Realtor secrets

Ben, I understand the sentiment, but enough is enough. Transparency has finally jumped the shark, and I for one am sick and tired of how intrusive the concept has become.

Does Zappos ‘disclose’ how much profit it’s making on each pair of shoes? Highly unlikely. It sells shoes for a price and at a quality for which the public happily votes with its pocketbook. Without apology it’s nobody’s damn business how much I net, as long as I act with honesty, rock ribbed integrity, and oh yeah, know what the hell I’m doing.

I remember when the phrase, ‘silent majority’ was first coined back in the 70’s. As I’ve attended/spoken at conferences, seminars, and barcamps around the country the last few years, the vast majority of folks with whom I’ve spoken have enthusiastically agreed — their business is their business.

The consumer either gets what they pay for or they don’t. They can easily ascertain what your competition charges for the same services/expertise and choose their representation accordingly.

Zappos applies policies worthy of high praise for sure. But it’s called ‘private enterprise’ for a reason. Can we agree on that much?

Transparency, for the most part, is a false issue used to invade privacy. The few times it’s legitimately invoked are exceptions that prove the rule, and ironically centuries old.

Thanks Ben, I feel better now.

If a client wants to know what I net, I will tell them..

Wait a second, I am a moron. There’s the banner ad right next to your “article”. So you don’t even need to answer my original question. How about addressing the follow up questions:

Do you really expect people to take you seriously? You talk about transparency and can’t even disclose when writing an advertorial about a prominent paid advertiser – IN THE SAME ARTICLE???

This is one of the most pathetic excuses for journalism I’ve ever seen.

Ben, the original comment was awaiting moderation as my follow up comment published directly. Benn, what am I advertising here? Look, it’s your party and I am merely a guest. As a vendor, I actually try to go out of my way to uphold the divide between advertising and journalism. No reason why vendors shouldn’t have a take on industry events too. It would have been very simple for you or another admin to disclose the fact that you are pimping a paid advertiser. At least I could somewhat respect that. Don’t give me this BS that readers ought to read the fine print. That is a cop out. As bloggers, we are in essence journalists. By the way, my blog doesn’t accept advertising, never will.

So what you are saying is that I am comment spamming? If that were true I’d be complimenting you on such a fine example of journalistic integrity, not the other way around. I think you’ll find that I am an honest participant in discussions I find of interest. Can’t say I’m surprised that you simply go on the attack instead of just taking this as constructive criticism. Where your shout out to Zappos crosses the line is that they are a paid advertiser. All you needed is a simple disclaimer. Food for thought, that’s it.

What exactly are you accusing me of here Benn? I am not here to get into personal pissing match with you. I made my point. You obviously couldn’t handle a constructive complaint, a well founded one with tangible basis. I love the blogging community and will continue participating (and no I am not pimpin). I gotta get to my daughter’s graduation. Hope this spat ends here but hey we can keep going later if you think there is value.

“A vendor writing in the name of humanity while buying link juice from bhb”

Nobody ever bought a link from BHB, Benn. (except when Greg ran Amazon affiliate links).

I think Mark’s pointing out that the author’s failure to disclose that Zappos is a paid advertiser could be inferred as bias. The irony is that the author cries for transparency, then cites a paid advertiser as a shining example of the practice of transparency.

It’s good editorial practice to disclose potential conflicts of interest in the copy. You’ll often see this on MSNBC when they discuss General Electric. For example, I always disclose that I’m a paying customer of Top of Mind networks when I refer to them. I always disclose the amount of money I’ve received from HomeGain (which to date, is zero) , when I write about them.

I, like many others, enjoy a lot of authors here, Benn. As one of your readers, I’d prefer to have them disclose that potential conflict of interest. You are entitled to make any kind of profit you can off of this platform and have nothing to hide. Disclose upfront and you answer the nagging questions in the back of the readers’ minds.

I just got back from my daughter’s graduation. Looks like while I was gone, Brian Brady made my point exactly. I was planning on citing the same example (MSNBC, in reference to Ken’s point). I’d also cite the “advertisement” header, although in small print, you often see in newspapers when ad’s are disguised to look like actual content.

My sensitivity to this particular subject probably stems from my newspaper background. I spent 6 years in advertising sales at the Miami Herald and LA Times. Lesson #1 centered around the separation of church and state, and it was constantly pounded into our heads. People want their news without bias – or even the slightest hint of it.

Ben, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the content of the article. I am sure Zappos is a fine company and I certainly agree that transparency is a GOOD thing. But you guys have to admit that the omission of a disclaimer invites readers to wonder if there’s an ulterior motive – even if there isn’t one. With all due respect, I visited the blog today to read the article for myself and didn’t think to preface it with a visit to your terms & conditions page.

Benn, I am going to go ahead and take your bait although you don’t want to seem to just come out and say it. Your image in these earlier comments accuses me of paying for my participation at BHB. This is an accusation I don’t take lightly, and it’s pretty ballsy of you to go there. For the record, I am a contributor at BHB just like all the other contributors. It’s a labor of love, and I enjoy the hell out of it. Blogging actually makes me feel like I can make a positive difference in an industry that could use more “doers” and less “talkers”. The content I’ve posted at BHB runs the gamut and I’ve gone out of my way not to make my articles about “me”. The body of work is there for everyone to review for themselves – you can make your own judgment call as to whether I’m a “vendorslut” or not. Did you even read the article you lifted your image from?

We’re a PR6 because we’re clean. You’re a PR3 because you’re dirty. You’re not dirty because you’re an inherently corrupt person. You’re dirty because you think blaming your corruption on other people absolves you. One could wish this were a rare phenomenon.

Ben, your explanation makes perfect sense and now I can see how this happened. I hope you can also understand my point of view even if you don’t agree with it. Innocent mishap, thing of the past. Lessons learned all around. The stars realign and there is peace in the world.

Kumbaya, dudes.

“if you read my earlier comment (or bio) you’d see that I’m also an appraiser, meaning I write well-worded disclaimers on a daily basis”

I know that. I read those disclaimers daily 🙂