Sunday, 25 October 2009

IT PAYS TO READ THE SWAP LISTING

Taking the time to read a swap listing pays off. We get dozens of offers each month from people who have just cut and pasted the same general offer to everyone in our town. In my experience the follow up to this approach is often to ignore my response and not even bother thank me for my interest if someone else answers the email more quickly or with a better offer.


The kind of offer that gets me excited to swap with someone arrived this morning and is included below, with the permission of the swappers. From the first sentence it is clear that the exchangers are considering our interests as well as their own. When I clicked through to their listing I found a very tempting and well-writen description of their home and town.


The only suggestion I would have is offering more lead time for this trans-continental exchange. My winter home exchange plans are already set. If they were not, these exchangers would definitely be strong contenders, just because their approach showed they think about our needs as well as their own.

"Hey there ,

You write that you have to be within a drive from NYC, but you ALSO write that you enjoy the PNW. So here goes...

My wife and I live in Bellingham, Washington State, at the foot of the Cascade Mountains. We are about one hour\'s drive to Mt. Baker, world-record snow accumulation and supposed first home of snowboarding (http://www.mtbaker.us/ AND the same distance to Vancouver, B.C. There is skiing right around Van, or Whistler is another 1.5 hours north.

We\'ll be in NYC from Feb. 11-15 to visit my grandmother who lives on the Lower East Side. This, by the way, is opening weekend for the Olypics in Vancouver. Our house will be open during this time and will probably be open from Dec. 21-30 when we should be on vacation in a sunny place.

Food for thought...let us know if you\'ve any interest.

Cheers,"


This exchanger could easily send exactly the same email to everyone he contacts, changing only the first sentence of the offer. That lets him highlight the best of his area while taking into account the unique preferences and concerns of this possible swap partners. This person is new to exchanging but he has made a good start. We can all learn from his approach.


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