The crew at Sellsius sent me a link to a story they posted [NYC Seller Offers 10% Real Estate Commission](http://blog.sellsiusrealestate.com/?p=1083). It wasn’t just a post about a 10% listing as a novel marketing technique to differentiate the property. They called and interviewed the listing broker to get more insight, which only helped enhance the post. Good stuff.

They sent me an email directly – not part of a bulk email, suggesting that I post an article about the 10% commission and link to it. While I was appreciative of the gesture, I am not crazy about _posts about posts_ unless they are really funny, quirky or part of a bigger topic in a post I am presenting. But frankly, I got side tracked and never did anything about the post. However, the story was covered by a number of other blogs I like to read so I suspect they were emailed the same way. Sellsius’ soft sell strategy was therefore successful:

* [10% Commission? Another trend? [UrbanDigs]](http://www.urbandigs.com/2006/06/10_commission_a.html)
* [CurbedWire: Big Commission [Curbed]](http://www.curbed.com/archives/2006/06/22/curbedwire_big_commission_green_brooklyn_old_folks.php)
* [Mo Money, Mo Money, Mo Money: Seller jacks up the commission [PropertyGrunt]](http://propertygrunt.blogspot.com/2006/06/mo-money-mo-money-mo-money-seller.html)
* [Calling all Brokers/agents [NYHouses4Sale]](http://nyhouses4sale.typepad.com/ny_houses_4_sale/2006/06/calling_all_bro.html)

Just like the broker in the 10% listing story, [Sellsius](http://blog.sellsiusrealestate.com/) probably generated more traffic by approaching their marketing a little differently and each blog enhanced the content of the original post. Still, it bothered me.

That being said, it was still a good post about a changing real estate market.


5 Comments

  1. jf.sellsius June 26, 2006 at 10:22 am

    Blogging is not unlike traditional media. There are the news gatherers, reporters in the field who respond to tips or find the story themeselves & write it firsthand. There are also the necessary news disseminators, wire services like AP, UPI & Reuters who pass the stories on to other news media outlets (including blogs) so that everyone gets the news. There are bloggers that fill the same roles, but never exclusively. News, whether by traditional media or blog, is passed on so that comment can be stirred and ideas built upon–keeping the wheat & discarding the chaff.

    But unlike traditonal media with their established channels of communication, bloggers are still building the mechanisms by which they share and disseminate information to their community of readers and the broader community of their blogging brethren.

    We have found the blogosphere, for the most part, filled with individuals who believe it is better to share ideas than hoard them. We credit and hat tip, we add a little more to the story. We involve our community, which goes beyond the borders of our own blogs. As you point out, the sharing leads each blog to “enhance the content of the original post.” In this way we, together, are forging a stronger news metal in the furnace of interactive community commentary. Blogs unlike traditional news media get instant feedback on a story–the story wrung dry until every drop of value is extracted. The best one can hope for in the NYT is a pass thru the velvet rope to be published in the op-ed section, with a select few. That’s where old news fails us and where blogs have rushed in. Only when news is shared is it of any real value.

    So we send & will continue to send personal emails to our blogging friends on stories we find that they may have missed so that they may add their own unique contribution and commentary so that the dance goes on. We are happy to consider you, Jonathan, one of those friends with whom we share.

    As Sir Isaac Newton wrote to Robert Hooke:
    “If I have seen a little further, it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.”

  2. Jonathan J. Miller June 26, 2006 at 11:03 am

    Of course you can send it, I guess I was just being too open for my own good. I understand all that stuff about everyone adding to and enhancing content, sharing ideas, etc. I certainly do that with other bloggers.

    My suggestion would be that when you submit an idea to another blog, make it obvious to the reader that it was not an exclusive arrangement, because that was the impression I got – otherwise it doesn’t feel right to me. Thats all.

    No arguments with the content – your posts are always thoughtful and part of my daily habit.

  3. jf.sellsius June 26, 2006 at 1:23 pm

    Jonathan,

    Being relatively new members of the blogging community, we are still learning the ropes. We apologize for giving you the impression of exclusivity. We would never give anyone an exclusive on any story as it runs counter to our philosophy of free exchange of information via the web. We wanted to share what we found so others could share it with their readers. Our desire to communicate via personal email unfortunately gave you (& possibly others) this impression & we regret the misunderstanding. Mea culpa.

    As you know, we hold you in the highest esteem. We respect you as the expert you are. And yes, you are a daily read for us, have been on our blog roll from day 1 and one whom we link to because you are one of the giants upon whose shoulders we stand to see further.

    Sincerely
    Joseph G. Ferrara
    Co-Founder
    Sellsius

  4. Jonathan J. Miller June 26, 2006 at 1:33 pm

    I am glad to hear that (about the intentions part) and nice of you to say. One thing about me, is I call it as I see it, and pull no punches. Don’t mean to make a mountain out if this, its just that all this rain is making me cranky.

  5. jf.sellsius June 26, 2006 at 2:55 pm

    As the wise man once said “Mountains are meant to be climbed and wear velvet gloves when you punch to ease the sting, except in the rain where they get ruined” 🙂

Comments are closed.