Want to know the absolute worst decluttering strategy ever (for me)? I'm sharing it, and why it's the worst (for me) and what I do instead. Sponsors: For a free two week trial of PrepDish, go to PrepDish.com/aslobcomesclean Sponsor: Blinds Chalet! – visit their website or call 888-633-7840! Use promo code “clean ” for a […] The post 196: The Worst Decluttering Strategy EVER Podcast appeared first on A Slob Comes Clean.
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![]() Amy Chorew, our Better Homes and Gardens® Real Estate VP of Learning, interviewed three top brokers to gain insights on their best practices for lead generation. John Jackson from John Jackson Neighborhood Real Estate, Lane Hornung from 8z Real Estate, and Heather Bush from Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Capital Area were excited to share their expertise. John Jackson,John Jackson Neighborhood Real Estate: Racing for ApproachableJohn takes a friendly approach to lead generation. By being both approachable and desirable, his brokerage finds much success in being able to convert leads. To make their presence known, the traditional avenues of open houses and Facebook ads are used. However, their major investment lies in nurturing client relationships rather than cold leads. As an avid runner, John heavily supports athletic events that are not necessarily client-focused. By sponsoring local races and having the company name on running bibs, the brokerage is able to present itself to the local public in a community-oriented way. John believes that inspiration and a bit of runner's high, first- or second-hand, will inspire the public. While it is always a challenge to define measurable market presence, being approachable, knowledgeable and desirable makes prospective clients want to engage. Sixty percent of leads are company-driven and agents drive the other 40 percent in a high-support setup. John makes it part of his responsibility to be the inside sales person. He nurtures leads and matures them before handing them off to a team member. A shared Google doc tracks hot, warm and cold statuses as well as every communication sent to all leads, regardless of how they were shaped. Agents can count on these leads, but are also incentivized to nurture their own. Lane Hornung,8z Real Estate: Get visualLane believes in the power of a visual to explain his approach to lead generation, which is driven by numbers. He imagines the process as a triangle – internet, sphere and hyperlocal. The first side of the triangle is dedicated to new lead generation sourced from the internet using SEO, organic and paid traffic, Facebook campaigns for market listing ads and name recognition ads. Ads are hyperlocal, within a half-mile radius of the brokerage in most cases. The sphere, which is the foundation, is next, where sweat equity ensures measurable leads. Finally, the high-support brokerage uses SEO, Facebook market listings and a digital farming strategy in which each agent is assigned a neighborhood. Leads are given to the client care team to improve the prospective client's chance of closing to 10 percent or better. Heather Bush,Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Capital Area: Relocation, relocation, relocationHeather harnesses the power of technology and outsourcing for lead generation. Her brokerage's unique system focuses on relocation as a primary source of business. Military personnel must buy and sell houses quickly for deployment or new assignments. Additionally, members of the corporate world also need a reliable agent to help with their specific housing needs. This niche has proven quite lucrative for the brokerage. Opt City is a referral source that does away with upfront costs and requires payment only upon closing for brokerages. Inquiries are filtered and nurtured until the lead is warm enough to be handed off to an agent. Clients are introduced with a live, warm phone transfer. Agents start with lower quality leads until their performance score indicates that they're ready to receive a higher volume and improved leads. Another tool, Cartus, is a leader in global/logistical relocation services for military personnel and corporations. As a Better Homes and Gardens® Real Estate in-house resource, ZAP provides lead generation strategic insights. With the website and app, the client begins the homebuying process by selecting their preferences. Online activity is meticulously tracked and algorithms indicate when a transaction is imminent. Agents receive metrics and insights to boost daily and long-term projections. Heather believes that while resources aid in lead generation, ultimately, what makes a transaction is the relationship. By getting to know clients and addressing their specific needs and lifestyle, a lifelong connection can be formed that will result in referrals upon referrals. Follow-up is essential with market news, design advice and other relevant information. Visit our AllThingsRE Facebook Page to view the full panel live, or click here. No matter your approach, consider leveraging these insights to help shape and improve your business in 2019. The post Three Approaches to Lead Generation for 2019 appeared first on Clean Slate. How to Plant Grapes
1/2/2019
The key to growing grapes will depend on several factors and elements. Understand the issues involved in planting grapes and the types you can nurture and cultivate. Use the right methods for preparing the land prior to planting any variants. The post How to Plant Grapes appeared first on How To Plant. ![]() Axiom Bank is a regional bank located in Florida, but one that is revolutionizing banking by offering banking products (like checking accounts) to those that may not be able to get approved for them at a "normal" bank. This opens up a lot of opportunities for those that have been leery of banks. Axiom offers a variety of checking products, including free checking accounts. Check out our Axiom Bank review and see how they compare. Quick Summary
Quick Navigation Who Is Axiom Bank?Axiom Bank is a regional bank located in Florida. They are based in Orlando. The bank has 24 retail branches, 22 of which are located in Walmart Supercenters. Axiom Bank was established in 1969. The bank has $0.7 billion in assets. The CEO of Axiom Bank is Daniel Davis. On April 22, 2016, Davis was quoted in the Orlando Business Journal as saying the following about the bank's potential: “It has a tremendous opportunity for growth in the coming years. We have several goals, including increasing our commercial and consumer lending. On the depository side, we are adding business deposit services, retail branches and consumer deposit accounts and services. We want to make our customers' banking experience easier, less time consuming and less expensive, allowing our customers to focus on their own lives and businesses.” What Do They Offer?Axiom Bank offers a wide range of banking products including business checking, personal checking, CDs, savings accounts, mortgages, and credit cards. In this article, we'll focus on personal checking, savings, and CDs. Axiom Bank has five different checking accounts. Except for the Senior account, each requires a $25 deposit to open. There are also monthly services fees, but you can avoid the service fee by maintaining a minimum daily balance as shown below. Axiom: $6.95/month fee but waived with direct deposit of $500 or 8 debit card transactions within the statement cycle. Opportunity: $12.95/month fee but drops to $8.95 with any direct deposit. Senior: $0.00/month fee. Select: $15.00/month fee but waived for minimum daily balance over $1,000 with Select Checking, over $5,000 with Select Money Market. AxiomGO: $5.99/month fee but like the Axiom checking account, the fee is waived with direct deposit of $500 or 8 debit card transactions within the statement cycle. AxiomGO is an all-digital checking account that does not incur overdraft fees. All checking accounts charge a $2 fee for out-of-network ATM use. Overdraft fees are $34 per item except on the AxiomGO account. The Opportunity checking account charges a higher monthly fee than the regular Axiom checking account because of increased risk. Once the account owner has proven they are able to manage their checking without any problems, they can upgrade to the Axiom checking account and save on monthly fees. The Opportunity account does not pay any interest. In September 2018, Axiom Bank expanded its ATM access nationwide to 7,934 7-Eleven locations through an agreement with FCTI. Davis had this to say about the expansion: “Expanding ATM access outside our branches and existing network allows our customers to take greater control over their money without paying fees.” Davis continued, “Our partnership with FCTI also provides another platform to promote the Axiom Bank brand nationwide and introduce more customers to our banking model.” In addition to its checking account products, Axiom Bank offers savings accounts, CDs, and a secured loan product that work with CDs. These are covered next. Rates on Savings Accounts, CDs, and Secured LoansAxiom Bank's savings account pays 0.15% APY and requires a $25 deposit to open. The account will charge a $6 maintenance fee if a $25 minimum balance is not maintained. Axiom Bank offers CDs with the following rates (for a limited time):
The minimum deposit to open a CD is $500, and you must maintain the same amount to earn the quoted APY. Axiom Bank also states that there is a “substantial penalty for early withdrawal.” See how this compares to the best bank CD rates. Axiom Bank loans can be secured through CDs. Unsecured loans charge high interest rates, but with a secured loan, the rates are often far less. Your CD investment will continue to earn interest. Loan amounts cannot exceed the value of the CD. Final ThoughtsIs Axiom Bank a good choice? If you live in central Florida where Axiom Bank branches are located and have a need for your bank to be in specific Walmart Supercenters, Axiom Bank could be a good choice. It's also a potential option for those that have been unbanked in the past and are looking to get a bank account. However, all of their accounts charge a maintenance fee unless you maintain certain balances. There are also fees for closing an account within six months ($25) and for allowing an account to go dormant ($15). With so many banks now offering free checking and nationwide ATM use at no charge, there may be better options available. The post Axiom Bank Review: Is This a Good Option for You? appeared first on The College Investor. ![]() No one wants to start the New Year with a driving citation - or worse, an accident or injury. But the holidays are a prime time to get pulled over. Why? Well, we're on the go more often, for one. And we can be more focused on the next festive event instead of the actual driving itself. While Santa has his reindeer to safely guide his sleigh, we have to rely on our vigilance and responsible choices. Want to stay on Santa's Nice List this holiday season? Then avoid these 3 activities that could increase your chances of being pulled over during the holidays. 1. You've been drinking'Tis the season for parties. And that often means an extra glass of wine or a shot of eggnog. But make no mistake: the police are paying extra attention to anyone who gets behind the wheel when they shouldn't. Exhibit A: the annual “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” holiday marketing campaign that the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) rolls out. It alerts would-be revelers to the fact that they'll be out on the street watching. That's because the holiday season is notoriously dangerous - an average of 300 people die in drunk driving crashes the week between Christmas and New Year's Day, the NHTSA says. Your best defense? DO NOT DRIVE DRUNK. Always, always have a designated driver. Call a taxi or a ride share. Or stay the night. 2. You're driving recklesslyAnd no, we don't mean doing donuts in the parking lot. We mean rushing through that yellow light because you're trying to get to a holiday gathering on time. Or speeding down the freeway because you spent longer at the mall than you'd planned to. During the holidays, people have a lot going on: too many commitments and a lot of stress, which means they might not be as cautious behind the wheel as they should. Remember that everyone wants to get where they're going safely, so slow down and drive a little more courteously. We can't think of a better way to spread holiday cheer. 3. You're texting (or otherwise distracted)After alcohol and speeding, the third biggest cause of driving-related fatalities is distracted driving, according to the National Safety Council. In stats compiled by the NHTSA, 3,450 people were killed by distracted driving in 2016. So you can be sure that this is high on their list of reasons to get pulled over during the holidays. Of course, when we think of distracted driving, we immediately think of cell phone use. But other things that fall into that category are eating sugar cookies, drinking gingerbread lattes, applying glittery eye shadow - essentially anything that takes your eyes off the road. If you absolutely must take a call or turn on your mapping app, pull over safely before engaging your phone. There's nothing more important this holiday season than getting where you're going safely. Why 2019's Real Estate Trends DON'T Matter
12/31/2018
I needed to hide the mess of cables to keep my lady happy! Cost wise for my DIY home network cabinet was $25 for the BISSA shoe cabinet. Then, $23 for a nice surge protector, everything else I already had. What I love about it is no more exposed wires, happy lady, happy life! IKEA items used:
![]() BISSA Shoe Cabinet | IKEA.com Other materials and tools:DIY IT home network cabinetFirst, assemble the cabinet per IKEA instructions. Then, install networking equipment using zip ties to hold the items in place. After that, mount surge protector on upper support wall bracket and tidy up excess cables with zip ties. Next, I installed a router, switch, a magicJack and two Raspberry Pi's on the top section. Lastly, installed an APC battery backup and a cable modem on the bottom section. The hardest bit is routing and organizing all the cables allowing the doors to open to allow access to the equipment. Make sure you open and close each door during assembly to make sure your wires have enough slack and don't get hung up on anything. ~ by BrianL You may also like these IT home networking cabinetsWall mounted home network cabinetBeing on a budget … they found that the BESTÅ cabinet was a cheap way to have a network cabinet. It can easily be modified to organize and hide the patch panel, cable modem, and 16-port switch. See more. All-in-One network cabinetTurn a kitchen cabinet into a network cabinet and store all your computer cables, routers, modem and equipment in one convenient location. Don't forget to add a vent fan to keep everything cool inside. Read the post. Low budget network rackOliver built a network thingamajig inside a PS cabinet. See how they did it.
The post Never again let it all out. Make a discreet network cabinet. appeared first on IKEA Hackers. Rustic Coffee Sign with Aging Technique
9/30/2018
Today I'm repurposing an old frame and using an aging technique that I absolutely love! Carpeting brings wall-to-wall softness and warmth to a room, both visually and physically. But over time, its attract...
Penn Mutual Life Insurance Review 2018
8/15/2018
NerdWallet is a free tool to find you the best credit cards, cd rates, savings, checking accounts, scholarships, healthcare and airlines. Start here to maximize your rewards or minimize your interest rates. NerdWallet at a glanceNerdWallet ranking: No. 7.Average customer satisfaction ratings.Quotes are not available online. Learn more Overview Penn Mutual Life Insurance Co. is... The article Penn Mutual Life Insurance Review 2018 originally appeared on NerdWallet. ![]() |