Recently on ActiveRain there was a discussion about whether or not to let visitors take photos during open houses. With phone cameras and digital cameras so common, people often don’t think twice about it.
Some agents felt it wasn’t an issue and could be advantageous so buyers would be thinking about the home long after they left. I can see that point, but other agents felt there was a security issue for the home owner. You don’t want people photo documenting the valuables in the home and it can be difficult to follow the visitor around to ensure they are respecting that.
As a photographer I know the power of an image. Photos linger in peoples’ minds long after the written words have been forgotten. Great images powerfully attract great business. Poor images powerfully repel great business.
With that power in mind, I advise extreme caution about letting visitors take photos at an open house. It can be a liability risk.
Someone looking to get a lower price could document flaws in the home (cracks in windows, water damage in the foundation…) or in rare cases, they could create the damage, photograph it and use it against you. Many hospitals don’t permit photographs for that very reason. People pull tubes out, take photos and then sue for neglect.
If you have done your job well, you have put up as many photos as you are allowed and you will make sure they are awesome photos. Yes, agents with amateur photo skills can take awesome ad pics. It is not hard. Trust me.
You will also have a beautiful full-colour brochure full of photos. Plus you would be wise to provide a disk of your awesome photos for anyone you see taking their own shots.
Think about this. You want to be in charge of your marketing. After they leave, you want them looking at YOUR photos & YOUR promotional material. You are protecting your client & your business.
Happy Snapping!
Many business people today think that since most communication is digital, you will make yourself stand out by sending hand written Thank you cards to follow-up meetings. I have not found that to be true.
Last year I had a meeting with a wonderful chef and did what I thought was best. I followed-up with a hand-written note. It became awkward though, because he works from home. When I called to get his address, his wife answered and my request for their home address put her in an uncomfortable spot. She didn’t know who I was and he is a high-profile chef, so they carefully protect their personal lives.
That phone call was so uncomfortable for both of us, I worried it negatively impacted our new relationship. Fortunately we continue to get along quite well, but it changed my mind about the virtue of hand-written cards.
Recently I found an excellent blog post “ANSWERED: Should You Send A Handwritten Or Email Thank You Note After An Interview?” The author, Jessica Liebman, helped open my eyes even further. Her reasons for sending an email are excellent.
Dangers of the handwritten thank you:
- There’s a delay. I’m a firm believer in following up with a thank you note less than 24 hours after.
- The letter might never get to them. It could get lost in the mail, the secretary could throw it out, it could end up in a pile of envelopes that don’t get opened for months.
- It feels old. It’s 2012. Sending a handwritten note just feels ancient to me. Especially if you’re in the Internet industry. Be current.
- The chances of them writing back to you are less. The letter feels more final.
Why the email thank you works:
- You can send it the day of your interview to show just how eager you are.
- You know it will at least find its way into their inbox. Whether they read it or not is a different story.
- If they ever search for your name in their email, the note will pop up and remind them that you followed up.
- You can easily tailor it to their vibe. It can be as casual or as formal as you decide. Handwritten notes always feel too formal to me.
- They might write back to you. The email will be open on their computer, and there’s a bigger chance they’ll respond, or ask you a follow-up question, or continue the conversation.
So… I like digital technology, and I’m stickin’ to it!
"Oh the Thinks You Can Think" by Dr. Seuss
On March 2, 1904 in Springfield, Massachussets, Theodor and Henrietta (Seuss) Geisel gave birth to their son Theodore Seuss Geisel. If Theodore had followed in his father’s footsteps, he have grown up to work at a brewery – after prohibition was lifted, of course – or become an employee of the public park system. Instead, he went into academics where he did a lot of Thinking. His Thinkings were quite humourous and he was a regular contributor to the college paper. The rest, as they say, is history.
Knowing his writing was irksome to those in administration, he started to use the pen name “Dr. Seuss.” While he intended to Think his way to a Ph.D., he never did, yet he managed to establish himself as one of the most famous Dr.’s of all time by helping people of all ages Think about the world around them.
What was he Thinking?
Dr. Seuss passed away on September 24, 1991. Had he lived, he would have been 108 years old today. I Think that is rather interesting.
The real titles for Dr. Seuss's books
Last summer when I tweeted that I was joining the Bravo Chapter of The Spartans Group, one of my friends replied ”Cool! Are you taking lessons from Kevin O’Leary or are you the nice one???”
To that I responded, ”Ba-ha-ha!! While KO is often cruelly correct, it’s all about finding my inner Arlene.”
Last weekend I caught an older episode of Dragons’ Den. A young man was pitching a product that Arlene had key connections for, but he had the audacity to ignore her when she twice looked him in the eye and said, “I’ll make you an offer.” He had been caught up discussing ideas with the men and when he finally turned to respond to her, she said, “I’m out.”
With that experience still in the air, the next presenters brought another product that caught Arlene’s eye, but brought Kevin’s ridicule & derision. Arlene said she wanted to make an offer, but on one condition. She would do it alone, not with any of the other Dragons. These presenters were smart. They listened and happily accepted.
If you follow the show closely, you will know many handshakes on the show disintegrate during the due diligence process. This particular deal, though, has gone on to flourish and the presenters have nothing but the huge gratitude for Arlene’s support.
The presenters’ website has a great video clip where they share their behind-the-scenes experience on Dragons’ Den. Click on “Confessions From the Den“
Here is the clip of their pitch on Dragons’ Den.
Inspired by the Dragon’s Den and Shark’s Tank, The Spartans Group has started up to bring that spirit to the community. As a member of the Bravo Chapter we listen to the pitches of entrepreneurs twice a month and I am always inspired by peoples’ ingenuity.
The Spartans Group – Bravo Chapter
Photo Credit: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/inside-look-at-a-former-rim-co-ceos-home/article2326583/?from=2326472
Mike Lazaridis, one of the former CEOs of RIM, is building a mansion a few hours from here on one of the nicest beach areas in the province, near Kincardine along Lake Huron. He intends it to be a place for the meeting of minds.
Here is a collection of photos of the construction going on right now and a map showing each area.
Those banks of windows look magnificent. The sunset views will be phenomenal. I’ll be curious what it looks like once all the greenery grows around and warms it up.
Mike if you should ever happen to read this, I’d love to be invited to join in the conversations sometime. Just sayin’!
If I was the seller, I’d want to say this to my agent…
You have listed my Toronto condo for over $400,000, which means you will make at least $10,000. I’m counting on your professionalism, but you only took 7 photos of my beautiful place and one of them was THIS! Really?!
Please call Carla.
In an industry famous for its marketing, you would think this would never, ever happens. It shouldn’t. Sadly it happens everyday, many times a day.
You don’t have to be a professional photographer to take better photos than this. Many amateurs take better shots every day.
If you want help with your photos, just let me know! Buy my book, invite me to speak or invite me to teach a course. That’s what I’m here for!
Rockin' the high waist!
This morning I read an ad that said, “What would your teenage self think of who you have become today?” The ad was intended to shame us into improving our looks assuming our younger selves had higher hopes than we have achieved.
Maybe I’m not the only one, but the ad had the opposite effect on me. I had a lovely “A-ha” moment because the ad help me realize my teenage self was really pleased with who I had become. She was really impressed and glowing with pride with the grown-up me.
It had never occured to me before. Yup, advertising works, just not always the way it was intended!
Steve Gold and I went to high school together. I remember having so much fun gabbing with him in Science class that the teacher moved me to the front. 
A lot of time has gone by – more than I want to admit – and social media has given us a chance to reconnect. I was intrigued to find out he is doing graduate studies on Indigenous People in North America.
This morning I found his comment on my latest blog post and it’s brilliant. The comments here on my blog are kind of hidden, so I want to share what he said in a new post.
Meegweech for participating in the moccasin telegraph. The 8th Fire presentation is designed for exactly what you are doing! That is building relations. Good relations cannot proceed without full understanding of each others experiences.
You and I met at St. Clair High School in the 70’s, a time when neither of us knew of the 60’s scoop. I am a survivor of that cycle of Canadian cultural genocide. Niiya Anishinabe who learned to blend into wherever I found myself.
I have a lifetime of experience in understanding and navigating mainstream dominate colonized culture. I am so fortunate to have have the right people/teachers along my life journey to contextualize the colonizing forces that planned my familial, institutionalization, my societal experiences and the comprehensiveness of the effects upon self (and also North American settler society and consciousness overall) that removing the veil of colonialism has been relatively easy for me. That veil never existed to many indigenous peoples on Turtle Island (they have seen it for what it is), yet revelation is becoming more widespread. (Please consider the unsustainable nature of consumerist capitalism rampant in North America and how the current political leadership promotes and sustains such folly). More and more people are beginning to understand this.
That indigenous peoples were to experience deeply felt hardships at the hands of other humans was prophesized well before 1492. But also prophesized was a time will come when the colonizer will require and seek indigenous knowledges, when indigenous peoples will have an opportunity to lead humanity through Mother Earth’s next cycle or two, (and maybe some human growth).
By sharing the information about the broadcast of CBC’s 8th Fire is a step towards a greater understanding of the experiences indigenous peoples and what we have to offer humanity.
Please keep in mind that we do not and can not go through a day without considering what non-aboriginal people are doing… yet non-aboriginal people rarely even consider us and what we do (other than stereotypical and racist assumptions and attributions).
So, my vocabulary got expanded today.
“Moccasin Telegraph” – The title of David Godin’s 1983 novel of “The Moccasin Telegraph and Other Indian Tales.” It also means grapevine, stories passed on by word of mouth, the oral tradition.
“Niiya Anishinabe”
Niiya – I believe it means my body and soul together http://weshki.atwebpages.com/oj_dict.html
Anishinabe according to Wikipedia means “First” or “Original-Peoples”. Another definition – possibly reflecting a traditionalist’s viewpoint with a certain moral dimension – refers to “the good humans”, or good people, meaning those who are on the right road/path given to them by the Creator or Gichi-Manidoo (Great Spirit). The Ojibwe scholar, linguist and author Basil Johnston, who explains the name in a creationist context, states that its literal translation is “Beings Made Out of Nothing”, or “Spontaneous Beings”, since they had been created by divine breath and were made up of flesh and blood and a soul or spirit – instead of rock, or fire, or water, or wind.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anishinaabe
Hope I got those right Steve!
On Monday night while cruising TV channels I happened upon the first episode of CBC’s “8th Fire.” The person on screen was saying it was time for the aboriginal and settler communities to come together. I stopped cruising. I knew he was right.
The show profiled a wide variety of people in the aboriginal community with the purpose of shining a new light on our first nations. New language, new topics and new understandings will help eliminate the first nation stereotypes our society has been soaked in.
For tens of thousands of years, the First Nations lived on this land, raising families, building communities and being mindful of the creator. Lake water was drinkable and the air always clean. The balance between human and nature was carefully respected.
It took only a few hundred years, after subsequent nations started arriving, for things to change dramatically. Yes, some of the changes were more “advanced,” but the lake water and air reflected a very different set of values.
Ignorance, arrogance and fear motivated the early settlers to make some barbaric choices. The many attempts to shun and assimilate/eliminate the First Nations met with horrible results.
I was surprised how I identified with Nakuset a woman featured on Monday’s episode. Nakuset was taken as a newborn from her Cree family in the awful “’60′s Scoop” and adopted by a Jewish family in Montreal. Growing up she was supposed to fully identify as a Jew, but deep inside she knew she wasn’t. When she learned she was aboriginal, she enthusiastically embraced her heritage calling herself “born again.”
I too was born in the ’60′s, but my life unfolded very differently. I was fortunate to be raised by my biological parents surrounded by people I looked like. While I fully identify as a Canadian, my ancestral roots for years were a blurry blend of Norwegian, Scottish, German, Russian, Dutch-descent… etc. I was really excited a few years ago to learn that my mom’s family, while Mennonite in culture, was essentially 100% Dutch in blood-line. I learned this AFTER I married a Dutch man and gave birth to a very Dutch-looking daughter. The first time I went to my husband’s extended family reunion I walked into a hall of tall, blondish people and I knew I belonged!
Nakuset loved discovering she was aboriginal. I loved discovering I was half Dutch. Individuals need to embrace roots to grow. So too, collectively as a nation, we need to attach to our roots so we can grow into a stronger future.
It is time for dialogue. It is time for all of us – the first nations and subsequent nations – to sit down, talk, listen and learn. It’s time to look with open eyes at the past – the good, the bad and the ugly – and together vision our future.
The lake water and air will probably thank us, too!
“Tena ka mihi atu ki a koutou
me to whanau kei te tuara o te honu.(Acknowledgements to you and your
family upon the back of the turtle island.)
Meet some of my friends in the aboriginal community who are doing really interesting things:
http://skybuffalo.net/http://theplainsofaamjiwnaang.wordpress.com/
http://www.ojibwaylegacy.com/Descipts.html
Aboriginal Student Experience at University of Alberta
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1700463/ http://www.creative-native.com/ http://www.rvvrd.com/ http://www.mckenzieproperties.ca/ - -
I’m a HUGE fan of Buffy Sainte Marie. Here is one of my faves!
