chris hendricks: Bookstores, Theaters, Newspapers, and Neighborhoods-- The New Urban 'Bland' - 03/26/08 04:53 PM
My bride and I were discussing the changes in our town, in our neighborhood, and in the way kids grow up these days over our coffee this morning as she bemoaned the fact that Bonanza Books is going out of business. Bonanza-- long the independent new and used book store in … (5 comments)
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chris hendricks: Does Your Brokerage Need A Customer Advisory Board? - 03/10/08 06:23 PM
Do you really know what your customers think of you or do you only think you know? Are you confident enough to bet a significant stake in your company's future based upon your appraisal of how customers perceive your products and services, your pricing and policies, your value to them? How … (1 comments)
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chris hendricks: Is The "Supersize Me" Generation Starting A Square Footage Diet? - 03/04/08 05:13 PM
My wife and I are in that age bracket where the thought of scaling down in size to have less to clean and less to maintain is a good thing: we might actually do it one of these days when and if we give up on the dream that our kids will be … (7 comments)
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chris hendricks: Does "Days On Market" Change The Tools You Use To Market A Property? - 10/30/07 05:42 PM
I was speaking with a REALTOR® friend the other day and she mentioned that the average DOM had risen substantially in her county-- as it has in most counties. With fewer buyers out there ready and able to transact and with sellers not yet reacting quickly enough to the new pricing realities of … (28 comments)
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chris hendricks: The Secret of All Sales Efforts Revealed! - 10/27/07 01:06 AM
I admit, one should never blog in anger. That's why I've invoked my traditional 24-hour rule started years ago with the "send button" to allow cooler heads to prevail and to avoid that seasick feeling that overtakes you moments after hitting it on a message you realize you're probably going to regret [immensely]. But really folks, … (3 comments)
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chris hendricks: Dog Versus Man -- Institutional Knowledge, Brokerages, and How We Share - 10/23/07 06:52 PM
People and dogs are different in "oh so many ways" but there are still things we can learn from the so-called lesser creatures. I really started to think about this after listening to Steve Morris talk about the rationale for creating Exit Realty. Mr. Morris positioned that people inevitably need to be convinced … (22 comments)
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chris hendricks: Set Your Office Up With Templates and Save Money, Time, and Headaches! - 10/19/07 12:06 PM
Why more real estate and mortgage professionals DON'T do this is a mystery to me. Rather than having haphazardly created, randomly laid out materials that have little "brand" identification, design pieces that truly represent your company well and then have us "templatize" them in a design gallery on the web so … (8 comments)
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chris hendricks: Just Exactly What WOULD You Do For Money? - 10/07/07 01:13 PM
I've been reflecting on this all morning. It's Sunday morning here in the office and I was here all day yesterday as well. There's a marketing project I'm working on to reach out to the newest members of NAR and it's taking longer to get ready than I had hoped when … (20 comments)
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chris hendricks: Visit With Us At The California Association of REALTORS® Expo - 10/06/07 03:56 PM
Anybody heading off to Anaheim next week to the California Association of REALTORS® Conference and Expo should stop by our booth sometime during your trip and say hello. We'll be there, dutifully hosting the trade show booth and offering special incentives and discounts for CAR members and other CAR Expo attendees.
In addition to … (2 comments)
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chris hendricks: Are The Mommies Ruining Our Kids' Health While They Destroy Property Values? - 10/03/07 01:20 PM
You don't know it yet but this is a discussion about property values, fear, and the advice I didn't take from my Lakewood-area REALTOR® all those years ago. Today is "Walk To School Wednesday" in our neighborhood-- the day when the 'Mommies' of Indian Valley Elementary School either leave the SUVs in … (15 comments)
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chris hendricks: Client ROI -- Why Is It The 'Thinnest' Deals Are the Most Demanding Customers? - 09/29/07 12:23 AM
I noticed early in my career that the clients who paid the least for whatever was being sold were all-too-often the clients that became the most demanding, the most particular, and the greatest time-wasters in my Rolodex. Why is it there seems to be this inverse relationship between time spent with … (27 comments)
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chris hendricks: Your Attitude Amidst Change Dictates Everything! - 09/23/07 01:41 PM
This week found me meeting with a former business associate from the wireless industry to catch up on the last couple of years and to work out the details of a printing project we'll be doing for him and his dealership. The wireless business, for anyone that's been around it, is one … (9 comments)
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chris hendricks: Home Mortgage Accelerator Programs - 09/14/07 05:27 PM
The GMAC Accelerator program has started popping onto my professional and personal radar so I'm curious about it (and others like it). The basic premise is to flow all cash you receive into an account that is tied to your mortgage-- effectively reducing the average daily balance of your loan and reducing … (6 comments)
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chris hendricks: If This Was Free, Would You Use It? - 08/30/07 05:39 PM
I need to know if you would use this! I'm considering making a toolbar available to the real estate community-- at no charge-- that could be downloaded by you from our website and by all of your clients and your prospects [for free] from YOUR website and would place your franchise logo … (10 comments)
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chris hendricks: What Are You Aiming For? Can You Hit The Mark or Will You 'Rooty Toot Shoot'? - 08/23/07 06:52 PM
What are you aiming for? What do you want? I ask this question of our clients (and I ask it of other folks) a lot! It's amazing how many people are out there wanting something and working toward... er, something... but they're not really sure what that 'something' is... because they've never taken the … (6 comments)
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chris hendricks: The Sweet Science -- Boxing Helps Your Direct Mail Win By A Knockout! - 08/22/07 11:29 AM
I've been accused of being "direct" before (truthfully, sometimes 'too direct') and, while I can be subtle and delicate when absolutely necessary I much prefer getting right to the point. For me, it's a 'style' decision. Your direct mail should never be accused of being "too direct" and if it ever is, keep doing it … (4 comments)
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chris hendricks: The Worst Popular Song Ever Used In An Advertisement? Now I Know, Elvis.... - 08/15/07 01:52 PM
Someone will eventually write a book about the obnoxious use of great music (and vice-versa) in cheesy advertising spots-- who knows, maybe me if you all respond with your great suggestions to round out a good list. Good songs used well and great songs used awfully, that's what we need to know! … (16 comments)
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chris hendricks: Coyotes Nipping At The Heels - 08/15/07 12:01 PM
I turned 50 in mid-July and just received an invitation to join the AARP, a testament to the data gathering skills of list management firms I'd be proud to have supporting and timing our direct mail offerings here. The annual check up regimen at 50 is, for the as yet uninitiated, a true delight … (5 comments)
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chris hendricks: How To Divorce Your Agent (Breaking Up Is Hard To Do...) - 08/09/07 08:12 PM
I started thinking about divorce this week and I know it's an uncomfortable thing for us to think about-- but it happens to someone pretty much every day. My thoughts weren't about divorce at home (we're hopelessly smitten with each other) but on the job. How do you break it off … (11 comments)
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chris hendricks: Inman Connect -- Was There A Best Of Show For You? - 08/03/07 03:54 PM
The Inman Connect Show in San Francisco this year seemed to be a blogger's paradise-- especially Day One devoted almost exclusively to the blogging community.
The "good news" for me was that the show was a success-- I was able to move several pending development deals forward that will enable my company to partner more … (3 comments)
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chris hendricks: Come Together-- One and One and One Is Three... - 07/26/07 06:16 PM
The deal that would not close has finally... yep, you guessed it... 'come together' and closed [well, it closed in late May but was in stealth mode pending a press release and announcement by NAR, which finally came together today]. This deal is probably different than the average deal we all do every day but … (2 comments)
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chris hendricks: NAR Adds PsPrint As New REALTOR Benefits® Partner! - 07/26/07 04:16 PM
CHICAGO (July 26, 2007) - The National Association of Realtors® today announced a strategic alliance that will enhance Realtors'® marketing efforts and improve their bottom lines, with the addition of PsPrint, LLC to NAR's roster of Realtor Benefits® partners. PsPrint is a leading provider of printing, mailing and design services for … (2 comments)
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chris hendricks: Template Postcards Available for Marketing Mortgage Professionals - 07/23/07 04:12 PM
There are 5 new postcard designs now available on our website for mortgage professionals to use to market themselves to prospective clients-- courtesy of Wells Fargo's Business and Real Estate Financing Group. These designs can be customized to include your contact information in the text box areas and the return address fields. The artwork is … (0 comments)
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chris hendricks: Wells Fargo's Business and Real Estate Financing Group Selects PsPrint for Templates - 07/19/07 05:37 PM
PsPrint, LLC has announced that it will assist Wells Fargo's Business and Real Estate Financing Group (BREF) in creating and fulfilling direct marketing tools and resources for BREF's independent brokerage network. PsPrint LLC is a leading provider of printing, mailing and design services for small and medium-sized businesses and specializes in … (2 comments)
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chris hendricks: Four Days Playing Around In Geno's Chicagoland (Without Him) - 07/18/07 08:11 PM
My 50th birthday was Monday and I spent it and the handful of days immediately adjacent to it doing something I'd always meant to do but somehow never 'got around to' before: I visited Chicago with no business agenda whatsoever-- just to experience the city! Maybe it was reading Geno Petro's blog and … (7 comments)
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chris hendricks: Market Yourself With A Better Calendar Next Time ! - 07/13/07 01:39 PM
Calendars and the real estate industry seem to go together like cookies and milk and every year REALTORS® and mortgage professionals dutifully set aside a handful of important marketing dollars to produce them to send to their client and prospect lists. But are these calendars doing any good in the marketing effort? Could … (8 comments)
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chris hendricks: Redlining Neighborhoods During A Garbage Lockout? - 07/12/07 01:49 PM
The San Francisco Chronicle and other local media are reporting huge disparities between richer and poorer neighborhoods as a local garbage lockout continues through it's 11th day here. Charges of redlining neighborhoods for pickups and service have been circulating for a few days now as it became obvious that older, poorer … (4 comments)
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chris hendricks: How Do YOU Establish A Comparable Value? - 07/10/07 01:31 PM
There's a house down the hill from where I live that sold recently... for about $300K less than the average home sells for in the area. Locals all know about the house-- it had long been less than pristinely maintained as the original owners grew elderly and invalid. Folks assumed it would … (2 comments)
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chris hendricks: Hunters vs. Gatherers, Freedom vs. Equality, and Appraisers vs. Everybody Else! - 07/03/07 04:02 PM
My colleagues and I recently attended the a la mode Annual Convention in Las Vegas-- a show heavily attended by a la mode's appraisal software customers (perhaps more so than their real estate, mortgage origination, and home inspection clients).
Me, I was fascinated by the keynote speaker, George Will, the Washington Post Op-Ed columnist who had an … (10 comments)
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chris hendricks: How Can We Go Still "Greener" As A Company? - 07/03/07 12:54 PM
We're entering a second wave of environmental consciousness in America and companies are jumping on the "green" bandwagon fast. There's good reason to do so: it makes good marketing sense to be "green" when consumers indicate they by and large prefer "green" behavior and are willing to seek it out. And, in some … (2 comments)
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chris hendricks: Traditional Courtesy and Online Behavior -- Flaming Has Consequences! - 06/25/07 01:11 PM
Do we take advantage of the relative anonymity of the Internet to be more rude and insensitive online than we would be in person? The thought occurred to me after responding to a blog post here on AR about a month and a half ago when I chastised the post writer for being spiteful … (4 comments)
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chris hendricks: PsPrint and Myers Internet Announce Strategic Alliance for Mortgage and Real Estate Clients - 06/22/07 05:29 PM
Myers Internet and PsPrint today announced a marketing agreement to provide quality print and direct marketing services to Myers Internet customers. Since 1995, Myers Internet has provided real estate and mortgage professionals with quality website and online marketing tools. Realizing that direct marketing still plays a large part in the success of … (2 comments)
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chris hendricks: Is Everything In Las Vegas Noisy and Artificial? - 06/19/07 11:15 AM
I did a lot of business in Las Vegas during the 80's-- so much so that I absolutely stopped staying at hotels that had casinos. Not because I gambled but because of the noise... the perpetual bombardment of stimulation that makes you oblivious of time and keeps you amped longer than … (4 comments)
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chris hendricks: Find The Cost Of Freedom - 06/15/07 08:06 PM
This one isn't real estate related other than by request after an earlier blog post on individual liberties and free speech freedoms versus property values and the right to not be deprived of one's property: Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
Find The Cost Of Freedom (Written By Stephen Stills)
Find the cost of freedom, buried … (0 comments)
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chris hendricks: Individual Rights vs. Private Property Values-- War Memorial In Lafayette, CA - 06/15/07 06:08 PM
Late last year a small memorial to our soldiers killed in Iraq appeared on a hillside piece of land in Lafayette, CA-- visible from parts of Highway 24 and from the BART tracks that parallel the highway. At first the memorial was relatively inconspicuous-- a few dozen three-foot tall white crosses … (1 comments)
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chris hendricks: Active Rain -- Good For Business? You Bet! - 06/07/07 06:01 PM
Our Vice-President of Sales and Marketing here stopped by my office this morning with a question about Active Rain. In a nutshell the question was "what IS this thing?" He asked it because it has been ranking near the top of the codes we look at to gauge "first-time customers" each month and he wanted … (0 comments)
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chris hendricks: 'The Deal That Would Not Close' -- Part Deux - 06/01/07 03:37 PM
I recently blogged my frustrations at some deals which-- despite doing all the right things and meticulously taking all the right steps-- simply don't seem to ever want to close. One in particular has been testing my mental health for months. Despite the almost daily Q&A I'd get internally at my company, I … (3 comments)
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chris hendricks: Whales Are Gone... Back To Reporting On The Real Estate 'Crash' - 05/31/07 04:51 PM
For two weeks we were "captivated" by the story of Delta and Dawn, mother and child humpbacked whales "lost" in the Sacramento River delta more than 100 miles from the open ocean. Held captive by the news stations is more like it. Seldom has their been a less interesting story milked … (8 comments)
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chris hendricks: Five Secrets Of Direct Mail: #5 -- Automating Your Pipeline Will Save Time and Money! - 05/23/07 06:50 PM
I know a ReMax agent in California who plans his twice-monthly campaigns based on his budget. Then, on a regular cycle that begins a couple of weeks before he plans to send out a promotional piece, he logs onto our website and places an order for his promotional materials. With the online pricing tool he can … (0 comments)
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chris hendricks: When Bad Mortgages Go Still Worse (Notes From NAR Mid-Year) - 05/18/07 12:11 PM
My challenges with the business I'm trying to conduct here in Washington DC this week have given me a collective range of heartburn, anxiety, and disappointment-- but I'm confident the week will end with a high point that will erase all memory of the week's numerous aggravations. A man I met, … (3 comments)
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chris hendricks: Five Secrets Of Direct Mail: #4 -- What Time Is The Right Time? - 05/10/07 05:22 PM
I been in the right place But it must have been the wrong time I'd of said the right thing But I must have used the wrong line I been in the right trip But I must have used the wrong car My head was in a bad place And I'm … (2 comments)
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chris hendricks: Five Secrets Of Direct Mail: #3 -- Capturing Responses (to find leads) - 05/09/07 03:48 PM
What good does it do if you create a nice direct mail piece, market yourself well but you can't tell what made you successful? How do you know if your direct mail piece is working or if your success came from something else? Intuitively you know the pieces are working-- but how can … (1 comments)
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chris hendricks: Five Secrets of Direct Mail -- #2 Make Your Direct Mail Piece "Good Sticky" - 05/08/07 01:54 PM
The marketing guru types use the term "sticky" to mean developing content that will make consumers want to keep your piece, in this case your printed postcard, on hand where they can get at it again later. "Sticky" like "I'll just stick this right here on the refrigerator, I'll just set this here so I can pass … (5 comments)
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chris hendricks: Five Secrets Of Direct Mail: #1 -- Use the 40-40-20 Rule for Success! - 05/07/07 10:04 PM
As a real estate professional you know the "ins and outs" of listing and selling homes. After all, that's your livelihood and you're the expert. But when it comes to direct mail, are you still the expert? There are a lot of factors that must be considered in order to make your … (15 comments)
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chris hendricks: Sanity, Patience, and "The Deal That Would Not Close!" - 05/03/07 03:04 PM
You've probably had a deal like the one I'm working on right now-- you think you've done your part and you're prepared to perform but the other side keeps just far enough from an execution of the contract that you want to throw your hands up in frustration and walk away. But the deal … (2 comments)
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chris hendricks: Find and Keep The Online Booty! - 04/20/07 01:43 PM
I read this morning in RISMedia's digest a quick article by Stefan Swanepoel titled "Pirate or Partner? A Closer Look At Lead Generation." This article reaffirms what I've long contended-- like any other sales mechanism, success with online leads is dependent upon playing the numbers game, not obsessing about the deals that … (0 comments)
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chris hendricks: 'Logo and Brand' Protection Made Easy Online - 03/29/07 01:37 PM
The big franchises all have 'em but it still surprises me how many other brokerages and offices don't-- and they easily could! I'm talking about a design center with protected images so agents can produce business cards, flyers, postcards, and other marketing materials quickly and easily without risk of the company's 'logo and brand' being … (2 comments)
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chris hendricks: Who's Entitled to the "Lead" Online-- the 80 or the 20? - 03/26/07 09:48 PM
I ponder things. I'm a ponderer. I mull this way and consider that way and-- when I'm in the mood-- I ponder from many angles. And recently I started pondering about this whole online lead question. After considerable pondering, I became convinced of two things: 1) online leads are clearly diamonds in the rough and 2) a lot of people have a strange sense of … (40 comments)
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chris hendricks: Different Vantages Yield Vastly Different Views -- An Online Marketing Issue - 03/21/07 12:18 PM
A post on RealTalk last night about a change in HomeGain's Agent Evaluator product caught my eye. As a former Director of Sales for HomeGain, I know a little bit about the company's products and how they work most efficiently. The RealTalker was essentially calling out how things in the 'lead aggregator … (3 comments)
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chris hendricks: Habits and Rituals and Communication Success - 03/20/07 04:30 PM
The older I get the more I rely on my daily habits-- the little rituals of life I do each day and each week to maintain rhythm and a sense of order in my otherwise chaotic life. I do them because they work for me. They help me be what I want to be and those habits I've had in the … (24 comments)
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chris hendricks: I Want To Know How They Know.... - 03/19/07 11:42 AM
We all have our daily rituals and often we keep these habits long after they cease making good sense. I started thinking about mine and wondering why I have them-- and the best explanation I can come up with is that they attempt to impose some degree of subconscious order and reason onto what … (6 comments)
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chris hendricks: Differentiating Your Unique Value Claims To Your Prospects - 03/16/07 07:16 PM
What makes you unique in the eyes of your prospects? Why are you any different than the dozens, hundreds, maybe thousands of other available choices out there looking to attract the attention of your prospects? Why should YOU be chosen? You may think you're different but are you letting them know how? What … (6 comments)
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chris hendricks: Value is a Relative Term (or, 'How To Grow Your Own Evangelists') - 03/14/07 10:58 AM
I hate being ripped off by vendors that assume I have no option but to accept their inflated, without value approach to 'earning' my business! My wife says I'm obstinate (in fact, so did my Mother), but I see it more as a matter of principle to NOT accept being taken … (0 comments)
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chris hendricks: Are You As Tuned Up As You Could Be? - 03/09/07 12:06 PM
WYSIWYG. What you see is what you get, right? Except when you don't-- and that happens all too often. Everybody has a story about not getting what you expected (like that beautiful picture of the juicy hamburger I saw at lunch today compared with the 'thing' stuck between a gooey bun that … (0 comments)
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chris hendricks: The ABC's of RGB and CMYK (or, How To Send Out a Flyer That Looks Great!) - 03/08/07 04:49 PM
In real estate and mortgage, you need to know a little bit about darn near everything! Clients all come from different worlds, have different interests, and being able to relate to a part of theirs will help you succeed. But what do you need to know about the difference between RGB and … (3 comments)
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