Real Estate Blogs Are Advertising
Speaking of technological stupidity, I posted the beginnings of a post meant to be a draft and now find myself writing the post as quickly as possible for those who are wondering why there are only scattered notes on a page.
Still with me?
One of the cool things about the boys at sellsius is their penchant for thinking outside the box. I happened upon this comment on a post from Shaun McLane’s “Every Kid Deserves a Yard” blog in Orlando. Shaun was terminated by his broker for failing to remove a blog post to which she objected.
The comments generally were supportive of Shaun’s right to post what he chooses but a sub-theme became prevalent … does the video in question and his blog in general meet state real estate advertising standards. That brought the following from Rudy at sellsius:
is blogging really advertising? how about a forum? what about a wiki? what about an email?
isn’t it really a platform for communicating? teaching? educating? learning? venting? etc…..
when a journalist writes an article for the newspaper is that advertising?
If you are the author of a real estate blog, I can’t see how you can avoid conforming to local real estate advertising statutes. If you’re writing as a member of the public about your dogs then that’s a different story. But if you’re a licensed real estate professional and you’re discussing real estate on a website you own, that has to be advertising … even if the blog is primarily informational in nature.
Every real-estate related post is an advertisement of your knowledge about a given subject. There’s no way around that. Throw in the ubiquitous home searches, real estate market stats and everything else and it seems clear cut.
Journalists writing for a newspaper create an apples-to-oranges comparison. They write because they are paid by an employer to do so.
Fortunately for Shaun we’re in a business where we choose our employers to a far greater degree than we are hired by them. There ALWAYS are other brokerages from which to choose. And failing that there’s also the option of setting out on your own with your own broker’s license, which Shaun has.
Incidentally, Shaun’s isn’t the only blog where the broker’s information is not provided in a prominent location. It’s a 30-second fix should the state real estate department ever take a look, but it’s a tangential non-issue for the most past.
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If you’ll pardon the shameless plug for a post I wrote in July … I don’t see most real estate blogging as advertising, per se, but I do think it’s simple enough to have an “About” tab that clearly shows who the author(s) is/are.
As has been discussed in Virginia and is being discussed at NAR - we shouldn’t have to reduce ourselves to the lowest common denominator and put our 15-line signature on every post/comment/email/etc - but a simple, transparent explanation should suffice.
About us page works … local rules are the broker’s information needs to displayed prominently on each page.
Banner and or sidebar widget would meet the criteria and they’re unobtrusive for the most part.
If blogs are advertising, then alot of “law” baggage comes along, eg. deceptive advertising, disclaimers. But more troubling is ads can be controlled by your broker and local MLS — and by extension, control of your ads is control over YOU. Don’t go easily down that road, Jonathan.
I for one (and Rudy makes 2) will argue that blogs are communication entitled to free speech protection and NOT advertising. If you don’t, you’re opening the door to the censor and blacklister.
I don’t think it matters what I say on the matter, Joe … the determination whether this platform is extended advertising or First Amendment speech will be made by others.
For my part, I keep my brokerage info at the top to play it safe. Don’t see a compelling reason not to do so.
Jonathan-
I am 100% convinced that a real estate blog is a real estate advertisement. As such, the website must confirm to all real estate laws concerning real estate advertisements. Of the rules that come to mind, I’ll note a few that are missing from many, many blogs I run across:
The brokerage in question must be prominantly displayed in a font and size at least as large as the agent’s name.
The agent’s name must appear (or other contact name) so the public knows who to contact.
A phone number must be displayed for the contact.
And finally, I believe fair housing laws do come into play, which means the fair housing logo should be displayed.
In Arizona, my understanding, through my broker, was that all of this should be prominantly displayed, such that it is visible on every page, WITHOUT SCROLLING. For safety’s sake, I would have it near the top left, as part of the template.
Speaking to Joe’s comments, the thin ice appears in the area of broker supervision. A broker is require, by law, to supervise the agents, including all advertising they do. Does that mean the broker needs to supervise/monitor every post? Would subscribing be enough? Would reviewing the template to ensure compliance be enough? I think those are the types of questions that could use clarification.
I have alwasy considered it a form of advertising yourself. Most people are using blogging as a way to generate more business, so you are pretty much advertising, saying “read my blog, I give alot of real estate advice, talk about real estate, etc..so that makes me an expert and a pretty good agent, so pick me for all your real estate needs”. If you don’t blog for business (real estate related) then why are you blogging?
Oh, and each state has different advertising guidelines for real estate agents. In Florida, they have a section specifically geared toward Internet use. In Minnesota, they don’t really touch on the subject too much.
[…] is a tangentially related debate to the “are real estate blogs advertising?” question that is periodically debated, but the audience for potential “regulation” is […]