The commercial real estate networking site MyDealBook.com has a new look for the New Year. As of Jan. 1, MyDealBook.com — which was founded by former PropertyShark.com CEO Ryan Slack as a way to connect commercial real estate professionals — will be known as GreenPearl.com.
The rebranding will include a new logo and new Web address, as well as new blogs and other features.
The name change comes after a wave of unexpected confusion for MyDealBook. After launching in the spring of 2008, Slack was surprised to receive a cease-and-desist order from the New York Times, which had trademarked a similar name for its “DealBook” blog.
The idea of racking up legal fees to battle for the name was unappealing, Slack said, especially since industry professionals constantly confused MyDealBook with The Real Deal and other sites.
“We got a lot of confusion,” Slack said. The name was “easy for people to mishmash in their heads if they weren’t paying close attention.”
He said the name change is also an opportunity to add new features to what he called a 450,000-member site, including two new blogs, new events and “webinars,” and an email-based alert system that lets members know when deals that fit their criteria become available.
Brainstorming for a new company name was not new to Slack. PropertyShark.com, too, had started life with a different name: NYCPropertyResearch.com. Following the same technique he used then, Slack sat down at his computer looking for available domain names. Green Pearl eventually emerged the winner.
Pearls, which are rare, signify the elusiveness and importance of good business relationships, Slack said, while the color green is a nod to the sustainability movement.
The new logo hasn’t been unveiled, but Slack said it is a green orb with an image of the Earth on it, referencing the global real estate market. After all, he said, the Earth is “the original piece of real estate.”