Pine Needle Lawn

Really. We were allowed to advertise. Does that sound strange? Yea, that’s what we thought when we received this email from a newspaper after submitting a classified ad:

I’m sorry to have to inform you that we will not place your requested advertisment at this time. We have the right to refuse advertisments which we deem to be a conflict of interest for our products and services.

I do thank you for your time and hope that you continue to prosper in your chosen field.

So here is what happened…We were placing some ads for the upcoming Sunday edition of some Newspapers in Minnesota & Wisconsin. We had never advertised in this particular newspaper – so we called the sales department to get some additional information.

After speaking with the sales representative in charge of contract advertising, we went ahead and submitted a classified ad to run this coming Sunday (6/17/07). Thirty minutes later, we received the email above.

Obviously I was concerned. Where was the conflict of interest? We were simply advertising 6 or 7 local lake properties for sale. So I called the sales rep.

I was amazed when she told me (among many things) that it was her job to “look out” for the local realtors. And something like “you think your website is the end-all, be-all.”

I was amazed – and my business partner (who could hear the conversation clearly) looked like he had softballs for eyes. We could not believe what we were hearing. I tried to explain over and over that LakePlace.com is a real estate brokerage – we are members of the local MLS board (like everyone else who advertises in their newspaper) and we would like to hear a good reason behind the decision.

I have to say, although the sales rep seemed a bit defensive at times and offensive at other times, she did tell me that she would speak to the higher-ups and see what she could do. She also let me know that if it does not work out – “the newspaper is not out to get us,” to which I replied – “I’m not sure about that” – to which she replied (in a condescending manner) “oh, at least you are honest,” and I ended the conversation by saying “well, it is what it is.”

I then went ahead and sent an email to her (to pass on to the “higher-ups”) explaining our position. We felt it would be an unfair practice to exclude one real estate brokerage from advertising in the classifieds while allowing others to do so. We also amended our advertisement by removing our company tag line “Buy, Sell, Rent” and replacing it with our phone number.

Here is a copy of the email and the revised advertisement I sent:

——————————
Hi xxxxxx,

I appreciate you looking into the situation for me. We feel it would be an unfair practice to exclude one real estate brokerage while allowing other real estate brokerages to advertise in your newspaper. Please review the advertisement below and let me know if the xxxxxxxx will run it on Sunday 6/17/07. Please note we added our phone number and removed our company tag line.

28,000+ Lake Listings!
Leech Lk $220k, Gr Rapids
$111k, Wascott WI $385k,
Gr Marais $275k, Ely $948k
612-366-4454
www.LakePlace.com

[Note: The original ad said “Buy, Sell, Rent” instead of 612-366-4454]

Thanks again xxxxxxx – we hope we can work together!
——————————

Anyway, I sent this email at 4:23 pm (Central) yesterday afternoon and did not receive a response by 1:15pm this afternoon…so I sent another email asking our rep if she had spoken to the powers that be…and received this email in return:

It looks like we will be able to accomodate you with the revisions you submitted. Give me a call when you get a chance so we can discuss rate/schedule/etc…

When I called I was told that I was “lucky”…because the newspaper publisher is moving on to another position out west and they are not sure what is going to happen. I was told that they have been going through a lot of transitions and growth with “the Internet” and such…and that until they have an established policy in place, they decided they will just run our ads…so she is happy to work with us.

I was not sure if I should share this story (in case they read it)…but what the heck – why not. This is what blogs are for – it is all about transparency and sharing. I am happy that we are allowed to advertise in this newspaper (and I hope they continue to allow us to advertise) – but it wasn’t easy.

When you are trying to change the way real estate is bought and sold, a lot of powerful interests can and will line up against you…but we truly feel that if we remain focused on helping people, good things will happen.

So, that was my Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning/afternoon – how was yours?

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 14th, 2007 at 10:19 pm and is filed under Rants. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.