How Do You Pick a Real Estate Agent

Hello my friends. I want to turn the tables today. I am always going off and giving you unsolicited  advice on things you should and shouldn't do. I have given so much advice on blogging, networking, and anything else I think you would benefit from.... So today, I want to hear from you....

How do you pick a real estate agent when it comes to listing your own home?

Let's face it, we all know several people qualified and licensed to sell our homes....but is that enough?

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As you can imagine, I have been receiving phone calls from people wanting to list my home. I'm a former salesperson, so I can appreciate a cold call. 

In blogging, I continue to reach out to individuals I have never met as well..... and as shocking as this may seem.... many of them have never heard of this blog. I get it.

Home Alone

For the sake of a level argument, let's assume the following;

1. The home will be listed by an agent and not sold privately.

2. The commission percentage is exactly the same for all agents. 

With a level playing field, what do you look for in an agent? Do you go with your friend? Do you like those emails you may get with the 'tips'? How about the postcards with recipes?

Seriously, is your husband involved in the process?

 

Happy & Healthy to All

A quick Thank You to Apartment Therapy for featuring my tutorial. I love those guys!

And now my Sweet Blogging Friends, I am cutting out early this Holiday Season. As you know, when my kids are off, so am I. I will be around from time to time visiting your blogs and sending a few emails.

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This was a fantastic year for my little blog. I could not have enjoyed it without all of your support and comments. It's the exchange of ideas and thoughts with all of you that make it so enjoyable for me. Thank you for all of your support.

In-between torturing my family with my micro-parenting and clicking around online.....I will be catching up on my reading. I have had several books waiting for me on my Kindle.

Daring Greatly by Brene Brown

Brene Brown is famous for giving the TED talk about The Power of vulnerability. 

Here is an excerpt:

Blogging and putting it out there for the world to judge, can definitely leave you feeling vulnerable. 

Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg

Sheryl writes;

I find her interviews so interesting. 

A Whole New Mind

My son is Right Brained, so I hope this is true.

Here are a few blog posts you may find interesting;

Is your blog name right for you? If you are thinking of changing it......the sooner the better!

Want to meet more bloggers and grow your network? Here's my formula.

Do you know how to figure out your blog size? This does not work on a Mac.

If you have not checked out all the Before & After's from the One Room Challenge Linking Participants, you should.

Have a Healthy and Happy New Year!

See you in 2014.

 

A Couple of Blogging Tips, and an Ethical Question

I have no idea where the days are going...it's definitely that time of year...but I have missed all of you!

As I was clicking around and through the One Room Challenge Linking Party, I noticed a theme that was bothering me. I made a mental note of it (first mistake) and then forgot to tell all of you about it (second mistake). I like to think it is my premenopausal brain, and not early dementia...you just never know...or not know, bad dementia joke.

Many of you bloggers don't have your name on your blog. I know that most of us want to remain semi-anonymous, so I get it. However, it also prevents you from having a better relationship with your audience. For myself, I use it as a screening mechanism that I will tell you about in a moment.

I remain optimistically hopeful that I can cure the internet of 'No Reply' Bloggers. Never did I try, and fail, at this more than during the linking party. As I desperately tried to reply back to so many of you and continually found that you were a 'no-reply' (as the name implies, you cannot receive a reply back...it's not about the ability to leave a comment), I managed to find my way back to your blog. Again, so many of you don't have a direct link back to your site. Google + is the worst for that and trust me when I say that is the easiest form of free traffic that you are missing. Once I found your blog, I could not find an email address. Seriously, I have devoted 3 or 4 clicks into this feat, and I did not have it in me to hunt all over and into your profile in hopes of obtaining an email address. So I moved on.

Please put your name and email address on your blog!

If you are thinking, Linda, you know my name. Yes, I know many of your names...however...back to the early dementia, I cannot remember it when you may be the 12th blog I have visited that day. I don't have the energy or time to go into your profile to find this information. And if I don't, neither do PR firms or Corporations.

This brings me to my screening mechanism that I mentioned earlier. I receive lots of requests from individuals, Corporations, and PR Firms wanting to reach my audience. I turn down most of them, and I always tell you when I am working with an outside source on a post. In fact, I recently turned down requests from 3 extremely well know corporations because I did not like the terms. 

Company #1 wanted me to join their 'network' of bloggers. You know I am all about networking, so I asked them to provide me with a list of the other bloggers in that network. Their reply was "that's confidential" (hardly a networking opportunity). I graciously declined that offer, moreover, my Pinterest following is 400% larger than theirs.

Company #2 wanted me to feature something that I felt was insulting to women. This is a National brand that should reach my audience, but not in a condescending way....EVER!! I actually gave them my two cents on that one and probably won't hear back from them.... until they change PR Firms, and that happens more often than you would think.

Company #3 wanted me to feature their product. A product that I am familiar with, and would  use. I don't want to tell you what I asked them, but the reply back to me we definitely a lie. Again, I graciously declined and gave them a bit of unsolicited advice. I will probably hear back from them when the 'Intern Rotation' at the PR Firm happens.

All of these examples would never have happened if the Corporations mentioned did not refer to me by my first name (displayed on my blog). I will never (politely, anyway) reply back to a request if that person could not be bothered to grab my name off my blog, and use it. Everything else, is a mass produced form letter and they really don't want me.....so why would I want them?

That's more than enough rambling....now for the ethical question;

If you find money in the pocket of clothes when you are doing laundry, do consider that a tip?

 

I'm Being Stolen...Now Let's Move On

I thought I would do a quick follow-up to yesterday's post. I learned that some bloggers put a page-break in their posts to prevent blog scrapers from stealing them. I also learned that some people put breaks in to keep their front page more clean. And a whole lot of you don't like the break.

Kris @ Driven By Decor taught me how to see if I am being scraped...and I am. She said, "Copy a few sentences from your most popular post, put it in quotes, and do a google search with it". Well, I did, and my posts are on other sites that are crazy and scary! Scary, because my Norton would not let me click over to some of them. The others make no sense....no email address...no way to contact anyone, and from the looks of it, no traffic to their site.

I am happy to report that I am not alone. My sweet friend, Kim @ Savvy Southern Style has also been stolen. I told her not to worry because Emily Clark is being stolen on a weekly basis!

For the fun of it, I tried it on a few others and found that Jennifer & Loi are also being scraped. At that point, I was convinced that we are all having this problem...after a glass of wine, the world was right, again. I will not be putting in a page-break because blogging and life are supposed to be fun and easy.

Now back to the important things in life....let's obsess over skirted sofa's. You guys are so design savvy and I love hearing what you think. I am in a dilemma on my new (to me) loveseats. Should I put a skirt on them?

Source?

Source?

Or should I show a little leg?

Emily Henderson via The Pink Pagoda

Adore via

How are your sofa's dressed? Skirt? No skirt? Slipcover?

 

Please Sir, Can I Have Another Click...Blog Chat

Well it's been a while since we had our last blogging chit chat.... So let's talk about a few things. I would love to know your opinion of 'the page break'. You know, you click over to your favorite blog....or a new one and half way through the post you hit "click here to continue" or "more after the break". It requires you to click again and see the rest of ......whatever. 

For the super long posts with loads of pictures, I get it....it takes a really long time to load all those shots and it is probably faster to do it this way. BUT, that's not the ones I am talking about. I am talking about the ones that have only a paragraph more after the additional 'click'. The ones that.....OK, I'll say it.....the ones where it feels like they are only trying to get an additional click out of you. The ones that feel like they are trying to manipulate their numbers. Those! 

How do you feel about the page breaks? Do you click on? Be honest. 

I'll go first, I usually don't. I can count on one hand the number of bloggers or blog posts in a day that I am willing to 'click to continue'. By the way, there is a really easy way around that extra click, and if all of you hate it, I'll teach you how.

I try really hard to visit all my 'friends'. I try even harder to leave comments when I have visited because it feels great to get a comment. It never gets old, and everyone likes them. If you don't have word verification on, then you will most likely get a comment from me. If you have your email address in your profile, then you will probably get a reply from me....one time or another. Side note, don't use your Google Plus in your profile.

But, if you want me to visit your blog (one click). Follow the break (second click). And leave a comment (third click)....that is a lot to expect.

Now it's your turn...what are your thoughts on the page break? Look, we are not going to change the world, we are just sharing our thoughts. 

And if you use the page break, why do you do it?

Here is an update to all of this.

 

So, I Changed My Name

A few weeks ago, I asked you...why do you blog? I loved how honest everyone was. I blog for so many of the same reasons.....to meet like minded people....to endlessly obsess over All Things Home & Garden.... and to motivate myself into getting things done.
When I started blogging, two years ago, I picked the name My Crafty Home Life. I thought it covered all the areas I would dabble in. By the end of my first year, I knew my blog name didn't feel right. For one thing, nobody could remember it. The Google searches that lead people to me were "My Crafty Life", "My Crafty Home", "My Home Life". 

I watched several bloggers change their names. I knew I wanted to do it, but I also knew I could only do it once. So, I formed a focus group....just like the big boys. I wanted a name that would say what this was in the title. I needed to be able to buy the (dot) com and (dot) net versions of the name. And I wanted it to be about all of us...not just Me/My.

The first blogger in my focus group was Jennifer. She has impeccable taste and an amazing eye for graphic design. I wanted her for her honest critical opinion and her marketing vision. 
The next blogger to join the group was Lindsay. A woman with a great eye for fashion and design. She is super trendy and understands the younger home lover like no other. 
The final blogger I reached out to was Raina. I bet I surprised you on this one. I think Raina has one of the strongest visions for where all of this is headed. She gets it, and makes us laugh about it all the time. She said to me, "bouncing ideas off each other is better than bouncing it off the wall". 
Endless name possibilities came and went. Calling It Home was the unanimous choice. I have been a renter, and am currently a home owner. I am sure that I will be a renter again in my lifetime. No matter where we live, we are all ....Calling It Home!

The final piece to this puzzle was my new blog designer, Shari of Little Blue Deer. She tweaked and redesigned until I was happy. I found and still find her a pleasure to work with. Changes after a blog design is finished and installed are endless. Having someone available and responsive is key.
If you don't like your blog name, or think that it doesn't fit the future vision of your blog....change it sooner rather than later. I have hundreds of pictures floating around on Pinterest watermarked "My Crafty Home Life". I would also recommend that you buy a (dot) com or a (dot) net for your blog and install it.  www.MyCraftyHomeLife.Blogspot.com   is one long address to put on a business card. CallingItHome.com is much friendlier and more professional.
These are my unscientific thoughts and opinions on blogging and blog names. If you would like a really professional opinion of all this, buy this book. 
See you all on Monday for a really fun group project!