We recently got a swap request that involved some clever marketing. Instead of mentioning their city, the exchangers tried to tempt us by including a special event right in the subject line of their contact email. It read "Dayton International Air Show" with the dates of the event -- and the proposed swap.
This was a lot more effective than the headline "Home Exchange for Cincinnati?" which would have gone nowhere. As it was, I actually considered whether or not I might be interested in seeing the air show.
I'm not. Air shows don't really do it for me. But I expect that the prospect of seeing lots of aircraft might be very enticing to another swapper. Or at least more interesting than Ohio would seem if there were no special event in the offing.
It really pays to do some research about special events in your area. We are pretty jaded about the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade after living here for several decades. It's pretty exciting, though, with giant hot air balloons shaped like various characters. And it takes place just a few blocks from our home. We love to swap over Thanksgiving week and home exchangers are always excited about watching the parade live instead of on national television like the rest of the United States.
Even though people are familiar with our city, we might try a headline like this the next time we offer our home over the November holiday "Manhattan Swap: 5 minute walk to Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade".
What interesting events take place near your home? Finding out is as easy as doing an internet search for "My Town events calendar" or "My Town Festival". I did this for a town where I used to live, Petaluma, CA and found some unique local activities like "Butter and Egg Days" which celebrate the northern California city's agricultural heritage, the County Fair and the Art and Garden Festival. There's even a day-long Jazz Festival at the scenic riverfront park, and an Artisinal Cheese Fest with the best products of small local farmers.
The next time you send out an exchange offer you might try highlighting your location in the first few messages and a special event in the next set. I wonder which offer would get more interest. If anyone has tried this approach, please let us know.
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