Recently I saw photos of a home staged by Sue Argue of Staged First Impressions. She had done a BEAUTIFUL job with this home and her photographs were stunning. I had to compliment her!
Sue wrote me back and asked if I had any suggestions for titles for her Home Staging Show. This can be one of the hardest parts of making a Show, can’t it?
The house is so beautiful, we thought it would be OK to just say, “It’s GORGEOUS!!” )
But since we can’t really do that, how do you handle titles?
For this Show, I thought the pictures really spoke for themselves. We agreed that a title at the beginning and end of the Show gave enough extra information without ruining the “wow factor” of the photographs. In many staging Shows, I am just so AWED by the pictures that the words aren’t necessary.
But often times titles can draw you in and help you share the mood of the house with your audience.
If you’re at a loss for words, here are a few sites that may help you:
These descriptive words from NETREAL might give you a starting point.
Great advice on choosing the right words at RealEstateJournal.com. The Washington Post has a funny (but truthful) view of descriptive real estate phrases. Redfin shares words that may not work.
Sometimes just a peek at someone else’s words can give you the nudge you need to get your own words out there. Thank you, Sue, for the beautiful Show and the good conversation!
Maureen Henry of Rockland Home Staging shared a beautiful Home Staging Show with us on Active Rain. She made the Show for a local Floral Shop. Take a moment to admire this beautiful Show.
Don’t you feel better now? ) GREAT Show, Maureen!
Maureen has built advertising that is good for the Floral Shop AND good for her business. She can send a link to this Show to the Floral Shop, and each time they send it out to someone else, they’re going to see Maureen’s branding, too! They can even use that link on their own website. This type of partnering is beneficial for both businesses.
Think about the shops you use regularly in your line of work. Could you make Shows for them? Is it something they might use on their own website or emails to advertise their business, as well as your own? Would a small business owner think well of you for wanting to help them out? You bet!
When running your own business, be sure to think creatively about opportunities to spread the word about what you do. You never know where you next client may come from!
You get to focus the viewer on whatever aspect of the photograph you feel is most important, choose music that sets a mood and add in extras like panoramas, titles, video and more.
These Shows are AWESOME!
But if you’re only using them for work, you’re missing out on a great toy!
The next time you have pictures to share with family and friends, why not make a Home Staging Show of them? Your personal photos deserve that same focus and emotional impact that you give to your staging.
Imagine family gatherings, birthdays or weddings as a Show. Recently I went to a family wedding, snapped loads of photos and made a Show to share with everyone. I also made CDs of the show and sent them to the bride and groom, the parents and grandparents. With a pretty cover featuring the happy couple, it made a nice little surprise for them.
Let your Shows help you stay in touch with family and friends. They’re a nice way to update everyone about what’s going on with you, and they’re fun to make for other people with their pictures. That subtle bit of advertising doesn’t hurt either! (Sometimes people need a gentle reminder that you’re in business!)
We live busy lives, but with just 60 seconds you can stay in touch with your friends and family.
When I stumbled on this today, I knew I had to write about it.
This company is called Surrealien, and they are literally warping wallpaper.
Wallpapering is placarding – why not react? Paper is sloppily slapped onto walls, disregarding the surface. Windows, doors and switches rip holes into patterns, disrupting their continuity. Our product dissolves the limits between architecture, wallpaper and hangings, with the wallpaper functioning as sensitive go between.
At first I didn’t know what to make of this “warping wallpaper technology.” But as I wandered around the site a bit. I got it. And I actually liked it. Now, this isn’t going to be for everyone. I get that. But as a home stager/designer, you should be aware that it exists… even if you never use it.
They work off a technical plan of a wall and custom print the wallpaper to use the existing fixture and opening locations to warp the image around those openings. The result is pretty cool. It’s visually startling. For the right home and the right room… this would be an attention grabber. No question.
Take a look at the pictures on the site. And let me know what you think.
Facebook will be an important tool for you in networking with real estate agents in your area.
Why? Because it has professional written all over it and their open architecture is going to make developing business applications for it very simple. I highly recommend you join Facebook, and hook up with other real estate agents in your area who are on facebook as well. Invite them to join, and then use it to communicate and share information in new and viral ways. I’ll have more on it later.
I wanted to illustrate a quick, simple and painless way for you to use RealEstateShows.com and Facebook together right now. It’s as simple as clicking a “Share On Facebook†button in your browser. This takes only seconds to set up. Once you have, sharing your Shows with your Facebook network is just a click away. It’s a great way to promote your staged homes and tell others about your agents Shows.
Tina used dramatic music and simple, yet powerful titles to create a Show that really gets the point of Staging across to the viewer. She gives visual explanations of why we need to Stage in today’s housing market.
What really interested me though was that Tina used “collage” photos in her show. Generally, I think this takes away from the effectiveness of a Show because it can seem too busy and distracting, not like video.
But Tina broke this unwritten rule with beautiful results! Having the Before and After pictures right there together worked so well in this Show. It made me wonder — what other “rules” we could break to make some great Shows?
How would a backwards Staging Show look? Would it make an impression on people if they saw the Staged photo and then saw the Before? Could that be a good tool for impressing upon people the importance of Staging?
What about a Show just of details? The accessories added to a staged home can make all the difference to the feel of the room. If you did a Show that featured the little touches around a home, without ever showing the whole room, would that make a statement about the importance of each and every item used?
What if you did two complete Shows of a home, first Before and then Staged? If you let potential clients view each Show, would they feel differently about the house after each Show? It’s the same house, but I bet the feel of the each Show would be so different they almost wouldn’t believe it.
What other unorthodox ideas could you come up with for your Shows?
This Blog is all about sharing our ideas, so if you use these ideas or have others, I’d love to hear about it! Feel free to leave me a comment and to link to your Shows!
One of the objections to Staging is that it costs money. Often people don’t want to spend money on a home they’re leaving. They want to save their money and use it on the next house.
This is wrong on so many levels!
Staging prepares your house for the market like nothing else. Stage your house before it’s listed, and those pictures advertising your home are going to POP. Buyers will see those beautiful pictures and want to come see your house in person.
Staging helps a house appeal to all types of people and opens up the door to everyone.
Staging takes your house from another on the list to the TOP of the list.
The cost of staging is an investment from which you will receive a return. Usually, a BIG RETURN.
Additionally, staged homes usually sell much faster than unstaged homes. If you’re ready to move on to your next home, you’ll realize that this alone is probably worth the price of staging. Having your house linger on the market while others sell is not a good thing at all.
If your home doesn’t sell quickly, it can become “stale”. Buyers may assume there is a problem with the house or decide that you must be desperate after a certain length of time and give you low-ball offers. Investing in staging up front can avoid these problems.
Don’t think of staging as spending. You are investing once more in your home, this time for the purpose of a quick sale at a better price.
There’s a funny statistic about people: 90% of us think that we’re above average drivers. (Makes me scared of the 10%!)
I think that 90% of the people also think they have the nicest house in the neighborhood. Their houses are fine as they are, and they should get top dollar with multiple offers almost immediately.
Well, there are some house like that, but they’re not as common as people might think.
It’s hard for me to tell someone they need to make changes to their house. I want to be the “Good Cop”. I need a Stager “Bad Cop”. I need some muscle. I need someone who can persuade my clients that orange shag carpet is NOT desirable, no matter how new it still looks.
Sometimes my clients just aren’t in touch with our real estate market. They haven’t shopped their competition and don’t know what buyers are going to expect for their dollar. The best education I can give them on what a buyer wants is going to come from a Stager.
Your entire job is about pleasing the unknown buyers out there. You know what you’re doing and you do it very well, indeed!
You also know how to gently break this news to your clients. As they’re my clients as well, I appreciate your kindness with them. Thanks for being my Bad Cop!
)
You get to focus the viewer on whatever aspect of the photograph you feel is most important, choose music that sets a mood and add in extras like panoramas, titles, video and more.
When I stumbled on this today, I knew I had to write about it.
Recently I saw a 
Staging prepares your house for the market like nothing else. Stage your house before it’s listed, and those pictures advertising your home are going to POP. Buyers will see those beautiful pictures and want to come see your house in person.
I think that 90% of the people also think they have the nicest house in the neighborhood. Their houses are fine as they are, and they should get top dollar with multiple offers almost immediately.
