Dick Greenberg thinks that referring to himself in the 3rd person is a sign of mental distress.

Since Anna Banana Kruchten and Lyn Sims have both referred to me, I guess I should chime in. However, I think I don't really understand the question. 

I prefer 3rd party for bios, because I think it's very difficult for an agent to talk about how superior they are without sounding like a braggart. It can be done, but it's touchy. 

I think letters should be written in the first person, but should always be client-centered. In other words, a letter should say "you" far more than it says "I."

As for blog posts and web pages, it depends upon the content. If you're saying "Here's what we (or I) can do for you, it should sound as if it's you speaking, no matter who did the writing.

If it's a community page and you have an opinion or a story about a particular place, that should also be you speaking - even if you've hired a writer to plug your words into copy they've written. 

If you're doing a localism post and talking about your own experiences and impressions, of course it should be coming from you - first person. 

What does Jimmy think?

Gabe Sanders agrees with you.

I think that marketing should be 3rd person.

No one cares what you have to say about yourself, however they do care what others say about your services...which is why consumers look for "reviews".

Eve

Pat Kennedy thinks this is a dumb idea - Pat can spot this stuff a mile away.

Lise Howe agrees with John Meussner- but Lise Howe tries not to have any thoughts at this hour

Bob Crane is humored by this and feels that we all can do what we please, as long as we dont care if anyone wants to read our posts.

Me thinks you might want to ask this gentleman. He's definitely the expert on writing 3rd person marketing material.

Bob Dole says vote for Bob Dole!

Ryan tends to be a fan of the "Royal We" instead of the boring "I" of the prolitariate.

Sarah is too confused to even try to answer the question. However, she said that you have a point about it being a bit impersonal.

LOL - I'm with Dick Greenberg on this - however, it is appropriate for some types of marketing and works very well

Marte Cliff nailed this one!

John Meussner , I liked Dick Greenberg's answer.

      Fred thinks that 3rd party sounds too abstract.  Make it personal, about you (2nd person) and me (1st person)!

Anna Banana thinks the same way the Mr Meussner thinks! And she also knows for sure that Marte Cliff thinks so too!

I attended two LIVE RAINCAMPS . At both of them ,Ben & Bob said that you might want to consider hiring some college students to help you write your Localism blog posts . Many ad agencies write copy for their clients to use to promote their business .

John,

Goes in the same category with this, So I said to myself, "Alexandra, what do you think we should do!"  HATE IT!  It is phony and pretentious, even the most pretentious people I know who are Phi Beta Kappa's on this subject do not do that.  A

What you've written gives me the creeps. I can't remember what 'person' we should write in but I know it's important. 

I listen to what Marte Cliff has to say.

Has it not been said that "three" is a crowd? Please let John Meussner know

For me I like more personal marketing and relationships. If it is too generic I feel like just one of the crowd. With the personal touch it feels custom-made for me and my situation.

I think it works very well if a person introduces you to someone that may need your services. Like at a Chamber of Commerce networking event, I like to introduce people to each other and be the connector.  It's nice when people also do the same for me. 

I like Marte Cliff's answer.

NEVER; it must be personalized from my own mind, well, that is, if I have any mind left after reading all the UT RE Student repetitive questions.

Debbie Gartner asked what would Jimmy do and for those unfamiliar with Jimmy --- check out another classic Seinfeld episode.

I agree with you.

Do what you need to do to create successful materials.

I don't care for it. 

Most people want to hear your 'voice' when reading.  I don't agree with using 3rd person - it doesn't sound sincere to me.

I prefer personal marketing here

I prefer 1st person.

I also think they should be personal.

 I think 3rd person marketing is the proper way....

It sounds a bit detached to me!

John Meussner I have to agree with Mike & Eve Alexander . The first person marketing should come when you meet face-to-face.

Lol, I like the way you asked the question! We had this discussion in the offcie the other day. We think that is good to have a mixture of both (i.e on a website homepage): 1st- person copy (approachable, personal), and 3rd-person(trust signals, approval).

I'm with you on this one.  I dont care for 3rd person marketing, it's almost like the royal "we".  It can come off a bit condescending.  

I am a whatever works person but I do think if you do 3rd person marketing it should be a bundled service system.