A lot of real estate bloggers are being used as sources for real estate stories in big publications like The New York Times, Kiplinger, The Chicago Tribune, local newspapers, etc. But are we getting credit for our time? is it really worth the effort for us when we see these big names?
I can only speak for myself when I say I get excited when a known publication contacts me because I think of the exposure I may get. We all know that the more our name is out there, the better it is for our business, so why not?
The experience may not always be pleasant because the outcome may not be what you envisioned. On many different occasions, I have gone out of my way to cooperate with reporters and writers to help with their stories, find them clients to speak to and interview, spend a lot of time answering questions and helping with their story to get little or no credit in the end.
I have asked upfront for at least a link to my site in exchange for my time and the excuse for not getting the link or a mention was that the stories were cut by senior editors the last possible minute.
So here’s my question to you – do we continue helping these publications to use us to write their stories without demanding something in writing first? Is there an easier way to do this or am I simply overreacting? I’m hoping someone has come up with a win-win formula and would kindly share.
At least The New York Times was courteous enough to mention my name when I was taken out of context. A local news station doing a story on St. Joseph as the “patron saint of Realtors” was not as kind after taking a client to a botanica to buy a St. Joseph Statue, filming her burying it, interviewing her and myself and then cutting me out of the story altogether and not even mentioning the client’s address to at least give a little exposure to the listing. And the last straw was me taking a writer from Kiplinger around Miami to show her listings, hooking her up with clients to speak to, providing market information as well as photos and then getting a link to the site as a photo credit inside the binding of the magazine where you practically have to tear the issue apart to see a little tiny “miamism.com” in there.
I would like to add that in every single occasion, the writers/reporters were extremely nice, really enjoyed spending time with them and were very apologetic after not being able to give me credit. (So the point here is not to knock on them but on the process).
Can someone share some light into this uncomfortable issue? Because personally…..I’m done! They can go to try the next gullible guinea pig, there’s just so many hits I can take.
