Open floor plan with a cozy wood burning fireplace on the main level. Deck off living room leads down to a fully fenced back yard. Lower level is completely finished with a full bath and can be used as a third bedroom or rec room. Upper level has two bedrooms and an updated bathroom consisting of a stand up shower and tub.
Here are the 5 Home-Selling Tips Everyone Hears and Should Ignore
One of the hardest parts of selling your home is all the unknowns: Who will buy your place, and for how much? How long will it take? That uncertainty might make you particularly eager to soak up advice from just about anyone who’s willing to share. Problem is, just because your sister or co-worker swear by certain rules that worked for them, it doesn’t mean they’ll be a magic solution for you, too.
Fact is, a lot of the real estate advice circulating out there is outdated, region-specific, or just plain wrong. As proof, check out this list of tips that many home sellers hear … then learn how these words of wisdom don’t always hold water. Let this serve as a reminder that when selling a home, you should take everything you hear with a huge grain of salt.
Open houses are exciting, akin to a debutante ball where your home makes its fresh-faced appearance to scads of suitors all at once. And that’s fine, but don’t expect this to be the venue where you find “the one” who makes an offer. While that can occur, open houses are more like parties, filled with swains who aren’t ready to settle down, says Anita Clark, a real estate agent in Warner Robins, GA. Serious home buyers will more often request a private one-on-one showing instead.
Of course, you don’t want to skip the open house entirely. It’s a great way for people to browse, and hey, you never know. Maybe your looky-loo neighbor has a family member who would love to buy your place after all. But it’s time to let go of the idea that an open house is a key step on the road to your ultimate buyer.
Reluctant to fork over the 6% commission that real estate agents typically request to sell your home? Sure, that may seem like a lot of money, but what you might not realize is just how much work an agent does behind the scenes.
“A lot of people don’t understand that an agent’s job is more than just listing the home on the MLS,” says Aponte. Agents’ commissions pay for their time and for marketing materials. Posters, flyers, broker open houses, and yard signs all come from the money you pay your agent.
But beyond that, “it gives your agent the power to offer money to other agents who have qualified buyers,” she explains. That’s because the buyer’s agent and the seller’s agent split the commission.
Though in an ideal world, buyers’ agents would show them every property in their price range, regardless of commission, unfortunately it doesn’t always work that way, says Aponte.
“So if there are a lot of properties on the market and you’re only offering 2% commission, there are agents who won’t show that property,” she says.
Ultimately, you get what you pay for, and a higher commission can often justify itself in the sense that you can reel in tons of buyers, and (hopefully) spark a bidding war that’ll fetch top dollar.
Of course you want to get the most you can for your property. Still, pricing it sky-high and hoping a gullible buyer will fall for this aspirational sum? Not a great plan.
“I want to sell your property for a million dollars too, but I would be doing you a disservice to price it that way if the comps are saying $500,000,” says Aponte. Home buyers are highly sensitive to overpaying, and will quickly steer clear. And the longer your house sits on the market, the more buyers will begin to think something’s wrong with it … and lob you a lowball offer.
The best way to avoid this debacle is to price a house right from the start—not too high, not too low—and then seriously consider any offers that roll in, even if they aren’t as great as you’d hoped. To start things off, you can enter your address in a home value estimator to get a ballpark figure of how much your home is worth, then fine-tune that number with an agent’s help. READ THE REST OF THE TIPS HERE
There are several types of business to business partnerships that a business owner may pursue in order to improve their business. The main objective behind most business relationships is to find new customer leads and convert them into increased sales and revenue for both participating companies.
Consider these four primary types of business to business partnerships in order to achieve the goal of increased sales and revenue including: suppliers, customers, resellers or companies with significant existing sales channels and/or vendors.
Each type of partnership has its own unique set of advantages and challenges for successfully implementing and maintaining, therefore it’s important to evaluate each type to understand which is in your best interest to pursue.
Creating business relationships with suppliers usually makes great financial sense and can lead to unique business opportunities. Many suppliers are in a very competitive environment and constantly have to find new channels to sell their products.
As a rule suppliers will be willing to give a business partner special pricing, expedited customer service and business referrals when opportunities that are out of their scope present themselves. However; there are some disadvantages with aligning too closely with a single supplier.
It is recommended that you keep your supplier partnership agreements as open and flexible as possible to allow multiple partnerships to exist in the same space thus avoiding price spikes or product unavailability due to unforeseen partner problems.
The best types of business referrals come from existing customers. Provide a revenue share or special pricing for customers that are able to deliver leads that turn into new clients. Developing an incentive program for customers that make referrals is a win-win situation. Often a simple discount can keep your business at the forefront of the customer’s mind when their meeting with someone that fits your target market.
Many businesses that have large databases of potential customers will actively sell a product through their sales channels for a fee and/or a revenue share. Building partnerships with resellers can quickly grow a company’s ability to reach out to the market. Resellers will invest time and resources to market their partner’s products and put their sales force to work selling the product. Small businesses with limited staff to actively sell can benefit greatly from these types of partnership deals.
Finding other vendors that sell a complementing product is the right partnership solution for a company that by itself has a product that is not the full solution that a customer is looking to purchase. An example is a computer hardware manufacturer partnering with a company that makes software to do unique tasks that a customer needs.
As a business owner seeking additional deal flow, it is important to evaluate all of the business to business partnerships that are possible for your company. Regardless of whether the focus is on vendors, resellers, suppliers, or existing customersFree Web Content, if properly executed business to business partnerships are one of the best strategies for business growth.
And we mean now! More than half of the home sales (52 percent) in 2017 are expected to be to first-time buyers, and mostly to the millennial set (19 to 34 years old), many moving from urban rentals, research by the National Association of Realtors shows. That means competition — and bidding wars — could become fierce through the rest of the year for such “starters” in desirable areas.
While there’ll be less inventory this winter, there’ll also be less competition per unit and a higher percent of motivated sellers. Before you shop for homes, find out our best mortgage options.
Oftentimes, the best investment a seller can make is time spent researching agents. A bad hire can cost sellers tens of thousands of dollars and months of worried waiting.
First, look at an agent’s online marketing material and listings. Is there good photography or video? Does it “pop”? Are descriptions accurate and complimentary without seeming exaggerated?
Then, look at profiles of the agents on LinkedIn, Facebook and other social media; and be sure to read web reviews. What kind of vibe is an agent sending out?
Narrow your search to three agents and interview each, ideally in person. Ask for sales-activity reports, existing listings and time-on-the-market averages, plus the requisite local comps.
A seasoned listing agent also will know the best times for open houses and how to initiate a price war if the market allows. Never consent to a listing contract of longer than 90 days in a seller’s market. You can always extend later.
… in yards with a “sold” sign. Major presale upgrades typically aren’t needed, but a little greening outdoors is a must.
Surveys show that strong curb appeal can increase prices by 10 percent or more. Greener grass, whether derived from new sod or fertilizer and water, is a must.
New shrubs, plantings and flowers also project a welcoming feel. Sellers typically enjoy a 100 percent return on the money they put into curb appeal.
Another form of green, sustainable landscaping has become a value-add for buyers. Native plants, native grasses and perennials that require less water and attention fill that bill.
Do some local research or ask your local home-and-garden pro for simple “greening” tips. READ MORE TIPS HERE
WordPress.com is a blog web hosting service provider owned by Automattic, and powered by the open sourceWordPress software. This website provides free blog hosting for registered users and is financially supported via paid upgrades, “VIP” services and advertising.
The site opened to beta testers on August 8, 2005 and opened to the public on November 21, 2005. It was initially launched as an invitation-only service, although at one stage, accounts were also available to users of the Flock web browser. As of March 2016 there were over 58 million posts published monthly on the service.
Registration is not required to read or comment on blogs hosted on the site, except if chosen by the blog owner. Registration is required to own, or post in, a weblog. All the basic and original features of the site are free-to-use. However, some features (including CSS editor, domain mapping, domain registration, removal of ads, website redirection, video upload, and storage upgrades) are available as paid options.
On WordPress.com sites, every day, over one million new articles and over two million comments are published. Some notable clients include CNN, CBS, BBC, Reuters, Sony, Fortune.com, and Volkswagen. It is estimated that more than 40% of internet bloggers use WordPress as their publishing platform.
In September 2010, it was announced that Windows Live Spaces, Microsoft’s blogging service, would be closing, and that Microsoft would partner with WordPress.com for blogging services.
source: wikipedia
WordPress is a free and open-source content management system (CMS) based on PHP and MySQL. WordPress is installed on a web server, which either is part of an Internet hosting service or is a network host itself; the first case may be on a service like WordPress.com, for example, and the second case is a computer running the software package WordPress.org.
An example of the second case is a local computer configured to act as its own web server hosting WordPress for single-user testing or learning purposes. Features include a plugin architecture and a template system. WordPress was used by more than 26.4% of the top 10 million websites as of April 2016. WordPress is the easiest and most popular blogging system in use on the Web,[8] at more than 60 million websites.
It was released on May 27, 2003, by its founders, Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little, as a fork of b2/cafelog. The license under which WordPress software is released is the GPLv2 (or later) from the Free Software Foundation.
WordPress users may install and switch between different themes. Themes allow users to change the look and functionality of a WordPress website and they can be installed without altering the content or health of the site.
Every WordPress website requires at least one theme to be present and every theme should be designed using WordPress standards with structured PHP, valid HTML and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). Themes may be directly installed using the WordPress “Appearance” administration tool in the dashboard or theme folders may be uploaded via FTP.
The PHP, HTML (HyperText Markup Language) and CSS code found in themes can be added to or edited for providing advanced features. WordPress themes are in general classified into two categories, free themes and premium themes.
All the free themes are listed in the WordPress theme directory and premium themes are available for purchase from marketplaces and individual WordPress developers. WordPress users may also create and develop their own custom themes if they have the knowledge and skill to do so. Underscores has become a popular choice for WordPress advanced theme developers which is designed and maintained by the makers of WordPress themselves.If WordPress users do not have sufficient theme development knowledge they may download and use free WordPress themes from wordpress.org.
WordPress’ plugin architecture allows users to extend the features and functionality of a website or blog. WordPress has over 40,501 plugins available,each of which offers custom functions and features enabling users to tailor their sites to their specific needs. These customizations range from search engine optimization, to client portals used to display private information to logged in users, to content management systems,[15] to content displaying features, such as the addition of widgets and navigation bars. Not all available plugins are always abreast with the upgrades and as a result they may not function properly or may not function at all.
These customizations range from search engine optimization, to client portals used to display private information to logged in users, to content management systems, to content displaying features, such as the addition of widgets and navigation bars. Not all available plugins are always abreast with the upgrades and as a result they may not function properly or may not function at all.
source: wikipedia
Your marketing message is what forms the background of all your marketing strategies and communications. If your marketing message is weak, unclear or poorly crafted, then it doesn’t matter what specific marketing tactics you use…your prospects and customers won’t take notice.
The goal is to have a well-written, targeted marketing message that resonates with your target market. You want them to see or hear your marketing message and get an instant reaction of “Hey, that’s for me”. You want them to go to your website, give you a call, send you an email, ask someone about you – you want them to find out more about you and the solutions you offer.
In other words, a great marketing message means you’ll have more and more qualified prospects contacting you, generate more and more business, and make you happier and happier!
So what exactly is your marketing message?
Your marketing message is more than a USP (Unique Selling Position), or value proposition, or your tagline or brand. It is a complete message that describes what you do, who you do it with, what problems you solve and what solutions you offer.
You want your marketing message to grab your prospect’s attention, show them how you can solve their problem, why they should trust you and why it’s in their best interest to do business with you.
Your marketing message should “speak” to your prospects and clients by appealing to their “hot buttons”. The problem or issue that triggers emotional reactions that keep them up at night, trying to come up with some solutions.
Prospects and customers who are exposed to your marketing message (via your website, elevator speech, business card, brochure, special report, sales letter, direct mail, etc.) should have answers for the following questions:
1. Is this product or service for me?
2. Why do I need this service or product?
3. What will I get from this product or service?
4. How will this service or product change how I’m feeling right now?
5. Does this product or service really work?
In order to ensure that your marketing message is the best it can be, and answers the above questions for your prospects and customers, you need to do some homework.
In order to craft a successful marketing message, you have to understand your target or niche group, the problems they have and their motivations to buy. You also need to know what sets you apart from your competitors and what solutions your products and services provide.
So your marketing message actually encompasses several different aspects:
1) Target market – who is your message and marketing communications directed to? What is the personality of your potential audience?
2) Problem – what is the issue or concern that frustrates your prospects and clients? What’s not working for them or could work better?
3) Solution – what solution can you provide to alleviate your target market’s problem? What will your customers experience from working with you/buying your product?
4) Benefits – what are all the ways that your product or service helps your client? What are the actual results?
5) Uniqueness – what is unique about your company’s offerings that make a difference to your potential and current clients? How are you different from your competitors?
Creating a dynamic and effective marketing message is key to your business’s success. If you don’t take the time to do this important marketing step, then you’ll most likely end up sitting in an empty store or officeComputer Technology Articles, or in front of an empty email inbox and wondering why your marketing isn’t pulling in any customers.
Email marketing, sometimes also called web marketing or E-Marketing, is the method of marketing products or services through the internet using electronic mail. It is one of the most advanced and effective marketing technique presently available.
There are lots of advantages to email marketing over conventional marketing techniques. The Internet has acquired such popularity among the public, and has become the most widely used communication medium all over the world. Emails can include links to websites, and people like the ease of use of online shopping sites. Also they get the lowest price through internet shopping. The widespread use of credit cards and internet banking facilities affords more convenience and speed in the online shopping field.
A major form of email marketing is email advertisement. Advertisements can be monitored and payment can be obtained when the customer clicks the ad or according to the number of times the advertisement is played. It gives more flexibility to the advertisers to choose which of the methods are more suitable and appealing to their customers.
The reduction in cost of marketing is another major advantage of email marketing. Since the medium uses digital format, it can avoid the printing and publishing costs associated with traditional marketing. So the Internet can be termed as a selling tool which is cost effective.
The filtering process can be done in a very effective way as the advertisement can be routed to the appropriate customers. All types of customers are available over the Internet irrespective of age, occupation, living standards, etc. which gives widespread publicity for the advertisements.
Another advantage of routing email readers to your E-Store is that it can be open for 24 hours a day and 7 days a week which is not possible in the case of conventional marketing methods. This gives freedom of time for the customer for purchasing. The different types of internet marketing include email subscriptions, blogs, feeds etc. The cost of this kind of marketing is nothing. Through these kinds of marketing methods, up-to-date information can be given to the customers.
The statistics of marketing can also be measured easily and conveniently, and necessary steps for evaluation can be done efficiently. Email marketing can be monitored, and tested in all aspects. In Email marketing a person even do not have to own a product to sell it. There are lots of affiliate programs available in the internet. They work on the basis of pay per click, pay per purchase etc. Thus internet marketing is a new phase of modern marketing techniqueFind Article, and email marketing is one of its most powerful tools.
Being a successful entrepreneur is something many dream of due to the independence and freedom it offers! However your success is dependent upon much more than simply focusing on the benefits this lifestyle may present! The fact is that being successful as an entrepreneur involves vision, the proper mindset and lots of discipline!
Here’s a look at how certain traits of an entrepreneur, such as the 3 we’re about to review below, can lead to their enviable accomplishments and yours as well!
The fact is that without goals you have no target or even the ability to know whether your efforts are effective or not! Whether professionally or personally, your success typically starts with a set of clearly defined goals.
Think about it, being successful generally means you’ve accomplished what you set out to do, but if you have no goals, then there seems little for you to accomplish! Remember it all starts with a vision, a want or a need which then evolves into steps or goals that must be completed to achieve your desires! Without goals your efforts will be unfocused and thereby ineffective!
Maintaining a positive yet realistic outlook is one of the most common traits of an entrepreneur who typically succeeds at what they’re doing! It is always nice to have the support of the people around you, however if you’re experiencing any self doubt at all, it will only serve to sabotage your efforts! Ultimately the mindset or attitude one may have can be the single biggest difference between whether it is successes or failures that person is to experience!
In many cases, the depth of your desire, insofar as what it may be you aim to accomplish, will determine the level of your focus! Maintaining the necessary focus needed is often a test of discipline but then again, if the desire is strong enough, this discipline should be easy enough to maintain!
Once again being successful normally calls for the completion of certain tasks or the achievement of specific goals! This all requires a quality effort which results from being highly focused on what it is you’re trying to do unless of course you expect somebody else to do it for you!
Becoming a successful entrepreneur involves much more that day dreaming about the benefits you may experience! Commonly the traits of an entrepreneur who typically succeeds at what they are trying to accomplish involves vision, discipline and the proper mindset to bring it all together!
These traits, as reviewed above, do not call upon skills of any sort but rather a deep desire that will be the driving force behind your success! It simply comes down to really ‘wanting’ something bad enough that you’re willing to focus both your mind and efforts to turn your wants into your realities! Being successful be it in business or even personal endeavors will always require a certain investment from you! It’s this willingness to invest of yourself insofar as having a desireBusiness Management Articles, direction and focus that will determine the level of your success or failure!
Are you a $100K+ executive who is thinking about leaving Corporate America and starting your own coaching or service business?
Making the decision to venture out, take the risk and become an entrepreneur is hard, whether it’s because you can’t find a job in this tough economy or you’re simply tired of working for someone else. And, believe me I know.
In 1992, I decided to start my own business after being laid-off twice in the same year. Now, the idea was not completely new to me. My father, grandfathers, and many uncles on both sides of my family were bit with the “own-your-own-business bug.” Although, I knew exactly what I was getting into and even though I come from a long line of entrepreneurs, I still faced the same questions and fears that you’re facing right now.
Below, I show you how I made my decision to start my executive coaching business 17 years ago. And this process still works today as I ask my clients the same seven questions when they tell me that they want to transition from executive to entrepreneur.
The Top 7 Questions I Asked Myself Before Transitioning From $100k+ Executive to an Entrepreneur
Question #1: What is your motivation for becoming an entrepreneur?
Your motivation to become an entrepreneur must be strong enough to carry you through the ups and downs. Wanting to work part time while taking care of your children, trying to work as a 1099 until a better opportunity comes along, or having nothing better to do are poor motivators for starting your own business.
Question #2: What is your background and experience at work?
If your experience is in a back-office function or you’ve never had the experience of working directly with customers, you need to think about how you will acquire these skill sets. This does not mean that you need to master the art of cold-calling, but you must know how to close a deal.
Question #3: What strategies and tactics will you use to find leads?
More than anything, you need to hit the ground running. You need to find potential customers fast so that you can make deals happen. My advice is to delay building your marketing materials – including your website, brochures, and tools – until you know where and how to reach potential customers.
Question 4: How will you address the three big challenges of Money, Product and Pricing that every new business faces?
Under capitalization is the biggest reason company’s become bankrupt within the first year. You need to know how to finance your start-up. Personal cash reserves, credit and loans from family and friends are the most common methods.
Building a product or service includes the time and money needed to develop these materials and you need clarity about what your target market wants and needs. Take the time to learn through your network before you spend large amounts of money on prototypes that may not sell.
Pricing is the hardest challenge of all. My advice is to slightly under price your product and/or service to enter the market and as you prove your worth and brand, you can raise your prices over time.
Question #5: What course of action will you take to make your business successful?
This question goes to the heart of your commitment and what you are willing (and not willing) to do to make you a successful entrepreneur. Going into any new venture requires you to evaluate your discipline and diligence as it relates to your desired level of success.
Question #6: What are you going to do to market yourself?
Marketing yourself is all about the process of gathering strangers into your network and bringing them to a state of interest. This requires strategic planning that enables potential customers to engage in you, experience your value proposition and build trust before turning them into a potential sale. Building a website or a social networking site is not enough.
Question #7: How long will you stay involved in your business before you receive a consistent revenue stream?
Given that most businesses take nine months to a year to build a healthy and consistent revenue stream, you must look at your finances and determine what you will do in the meantime. Key questions include: How will you supplement your income requirements? What can you do to drastically cut your break-even point? How will you make up the difference?
There is also a personal side to building a business. You must transition from an accidental entrepreneur to taking your business seriously in order to be successful. And your family must be willing to give you the time and the resources to get your business off the ground.
Becoming an entrepreneur is one of the most satisfying, challenging, exciting endeavors any executive can do. If you want to take charge of your career, build something that gives you long-term control and provider yourself with the ultimate in freedom and flexibility, then making the transition from $100K+ executive to entrepreneur is well worth the effort.