I was recently nominated for inclusion in “Top Agent Magazine” and it just came out for November. This is an industry magazine with editions specific to each state. Its nice to be included, but it holds little water in my book. Its actually more of a marketing pitch than an independent nomination process. I was nominated by someone (I don’t know whom), interviewed and their writer drafted a short biography about me. I was then told that if I wanted to use their logo and such in my marketing (who wouldn’t?), I could do so for a few hundred dollars. Okay, I’ll bite. As I was interviewed, they felt my story and niche marketing was unique among other agents, therefore, they “offered” me the front cover and a full length article of several pages. Sounds good, right? There was a catch.
In order to get on the cover, I’d have to pay nearly $2k for the privilege. When I heard that, the magazine lost its credibility with me. I mean if this is truly an honor bestowed only on the top agents, then inclusion should be based on one’s merit and not one’s credit card. Basically, its a “pay for placement” marketing scheme made to look like an independent endorsement by the publisher. Actually, its a very smart business model, and I can’t blame the publisher for taking advantage of such a market. Additionally, they encouraged me to contact my service suppliers (i.e. surveyors, lenders, appraisers, inspectors, etc.) and suggest to them that they purchase a congratulatory ad in the magazine. Seriously?
So for what its worth, I’m a “top agent” in Top Agent Magazine and you can read about it by clicking here. Once the page loads, you’ll have to click through to page 34 to find my article. What holds more credibility with me is the fact that in 2019, I was the top producing agent out of 400+ local Keller Williams agents, and year-to-date, I’m again the top producing agent for our Keller Williams market. That didn’t cost me a thing except a lot of dedicated hard and smart work.
