As a quick follow up to my blog from a couple of days ago, I was hoping there would be a better way to point RSS Graffiti towards a specific image file.  As you may notice from my signature below, my blogs contain many image files.  To me, it just makes good sense to select an image that goes along with the blog – right? Duh!  And the image that showed up with the Wall posting on the left, is not what I would have selected.

But, RSS Graffiti does not allow you the same flexibility that posting a Link to your Facebook wall does. In fact, if I post a link to a page on my website, I have to scroll through 17 or 18 different images to find the right one.  And this defeats the whole “Automation” aspect that I was looking for in the first place.

So, I thought about it: If I were a computer, how would I select an image?  (I had read on RSS Graffiti’s support site that they use an algorithm to exclude small pics and banner ads) Well – I would probably just grab the first one and use it.  But how do I make sure the one I want is first?

Well – I had a guess.  And I think it worked! it didn’t work!

All I did was, save the jpg file of the book cover as 01-How-to-clean-and-care-for-practically-anything and the picture to the left was what appeared on my Wall.

As a secondary test, I renamed the RSS Graffiti’s logo to begin with 01- and I am hoping that it will thus be along side the RSS feed posting as the selected image!

If so, if you have a logo you want assoicated with all of your blogs, all you have to do is rename the logo used on your blog page!  That would be too easy, right?  Well – let me know if you try it so we can find out if it works regularly, or is just a coincidence!

UPDATE: Here’s what showed up after this post:  It picked the ‘First try’ picture above, with my FB signature on it. Not at all what I had hoped – second try was a fluke, I guess.

I opened a support ticket with this question, and if the developer gets back to me, I’ll post what I learn.

I’ve been playing with several RSS Feeders to attempt to get The Stage Coach’s Diggin’s & Plunder Blog and Active Rain blog to automatically feed to Facebook.  But until this week, none of them accomplished it the way I had hoped.  On a fluke, I searched the applications for RSS one more time, and discovered RSS Graffiti.

For me, the selling point is, I can send RSS feed to my Personal Page and/or The Stage Coach’s Fan Page on Facebook, and it shows up on the Wall and in my Fans’/Friends’ Feeds!  Bingo!  Other applications created Tabs or Boxes, and did not provide the exposure I was looking for… And Manually feeding them out was a big time waster every time I put some thing up.  RSS graffiti is an easy set up, and comes with a multitude of options.

This week, I will be re-planning my current Blog-posting schematic to make sure that nothing is being repeated.  Plus, at this point, I am only feeding to The Stage Coach’s Fan page, and not my personal page, until I can figure out a way to keep them from being published at the same time.  [Feature Request! Optional feed posting Delay!]

If you give it a try, come back and let me know what you think!  Or if you’re using an application that works for you, please tell me about it!

This is the second or third time I have come across a situation like this… Judging by this list of words, I can only assume it’s some kind of SEO trick.  But I thought the Google-Bots were supposed to check for this?  What is this person gaining by having a crazy list of words, some associated with Home Staging, and some not?

The last time I located this type of information, it contained copyrighted material from my website.  They had it down within 24 hours of notifying them, so I did not report them to Google, etc.  But I am wondering whether this type of activity is legit, or if it can be reported?

Any insight is appreciated!

Thanks!

Late last week, I ran out for a “Service Call” to help another Home Stager who needed some blinds hung and did not have the hardware.  While there, she told me all of the things they needed to get done before the home could go to market.  So I offered to throw my hat into the ring for some of the Exterior Maintenance items.  The home really needed some help with Curb Appeal.

I delivered a proposal for about a dozen different things that needed to be done on the Exterior, including, cleaning the gutters on the first level.  There was so much back up of material in the gutters (right) that not only could you see the piles mounding over the edge, but there were little Oak trees sprouting in the material that had biodegraded.

Imagine my surprise when reviewing the quote with the homeowner when he asked, “Do I really need to clean the gutters?”

Taken by surprise, I really did not know what to say.  As a result, I went with my instincts, and splurted, “I suppose not… I could pull the small trees and plant some annuals up there  to add some seasonal color…”

It was one of those moments, where there is quiet on the phone, and you realize that maybe the Speaking part of your brain was working too fast for the Thinking part of your brain.  [Note: Sarcasm does often not play off well and be extermely careful who you try it with, as it easily could have lost me the job] After several awkward moments, he sighed and said, “There’s that much stuff, huh?  Well, I guess I see what you mean…”

I imagine it’s easy for me to say as the Home Stager, but home owners should understand that you are receiving beneficial information from your Stager that will help in the sale of your home.  Trusting us is, for lack of a better phrase, a necessary evil.  Not every one can be a Real Estate Pro – heck, not even every Real Estate Pro is a Pro… but if you have gone through the trouble of hiring a Home Stager, or two in this case I guess, why would you want to argue about some thing as simplistic as making sure the home looks its best from the street?

For the record, he was advised by the Listing REALTOR, the primary Home Stager, and myself that he should consider painting the exterior to a more neutral blending color. It’s the brightest house on the street.  And on that subject, he would not budge.  At least he let me clean his gutters…

This house in NW Austin should be on the market any day now!

I was browsing my Twitter feeds this morning when I saw a link to a Austin American Statesman Article that stated Dell made $6.5 million via Twitter, primarily through the Dell Outlet [ @DellOutlet ].  Never wanting to miss a deal, I looked up their Twitter ID.  And it was not Deals that surprised me – and it was not the $6.5 million dollars in sales. (Let’s face it – when you are as big as Dell or HP, you could get $6 million in sales from an ad on the side of a milk carton.  It might cost them $6 million to market/advertise…)  It was some thing totally different.

My wife recently took a class offered through her work called some thing like, Buzz Media Strategies.  And it was Social Media 101 for Business, with a Governmental Spin.  The presenters had worked primarily for Technologies, but had tweaked their presentation to interest local agencies. She brought home a lot of information which we then spent hours discussing how she could use the principles for her agency, versus how I could/do use them for The Stage Coach.

One of the slides from the show I was able to review was a Google Search for “Problem with Dell Laptop”.  Dell Support pays for the #1 Sponsored Position – but guess what position the first Organic result is for any Dell web site?  Give up?  It was #17 on this Day – Page 2!  The other 16 Organic results were all Blogs about Crappy Customer Service and Support in response to Problems with Dell Laptops.

A major element in the presentation was that consumers no longer trust large companies.  They no longer believe the mantras, because the see the falsehood of repeating some thing that does not jive with the actions of the company.

So, this is where I’m going with this… I was not surprised by any Deals – I was surprised to see @DellOutlet actively engaging in Customer Service. Responding. Telling customers their order shipped. Asking for more information via DM.

As a Home Stager, I do not have the capacity to obtain $6+ million in Sales via Twitter – and I am not sure how I can apply this to my business practice.  But it is an interesting look at how one large company is embracing this Fad. If I can call it a Fad – every thing is a Fad until it becomes ingrained in our day to day lives – then it’s a necessity (Internet? Cell Phones? Laptops?). 

Not sure I need to mention this – but in the interest of full disclosure, I live around the corner from Dell’s Round Rock Campus.  And as a result, our city receives Sales Tax Revenue from the sale of Dell Computers in Texas. And many neighbors are employed their – so yes, I do want to see them succeed in making money.  I want all companies to make money – just never at the expense of their employees.

Here’s a link to Dell’s website where you can view their various Twitter accounts: http://www.dell.com/twitter

Thanks for stopping by!  And don’t forget to look for me on Twitter: @TheStageCoach

Hello Stagers!  Sorry to report this news, but it seems our content is being used by some one trying to increase their SEO juice.

I was experimenting this morning to see if The Stage Coach’s Fan Page would come up in a Google Search.  So I was searching some long phrases pulled directly from my tabs.  On a fluke, I came across another Home Stager’s Page that used a line Verbatim from my website. 

“The Stage Coach provides Austin Home Staging Services for Homeowners, Realtors, and Builders in the Austin Round Rock metro area.”

The page Google linked to does not come up on her website – it’s some crazy back door. You can try to link to it from here.

Or, go to my Google Search page here.  See Home Make Overs by Melinda

I saw all kinds of lines about Home Staging pulled directly from our sites with company names still attached. 

I did leave the owner a comment asking her to pull my content, hopefully she will pull all of ours.

Let me know what you find!

Friday, November 20, 9:00am

After not receiving any response from the post I made on this site, I emailed the site owner directly last night.  Just received this communication this morning:

“Thank you for bringing this to my attention. My web administrator has confirmed the link you inquired about has been removed and can no longer be retrieved.”

I would have appreciated an apology, but I’ll settle for the removal of the content.  At the same time, I’ve made a note on my calendar to search the same string in January.