers are quite experienced with maximizing the use of space available to them to make sure that our customer’s orders fit just right.  If the body text in the proof doesn’t look quite right, we have the ability to add or subtract words as needed:  the easiest way to do this is to simply paste the whole revised body text into the revision notes you send us.

Layout with about 650 characters.

To see some real-world examples of ZYF’s Real Estate Flyers, check us on facebook or twitter!

ZipTip – Choose Your Own E-Flyer Fonts

“Is there any way I can choose my own e-flyer fonts?”

This is a question our customer service representatives hear weekly, if not daily.  Many agents assume that the e-flyer fonts we use with our designs are set in stone, but I am happy to tell you that they are not!

One of the many services we offer to our real estate flyer customers is the ability to request font changes in any of our layouts.  When ordering, a customer simply has to mention in the order notes that a special font is desired, and give us the exact name of the font you would like to use.  At ZipYourFlyer.com we have a huge selection of fonts at our disposal, and the odds are good that we have just the font needed to make the ideal real estate e-flyer.  In the event we do not have your exact font, we can generally provide something very similar to achieve the desired effect!

Please note that for us to provide special e-flyer fonts, we need to have the fonts on hand.  Along with standard windows fonts (Such as Tahoma, Copperplate Gothic, Times New Roman, etc.) we also have access to the full array of fonts provided by Adobe’s wonderful Typekit service. To the benefit of all involved, Typekit allows guests (like you) to browse through the list of fonts offered, and is a great way for our customers to pick out just the right font!  You can click here to browse  Typekit’s full library.

Unfortunately, we cannot install or accept fonts that are sent to us, or downloaded from other websites.  We can also not choose a font for you; if you would like a different font, you must specify which you would like.  If, for whatever reason we don’t have it, we can make a recommendation and go from there.  The best way to ensure we have the font you want is to select one from Typekit.

Best of all, there is no extra charge to change your e-flyer fonts!

Customization: one of the many things that makes zipyourflyer.com work!

Another Perspective on Your Real Estate E Flyer

How much time do you spend admiring the exterior of your home?

Each month the ZipYourFlyer.Com will showcase one outstanding real estate e flyer and discuss in some detail what makes it shine. A real estate e flyer of the month, if you will!

Our very first flyer of the month is for a Nevada Listing.  What makes this flyer immediately “pop” is the focus on the view from the property, rather than the view of the property.  Many residential flyers chiefly focus on the exterior of the house. How much time do any of us really spent taking in the views of our own homes?  Shifting the focus away from the house’s exterior and onto one of the more prominent vistas on the property can help capture the imagination of a prospective client. Unique shorts of the territorial views can also grab the attention of a fellow agent who has seen a few too many “EXTERIOR: HOUSE” photos that day.

Remember that in many cases a good view can make up a sizable chunk of a property’s value! When making a real estate e flyer it is important to play to the strengths of the property:  Flaunt it if you’ve got it.  If if what you’ve got is a great view of the surrounding landscape, why not make it the centerpiece of the real estate e flyer?

Writing For Real Estate Flyers – Location, Location, Location!

Writing for Real Estate Flyers is a new series of articles for the ZYF blog. This series is designed to help agents look at common real estate phrases in new and critical ways.  In this series we will showcase and discuss common phrases encountered in real estate marketing.

Of all the clichés I see, none of them quite irks me like “location, location, location!”  It is one of the most common phrases I encounter while designing real estate flyers.  It is also, unfortunately, one of the least helpful.  Here is why:

“Location, location, location!” doesn’t actually say anything at all.  It tells a potential client nothing about the property in question, other than vaguely suggesting that something about where it is might be good.

Location is important and people know it.  Clients know it, agents certainly know it.  What makes this location (your listing) so good?  Your potential clients need to know!  Instead of stating truisms about the importance of location, tell you prospective clients about the location.  Let the listing do the work!  Tell them about proximity to stores, about schools, transit, prestige, or whatever selling points a given location boasts.

Yes, location is very important.  But tell us what makes this location so good.

The origins of this almost universal phrasing are muddled (and probably lost to history) but the basic message is that “The three most important things in real estate are location, location and location.”  We get it.  Location matters.  Unfortunately the phrase is often used for its own sake, appearing on real estate flyers without any real context provided.

This is where location, location, location fails agents; it is not enough to say a place is great: tell us why a place is great.

Give your potential clients a clue! Instead of rehashing an old phrase, give them some fresh, new information about the listing!

For more information, and to see some of ZYF’s Real Estate Flyers, check us on facebook or twitter.

E-Mails and Agents

E-mail addresses on E-Flyers are often an important part of an agent’s first impression.

Most of the flyers put together by our designers include a contact e-mail address for the agent or brokerage sending the flyer out.  While superficial, certain assumptions can be made about an agent based on the e-mail address they use, and not every e-mail provider conveys the same kind of status.  Each e-mail address consists of a “local part”, the @ symbol, and a “domain part”.

Free web-based e-mail services ( with domain parts such as gmail.com, hotmail.com, aol.com and others) are free and easy to acquire, but can come off as less professional, as they are not unique to the real estate profession.  The most professional-looking domain parts are either unique to you or provided by your brokerage: these respectively speak to a high level of technical proficiency or a connection to a legitimate real estate agency.

As far as local parts go, the most professional-sounding generally consist of all or part of the agent’s name.  E-mail addresses that deviate from this are hit and miss.  We will use a made up agent named “Robert Kim” for an example: if Robert uses an e-mail like “awesomerobert2382336@aol.com” he is going to seem like a fly-by-night hack compared to the much more professional robert.kim@realtyexemplar.com.  Using elements of your own name are also good for recognition and association on the part of your clients and customers.

To summarize…

Using an E-Mail address that is exclusive to you or your profession gives you a greater air of legitimacy.  When using an e-mail provided by your brokerage, it shows your close affiliation to a major real estate company, something that a free address from a 3rd party will not necessarily confer.

E-Flyer Know How: Print Your Own Flyer!

Did You Know…

…that along with our real estate e-flyer and print services, ZipYourFlyer.com offers high-quality PDFs (Portable Document Format)?  For $9.95 at checkout of an E-Flyer or Print flyer order customers can purchase a high resolution PDF file.  (The cost is $15.00 if the order is placed after checkout). This file allows our customers to print their own flyers in-house or through another printing company.  Though the PDF file cannot be edited, it allows you to print your own high-quality flyers.

A bit about print flyers:

Print pricing is available once your order is in the cart to select the best option that fits your needs. Priority 2-3 day* shipping is included for free with all orders (as well as optional 2 day* and next day* shipping, for a nominal fee). Sometimes even such expedient shipping isn’t fast enough, and a stop-gap is needed while the flyers are in transit.  This is the ideal time for a PDF file!  With a PDF our customers can go to a local print shop (or even use their office printer) and quickly prepare some stop-gap flyers while the print order ships from ZYF.  *Note that we do not offer delivery on weekends, something to keep in mind when ordering flyers on a sensitive timeline.

A bit about e-flyers:

Remember that it is also possible to order a PDF of an e-flyer, if a large order of print flyers is not desired, or if in-house printing is preferred.  ZYF also offers a special discount on print flyers ordered with an e-flyer purchase.  Click here to view info on this and other special offers.

At this time, ZYF does not offer the ability to purchase PDFs as a stand-alone product, only as a special add-on to our e-flyer and print flyer products.

One last thought:

There is one important caveat to the PDF service! While most uses are fine and encouraged, ZYF does not allow its PDFs to be used in e-mail marketing.  Our PDFs carry copyrights, and we cordially ask that these be respected.

To see more of what is going on at ZipYourFlyer.com follow us on facebook or twitter.

Discount Your Flyer

“May I have a discount?”

This is a question we field weekly, if not daily.  Along with the occasional promo discount codes we post to our Facebook or Twitter page, Zipyourflyer.com offers a wonderful incentive program that we like to call our “Frequent ZipYourFlyer” program.  This program is designed to award loyal customers who place orders with us time and again.

How does the Frequent ZipYourFlyer program work?

As our long-time repeat customers know, every seventh e-flyer ordered automatically receives a discount worth the average of the previous six flyers.  Greater amounts spent on orders grant larger discounts on the seventh flyer.  So if the first six orders are worth $50 each, the seventh flyer will get a $50 deduction.  If the first six orders are $200 each, then the seventh flyer is discounted by $200 dollars.

What about printed flyers?  Does the Frequent ZipYourFlyer program apply there as well? 

Of course!  Printed flyers use a nearly identical reward system.  Printed flyers are given a discounted order after the 8^th order is placed, so the 9^th order would be discounted.  Note that the e-flyers and print flyers are rewarded separately, so if you’ve placed print orders none of them will count toward an e-flyer discount, and vice-versa.

Does the Frequent ZipYourFlyer discounted order count toward future discounted orders?

No, the Frequent ZipYourFlyer orders do not count toward the 6 e-flyer order or 8 print orders needed for the next discount.

A few closing thoughts…

The entire process is automatically handled and tied to each account, so there is no need to opt-in.  It’s just our way of saying “Thank you for your business!”   While in many cases the Frequent ZipYourFlyer is free or steeply discounted, the discount is based on the average of the previous six orders. If your seventh order costs well above the average, then the discount will be less.  Remember that the more you spend per order, the greater the discount applied to the Frequent ZipYourFlyer!

Customer discounts: one of the many things that makes ZipYourFlyer.com work!

Composing Effective Real Estate Flyers – Part 2

As I wrote in the previous post, that pesky character limit the MLS puts on you really stifles your creativity.  You know as well as I do that if they didn’t put a character limit on the listing description that you guys would be writing novellas in there, some with plot twists and everything.  (Don’t forget, I was one of you and I’ve been working closely and directly with you guys for over 11 years now.)

The point I was trying to make in the last post was that you might not want to use the same listing description for the MLS and all of your other marketing, Email Flyers, Printed Flyers, Syndication, etc.  I know, you guys are really busy, and using the same one for everything is easier.  But remember, the agents you are marketing to are busy also.  Get right to the point when you are writing for other agents.  They are busy too and might not want to wade through flowery paragraphs that your potential homebuyer would swoon over.

What?!! OK…

• What do Real Estate Agents with Buyers care about when they look at a flyer? (Feel free to chime in here)
• What would a potential buyer find especially appealing about your listing?
• What does your client think is an important selling point about their house? (Be sure to ask them.)

If I had to put my finger on it I would say that the agents who have trouble here are often just unorganized with this task.  When I was a REALTOR, I did a pretty good job writing descriptions for my listings.  My trick was a steno notepad, small enough to hold and write on as I walked through the house.  (Steno Pad – for those of you under 35, it’s a small spiral notepad… Nevermind, just key it in on your IPhone)

I would start in the street and take notes.   I’d walk all the way through with my client.  I would ask them to tell me things about their house as we went.  I asked them questions and LISTENED the whole time to be sure I didn’t miss a thing:

-Great Curb appeal, corner lot, big trees, sprinklers, nice neighborhood, playground a block away.

Then I’d go inside. As I took notes about the features I also wrote down words to describe feelings I had as I walked through:

–Heavy custom front door. Big entry, soaring ceilings, warm, welcoming, nice colors, impressive….
– Formal Living Room, Big windows, bright happy, gas fp. Lots of room, would hold big furniture, would live nicely, would be great party room.
-Den-office-spare room- glass panel doors, blinds, wainscoting.  A quiet space… great for working from home.
-Kitchen (this is big – spend some time with this so you don’t miss anything) granite, hardwood floors, solid cherry cabinets, undercounter lighting, bright, big, Island with room for seating, stainless sink, fancy faucets, little veggie sink, pot filler, stainless appls stay, disposal, walk in pantry, butler’s pantry… looks like a fun place to cook – glass of wine…

You will never remember all this if you don’t write it down.

So now what?

Composing Effective Text for Real Estate Flyers

You agents are really better at this than you give yourselves credit for. BUT – some of you could use a little help. Many of you call us to voice your insecurities over what you have written in the property descriptions on your Email Flyer. Maybe it’s because you do them so often, you feel like you are repeating yourself. After all – usually most listings have 3 or 4 bedrooms, a nice master, if you’re lucky a gourmet or updated kitchen… What more could you want. I know, I know, you want to make your listing sound special, worth a look.

So you sit at your computer trying to cram all of that wonderfulness into 500 characters to fit into the MLS. Darn! That didn’t fit – so you start eliminating extra spaces and abbreviating all over the place. 4bd/2ba/LR/DR/FP/Mstr/3gar/btva/OMG!!! These abbreviations are ok I guess when you are composing something that other agents will see. After all, if they stare at it long enough, they will probably be able to figure out what the heck you are talking about. BUT – doesn’t the MLS Listing Description find its way to REALTOR.com? Don’t real live human beings, not realtors, read about your listing there? Or at least try to decipher the listing there?

That pesky character limit the MLS puts on your description stifles your creativity. How can you make your listing stand out in 500 characters or less!!

The abbreviated description you write for the MLS, what you put on an E-Flyer to market to other real estate agents and what you want on a Printed Flyer in the flyer box or write for syndication for potential buyers to see are all different from each other, don’t you think?

Wait a minute, you’re thinking. She’s not telling me I need to write different descriptions for my listing is she? Well… yes and no.

More to come.