I've edited this advertisement only to block out the name but have otherwise left the text unchanged. Anyone care to guess what type of free services this gentleman is offering when he suggests you contact him for a free "consulatation," once again Garrett County's "professionals" are doing a disservice to the reputation of Garrett County and its people. Maybe it's time to contact the board of education and see if they can raise their standards a bit. Or maybe I should just send this one off to Jay Leno for his "Headlines" skit. Maybe once this organization was the butt of a nationally televised joke they would start taking a serious look at what they are putting on their own websites and reexamine how they are portraying themselves. Clearly, my efforts alone are not enough to clean up the mess.
Don't forget to check back to Dan's Deep Creek Blog for future updates.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
I'm really starting to wonder if dictionary.com is a blocked site in all of Garrett County's offices ..
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8 comments:
I think it was on purpose - "consulatation" sounds much fancier than just a plain old consultation.
Chris I think you are right. Spelling words the same old boring way is neither "cutting edge" nor thinking "outside of the box," two catch phrases this agent prides himself on.
I am confused?
Are you hiring this realtor to help you buy/sell a home or to win a spelling bee?
Yes, they misspelled a word in the advertisement but the big picture is that they actually had an advertisement. My oldest is a real estate agent and I have gotten to know the industry well. Most real estate agents are truly small business owners and a team of 1. They are the sales staff, the manager, the secretary, the web designer, the accountant, the copywriter and human. They do make mistakes.
Yes, this realtor made a spelling error or typo but I applaud them for taking the initiative and putting in the effort to build a web site to host the advertisement. How many realtors out there actually have websites? How many put in the extra effort? How many people have been helped by the website? I am sure that you understand the time involved in building and maintaining a website. I can only imagine. I would hire a realtor with misspelled words in their advertisement over a realtor with no advertisement at all.
Those of us in the corporate world with large staffs and a support team are quick to judge small business owners. Put yourself in their shoes. Would you be able to do your job alone? I don’t know what you do for a living but running a small business is very demanding.
I have a friend who is a highly accomplished surgeon at Johns Hopkins. Many people trust him with their lives daily and I would do the same. He is one of the most brilliant people I know but admits that he would be lost without an assistant and spell check. The key to this story is that he is a great surgeon. Who cares if he can spell?
Your article about this advertisement is a great example of what I think is the problem with today’s youth. You are too quick to fight. You are obviously from a small town. Both of you should be concerned with working to improve the greater good of the community. Not fighting with each other over small errors. When you notice an error made by your neighbor, competitor or not, why not pick up the phone and let them know. I am sure they would appreciate the help.
Thanks for your comments and yes I can appreciate the demands of running a small business. However, those demands are not an excuse to be sloppy and not attentive to the details, unless making the sale is truly valued above all else. If I were to hire a real estate agent to buy or sell a home I would do so in order to avoid having to handle certain details myself. Why should I trust someone who cannot even proofread their own promotional materials, or find someone who can, to handle a transaction that may be the biggest that I ever make. And one in which the details certainly do matter.
Over a number of months I have made it clear that these professionals are not representing themselves, or the county I call home, well by what has become a series of copyright violations, plagiarized writings and countless typos and misleading statements in promotional materials. Yet very little seems to have changed despite that fact that these professionals represent larger organizations with general managers and support staff who should, at the very least, be performing some form of quality control. I suppose you would rather I say nothing and outsiders continue to think of the people of Garrett County as poorly educated, incapable of producing their own thoughts and opinions and willing to stop at nothing to "make the sale." Being a small business may be demanding but it also doesn't give someone free reign to violate intellectual property laws or throw ethical behavior out the window either.
As I said, what I have seen coming from these websites is nothing short of a mess. And I'm still waiting to find out when someone is going to clean up that mess.
I was curious to see if you would respond.
If helping is truly your objective then “good for you” but you are going about it wrong.
Why be mean and poke fun at your neighbors?
If I had my assistant proof your website today would you rather I sent a note offering to help or would you rather I build my own website making fun of you? If I made fun of you how would you respond to me? You would probably see my response as an attack. If I attack you why would you even take my advice? Friends and neighbors who truly care about the greater good do not attack each other. Do you truly care about your town or are you just looking for a fight?
I read several of your older articles this morning and you are defiantly on the verge of being viewed as a bully. Is this what you want?
Remember the golden rule and “treat others how you would want to be treated”. You will live a better life if you follow that simple rule.
Every day I make a point to help someone with something, anything, and I feel great for it. Next time you notice a mistake on one of your competitors sites or advertisements offer help in a nice constructive way. Let me know how they respond. I think you will like the results.
Initially I did offer to "help" without posting to this website and as I said nothing happened. As if they don't care that they are making fools of themselves with one-sided commentaries against wind turbines, as just one example, based on a certain number of trees being removed from the landscape or some tax avoidance scheme while at the same time promoting vacation home development on ridgetops that are also cleared of trees to take advantage of tax avoidance schemes themselves. So you also have to remember that these are some of the same people who are attacking others themselves - namely the wind turbine industry. In that respect I suppose they are being treated exactly as they treat others themselves. And just to make it clear none of these people are my "competitors." I am simply a concerned citizen looking in from the outside. If I said something completely ridiculous or poorly thought out I would hope someone would correct me as well.
So, you are bitter and want revenge? Punish those who have hurt you? Is that your thought?
I'm not bitter and am not out for revenge, simply pointing out how I see things and that there are two sides to every story. Who has hurt me and who exactly am I punishing by commenting that professionals should take more pride in their work that is available for anyone in the world to view?
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