Or...Put the Shoe on the Other Foot. Sorry, after I posted this I thought of a better title!
This has been said before, but I'm going to say it again. I really think we need to be very careful about how we communicate online, because it is very easy to inadvertantly offend existing and future customers with our blogs.
I first became aware of this potential problem when a home stager wrote a blog about her newest client, and she posted before/after pictures. Her client was LIVID as she was embarrassed to have her "dirty laundry" so to speak posted on the internet. Even though the blogger protected her privacy by not naming her specifically, the customer still (rightfully) felt this was a breach of trust.
This is an extreme example - but there are other seemingly harmless ways we can offend our clients. For
example:
I just read a blog with a title naming the property next to her listing as "an eyesore." Then she goes on to say that after contacting that property owner about cleaning it up, the owner asked her to list the property for sale. She shared that the seller called her son a worthless bum and that she has other issues with her property that really are nobody's business. This "eyesore neighbor" is now HER CLIENT - what if she or one of her friends finds this blog?
Would YOU be willing to contact an agent who is so willing to share YOUR dirty laundry on the internet? I think more than one customer would say "I am not going to contact this person, heaven knows what she'll say about ME or MY neighbors!"
Not trying to pick on this one blog either - I've seen it dozens of times on many other blogs. Friends, I just don't think it's cool to write this way about our clients and potential clients without their express permission.
Yes, it's fun and entertaining to share things like this, and I have lots of crazy stories that I could tell about the funky things I come across day to day - but I feel that to do so would be a bad business move.
I'm a REALTOR, I've got a fiduciary duty to protect my client's interests - not gossip about them online.
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