Recently I’ve had the opportunity to talk to a few Stagers about the difference between advertising their staging services and advertising a listing for sale. Both are so closely related, but are really completely different things.

A Stager asked me to have a look at her website and give her some feedback. The site was beautiful, as I expected, but when I clicked to look at her work I saw only listings, complete with MLS numbers and lot sizes. If I were thinking of hiring a Stager, I’d want to see examples of what she’s done, before and after photos or just the beautifully photographed finished rooms. I’d be interested to hear about the challenges faced with each house and how she solved them.

If I’m looking at this site while shopping for a Stager, I do care about how I feel when I look at a picture of the kitchen. I don’t care if the appliances convey. That’s the difference between hiring a Stager and buying a house.

Using locations on your website provides important fodder for search engines and helps locals find you. And while it gives potential clients a certain level of comfort to know that you’ve worked with homes similar to their own, pinpointing a street address may not be necessary (or appreciated by the new owner). “Oakwood area, low $600,000s” would be about as specific as I’d like to get about the house itself.

Another thing to consider is the regulations involved when a listing is advertised for sale. As a real estate agent, I know my state laws and the NAR Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice will require any advertisements of my listings to carry certain information. For instance, if my phone number is used, my state requires that my brokerage phone number be used as well. I’m also required to disclose my brokerage name, which is usually done through the use of a logo. I am allowed to advertise only the agreed upon price. If the seller changes the price but the website isn’t updated, this would be a violation. Helping out an agent friend by advertising their listings may not work as intended, but linking to “Agents I’ve Worked with and Recommend” is both a testimonial and referral.

An easy guideline is just to keep in mind the purpose of your site. If you’re trying to grow your staging business, your key themes may be focusing on room transformations, solutions to problem areas and helping homes sell faster and for more money. By showcasing your work instead of giving data that creates a perception of listings, you’re also able to keep photos of the homes on your website indefinitely.

If you have thoughts about this, I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

Jessica Hughes of Ambiance Staging obviously isn’t a fan of trying to market vacant homes. So she found herself in a bit of a struggle trying to assist her clients, Alison Sirlin and Lance Smith.

The home was vacant, and I refuse to simply take pictures of 2 blank walls, it wasn’t anything to write home about, and to top it off it was TINY!!!! It’s only 950 square feet with 3 bedrooms on two stories, meaning the stairs eat up some of the space… that kind of small! You know, the kind of listing that’s always described as “Cozy”

See her solution here, “Cozy” Home? Not Anymore!

Going green can be good for your business on several levels.

First of all, it’s the right thing to do. You’ll feel better when you know you’re a part of the solution instead of adding to the problem.

Secondly, people like to work with people/companies who are being responsible about the environment. Even clients that haven’t begun living a greener lifestyle themselves still feel that they are helping out if they “vote with their dollars” for a healthier way of doing things.

But mainly, it sets the tone we are looking for in Staging. Natural materials are soothing. They have a calming influence that makes an entire space feel relaxing. Natural colors are never jarring or distracting.

Think about how rocks, coral or driftwood have a sculptural quality without becoming a statement piece. Wood furnishings and floors have a warmth that appeals to any decorating taste. Wicker adds texture while being inexpensive and lightweight, both of which may be important traits for your staging props.

Together this results in exactly what we’re aiming for in Staging. The house itself becomes the star, the “stuff” in it serves only to create a warm and inviting feeling in whoever enters.

“Wallpaper that reacts to heat, the painting that react when you touch it, or the daily calendar that fades away during the day. ” Heat Sensitive Wallpaper?

This not the first time we’ve featured Shows by Real Estaging’s Craig Schiller.

I’m sure it won’t be the last either. This show speaks for itself.

How do you demonstrate to potential clients that you are serious about your work? You show them what you’ve already done. You show them a LOT of what you’ve done.

One of the easiest ways to do that is to link to your inventory list of Home Staging Shows from your website or blog.

But what else can you do?

* Link to your Shows in the signature of every email.
* Make up CDs of [...] Continue Reading…

Craig Schiller is a home staging genius.

Craig owns Real Estaging, a the metro Chicago area Home Staging company. I feel confident saying that he’s wowed me time and time again through his blog on Active Rain and his Home Staging, Rants & Ravings.

Let’s capitalize that: STAGING GENIUS.

In this Real Estate Show, he takes vacant homes and transforms them into Model Homes. He’ll tell you in his own words in his post, but I see [...] Continue Reading…

Sue Argue, thank you. Sue’s post on ActiveRain, Real Estat eShows User Guide, is simply the most complete list of links we’ve about how to use RealEstateShows.com we’ve seen anywhere. I can’t imagine the work she put into this list, but I know it was a lot.  It certainly deserves recognition! Sue said:
Real Estate Shows is a marketing tool that allows you to take digital images, link them together in a slide show that mimics [...] Continue Reading…