Our planned neighborhood is now in Phase 4 out of like 75 phases. New neighbors are constantly moving in to their newly finished homes, so even though we’ve lived here for over four years, we still meet new people every time we are outside.
If you’ve lived in a planned community under construction before, you know that door-to-door salespeople can smell new neighbors like a shark can smell blood in the water. I honestly see them every single day walking up and down the streets, looking for fresh meat. They are trying to sell their security systems, water softeners, pest control and lawn services. In fact, sometimes they even ARE selling meat.
This is the part of living in a new neighborhood that I hate. What’s worse is when they ring my doorbell to sell me a water softener (that I already have) and wake my napping toddler or make my dogs bark. It just makes me crazy!
So, I decided to try to put an end to that.
Since I’m not one to just put a typical “No Soliciting” business-like sign or even a Post-It Note over my doorbell, I had to get creative. I found the “No Soliciting. Really. It’s annoying.” plaque for a song during a Fab.com sale. Is it a little rude? Perhaps. Is it ruder than someone waking up my baby or making my dogs bark just to try to sell me something that I don’t want? Absolutely not. Plus, I find it funny, so hate me.
The plaque itself was pretty small, so I decided to make it a little more substantial. I found this Nancy Drew book at Goodwill for $1.99. Okay, I can feel the collective jaw drop of the Internet and I know y’all are ready to discend upon my house with your pitchforks. Nancy Drew fans and collectors - PLEASE don’t give me a hard time about using this book. Just know that I chose it because it made me smile, and I’m pretty sure that’s what Nancy would want. Plus, there were tons of them at Goodwill (so look there if you are a collector!).
To make sure that the book could withstand the Texas humidity, I clamped the book closed and applied three layers of Mod Podge to the edges of the pages. The Mod Podge sealed it shut really well. I sprayed the edges, cover and spine with a clear acrylic sealer and then glued the plaque to the front. I used Liquid Nails to attach it to the stonework on the front of my house and held it in place with duct tape overnight. When I’m ready to take down the sign, the Liquid Nails can be removed with a scraper and mineral spirits, so the stone will be no worse for the wear.
Will my book sign cut down on door-to-door sales? I don’t know. But, I can certainly say that there is no way that they won’t see the sign. And on days when I’m feeling extra feisty, I can point at it and say, “Can you read?”
However, I just might have to put a “Girl Scouts are Okay” Post-It Note up when it’s Cookie Time. I’d hate to miss my chance for some Thin Mints.
Do you have (or need to have) a no soliciting sign by your front door?
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Speaking of soliciting, did you know that you can advertise your small or large business right over there in the sidebar of this blog? Craziness!
Over the years, I’ve gone back and forth on allowing and not allowing private ads in my sidebar. After a lot of soul searching, I’ve decided that it is a go. I’ve hinted around to some big, fat changes Living With Lindsay is going to go through in the coming months, so I thought I’d point out the opportunity if you’d like to get in while the getting’s good. Just send an email telling me a little bit about your business to lindsay@makelyhome.com, and we’ll chat!
I am not home during the day so I don’t have those annoying folks banging on my door…or if I do, I don’t know about it! What does drive me just about crazy is the number of calls I am getting on my cell phone from organizations taking political surveys. Mercy!
Oh, yes! That’s annoying, too. I’m so bad – if I don’t recognize the number on my cell phone, I don’t answer. I feel like I’m hiding from people, but I rarely have the time to take a survey like that.
I am sorry, but I think the Nancy Drew humor is lost on me. I don’t get it.
Hi Leslie! There’s no humor to it – I just liked the cover of the book and wanted to mount the plaque on something that would be eye catching.
Your sign is adorable. I HATE those solicitors. Once they rang our doorbell at 8:55pm and woke up all three of my kids. I ignored the bell, but they kept ringing repeatedly and knocking and wouldn’t leave (because, that’s totally going to make me want buy whatever you are selling) After shooing the annoying solicitor away I called the company and was actually very nice on the phone, despite being annoyed, because I knew it wasn’t the person on the phone’s fault. Then the supervisor on the phone started yelling at me saying the law gave them every right to solicit until 9pm. Awesome customer relations, no?
Oh my gosh. And yeah, that totally changed your mind about buying, didn’t it? Ugh!
Now I totally want to know which company that was so I can never do business with them. >:/
Cute sign Lindsay! I’m looking for ideas. We just moved and I swear we’re being targeted because we just bought a house, even if it isn’t in a new neighborhood. Just had a guy try to pretend he was the tree guy for the last owners and that he was looking for them (and now me) to see if we need work done. A week ago it was an *accountant* knocking on my door saying he worked for one of my neighbors and wanted to also give me his card. And the week we moved in, a young girl knocked on the door to “welcome us to the neighborhood” only to then try to sell us magazines to help her go on a trip to Italy. (Turned out she didn’t even live near Austin! I’m so tired of the magazine gig. There’s even an ordinance against them in Round Rock now because these people get dropped off from other towns and states and then they follow people around parking lots, etc..) The accountant was a new one on me, but I’m definitely tired of it.
That said, if *the* politician who represents my area knocked on my door to talk (or someone running for that office), I’d probably talk to them. Happened once about 6 years ago. Old fashioned getting out, shaking hands and listening to what I have to say when you want my vote is something I have to respect today. Simply because it’s rarely done.
And it’s not that I don’t want to help kids, I myself sold candy bars for school and 4-H as a kid. But I don’t like the idea of sending my children around to sell today. And the way we do business is much different today. Today, home is sanctuary. We are marketed to everywhere else and at an astonishing rate. At home, I should be left alone by strangers. I have the right to feel safe and not be interrupted. If you want my business, take the time to write a nice letter. And you know what? If your child is selling candy/cookies and you put a note on my door in advance, telling me the date you plan to be selling in my neighborhood, I’d probably be ready with money and a smile. And if they were selling organic veggies, even better. Seriously, if a kid came by with a basket of zucchini asking if I’d like to buy some, I would. Even if I had to empty the couch to do it!
you rock! that’s awesome!
i LOVE nancy.
Thanks, Elizabeth!
I’ve seen plaques that say ‘no soliciting unless you sell thin mints’.
GAH! See? I need that.
How innovative! I got my fill long ago of people trying to save my soul, selling security systems, and cable TV, etc. Also tired of the business cards and flyers from handymen (husband and I are our “handyman”), landscape companies (we mow and tend our own yard), curb number painters (I’m trying to figure out how to do it myself), and restaurants that deliver. I’ll send you a pic of a sign I plan to make. We’ll see how it turns out.
HAHAHA I can’t wait to see it. What is it with the curb painting now? I have the number on the front of my house…do I need to have it on my curb, too?
Perhaps it’s an ordinance in the city where I live (Dallas, TX suburb). All the houses in our neighborhood, even those with rear-entry garages, paint the house number on the front curb. Some folks get very creative and add “graphics” such as the emblem from a favorite sports team, State of Texas, bluebonnets, etc. I’m kickin’ it old school and going with numbers and background.
I’m in Austin and it’s getting big here, too. I wonder if it’s a Texas thing? One of my neighbors even has A&M on one side of their driveway and UT on the other. LOL
Lindsay and Regina it is for Emergency Services, from what I was told when I inquired about it here in Virginia it is because alot of the time they can not see the numbers on a house for one reason or another so if you in fact have a curb in front of your house they want you to have it on there.After I was told that I can completely understand and I am sure someday soon you will also if you haven’t already had this problem: Imagine this now one of your teenage children calls and says “Ma I need a ride home from my friend’s house” and you say “Ok where do they live?” and they tell you this address you have no clue where they are talking about and you go into that neighborhood after dark, Geesh!!! After 15 minutes you have their neighbors looking outside their windows wondering what the hell is going on because you have driven by at least 3 times trying to see if you can find a house number somewhere, and one little old lady goes so far as to call the police because of a suspicious person is casing their house, LOL !! Enough said ?? LOL Then after all that when you have a police car behind you with their lights on your child comes out of the house across the street from that little old lady and ask you: “Ma, did you get caught speeding??” As I sit here typing this story Funny yes now, at the time NOT !! Ohh and No I did not get a ticket only because the officer understood and actually did make a comment about if they had their curbs marked this would not have been an issue!! That weekend I pulled out my Dollar Store stencils and my curb was painted ~~
Btw sorry about the novel !! Also you might want to check and see if your “Planned neighborhood” we call them “Subdivisions” here don’t have a No Soliciting policy already for the whole neighborhood and if so you can actually call the police on them if they bother you !
We have the house numbers on the curbs here in St. Louis, Missouri also. “Collage students” come along and try to get you to pay to paint them. In my old neighborhood the “collage students” gave you a notice saying that it was required by the city for Emergency Services. The city sent out one saying it wasn’t. They even painted the numbers and then tried to get you to pay for them. My daughter, who is a firefighter/paramedic in our city, told me they DO NOT use the numbers on the curb to locate houses. At least that is how it is where we live. Just thought you would like to know. I put up a No Soliciting sign after a salesman rang and rang the bell and kept knocking, making the dogs bark and waking my granddaughter. I guess he just KNEW I was home by the car in the drive. So far the sign has worked, but I think I need a more stlyish one like yours.
I agree with your thoughts, BUT, I want the school children and boy scouts that sell popcorn to feel like they can ask me as well. I’d have to add neighborhood school students, and scouts I guess! I don’t understand why people don’t get the Nancy Drew ringing doorbell connection. Thanks for all you do.
Thanks Lou Ann! I honestly didn’t get a single Girl Scout or Boy Scout this year. Boo hiss!
I love your sign. I hate Solicitors, too, especially ones who sell meat. There is no way I am buying meat, which I have no idea where it came from. I had them wake up my sleeping baby, get the dog barking, too, & the dog woke up the baby. I even had a sign on my door, but they could not read. I asked them if they saw the sign at the end of the road that said that Solicitors had to have a permit & if they did not have one, then I sent them away. Even if they did have one, I sent them away anyway. I did not need cleaning products, or them to speak about God to me. We have moved & maybe it is because we are hidden that we have not gotten a lot. I want to put up a sign, but not sure where.
I love that your old neighborhood had a No Soliciting sign!
But, no one saw it because vines were growing on it. We would remove them. I think every town needs a No Soliciting sign! Those people are ignoring especially when you have a sleeping baby or toddler or a dog that barks or howls!! Here I am hidden by bushes, trees so I think that helps.
LOVE this…it’s perfectly kitsch, get’s the message across, and reflects a bit of your fun personality.
XOXO!
Thanks, JJ! Miss you!
I disconnected my doorbell 11 years ago and added a small sign beside my door that says ” I keep a loaded musket hanging over the door and I know how to use and WILL”
thats the way we handle things here in the south and I highly recommend it for all regions of the country– it works, really well:)
HA! Yeah, I’m pretty sure that would work here in Texas as well.
LOVE this!!! As for the Thin Mints and Boy Scout popcorn (that I always buy)? They are sold in every grocery store and Wal-mart entryway.
True! And then I have to say no to little kids every time I go shopping.
It hurts my heart. One time I told a girl scout something like, “I’m so sorry, Sweetie. I just bought some yesterday. But, I’m proud of you for being brave enough to ask someone you don’t know!” Because, I had and I was. Her mom snipped something at me like, “Well, if you are so proud you should buy some more cookies.” Um, EXCUSE ME??
Luckily, I am not home during the day to be bothered, but recently been getting way to many calls on my cell, so annoying.
That is annoying, and it’s starting to happen more and more. I’m even getting spam TEXTS! Gah!
I love It!!! GREAT idea!
Thank you, Danna!
I happen to live in a phase 2 of a bajillion-phase community and since I stay at home with little man I ALWAYS have solicitors. My problem is that I have a really hard time being ‘rude’ and never know what to say to them. The husband has been trying to get me to put out a sign for ages and I think this is awesome!
LOL! Well, I’ll let you know if it makes a difference. I just never answer the door when I’m home alone…because I’ve watched far too many Law & Order episodes.
It’s funny, in the old days (thinking 40′s, 50′s) door to door sales was one of the things businesses relied on and now, nobody wants face to face contact. While I find some people annoying, I don’t put up a sign since I have a small business and I understand why they do it(I put up a sleeping baby sign when mine were little and was never bothered, plus I don’t have a dog) . I’ve been door to door before and it’s not easy at all; I’ve been on the other side of the door, so I have respect for people who do it during daytime hours of course. I’ve actually been able to cross promote my business with salesmen when we get into a conversation. I like your idea of the book though and I have a little welcome sign that would look great like that!
Hi Jenny,
You are totally right! It’s not that I don’t want face to face contact – I welcome that when I go into a retail shop. It is definitely hard – I couldn’t even get people to answer the door in my neighborhood when I was hand delivering invites for a party.
I guess it’s just that I don’t want someone knocking on my door to sell me something I don’t need or want. I look at it the same way as getting telemarketing phone calls. Between the doorbell and the phone calls and the emails and the TV commercials – yikes! My brain just goes into overload.
I just think that they can be SO pushy, which totally turns me off. I don’t want someone to come to my door and then argue with me when I politely say, “No, thank you.” I think if they just said “Thank you,” I’d have a better feeling about their business than I do when they won’t take no for an answer. When we moved into the house, we did actually buy a water softener from someone who came by. We researched his product and called him back for an appointment. The rest of them – the electric utilities, the pest control, the security system, the lawn guys – we reached out to companies on our own.
Sorry to write a novel! I just don’t want you to think that I’m a bad person.
Lindsay
No, no, I didn’t think you were a bad person – I just saw so many comments about HATING solicters and I just had to speak my mind, sorry (must be this south TX heat getting to me). When I went door to door, I was never pushy and THAT does annoy me when people are; that’s not good business sense. I don’t get phone calls since I don’t have a land line and I don’t answer my cell to numbers I don’t know, I do get business cards left at my door and I’ve used some of them, not too many doorbell ringing solicters in our area, but our neighborhood does have a sign posted out front.
OH, I also feel compelled to mention, I never rang doorbells, just knocked politely (not violently like some have done on my door – LOL).
Lol Ok, good. I was worried you hated me!
Hi Lindsay,
Love your sign and the humor in it. I’ve got a sign that I made from a Dollar Tree frame (I blogged about it here: http://theredchairblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/kinder-prettier-no-soliciting-sign.html), but I’ve been surprised by how solicitors try to debate with me about whether they are actually solicitors!! Hope your sign scares ‘em all away!
Amy
That’s a really cute sign, Amy! That’s funny that they try to debate you on it. I guess I have that to look forward to now. It’s always something, huh?
Our “no soliciting sign” was the best investment! Mine isn’t as cute as yours but it does the trick. I’m shy about opening the door to anyone but neighbors anyway so the sign really helps.
I’m the same way, Nicole!
That is pretty neat on so many levels. Will chat soon!
I first saw the picture and thought “how could you do that to a perfectly good Nancy Drew book!!”. :LOL But, I love it! I may have to make one of those.
LOL! I knew you Nancy Drew people were out there. My best friend came over and “took exception” to the defamation. HA!
I kind of wish your ND book title was about a missing Businessman or something for a little added punch to the message
I know, right? That would have been AWESOME!
We found a small “no soliciting” sticker from our HOA when we moved into our house three years ago. (It was about 3.5″ x 1.5″ with our neighbhood logo on it.) We placed it above our doorbell and just recently, some solicitor had the nerve to peel it off!!
Totally annoying.
OH my gosh. Are you kidding me? I would have gone through the roof!!
I love painting murals- the best surfaces are garage doors and interior walls. I’ve done a number in Canada (the Okanogan) and when I return there, I have a huge waiting list of people who want their own murals. In my new town, I don’t have any murals, and I am wondering how to get clients WITHOUT going door-to-door. Do any of you have any suggestions? I hate being the rude solicitor… in fact I WON’T!!!
Kids in my town do not know what soliciting means so they’d ignore the sign. Some of the 20 something sales people did not know what it meant either! Hum!
Oh, that’s kind of a scary thought!
Ms. Drew provided me with many happy memories when I was young but I won’t get on you for using the book. Do love the sign. Has it worked?
So far so good! No ringing doorbell at all, and I have seen flyers on other people’s doors in my neighborhood. I guess they are steering clear of me.
My sisters husband is a shift worker and she put a sign that says, “Shift worker sleeping, ring doorbell at your own risk.”
HA! That’s funny.
You could put the book, “Death of a Salesman.” Do you think it would get the point across?
Okay, you win. That would have been hilarious. I wish I would have thought of that!
Hi Lindsay,
I LOVE your sign. For a while, I had one beside my door that said “If you wake sleeping children or quiet dogs when you ring my bell, they will be released on you!”
We still got a few rings, but not near as many.
That’s a funny one, too! Love that.