"Best of" or did you get the "Best of" my gullible heart?

So Steve has been blessed to work with so many great clients over the years and many that he continues to work with finding that "right" home solution or investment property.

Clients have taken pics pictures with Steve and write fantastic notes and letters of endorsement, which mean the world to us. Heck we have even had a few submit HGTV videos with us! I will post that one soon. Thanks to you Morgan!

So what's that pic below? Hmmm. My instinct says hoax to the "moax"-est, but having your website in even "e-writing," does have it's power over your mind if it is directed at you and/or perhaps an audience that is interviewing REALTORs such as Steve.



Uh as much as I would love to say this is a real award, I just don't think so ... Of course who would not enjoy an award, but the email I received seemed odd as well as how difficult it seems to make contact with this USLBA.net group (US Local Business Association-and on their site it is "US" not "U.S."). So on this little plaque it says "US" and not "U.S." as in United States. Is this an accidental omission of proper punctuation or is it possibly a deliberate typo to make an association that would lend us to think it is a nationally affiliated group ... "Us Local Business types ... "

How was this "best of" arrived at is my question? Honestly I didn't want to write back to that email that sent me the original email.

I was left to googling and jumping on Yahoo!

So for a month or so now I have been doing very "light" research on the USLBA.net that sent us the award above, after Steve received an award for his being the best in Roseville for real estate agents. I don't have the drive nor desire to claim fraud or legit with the award we received. I have seen many new companies boasting this award, and I don't know anything past what I have found with googling.

I have seen this plaque around town (one at a great local restaurant). The owner claimed it was real and he said someone had to write in to get this award (I gathered a written endorsement). When I first this award come through my email, I thought, "this seems weird" but was still excited at the chance we had won an award for our website.

I KNOW it is a great honor to be voted and/or nominated for a best of category, but WHO voted? The power of print can have indeed lend to a powerful perception and add to the perceived worth of a group. I too got quickly blinded when I saw, "Best of Roseville: Real Estate Agents." Agents? But it is just Steve? I am only the marketing person. Hmmm and he is with Coldwell Banker. Granted a typo possibly.

My background is marketing (and graphic design) and I thought something seemed way too automated and it seemed odd to me that I wasn't told the price of the plaque unless I provided my information. Is there anything to that thought process, honestly I don't know. Just my instinct that it didn't feel right to request my information before letting me know the cost of the item that I was told we won.

So I googled this group and I have found great posts and also this great article about an investigation ...

See the article out of Louisville, Kentucky: click here.

Granted if you want to pay $80+ for a plaque, go for it, but I sense this might be a clever marketing scheme to give you a cheap, but nice "enough" plaque with what appeared to be a color, glossy print out (yes I have seen it with my own two eyes), but might be plastic covering. Buuuuuut .... I would be nervous to be providing my credit card to this group.

So if you have gotten one of these in the emails ... there has to be more people locally who have received this ... I wonder. I have found only one other local person claiming it, the other one I saw in a restaurant. Hmmmm ...