LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO

WELCOME

Hello! I’m writing this on Monday and I’m not going to lie to y’all: I’m a little tired today. It’s been one of those full-throttle weeks where the coffee barely keeps up. I’ve been the kind of busy that reminds me why I love this business. But let say this: being a bit under the weather has never stopped me from selling houses. I figure if Taylor can run across a football field for three and a half hours a night in heels for 149 shows, then I can certainly look alive in my appointments. We don’t get to cancel the tour just because we didn’t get eight hours.

This week I want to talk about something big—your reputation. In this business, your name is your tour date. It’s your brand. And whether you like it or not, people are Googling you before they’re calling you. Long before they schedule, they scroll. We live in a world where everyone has a platform and the internet’s written in permanent marker. That’s why managing your online reputation isn’t optional. You don’t have to be in your Reputation Era to understand this: what you put out there echoes. The question is, are you writing your own narrative, or are you allowing someone else remix it?

Let’s get into it.

STORYTIME WITH GLENNDA

Big Reputation

This week I found myself going down a social media rabbit hole where a couple of agents hosted an open house that went awry. A woman came in, after having received an emailed invitation to tour the open house. There was some kind of confrontation with the agent’s husband. The woman says she was asked to leave and escorted out—by the very man who sent her the open house invite.

Now, those agents are getting dragged online because they look kind of terrible in the scenario, as it was laid out in the invitee’s posts. But like most things on the internet, we have one side of the story and 900,000 opinions. It’s quite possible that they handled it poorly, but we weren’t there so we don’t actually know. Here’s what we do know: once the narrative’s online, we can’t and don’t control how fast it spreads.

We live in a review-based, experience-driven, screenshot-forever world. There are no blank spaces anymore. Once something’s posted, it’s subject to public consumption. And in real estate, your name is your business. Your reputation is your currency.

Before we rush to judgment, (although again, it does not look great for those agents) let’s play devil’s advocate for a minute. Open houses are not inherently safe environments. We’re often alone in empty properties with strangers and every one of us has felt the bad vibes at one time or another. Here in Atlanta, an agent was murdered while sitting an open house for some new construction. If an agent genuinely feels unsafe, the smartest move is not confrontation; it’s distance. Step outside and call your broker or your office. Get someone there with you because you must protect yourself first.

But even if you were right, even if you were protecting yourself, even if there is more to the story, the court of public opinion does not care a whit about nuance. No, ma’am. Once the dragging starts, it moves fast. If your castle is crumbling overnight, do not bring a knife to a gunfight. When you’re getting barbecued online, you have two options: you can give context, or you can take responsibility. That’s it.

If it were me and I’d felt unsafe, I’d record one calm, factual video. I’d explain the sequence of events and why I made the decision I made. And then I’d never speak about it again. You do not argue with user_12345 who doesn’t even have a profile photo. Don’t fight with the bots. Say your piece once and then get back to work.

Because tomorrow, fortunately, someone else will say something even more stupid and the mob will move on.

I tell potential clients all the time to “Google Glennda” before we work together. And I mean it. I want them to see the good, the bad, and the ugly. If my personality, my opinions, my videos, or my occasional use of the f-bomb is not for them, then we’re not a fit. And that is perfectly fine because what’s seen online is a real representation of me. A lot of agents try to look flawless online. But the internet does not reward safe; it rewards real. Authentic reputation beats curated perfection every time.

Now, let’s go back to the good ol’ days of MySpace for a minute. A woman left an absolutely unhinged voicemail for a man who dumped her. After what happened next, I suspect he may have deserved it, but that’s not the point. Instead of him perhaps learning from the experience, he posted that voicemail to his MySpace account and it went viral as hell. The woman tried to get it removed and was told that the moment she left that message, it became his property. He could do whatever he wanted with it.

Let that sink in.

The moment you post something online, it’s no longer private. If you rant about a competitor, it’s public. If you talk politics, it’s there and open to the court of public opinion. If you brag, shade, complain, or posture, you’ve put it in the center of the town square. As parents, we warn our kids that nothing on the internet ever truly disappears (and also to never send nekkid pics), but we have to remember that the same rule applies to us. We are not exempt.

What about bad reviews? Well, we had buyers once leave us a couple of one-star reviews because our seller would not remove junk from a basement. Those reviews hurt. We responded professionally and gave context. Then we called our clients and simply said, “Hey, we need you.” Nineteen positive reviews came in and buried those one-stars. That is strategy. While we can’t control when someone leaves a negative review, we can control how much positive social proof surrounds it. This is a reputation economy. If we’re not out here, intentionally building goodwill, we won’t have that cushion of grace when something goes sideways.

And sometimes, you mess up. Even me. I once posted a video about an agent who cost me a whole lot of money. I believed every word I said. But putting it on social media reflected worse on me than it did on her, so I took it down. Then I picked up the phone and I apologized to that agent. Not because I didn’t believe what happened, but because publicly barbecuing someone damaged my own brand. Taking responsibility is not weakness. It’s leadership.

There’s a lesson here that even pop culture has figured out. When Taylor Swift stepped into her Reputation Era, she didn’t pretend that nothing had happened. She leaned in. She owned the narrative. And when she re-recorded the Taylor’s Version of her albums, she did that to reclaim ownership. That’s the real takeaway for us. We may not control what someone says about us, but we can control our version.

If something negative hits, say your piece once. Provide context or take responsibility. Then flood the zone with value, posting real and helpful content. Post content that shows who you actually are. You combat negativity by being consistently visible and consistently useful, not by hiding.

My rule of thumb is this: before I hit publish, I ask myself whether I’d stand by those words if they were read out loud in a courtroom. If the answer is yes, I post it. If the answer is no, delete.

This business is hard enough without handing someone else the microphone to define you. Own your name and protect your safety. Build your reviews as you control your version. And then get back to selling houses.

GLENNDA BOUGHT GRANDMA’S HOUSE

Humming Along!

Y’all, Grandma’s house is coming along so good I can hardly stand it!

I swear, what started as a little rental project has turned into a full-blown glow-up. I’m doing a collaboration with Floor & Decor, so we’ve got beautiful materials going in, and The Container Store is handling all the closets. Let me tell you something, there’s nothing that makes a house feel more put together than good closets. People don’t even realize how much they want them until they see them done right.

The LVP is already in, and it looks fantastic. It’s durable, pretty, and practical, all the things I need in a rental home. And downstairs? We’re grinding down the concrete in the basement so I can stain it and have that clean, modern concrete floor look. It’s going to feel intentional, not like an afterthought. I want this house to be cute, functional, and easy to live in.

This is what I live for in real estate. There’s nothing more satisfying than taking something with good bones and giving it a whole new life. Grandma’s house is getting refreshed, elevated, and set up to serve somebody really well. And I’m having the best time watching it all come together!

GLENNDAISM

Today’s Words of Wisdom

GLENNDA BAKER & ASSOCIATES

Lock and Leave

Let me tell y’all why I love this townhome at 3408 Waters Edge Trail in Roswell, GA. This place is the very definition of lock and leave living. You can pull into that garage, shut the door, and not worry about a single thing!

Fresh paint, new counters, updated backsplash; yep, it’s already done. No projects waiting on you. No honey-do list haunting your weekend. You’ve got a gated community, amenities that rival a resort, and a townhome that lives big but maintains easy. Three finished levels, private suites for everybody, and that terrace level that can flex into whatever your life needs right now. And the best part? When you’re ready to head to the beach, the mountains, or just dinner on Canton Street, you turn the key and go. That’s freedom. That’s convenience. That’s the kind of lifestyle people crave.