ProBlogger’s groovy blog prompt of the day is: “write a review.”  Y’all know I’m not shy with my opinion!  Today, I’ll give a review and you have to guess what I’m reviewing.  Let the challenge begin!

1. LIKE: cool website, streamlined links.  I even like the pictures of the hourly workers- it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside dreaming of a non-answering machine that might care to answer my calls.

2. DISLIKE: I abhor the way this company has decided that they are “different.”  Many companies have a similar setup- assistants (that may or may not be licensed), vendors (from photographers to distributors) and agents.  

There’s always a single giggly blonde chick at the party says in her baby doll voice “I’m like really smart and I have lots to offer and stuff.  What kind of car do you drive? I’m like so smart.”  Just because she repeats the word “smart” doesn’t actually make her smart.  Just like this company regurgitating the word “different” doesn’t actually make them different- I’m not impressed. 

3. LIKE: I like that this company has given Realtors the perception that their business could be threatened.  They’ve never claimed to be on a quest to dominate Real Estate, rather they’ve gone after an ignored demographic and done well at that.  There are people who would normally never innovate actually studying their business from a new perspective.  When an industry begins to evolve (which was not started by the company in the review, btw), it is a sign of healthy progress.

4. DISLIKE: This company carries itself as “better” than Realtors.  There is a tone that they have a completely separate way and their philosophy is superior to everyone else’s.  They “verbally” attack the industry while they forget that they are a part of that industry.  I dislike the attacks on Realtors, but hey- it’s fair game!

5. LIKE: because of the money that seems to be hemmoraghed into their company, they are forced to behave like a publicly traded company by continuously being transparent and releasing their stats to keep the VCs happy.  This hasn’t helped them in the blogiverse because it has become obvious that they aren’t effectively using VC money, nor are they as successful as they’d like to brag.

6. DISLIKE: as a client, I would not appreciate that they didn’t have the money to pay their employees, forcing a break from working and couldn’t take on new business for a stint.  They’ve claimed other reasons, but their multi-location volume is not equivalent to single firms (even McDiscounts) in highly saturated markets… hmmmm….  Okay, so I like this one personally, but as a west coast mega-discount-seeking-hipster consumer, I’d be pissed.

7. LIKE: regardless of #4, their PR Champ is actually a really nice person and has made people perceive rotten lemons as really sexy spiked lemonade.  She’s non-confrontational and carries herself well… she really should be at GE or ATT… I hope she gets a prime cut of the VC bucks!

Shall I continue?  Surely you’ll get it by #2….