Chicago Signature Properties

By Arin Agase

Not only is Pinterest a girl’s best friend, It’s also your businesses. Prior to attending InmanNext’s, “Pinterest A-Z for Real Estate Agents” I was skeptical on how the website, (An online pin-board that allows you to organize & share the things you love) would actually be conducive to our brokerage. I thought it was too good to be true. Do I actually get to pin at home, and work? (Is that allowed?)

Thanks to the knowledgeable Chris Smith, and Katie Lance, my skepticism was proved wrong. In fact, Pinterest is home to 10 million U.S. monthly unique visitors, faster than any independent site in history. With 100+ brands pinning, such as: Whole Foods, Etsy, Lowe’s and Zillow. We decided to join the fun.

“Pinterest is generating more referral traffic to websites than YouTube, Google+ and LinkedIn combined” -Mastercom

Several Key Thoughts/Tips:

Via Pinterest

Great Match: The combination of spectacular photos (architecture, landscaping, decorating ideas, DIY tips, Design + more) make Pinterest a great match for realtors. Share photos/projects with clients via email, and social media channels. Make your emails personal and listen to client-wishes during tours. They’ll be more complied to refer you down the road, and you’re setting yourself apart from the rest.

Backlinks: Create back-links to your site from Pinterest. If you have a company blog, or listings (with photos), simply pin the photos with a link. You can see a few examples here if you’re not following. To learn more about backlinks, and how they are impacting your ranking, check out Inman’s article.

Update: Instructions on how to pin from blog:

- Download the “Pin-it” button in the about section on Pinterest.com. Once you download,  go to your blog and press the pin button (from tool-bar) An array of images will come up, click which image you want to pin (from your blog post) and copy/past the URL in the comment section.

Want to see if your website has been “pinned” Follow this website: (Via InmanNext) http://Pinterest.com/source/YOURWEBSITE.com/ to view your backlinks.

See Chicago Signature’s backlinks here.

Category Ideas: Some of our favorites include:

• Celebrity Real Estate

• Chicago Eats

• Home Office Spaces

• Meet our Team (see our example)

• DIY Ideas

• Cleaning Tips

Chicago Signature Pinterest. – Don’t forget to visit!

By Megan Welsh

Cluttered with camera cords, pictures, a dry erase board, lamp, papers, and random knickknacks, the desk in our office space was no longer a place to calmly collect our thoughts. Hanging a three-foot long picture ledge from West Elm (here) slightly lower than the top of the computer screen allotted a new space to display our turquoise fish and my framed second grade drawing of the city, gifted to me by my parents this past Christmas, without occupying valuable desktop space. Placing a simple storage cube (here) upside down underneath the desk provided a new sturdy home for our printer freeing up additional space above without being inaccessible.

Before

{Tape a plastic bag underneath the hole you are drilling to minimize your clean up}

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By Megan Welsh (Follow her on Twitter)

Hello. My name is Megan and I am addicted to making lists. I have lists next to my bed, in my planner, on my Google calendar, on post-it notes in my purse, in two notebooks, and on randomly placed note-cards and scraps of paper around the apartment. Yes, I have a problem. There is just something about the crossing off of a task that makes me feel exhilarated. I love looking back at old yearly planners (yes, I still have them all from middle school through the present day) and seeing all of the things I accomplished, the schedules I maintained, and the meetings, meals, movies, parties, weddings I attended. And to think I feel busy now!

Sustaining my addiction these lists however takes an immeasurable amount of paper which is just plain inconsiderate to our lovely Planet Earth. Enter Pinterest to save our planet (and hopefully cure my problem) with a DIY Dry Erase Board. This project literally took $10 and less than 15 minutes.

1. Gather your supplies.

Purchased from JoAnn Fabrics:
- Picture Frame with a Glass Mirror($7.99, originally $19.99, size 16×20)
- Scrapbook Paper (Bought 5 Pieces for $0.99, only needed 3)

Previously Owned:
- Tape
- Scissors/Paper Cutter
- Dry-Erase Marker

2. If necessary, remove the white edges of the scrapbook paper.

3. Remembering to align the pattern, lay the scrapbook paper face down with the original frame picture/paper

(the white picture with the children on it) on top. Using a pencil trace the original frame picture.

4. Cut the scrapbook paper to size and tape together on the backside

5. Finish by inserting the adjoined scrapbook paper into the picture frame.

Placed in our office/2nd bedroom I am hoping my new dry-erase board will serve as the perfect place to jot down reminders to myself (and Justin) as well as serve as a welcome board for any guests we may have in the future. Do I think it will rid me of all my other lists? Probably not, but at least it’s a start. Fingers crossed, here’s to hoping!

By Megan Welsh

As soon as we realized we could fit an actual dining room table in our new apartment, I was jumping with joy. Literally. We have been eating at counter tops, tiny tables, and TV trays for the last three years. It was about time we upgraded to an adult sized dining room table. With the addition of a new table, we needed new chairs. Four of them to be exact. Which meant more money of course. Chairs at West Elm (pictured at right) were running about $150+ a pop so we went looking at our favorite money saving spot, IKEA, and settled on these beauties on the left for $60.

Yeah, not a whole lot to spin circles for so we decided to make them a sunny yellow by using iDye Bright Yellow for Natural Fabrics and following the directions for the front-loading washer.

The Play-by-Play:

1. Fill a large bowl with 2 cups hot-as-possible sink water and the dye tablet. Stir until completely dissolved.

2. Fill a separate bowl with 1 quart hot-as-possible sink water and one cup of salt. Shake or stir until salt is completely dissolved.

3. Pour salt water mixture into the large bowl containing the dye tablet and stir.

4. Pour the salt/water/dye mixture into the bottom of the washing machine.

5. Wet two chair covers with water and place into the washing machine.

6. WITHOUT detergent, set your washer to the HOTTEST temperature and longest possible wash cycle. If you are able to extend the wash cycle, do so. We added an extra rinse and spin cycle.

7. After the cycle is fully completed, add a small bit of mild detergent (do not use Tide, it leaves blue spots) and wash on cold normal.

8. Dry. We dried our chair covers for 10 minutes in the dryer then hung to dry so they didn’t shrink!

AND THE RESULTS:

Are you thinking highlighter yellow? That’s what we thought too. So we tried again using iDye Gold Ochre. You can see the difference between the two below with Gold Ochre on the left and Bright Yellow on the right. Much better.

Needless to say the chair covers came out pretty close to the color on the package…

FINAL RESULT

(don’t mind the vent in the background):

The total chair investment was $75 a chair for a grand total of $300 opposed to the $150 a chair at West Elm for $600. 50% Savings Baby! I LOVE the price and how they turned out. iDYED for them when they turned out (haha get it..iDye..I died)! They seriously brighten up the room and add pops of color to our otherwise grey and white color palette.

Chicago Signature and Canine Crews have teamed up for the ultimate give-away: A three-night boarding pass for yours truly, sparky. Simply upload their “mut shot” to Chicago Signature’s Facebook, and the photo with the most likes win! (Contest runs February 6-10)

Daycare Doggies, via Canine Crews Facebook

Canine Crews (1616 N Washtenaw) pride themselves on “a fun, safe environment for canines of all sizes, breeds and ages to properly socialize” “Bark Park” is their version of a Chicago dog park (without the weather)! Bring your dog to play, mingle, and hang-out with fellow dog-lovers in a 12,000 square feet space! Your pup will enjoy four dedicated indoor play rooms, a fenced and secure outdoor area, plus space for group training!

Canine Crews offer a variety of services, including: dog daycare, dog boarding, Bark park and training! Check rates and availability here.

Pouncer, via Canine Crews

Don’t forget to check-out Canine Crews on Yelp (5 star rating!)

Visit their website to learn more! Follow their Facebook page to see daily photo uploads! These dogs are having a ball!