When we created Haiku Deck, we wanted to make it for simple for anyone -- not just those of us with design skills--to create beautiful, image-rich presentations. We started with the iPad, rethinking the entire experience of creating and sharing presentations for how we work now (less and less at an actual desk). We also studied the work of many presentation experts and designed our app to make it easy to follow their advice.

It seems that the combination of simplicity, beautiful imagery, and mobile-first design has really resonated with forward-thinking real estate professionals. We have loved seeing creative real estate pros using Haiku Deck to land listings, market properties, demonstrate how they're different, and build thought leadership (and business).

Here are a few tips and examples that can help you rethink your pitch, no matter what presentation tool you're using.

1. Keep it simple

This recent headline really got our attention: Haiku Deck iPad App Helps Realtor Win $1.4M Listing.

In fact, we tracked down John James, the broker who had landed the big listing, to hear in his words why he thought Haiku Deck had been so effective. The clients literally told him, "The information you presented was so much easier to understand than any of the others. That's why we went with you."

Here is the winning Haiku Deck that John James created:

Here's why we think John's deck was so successful:

• He used beautiful, relevant imagery to evoke a sense of place.
• He kept his message simple, focusing clearly on one idea per slide.
• He included digestible, relevant stats and data to add context.

2. More time does not equal better

What's especially interesting about John James's story is that he created his Haiku Deck under time pressure. We often tell ourselves that if we spend longer on something, it's better, and the presentation tools most of us are used to encourage this way of thinking.

At Haiku Deck, we firmly believe in simplifying the slide creation process to allow you more time to think about your message (or, simply, to do the other things you need to do run your business).

Here are some specific ways that Haiku Deck saves you time:

• Charts and graphs you can create quickly using intuitive touch controls
• Integrated Creative Commons keyword image search with automatic attribution
• One-touch themes to apply stylish, professionally designed fonts, image filters, and color palettes

3. Images tell stories

As a real estate pro, you know how powerful images are. A listing with poor imagery--or, even worse, no imagery--is likely to get overlooked. Images affect us emotionally and increase our comprehension, retention, and recollection. In short, they are a more effective way to communicate.

Here's a Haiku Deck by Mark Zilbert that taps into imagery to showcase a luxury listing:

Here's what we love about this Haiku Deck:

• The images give a real sense of place, inside and out
• Evocative headlines like "DREAM" and "LIVE" grab attention, while subheads add helpful details like square footage
• The bold, stylish Five Seven Five theme makes everything feel polished and cohesive

4. Look for ways to inject your authentic personality

When you're creating something important like your marketing plan or your listing presentation, it's tempting to go with what feels like the "tried and true." This might be a corporate template you've been using, or what your colleagues do, or just the same old format you've been using for years, but in a business where so much depends on relationships, we feel it's really important to let your own personality shine through a bit.

We believe that you can still be professional but also make your presentation feel like you, not like a template. (We can also tell you that we've seen a lot of listing presentations, and after awhile, they all start to look pretty similar.)

In this sample "before and after" deck, we took some slides in a typical listing presentation and re-created them using Haiku Deck to give a sense of what's possible.

Here are our top recommendations for your listing presentation:

• The corporate template and pages of bullets are cues to "tune out." Use thoughtful details and beautiful images to keep your audience engaged on a more personal level.
• Look for creative, simple ways to help your audience understand complicated concepts like pricing.
• You don't have to include everything you're going to say on a slide -- in fact, it's much more effective not to. You can always add more detail in conversation or, if you're going to post your slides online, using the Public Notes feature.

5. Maximize the value of your content assets

We know you're short on time, and often working on the go. We also know that you're constantly bombarded with new technologies, tools, and apps. We believe that everything you create should become a lasting, flexible content asset that you can use or adapt as you build your business.

Any Haiku Deck you create can be easily embedded in your blog or website, posted to your Facebook page, tweeted, or emailed directly to a client. And if you need to update a stat or fix a typo, no problem -- just make the change, and any links you have put out there will update automatically.

Here's a beautiful piece by Neil Kearney that grabs attention on the Kearney Realty website and would be easy to share across social channels:

These are just a few examples from our awesome community of real estate pros -- you can see dozens more examples on our Real Estate Case Studies Pinterest board, and see what they have to say about Haiku Deck here:

If you're ready to work Haiku Deck into your own tech toolkit, we'd be delighted to have you join our creative community! Here's a step-by-step guide to get you on your way. And if you have questions or feedback, we are always here to help.