Hey Lurkers... yeah you. You know, those of you who read blogs but never comment on them. Oh, and also those of you who just do the, "This is great." comments. Did you know that having a strong opinion on things and expressing them, even ones that are contrary can sometimes bring opportunities? Now, I'm not talking about being rude, but rather stating your opinion in a strong but professional way. Let me give you an example.
A few weeks ago I received a call from a journalist who was writing an article for Bloomberg.com on the cost of selling your home. She was researching and was looking at an article by HomeGain, where they list the top 10 DIY improvements for home selling. She noticed in the comments that I had been less than favorable toward the article, going so far as to call their criteria for staging as archaic. I then listed an article written by Karen Otto for them to review so that perhaps they would better understand what staging is. (The HomeGain article actually made me so irritable I wrote a rebuttal article about it, which has been one of the most popular articles on our website and actually led to several other spin off articles on our home staging training website.)
Anyway, back to the point here, the journalist called because she was interested in knowing what I thought home staging was and how it was different from what HomeGain had to say. We talked for about 15 minutes and voila, a couple of weeks later, I received a Google alert letting me know that I was in the Bloomberg.com's online article. While I always find it funny to see what journalists pick up from conversations as important, what I picked up was this - never be afraid to give your opinion, even if it's a little different. When you do, be sure that it's memorable. Make them want to find out more about you and what basis you have for your opinion. It may just lead to more opportunities.
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