Advertising doesn’t just mean putting your listings in the newspaper. Advertising, according to state administrative rule, “includes all forms of representation, promotion and solicitation disseminated in any manner and by any means of communication for any purpose related to professional real estate activity.”

The administrative rule makes it pretty clear everything you do as an agent that involves a member of the public is advertising. From your business card to your office sign to your email signature, to what you say about your competitors, it’s all advertising. Hunting for prospective clients, whether buyers or sellers, involves advertising even if all you do is call someone on the telephone.

What all this means is you have to have advertising rules and regulations down pat so you can conduct your business without worrying about violating some obscure rule or regulation. That is the object of this section.