SM Butterfly News–Nov 9, 2023

It’s how you choose to indulge in and enjoy your favorite things, either inside or outside your home. Food, entertainment, design, décor, travel, family….

Let’s talk about all of that. Welcome to the Signature Movement.
Come on in; we have cake.

TDF

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Season’s Eatings: ​ Fall Favorite Treats​

Real Estate      ​

Small Business Corner ​

Story Time​

Recipe of the Week​

On My Soap Box  (Opinion)

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SM Travel is up and running! I’ve been surfing these internet streets for deals, discounts and such. Whether you’re into cruisin’ or all-inclusive beachside resorts, we’ve got something for you. Destination wedding anyone?

How about a unique spot off the beaten path? Tell me where you wanna go. Let’s build your vacation package together. Search up some places and find promotions here.

In honor of NANOWRIMO (Nat’l Novel Writing Month), allow me to direct your attention to my two novels, Nothing New Under the Sun (2011) and The Sun Hasn’t Set (2013). Follow along as Charlie Fletcher-Warner and other ladies stumble upon a unique opportunity while navigating life, love, and professional trials.

Download these, or any of my non-fiction titles today at:

https://www.amazon.com/author/tdfloyd

Snippets available at: makesignaturemoves.com/bookshelf

Okay, interest rates are still up. Fact. In this area, home prices are more reasonable, though; I would say they’re back to “normal.” More in line with what they were before the last booming buyer’s market where everybody was offering several thousand over asking and first-timers were pretty much boxed out of the competition. Yes, the interest rate will still have your monthly mortgage jacked up for a bit longer if you buy now. However, I have ideas about how to minimize the effect of the rate hikes if you do buy now. Call me. Don’t decide to wait without talking to me first.

Now, the more I scroll social media, the more annoyed I become. It seems folks everywhere love promoting click bait. They post leading headlines about rent prices or home prices, then write a few lines of odd predictions about how they think things in the market will go. What really gets to me is that many of these fire starters are actually agents or loan officers who get their numbers up by talking crazy. I feel sorry for their clients.

This week, people are talking about the lawsuit and verdict against NAR and some brokerages where over $1billion was awarded. It would be premature to assume that will stand; the defendants have the right to appeal, and likely will do just that. Here’s my two cents on that whole thing.

Listen! Your girl is over here trying to keep it all together these days because finding good clients is like looking for hay in a stack of needles. Let’s just say people can be hard to deal with in my industry. Well, let’s just start with the construction industry. Most people want something for nothing, or they don’t understand enough about what’s involved in maintaining a home to appreciate the benefits a good service provider and quality replacements will bring. They post in search of someone to mend the raggedy pieces they’ve had for 20+ years.

If I had a nickel for every time somebody asked for a handyman to stop a toilet leak or “fix” the dishwasher. Look up the lifespan of appliances and tell me what you find. On the other hand, I constantly butt heads with the male-dominated contractor cadre. You know I have a design PLAN I go by for every project, but they get offended when I say I want something specific, because they’ve been doing things a certain way all these years. My response: If you own a burger joint, do you just get to serve me any old burger with anything on it, or should you serve me the burger the way I want it? Give me my burger the way I want it, please. And thank you.

When I started The Signature Movement, I was excited because I finally knew what I was supposed to be doing. I knew I wanted to help people sort out feelings and relationships with my books by baring my soul onto the paper. I pivoted from that briefly to bake, but I came right back to it. I knew I wanted to use my passion for real estate to help people find and customize properties to build equity. I knew I wanted to keep adding services that make life easier for my clients. We now offer custom real estate services, food service, a bookstore, beauty advice and products, home fragrance and laundry care products, travel agent services, and more. It finally resembles a LIFESTYLE BRAND.

I remember this one time I was working my cupcake vendor table and this woman asked me what Signature Lifestyle Solutions was about, like what did that have to do with cupcakes…. I explained the lifestyle brand with multiple services to make life better for my clients blah blah blah. She seemed to be confused, until I said, “I’m building a list of services and products like Martha Stewart.” Light bulb moment; who doesn’t know Martha Stewart? Insert eye roll. Girl bye. If you don’t understand, this ain’t for you. I was so annoyed, I wanted my business card back. Eventually, I switched it up and started saying, “Like B. Smith.” But that’s just some of the negativity and challenge of doing what I do. If the people don’t even understand what I’m offering, how will they appreciate it when I do a good job for them?

Whew! it’s tough out here. I need a job. LOL! I’ve been fighting the urge to scrap my whole operation and begin again. Then I realize I can always start a new company on paper, but will it replace what I already have? Will it be even harder to pivot if I start a whole new company, with a new name? What would I even offer? Again, I need a job–with a salary, and consistency, and let somebody else do the marketing to find the clients. Maybe I just need a break. I’m mulling it all. To be continued….

Make Signature Moves.
Be great. Be unique. Be proud to sign your name to it and say: “I did that.”

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Phone: 240-660-6777

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