Now granted, I am not a big fan of Inman News all of the time (I really don’t like people charging for news..I think it is a tired model, but that’s just me and my own bias)..and I am and always have been a big fan of Kris Berg and what she writes.
Why? Because often I find myself just wishing I had pushed the publish button a bit earlier on something and then I find that she writes it with a lot more clarity and humor than I can.
When I grow up, I wanna write like her. And I am sure I am not alone.
Take this post for example.
I am officially tired of people crying foul about Zillow’s reviews. Not because I liked them, but because if you did not want Zillow, you should not have BUILT them (Zillow). And make no mistake, we (collectively as REALTORS who sent our listings to them) built them.
We built REALTOR.com and got pencil sharpenered. (old Russell Shaw reference that you need to Google – grin)
Many of us warned the industry that when you supplant your own online presence by giving your online assets **cough**listings**cough** to others, that one day the chickens would come home to roost and they would do something with that presence (like charge you, review you, sell you zip codes, sell ads on their site to people you find objectionable,etc) that you might or might not agree with.
Whether people like the person they woke up with in the morning is irrelevant. The fact is, they found them attractive at 2 am.
You can always vote with your feet.
So note to real estate industry: If you don’t like reviews, do something about it. If you are ok with it, be sure that you are ready for more of the same. More will be coming.
Note to Kris Berg: Beautifully written. (seriously). Merry Christmas to you and yours. 😉
(Further observation…I think the reviews are a pretty lame idea and my guess is that they will die under their own irrelevant and easily spammable weight, but time will tell.)
kerry melcher says:
The fact is, they found them attractive at 2 am.
love.
December 8, 2010 — 4:36 pm
Meg Hurtado says:
hear, hear.
December 9, 2010 — 12:43 pm
Jeremy Linder says:
I’m with you Eric, I think the dust-up surrounding the zillow agent reviews will be short lived. Not that I don’t think agent reviews have a place, I’m just not sure how you police the content and eliminate the games.
December 9, 2010 — 4:13 pm
Wayne Long says:
Well said Eric….. Thanks for bringing attention!!
December 11, 2010 — 5:46 am