Kathy Streib, ASP,IAHSP,RESA, DelrayBch -South Florida - 561-914-6224

I finally decided to get an outside blog and just when I thought signing up was easy, I now have to choose my Domain name. Now, I was given my name by my parents who named me after my grandmother; my university gave me a Student ID; my friends have given me my nickname (KG); when I was forming my Home Staging company, my best friend gave me Room Service Home Staging, and finally when I was designing my website and getting a domain name, GoDaddy.com, I was told which names were and were not available.

Easy Enough!

So now another choice. Choose a new domain name or use one I already have. With keywords and meta-tags (try as I may, I have only a passing knowledge of this) and SEO and Internet crawlers from Google, I feel like I'm choosing the name of my first born child. It's almost that important.

What's my choice?

Well I can play it safe like most parents do and choose a name already in the family (my website domain name)

or

I can hope that some of you will comment and let me know how you chose yours.

In any event, have a Happy July Fourth!!!

Join the fun Saturday, July 4, 2009 from 8am-9:30pm at A!A and Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach, FL. Patriotic parades, sand-sculpting contests, free concerts, food, and, of course fireworks await you at our Village By the Sea, beautiful and always friendly Delray Beach, Florida. All along Atlantic Avenue, past one-of-a-kind boutiques, trendy restaurants, a "been there forever" breakfast hangout, and upscale art galleries up to A1A and the beaches, you'll find young and old celebrating our country's birthday.

There are plenty of places to relax

Lots to do

and of course The Fireworks

Take the time to celebrate our great country wherever you are!

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!!!1

I have been sending out an info-letter(blog) via Constant Contact for over a year and have received positive comments and very few opt-outs. I have tried to be informative providing links to sites ( free Twitter Buttons, for example) that I hoped my subscribers could utilize, rather than just providing my Staging statistics or testimonials. And, I have tried not to send them too often. (To be honest, I'm not that virtuous. . . just how much can a person write?!).

HOWEVER,

Yesterday, i was Blocked by my own Email provider.

Now, I know that some of you may be chuckling. . . "Serves her right!" But, I DO feel rejected! Seriously, though, I checked my "Reports" feature of Constant Contact and learned that 6% of the Info-Letters I'd sent out had been blocked by the recipients' server. And, as I was told by Customer Support, the only way to rectify that was for the individual recipients to contact their own email provider. Realistically, even I wouldn't do that.

I spent the better part of this morning on the phone with my email provider and they are still working on the problem.

So, what does this all have to do with you and ActiveRain??

1. If you're sending out any kind of newsletter, it pays to periodically check the reports to see if what you're writing is being received. Otherwise, why waste your time.

2. Most importantly, don't sweat the small stuff. After contacting customer support and sending out a few emails, I realized that it wasn't the end of the world. 94% of the letters were received!

3. If you've had a similar issue with your emails, I'd love to know how you rectified it.

In a recent blog, I wrote how Home Stagers play Bad Cop/Good Cop to Realtors,where as Stagers we become the bearer of "bad news" allowing the Realtor to keep their good relationship with the Seller intact. It's part of the job. We're paid to give our opinion, based on our training and experience, on what the Seller should do to help their home appeal to a broad range of buyers and have a better chance of selling. In a Home Staging Consultation, where we don't actually do the Staging ourselves , the Seller may not follow every suggestion. It is, after all, still their house.

I returned to my client's home for a follow up (part of my Staging Consultation fee) and much had been done. Beds were rearranged; the refrigerator was free of papers and pictures, and the bathroom counters were clear. But that leopard wall with the HUGE picture is still there, greeting everyone entering the house.

We do what we can, and then have to look back and say, well it's better than it was . Take a look for yourself at the home. It's still a beautiful piece of property with much to offer. The Seller added many upgrades when she moved in. And Sellers, I know it's hard living in your house while it's on the market, but if you follow your Stagers' advice, that time should go pass quickly.

I know there have been many posts lately about why you should blog. Steve Shatsky just wrote a great one about how blogging is a good outlet and networking resource. He's right. If you're on Activerain just as an observer then you're missing out on a lot of information and maybe even some leads.

Let me give you an example: A few days agoI wrote about foreclosures and distressed properties and how they relate to content insurance for Stagers. Virginia Tatseos left a comment that was prime for someone to follow up. In essence she needed a Stager. I emailed her and we have opened a line of communication.

So what's my point with all of this? Get ACTIVE. Don't just read the posts; write and comment on them as well. You just never know who's out there.