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Renae Bolton ~ Marketing 4 Realtors

Twitter Friend of the Week: We've Got A Pirate In Our Midst!

Twitter Friend of the Week

I absolutely love the idea of promoting one another when we can! As a result, I have a project called "Twitter Friend of the Week." Each week, I'll showcase one or two of my Twitter Friends so that you can "meet" them.

This week, my featured Twitter Friend is Cap’n Billy of Pirate Parenting. Cap’n Billy is BY FAR the most unusual Twitter Friend I have. Here's what Cap’n Billy had to tell us:

What is your primary business?
Merchant vessel acquisition

What is unique about you or your business?
I have a hook and a peg leg. I like pillaging, plundering, rum and long walks off the plank.

What is one fun thing about yourself that most of us don't know?
I'd tell ye but I'd have to kill ye afterwards.

Do you work from home or an outside office?
I work from a ship-board office.

What is your favorite computer application?
Anything I can pirate. Arrrgh!

What is your favorite food?
Salt cod and hardtack

If you could be a super hero, what would you be called and what would your super powers be?
Ye don't need superpowers when ye have cannons.

What one piece of advice would you give someone who wants to get into your line of business?
Raise yer crew by going to a tavern late at night. After the rum's gone, they'll be more likely to follow ye.

What is the follow link for one of yourTwitter Friends who you think everyone would benefit from following and why should we follow them?
@darthvader

As you can see, Cap’n Billy is extremely unusual. I mean, how many of us get to say we know a real live pirate?? Check Cap’n Billy out on Twitter at @pirateparenting.

Captain Billy
Pirate Parenting
Website
E-mail Me
Twitter Me
Guide To Pirate Parenting Book

Want to be an upcoming featured Twitter Friend of the Week? Follow me and then send me a message that you're interested! TFOTW - Gotta LUV Twitter! Gotta LUV Twitter Friends!

~Renae - Market 4 Real!
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Need help with consistently marketing to your leads and your listings? Don't put it off! Contact us today for assistance and get started on the road to turning your leads into clients and your listings into SOLD properties!

Stager of the Week - Styled By Design

Stager of the Week

I’m all about cross-promotion! As a result, I have a cross-promotion project called "Stager of the Week." Each week, I'll showcase a Professional Stager so that you can "meet" them. Stagers are an excellent way to not only help a property look its absolute best, but to get that property sold as quickly as possible and for the highest price possible.

This week's featured Professional Stager is Allegra Dioguardi of Styled and Sold LLC in the Hamptons/Sag Harbor, New York. Here’s my interview with Allegra:

How did you initially get into staging?
I have a degree in Interior Design from Parsons School of Design. My first job out of design school was as a designer at a Model Home design firm and I stayed in that industry for 26 years. I became a nationally recognized, award-winning designer for some of the top national new homebuilders.

Three years ago I started my own home staging business. It was a natural transition as all of the same principles of designing to sell and interior merchandising apply to Home Staging.

What is your most effective marketing strategy to get realtors or sellers to use your services?
It’s a combination of presenting to Realtors© at their office meetings, sending out newsletters, writing articles for local papers and magazines, and meeting them one-on-one at open houses. Before and after photos speak a thousand words too.

What is one fun thing about yourself that most people don't know??
I dance in the kitchen when no one is watching.

Are you involved in any social media marketing other than Active Rain (Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, RealTown, etc.)? If so, how do we connect with you?
I’m exasperated still trying to figure out Twitter and Facebook. I’m on Linked-In, Home Staging Channel and Top Interior Decorators.com. You can find me under: styledandsold.

What is your favorite computer application?
That’s a tough one! I am also a writer (I wrote an e-book, Styled by Design - http://styledbydesign.com) on the design principles of home staging and I write articles for magazines and newspapers so I would have to say Microsoft Word. I don’t know how we lived before cut and paste, word count and Words’ Thesaurus!

What is your favorite food?
Spaghetti and meatballs.

What one piece of advice would you give someone who is hesitant to utilize the services of a professional stager?
Homes for sale become a product and, just like any other product, they should be packaged, merchandised and marketed properly. Otherwise, in this competitive market, your “product” can become the dusty bottle of No-Name Brand product hidden on the back shelf at the market. The properties that do sell well are the ones that show the best, that are in move in condition, that a buyer can fall in love with. After 26 years in this industry I am convinced “Love at first sight” sells houses.

If you could be a made up super hero, what would you be called and what would your super powers be?
This is me, Great Stager, loving single mom, hard working, determined, trusted friend.

Super Allegra


What one piece of advice would you give someone who wants to become a professional stager?
Don’t think that just because you have “a flair” for decorating that you should become a Home Stager. It is hard work, you must be serious about it and the bar is being raised every day - making it more competitive. Marketing and educating potential clients is 90% of your work…the actual staging is the icing on the cake.

Thanks for taking some time to get to know Allegra Dioguardi. Now, go learn more about Allegra at Styled and Sold LLC!

Allegra Dioguardi
Styled and Sold LLC
Company Website
E-mail Me
”Styled By Design” E-book



Want to be an upcoming featured Stager of the Week? Just e-mail me! Use a Stager! What are you waiting for?

~Renae - Market 4 Real!
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Need help with consistently marketing to your leads and your listings? Don't put it off! Contact us today for assistance and get started on the road to turning your leads into clients and your listings into SOLD properties!

Stager of the Week - C.L. Design Services

Stager of the Week

I’m all about cross-promotion! As a result, I have a cross-promotion project called "Stager of the Week." Each week, I'll showcase a Professional Stager so that you can "meet" them. Stagers are an excellent way to not only help a property look its absolute best, but to get that property sold as quickly as possible and for the highest price possible.

This week's featured Professional Stager is Cathy Lee of C.L. Design Services Home Staging in Danville, California. Here’s my interview with Cathy:

How did you initially get into staging?
In 2002, I became an accredited staging professional, trained by Barb Scwarz.

What is your most effective marketing strategy to get realtors or sellers to use your services?
I attend our local Real Estate Marketing Association weekly marketing meeting to network with Realtors©. To reach homeowners, I participate in direct mail advertising in Home Folio Magazine, a local publication that goes out to 20,000 homes.

What is one fun thing about yourself that most people don't know??
I can teach most anyone to single water ski.

Are you involved in any social media marketing other than Active Rain (Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, RealTown, etc.)? If so, how do we connect with you?
I’m on Facebook and you can connect with me by searching for Cathy Lee at cldesigns@comcast.net.

What is your favorite computer application?
MS Word

What is your favorite food?
Anything lemon.

What one piece of advice would you give someone who is hesitant to utilize the services of a professional stager?
Ask for references/referrals.

If you could be a made up super hero, what would you be called and what would your super powers be?
I would be a beautiful "TransFly." She is a cross between a butterfly and a sweeper and she de-clutters and transforms homes in one sweep!!! And of course I am all pretty colors of green!!!

What one piece of advice would you give someone who wants to become a professional stager?
Do it with all your heart!!!!

Thanks for taking some time to get to know Cathy Lee. Now, go learn more about Cathy and the entire team at C.L. Design Services Home Staging !

Cathy Lee
C.L. Design Services Home Staging
Company Website
E-mail Me

Want to be an upcoming featured Stager of the Week? Just e-mail me! Use a Stager! What are you waiting for?

~Renae - Market 4 Real!_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Need help with consistently marketing to your leads and your listings? Don't put it off! Contact us today for assistance and get started on the road to turning your leads into clients and your listings into SOLD properties!

Tuesday Tech Tip: Screen Capture

Tuesday Tech Tip: Screen Capture


screen captureHave you ever wondered how bloggers make those great-looking screen shots? You know - when they show you exactly where on the page the specific item is located or exactly what to do, step-by-step?

Well, thanks to Tuesday's Tech Tip, now YOU can do it too!

Here are a few options, some free, some not, for you to give a whirl. If you've used them, I'd love to hear your experience with the service. If you decide to give one of these a try, please let me know which you tried and how it worked out for you!


Happy Screen Capturing!


Prt Scrn - on keyboard - absolutely Free! In the upper right corner of your keyboard, there is a button that says "PrtScn" which accomplishes this very thing. It copies the screen to your clipboard. You can then paste it into Windows Paint or any other media-type program. (Did I mention it was free?)

(I have never used the rest of these but have heard they are great for doing screen shots.)

Jing
Snagit
Screen Grab

~Renae - Market 4 Real!
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Need help with consistently marketing to your leads and your listings? Don't put it off! Contact us today for assistance and get started on the road to turning your leads into clients and your listings into SOLD properties!

Stager of the Week - Feature This...

Stager of the Week

I’m all about cross-promotion! As a result, I have a new cross-promotion project called "Stager of the Week." Each week, I'll showcase a Professional Stager so that you can "meet" them. Stagers are an excellent way to not only help a property look its absolute best, but to get that property sold as quickly and for the highest price possible.

This week's featured Professional Stager is Michelle Molinari of Feature This…Interior Decor and Virtual Staging in Abbeville, Louisiana. Here’s my interview with Michelle:

How did you initially get into staging?
I grew up in the Design field. My mother graduated from The Interior Design Guild in California when I was very young. My earliest memories are literally of being in an upholstery shop, stroking fabric samples. I was painting custom artwork for her clientele at the age of 14. I started to work with her as a young adult, and now, we are partners in our staging business, Feature This... Interior Decor and Virtual Staging.

What is your most effective marketing strategy to get realtors or sellers to use your services?
We just show them our portfolio. Seeing is believing - that's what staging is all about and we have a stunning portfolio if I do say so myself. And, we are priced affordably. We believe staging benefits everyone, but especially those who have the most to lose. We like the tough assignments, when the house is seriously in need of a better public image.

What is one fun thing about yourself that most people don't know??
I love to karaoke.

Are you involved in any social media marketing other than Active Rain (Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, RealTown, etc.)? If so, how do we connect with you?
I wish I had more time to get into some of the other social medias, but we tend to stay pretty busy. We do blog on www.energizedseller.com. It's a great resource for the motivated homeowner who really needs to get informed and ask questions about today's real estate practices.

What is your favorite computer application?
Right now I am madly in love with WEBEX. We have several team members over a large area, I love having conducting meetings with them with my cat on my lap.

What is your favorite food?
Hands down, Cozy Shack's Rice Pudding! Second runner-up - Thai Food!

What one piece of advice would you give someone who is hesitant to utilize the services of a professional stager?
If your time is a valuable commodity, hiring a stager is the only way to go. Our sourcing abilities are our greatest asset. We not only know what to do with a budget, but how to get it done.

If you could be a made up super hero, what would you be called and what would your super powers be?
Well, we were actually talking about that this week, beleive it or not. Ok, not in the superhero capacity exactly, but we do call my mother and partner, Carol, the Fairy Godmother of Decor. She's just a get-it-done type of person, and it amazes me how quickly she can affect change. It's like, you walk out of a room, and when you come back in, she's done something miraculous to it!

What one piece of advice would you give someone who wants to become a professional stager?
Don't go it alone! Marketing, , consulting, designing, sourcing, execution, and de-staging all take VAST amounts of time and resources, just to stage even one listing. Having committed and talented partners is the only way to stage for a living and "have a life" at the same time.

Thanks for taking some time to get to know Michelle Molinari. Now, go learn more about Michelle and the entire team at Feature This…Interior Decor and Virtual Staging!

Michelle Molinari
Feature This…Interior Decor and Virtual Staging
Company Website
E-mail Me

 

Want to be an upcoming featured Stager of the Week? Just e-mail me! Use a Stager! What are you waiting for?

~Renae - Market 4 Real!_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Need help with consistently marketing to your leads and your listings? Don't put it off! Contact us today for assistance and get started on the road to turning your leads into clients and your listings into SOLD properties!