A Web site of suspicious origin is misusing the REALTOR® trademark in what seems to be an attempt to get money from real estate practitioners.
The site, Realtor-complaints.com, supposedly publishes consumer complaints about real estate agents. However, an investigation by the New Jersey association of REALTORS® showed a string of complaints against its members, all using similar phrasing. “This leads to suspicion that these are not all public-submitted complaints,” says Lauren Castellano, director of communications for the New Jersey Association of REALTORS®.
Not only that, when agents who have been the subject of a complaint attempt to make contact, the site offers them the “opportunity” to pay to have the complaint and their name removed from the site, says Michael Thiel, an attorney for the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. NAR legal staff checked the WHOIS record for the site and discovered it’s hosted on servers located in the Seychelles. “It’s recorded as having been initially registered on Jan. 1, 2013,” Thiel says, ”which makes the site’s claim of having been around since 2002 very suspect.”
Thiel’s office has received a number of calls from members who’ve been informed, via e-mail, that their name is listed at the site. NAR attorneys are investigating and, if necessary, will take steps to have the site shut down. [Jan. 23 Update: Wendy Legerton below asks why NAR isn't taking more aggressive action. In response, NAR Associate General Counsel Ralph Holmen offers this: "This site does not have authority to use the term REALTOR®, and NAR has taken action to stop them from using it. That action does not (yet) involve litigation, but the possibility of initiating suit remains if our efforts are not successful.”] But it’s important to approach with caution any service that claims to either track or burnish your reputation. Online reputation management—and reputation trashing—is a growing enterprise, and there are simple steps you can take to manage your own reputation online:
- Make sure all of your profiles (on social media sites, at REALTOR.com, and so on) are complete, up to date, and consistent.
- Be proactive in asking customers for reviews in legitimate forums, such as Yelp and LinkedIn.
- Search Google and Yahoo for your name and your company’s name. Save each search as a browser favorite and check them daily.
- Sign up for Google Alerts so that you’re notified when your name appears in a search. Also set up alerts for variations of your name, your company name, and other keywords.
- Ask your customers where they’ve gone to search for information about real estate and other professionals.
- Correct errors quickly. Immediately contact the Web site and be willing to prove your case with information from your MLS or other sources. But don’t be tempted to pay to have information removed. “It’s hard to imagine a legitimate site requiring you to pay to take down false information,” Thiel says.
Okay, I’m looking for an honest answer here: How often do you install an application on your phone without reading the terms of service? If you are like most people, including myself, the answer is probably “all the time.” I’m generally cautious about what I install and use on my phone, but I can’t say that I typically spend much time reading through lengthy terms of service (TOS) on a small screen. This is especially true when I’m loading an app for a particular purpose, one that is on my mind right now.
Instagram lets you filter, frame, and share photos for free, but are you giving away more than you're getting?
Because I love taking photos, one of my current favorite apps is Instagram, which allows me to upload, filter, frame, and share photos with the people who choose to follow me. My photos range from conference snapshots, to photos taken in and around our D.C. office, to pictures of my children’s latest escapades. Instagram also lets me keep up with photos of friends I’ve followed there.
Last spring, Instagram was purchased by Facebook. This week, the company posted new terms of service, set to take effect Jan. 16. According to some sources, the changes to the TOS grant the company the ability to use your photos in ways that you may not have intended, and this has caused a bit of a firestorm. Many users are complaining publicly. Here’s why:
According to an article on CNet.com,
Under the new policy, Facebook claims the perpetual right to license all public Instagram photos to companies or any other organization, including for advertising purposes, which would effectively transform the Web site into the world’s largest stock photo agency.
Without getting too deep in the legalese, the interpretation is that Instagram could take a photo you’ve uploaded and sell it to another company to use, without notifying you. But you don’t necessarily need to delete your account yet. Late yesterday, Instagram issued a reply on their blog, promising to revisit the language of the terms and explaining that their intention was to allow targeted advertising within the site, in much the same way that Facebook operates.
You can choose to make your profile private. Instagram’s current TOS says that their sharing and use is based on your account’s privacy setting; but the new TOS don’t include that language. For now, that will protect your photos. With the dustup about the language change and what their intent is, Instagram may reinsert this language before the January 16th cutoff. If not, you can consider deleting your account before the deadline.
As real estate agents, your big consideration on Instagram comes with any photos you may have taken and posted of your clients’ homes (current or past)—not MLS listing photos, but photos you have taken and shared. I’m sure your sellers wouldn’t want photos of their homes used commercially, so if you are sharing those types of photos, you need to know how and where they could be used. Flickr is a great replacement option, with better privacy settings, and the app now has photo filters, too. I’ve heard you can also get similar results by using the filters in the Hipstamatic app first, and then sharing the photo via Flickr. The Flickr app, like Instagram, is free, but Hipstamatic will cost you a cool 99 cents.
Still, a legitimate question remains: Should you be sharing photos of your listings on a photo-sharing site? Lots of practitioners do it. But it’s your responsibility to protect your photos of clients’ homes on those sites. In general, it’s also a good idea to protect yourself by having written permission from your sellers to take and publicly display and distribute photos of their home. Many listing agreements now include this type of language.
At the end of the day, you need to remember that at times you are using technology as a business person, and not just as a consumer. So protect your clients and yourself by making sure you understand the terms of service of the apps you use.
~Heather
By Brian Summerfield, Online Editor, REALTOR® Magazine
Being innovative doesn’t necessarily mean diving into new technologies all the time. It doesn’t mean trying to reinvent the wheel. And it certainly doesn’t mean focusing lots of your energy on something perceived to be hip or avant-garde to the detriment of the core of your business.
That was the message from Matt Dollinger, vice president of strategic development at brokerage @properties, and Eric Bryn, vice president of digital innovation at brokerage Baird & Warner, in separate presentations at the Xplode conference in Chicago last week.
Dollinger — his presentation slides are here — said he’s amazed by the amount of time real estate practitioners spend on things that aren’t bringing them business. “More people have done a transaction off of an open house than off of Twitter,” he said. “But they spend a lot more time on Twitter.”
He argued that technology won’t save your business, then quoted real estate consultant and commentator Rob Hahn: “It ain’t the technology. All technology does is make what you do more efficient. If what you do is crap, it makes crap more efficient. If what you do is valuable, then it makes that more efficient. Microsoft Word is an amazing piece of technology, but it can’t write the next Great American Novel for you.”
True innovation, especially when you lack time and resources, requires a concentrated approach rather than a try-anything-and-everything system. Thus, when it comes to being innovative, Dollinger recommends doing the following: Continue reading »
By Erica Christoffer, Multimedia Web Producer, REALTOR® Magazine
Nobu Hata, sales associate with Edina Realty in Minneapolis, has a message for everyone who has their e-mail address in their e-mail signature: You’re not giving anyone added value.
Your correspondents are already going to know your e-mail address – either they contacted you or you contacted them. Try switching it out with something they can use, said Hata during the Joint Marketing & Member Information Services Forum at the Midyear Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo today in Washington, D.C. Link to your Web site, blog, and social networks, or, as Hata does, link to local market statistics your potential clients could use to educate themselves.
“Consumers like people who point them to good stuff,” said panelist Bill Lublin, CEO of Social Media Marketing Institute and Century 21 Advantage Gold in Philadelphia. Continue reading »
By Katherine Tarbox, Senior Editor, REALTOR® Magazine
The popularity of Twitter is undeniable. As the social media application celebrated it’s 5th anniversary in March, the company disclosed that a record one billion tweets are now sent out weekly. And there is no shortage of real estate professionals using Twitter to sell property. ”I’ve connected and met people through Twitter that I’ve later closed deals for,” says Ginger Wilcox, head of training for Trulia.com.
It’s never too late to set up a handle and start engaging. Here’s what to do:
1. Read. Often users go to Twitter to broadcast messages, but Wilcox says it’s an excellent way to learn what is happening in your community. She advises new Twitter users to not be as concerned with what they will Tweet, but rather focus on reading what established Tweeters are writing.
2. Follow. Wilcox believes that people become too concerned with how many people are following them. ”The best way to get people interested in you, is to get interested in them.” She suggests finding key people in the industry and community and following them. Also remember that relationships take time, even on Twitter. Continue reading »
By Erica Christoffer, Multimedia Web Producer, REALTOR® Magazine
From beginners to pros, WordPress Camp had something to offer every blogger at the 2010 REALTORS® Conference & Expo Monday. Technology and marketing experts presented dual-track sessions for novice bloggers and advanced WordPress users.
Blogging has proven to be a valuable tool for real estate professionals to demonstrate industry and community knowledge, as well as express identity and brand. The sessions provided tips to help leverage the medium and connect with potential clients.
“WordPress is a perfect forum for real estate Web sites,” said presenter and co-WordPress Camp organizer Dustin Luther with 4realz. “There’s a lot of talk right now about marketing via social media. But we really wanted to focus on creating a great Web site.”
Presenter Steve Zehngut, from Zeek Interactive, honed in on integrating real estate tools on a WordPress blog.
When choosing a theme – or the overall design of your WordPress Web site – Zehngut recommended Woo Themes, which provides customizable Web designs for $70 to $200.
Zehngut also listed a few must-have plugins for a real estate WordPress site: Continue reading »
By Todd Carpenter, Social Media Manager, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
I’m a big fan of RE TechSouth. It’s a regional real estate technology conference that’s been held in Atlanta every spring for the last three years. As you would imagine, the focus is on Web tools, blogs, online reputation management, and social media. While attending last spring, an agent said to me, “Why can’t NAR be more like this?”
The NAR Annual Conference and Expo isn’t designed to be just like RE TechSouth. There’s a much more diverse audience and a broader assortment of topics covered. Technology is not the only component of a successful career in real estate. But just because #nardigras doesn’t focus solely on cutting edge technology, doesn’t mean there will be any shortage individual sessions and opportunities focused on it this year. Continue reading »
Recent Comments