I recently wrote a post on my experience at a realtor.com seminar. The following is a comment that was emailed directly to me instead of entered as a comment on the post, but I decided to reprint it here. If you commented on that post, you may be interested to read the comment below where the writer calls those who are in disagreement with his point of view Dingbats among other things.
I chose not to respond to this email and hoped that some of my AR friends might respond to Wideloan for me by way of a comment on this post. I'm sure Wideloan will find them! Thank you.
Fran,
"There are two ways to have the tallest building in town. One way...is to build the tallest building in town. The other way...is to tear down all the other buildings."
I had the unfortunate opportunity to run across your blog this morning and read your gibberish about REALTOR.com, which by the way...is the official web site for the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Why would you focus on the lame comments of 280 "unsuccessful" realtors that still haven't figured out that they don't have what it takes to make it in the real estate industry? Sounds like sour grapes to me. Did they expect REALTOR.com to negotiate the sales contract and close the deal...or...just provide additional exposure of their listings through the Internet? Hhhmmm...let's talk about value for a minute.
Where's the value in a dingbat realtor that makes 3% commission on a $1,000,000 property? $30,000 commission for what? To be late on appointments, to not understand a property inspection, to screw up the escrow from start to finish, to find lousy appraisers and lousy mortgage broker, etc. I'm sure you see my point now. Where is the value there? How about a flat fee of $500 for selling a house whether it's a $1M or $100K? The work is the same. The paperwork is the same. I don't see the value! Most realtors don't have a clue how to market themselves or build their business. REALTOR.com is the #1 real estate web site in the world and the most cost effective form of advertising on the market for realtors. They received over 11 million unique users this month. For most realtors...this is their best bet. Paying for calendars to hand out at a Chamber of Commerce networking breakfast is the not he best use of their advertising dollars.
Using methods from the 70's to sell homes in the high tech society of 2009 is a joke. (By the way, I have a calendar on my cell phone.) I imagine if you talked to 100,000 Mercedes owners, you would find 280 that were not happy with their vehicle and didn't see the value. The best car on the road...and yet 280 people don't see the value after owning one. Yet the other 99,720 do see the value and keep buying a Mercedes year after year. D'oh! So...in conclusion...you have no credibility and are far from being any kind of an expert in real estate based on your decision to write and promote the impressions of a small group of unsuccessful realtors as fact. The 100's of thousands of successful realtors that continue to renew their contracts with REALTOR.com year after year...you don't write about them. Interesting. Actually...silly. Just like your web site and blog.
Click here for more valuable information: http://siteanalytics.compete.com/realtor.com/
Sincerely,
Very Satisfied REALTOR.com Customer & Successful Realtor - Wideloan @aol.com
It is the readers right to disagree with me and comment. Name calling is a bit juvenile, however. Do you think Wideloan has an interest in realtor.com?! Duh!
Thank you for stopping by. Your comments on this post are welcomed and appreciated.
No one sold more homes in Del Norte County in 2009, 2010 and 2011--*in units sold and volume--than Fran Gatti. Put Fran to work for you!
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Well I have no idea why that person was so nasty and took your original post so very personally. I don't use realtor.com and don't need it. Some agents in my market do, and I don't think they are getting a very good return on their investment either. And I just love their Mercedes comparison. If you aren't a satisfied customer it seems you are "less important" than a satisfied one. But wait... if I have a good experience with a product I might tell a few people, but if I have a bad experience I'm going to tell anyone who will listen... so maybe the 280 unsatisfied customers ARE IMPORTANT after all and not Dingbats.
Fran,
There are plenty of dingbats to go around...!!! Thanks, Fran
Fran, that was an interesting read. I really would like to see this person's web presence. I take it they are a lender? Hmm. But thanks for sharing it was fun to read and envision what a kook this person is! I am always amazed at how many petty people hide behind the curtain of an email. No b*&$s to post it live.
Fran,
Good for you for not responding to the turd in the punchbowl.
No reason to stoop to his level.
If I had a chance to respond to him personally, I'd only need 2 words.....and they are NOT Happy Birthday.
Rock on, girlfriend.....don't let the doodies get you down!
I got a real good visual on "the turd in the punchbowl." Lol, thank you for that... I think.
REALTOR.com is the #1 real estate web site in the world and the most cost effective form of advertising on the market for realtors.
Good evening Fran,
Obviously your post rattled someone's cage. Why weren't they willing to comment publicly? Did this email happen to arrive from the realtor.com PR department? :)
Did that dingbat have stock in realtor.com?..LOL
I have had my share of dingbats respond to me....they just need to get a life!You have to expect a couple,when there are 150,000+ members
Fran, too bad he didn't comment publically. Gee, nothing wrong with honest debate on blogs. I've had plenty recently. LOL
If someone loves Realtor dot com then speak up, we all have different experiences and some commented on your blog they did love it.
Fran - I can only assume that you are being kind and not posting this individuals name and/or identity. If you didn't than I would not and could not take this critic seriouly and you did the right thing by not responding.
Realtor.com is not for everyone and no two demographics or regions utilize the same tools , so to keep traffic flowing in our business we must have a variety of ways to attract clients.
Fran, I commented on your original post. I commented on the pathetic business practices of the site based on our experience and that of others. Results - this is a good forum to discuss those things. That site has been a joke for many years. What is important is how business is driven to us through our marketing efforts. We monitor what is effective, and that site is not very effective despite being very big. The email you received is amazingly full of venom ... and for what? Ego most likely.
Finally, they missed the point of AR forums and comment exchange. Nothing is absolute - ideas are floated, shared, plussed, or minused (nicely). It is a place to share, learn, interact. Too bad the egomaniac couldn't face being publicly identified, and writing a nice contrary opinion so all could share from his/her opinion or experience.
Could it be written by a telemarketer for the website ... they don't tell the truth in person so why should they do so in an anonymous email!
To bad the comment was not pubic....
Bettina
Oh Fran, I can only imagine getting THAT email in my inbox! This person sounds awfully familiar-- I think I may have run into them on zillow LOL!