I’ve been passively reading the forum threads & blog posts on apmasphere over the past few weeks & I’m impressed at how informative this site has become, so quickly.

Apmasphere is providing a great service to the real estate industry by providing a platform for sharing a wealth of knowledge & experiences very openly & freely. Congratulations to the apmasphere team & all the contributors.

Posting Onto The Web & Protecting Your Reputation

Whilst I think apmasphere is a fantastic concept, there is something very important that agents & property managers will need to bear in mind when they use blogs & forums like this one.

With some of the comments I’ve read within the threads, it’s come to my attention that some contributors may not be aware that whatever you or someone else posts onto the web will remain on there forever.

Here’s a tip: If you can’t say it to your client, then the last thing you should do is broadcast it onto the internet.  

Post as if a client is sitting there beside you, looking over your shoulder. Think about your reputation & use diplomacy with what you say.

Please understand that I’m not saying don’t post. Openly sharing your property management knowledge is a great thing for our industry & is not only a great way to give back, but it will help agents provide better service to their customers. (Which will inturn help to improve the reputation of our industry).

I understand that it can be a bit of a balancing act between saying things as they really are within property management & protecting your reputation at the same time.

To help you out, here are 2 Golden Rules that I share with attendees at my Twitter for Real Estate Workshops about posting content onto the web.

1. Never upload anything onto the web that you wouldn’t be proud of if it happened to appear on National Television.
2. Never, ever, ever post something onto the web when you’re angry or upset.

How will your clients think to find you here at apmasphere?

Some of you may be thinking that your clients won’t be coming over to apmasphere to read your comments. Well the fact is that they probably won’t plan to end up at apmasphere initially, but when they do some snooping around about you on Google, who knows where they will end up.

Over the next 3-6 months, as apmasphere becomes more & more popular within the property management sector & as more agents join into the conversation by contributing to the site, you’ll find that apmasphere will end up becoming a site that ranks extremely high on Google.

Which means, if a client does some research on you & Google’s your name then potentially some of the comments you’ve made within this forum may end up appearing next to your name on Google,

Here’s the big question…Will a potential client be happy with what you’ve been saying on the web? If so, keep up the great work. If not, then choose your words more carefully & if you feel that you may have said the wrong thing then I’d suggest contacting the forum moderator about any concerns you may have.