Agents work hard for listings, but it is the broker who pays for the display ads that generate extra advertorials -- those feature stories that show up in the Sunday Homes section of the local paper. That makes the advertorials an extension of the ad that the broker has already paid for. When establishing an advertorial policy, keep in mind that the one with the gold makes the rules.

That means that as the broker, your advertorial is as important to your image as a company as any other ad or branding. You have the right to present a consistent, appealing image to the public.

The best way to do that is to put someone on your staff who is in charge of your advertising needs, or to outsource your advertising needs to an advertising firm. The advertorials can be outsourced to a local free-lance writer who is familiar with local real estate, architecture, real estate politics and fair housing laws.

This person or group should establish the advertising schedule, coordinated with the advertising representative of the newspaper, and then give space assignments to managers (if in a multi-office company.) The manager assigns stories accordingly: company news, community service events, agent profile, management profile, or property ad. You should establish policy on how headlines are written (all should include the name of your brokerage), how deadlines are to be met, and how to feature the company's Web site address in every story.

It's up to the broker/manager to decide which stories to run and how to weigh the importance of the stories. Some managers will only allow property ad advertorials on homes over a certain price range, on homes with virtual tours, or homes represented by agents who have done a certain amount of production. Others allow each agent a slot which is left to the agent's discretion to use as a personal ad or a property ad. Some brokers only allow advertorials on sellers' homes on which they are receiving full-service commissions to sell -- which could be a bargaining chip with ad-conscious sellers.

That said, property ads should never be assigned to "get a listing," nor should they be used to "save a listing." If a broker or agent stoops to that, she is placing value on the ad, not on the services rendered by the brokerage. If ads sell real estate, what do sellers need brokers for? Agents should be told to never mention advertorials in listing presentations. If a seller asks about them, they should say that they are assigned by the broker, and scheduled weeks in advance. The agent can't promise that any listing will get into the rotation. This should be easy to defend as at any given time, the brokerage should always have many more listings than available slots for property ads.

It is difficult to get managers in a multi-office environment on board with a corporate advertorial plan if they think they or their agents will be charged by the free-lancers for writing the advertorials. It's best to let the broker absorb this cost, or she will be met with delays, frustration, and poor quality stories. The advertorials should be a service to the managers to help them unshoulder a time-consuming burden so they can concentrate on recruiting, retention, and sales.

To get them on board, compose a notice similar to this:

To all managers: Big Broker Realty Advertorial Standards

To present a consistent and appealing company image to consumers, Big Broker Realty has developed standards for the writing and delivery of advertorials to local publications.

As you know, our advertising expenditures with local newspapers allow us to have extra space to promote properties, profile our personnel, and announce company news in the form of advertorials. While we view this extra space as ads, the newspapers view the extra space as editorial. For this reason, Big Broker Realty must conform to the journalistic standards of each publication.

This means we have the newspapers’ and our own standards to uphold. To make it easier on everyone involved with the creation of these advertorials, Big Broker Realty has adopted the following policies:

Published: October 8, 2003

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

Blanche Evans is the award-winning senior editor of Realty Times, the Internet's leading independent real estate news service. She is featured daily on the Realty Times Video Network in the "Realty Viewpoint" segment. Blanche has been named one of the "25 Most Influential People In Real Estate" by REALTOR Magazine, and has been twice recognized as a "notable." In 2005, she was named "Top Reporter Covering the NAR" by Delahaye-Bacon's. Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. To contact Blanche, email her at . For more articles by Blanche, click here.