I am an eleven-year real estate veteran and, with my husband and partner Steve, am Broker-Owner of San Diego Castles Realty in (brace yourself) San Diego. We assist both buyers and sellers in all areas of San Diego County. I am also (gasp) a real estate blogger.
In addition to our website, San Diego Castles (SanDiegoCastles.com), we host our San Diego Home Blog (SanDiegoHomeBlog.com).
Victor, I appreciate your comments. First of all, I believe Drew was talking about the user experience, not necessarily about the guy who wins by bringing home the most eyeballs. More to point, I think you made mine. My little site is not a category killer and never will be, but I enjoy some search engine ranking and some business development because of it. Sandicor is now the "7th highest ranking domain for real estate search in the San Diego area"? And that helps me, how? You mention Keller Williams and Redfin, but let me remind you that these are Broker members too. Squashing them is like squashing little old me, but on a larger scale. We are all card carrying members, and the purpose of our associations is to support us, right? Be that as it may, I conceded no fewer than four times on my little ol' blog with, apparently, dismal search engine ranking that the concept of a front-facing MLS is good; I simply want to see it on a bigger stage. But Sandicor "is likely to become (my) #1 referral site in 12 months"? Really? I'm doing quite well, thank you. The only way I see the Sandicor site becoming a referral boon is by their site gaining local traction and winning the SEO war (against other local agents and brokers, myself included), and by visitors happening upon my listings and clicking through. In the first case, that means they (my MLS) are competing with me, and they have won. In the second, that means that buyers' agents should beware. Broken record alert: I am all for transparency. But, I object to the proposition that this benefits me, a member agent, who has effectively paid for this. This is not about better serving me, at least not in its present form. I don't stay awake nights wondering how Sandicor might dominate Google's Page 1. I worry about how I will generate and stay in business. Kris Berg San Diego Castles Realty San Diego Home Blog
Jim, I think there is "news" in this if you consider the large agent audience Inman enjoys, many of whom have not (yet) had to consider online reputation management. If the only take-away is a reminder to be more measured in our online communications, then it is a valuable lesson. During the now-infamous "Barbie" episode, it took every ounce of resolve I could muster to stay silent, which I did. Whether we find ourselves in the role of the victim or the victimizer, every online utterance becomes a matter of public record that lives on. Do-overs are difficult in cyber-space. Kris Berg San Diego Castles Realty San Diego Home Blog
Oh, good grief. You go, Daniel! Kris Berg San Diego Castles Realty San Diego Home Blog
You must login or register to post a comment.
Submitted by Lenore & Alex Wilkas on March 5, 2008 - 10:15pm.
Hi Kris,
Love your stuff.