Real Estate Staging / Home Staging Blog

This past 2 weeks have been a fast ride of ups and downs.  And while the ups are fun... the downs can be paralyzing.

I have learned that at times when my life seems to bring more more than I wanted, needed or understand.

My first inclination is to resist, only to later find that which is so painful, was so necessary.

Ride It Forward..

Me

For more "Good Words" Click Here to see others that make up this series.

Well this house now sits empty once again... but for a couple of days last week it was MAGICALLY TRANSFORMED (as these photos show).  Last weekend was the culmination of over a years worth of "staging" event preparation. For one weekend a small army of people came together and donated their time, talent and treasure to transform a vacant home into a beautiful show-house... all for the benefit of Brickton Art Center. The event was a resounding success. Everyone is already buzzing about next year... full of ideas and anticipation on how to make it even better. One resident already offered their home as a tour site.

Brickton Art Centerdoes amazing things with and for the Arts and is one of the Crown Jewels that helps make Park Ridge, Illinois such a desirable community to live in. Brickton currently fulfills the cultural and creative needs of over 6,000 Park Ridge and Northwest Chicago community members per year. It offers over 200 fine arts classes, has hosted nearly 100 gallery exhibits featuring established, emerging and developing Illinois artists, and most importantly creates beautiful changes in the lives of at-risk populations through its art therapy based programs. 

But like any not-for-profit, finding the monies to continue its mission is critical.  At Real Estaging, one of our core values is our obligation to support not-for-profit organizations that make a difference in the world. So knowing that staging is an AWESOME marketing tool... a couple of us here at Real Estaging approached Brickton with a new adaptation for their Artistic Living event.

So besides freshening up and coordinating all the creative talent of the Gallery Home, whose rooms were separately "staged" by 9 different designers and/or retailers, we also worked with 5 residents in Park Ridge who opened their homes up to be sites on the first ever Park Ridge Tour of Homes.

A weekend long city-wide event of this scale takes hundreds of helping hands within a community, including individuals, business organizations, artists, designers, elected officials, corporations, residents, neighbors, and families that all helped in make this event the success that it was. Needless to say all were THRILLED that after all their hard work it was recognized by state Senator Dan Kotowski... who came and cut the ribbon kicking off the event and opening the Gallery Home Friday night at Gallery 1033 Cocktail Party. More pictures of the cocktail party can be seen here.  

So, thank-you to the many that helped stage a successful event. And to my fellow stagers, I share this all with you, for while this one event showcased how we transform spaces, more importantly it shows that we can Staged It Forward... by giving it back.

Me

PS: You may have noticed I have been a little absent from the Rain. THIS was a TON of work last week and all weekend. But it was well worth it. Oh... and our team did the Red Living Room.

One of the interesting dynamics about Active Rain is that it is a COMMUNITY of bloggers. Daily thousands of people log-on to read and learn from and of each other.

However while your blog informs, it might also inspire and/or provoke another blogger to write more. That "MORE" might be more about what your had to say in your blog, or about you personally and specifically in their own personal blog. Either way, they might make mention of or reference YOU, by name.

With so much blogging activity, how will you know if or when one of your fellow bloggers ARE saying something behind the front of your back here in the Rain?

Well it takes only 3 EASY steps to KEEP TABS ON YOURSELF in the Rain.

First...  Select "SEARCH" on the upper right hand menu bar. 

Second...Once on the SEARCH screen, select "BLOGS" from the drop down menu.

Third... Type in your name then hit "SEARCH"

Once you hit "SEARCH" If you have been mentioned in a blog, a list of all the blogs will appear.

Knowing when and what others have to say about you here in the rain will help you:

• 1. Thank the blogger.
• 2. Know how someone has represented (or misrepresented) you.
• 3. If you need to, defend your point of view.
• 4. If you want to, expand on what you had to say.

Now that you know how to find what others have to say about you, there is just one more thing you might want to consider. Since we all do not have one word names like Cher, Oprah, Sting or TLW... it would be polite to use a persons COMPLETE name (first & last name) when mentioning them in your blog.

Well that's it... now you know how afraid I am as I watch myself in the Rain.

Me

Recently, while on vacation, I read the ancient book of strategic wisdom called "The Art of War." If you have not read it, don't be deceived by the title.

These few Good Words, quoted here, reminds us that wrath can return no true joy. It is always superior to win over hearts with kindness and wisdom, than destroy.

Those you do battle with may be on your side. The wise person will illuminate that which makes you one.

Shine It Forward...

Me

For more "Good Words" Click Here to see others that make up this series.

This is a story that bears repeating... I know I have blogged before about how important good photography is to tell your own story but now I have proof as to how it can help you tell a BIGGER story.

National print media uses the web as a means to find good photos to use in conjunction with the feature stories they are publishing on the home staging and interior redesign.

Home Magazine recently found our website http://www.realestaging.com and contacted us, asking if they could use photos of our staging work for a feature story they were going to be publishing in their June 2007 issue. Of course we agreed. 

But the point I really want to make is... we shoot our jobs. We made a commitment right from the start to take the time to completely and thoroughly photograph each and every one of our stagings.

Through the years, with each home staging we completed and photographed, we got better and better at capturing our work. Yes, it took us awhile to learn how to use our cameras... but we have gotten pretty good at it. We are all self taught.

There may be a time when we will have to hire a professional photographer... but investing in the time to learn and do the best we can has paid off now in yet another way.

Thanks Home Magazine... we are thrilled and honored!

Me

I have learned that mentioning Barb Schwarz's name in a blog is like taking a match to gasoline.

This is my reply to one of the last comments posted in my last blog post entitled: Will Staging Biz Book Hitting Shelves (this week) Hit the Target? I think my own comment bares repeating here to a bigger audience.

Barb Schwarz IS going to be written about... this is part of her "legacy" which she writes of in her email to you and others that was posted anomalously as a comment in my last blog. Some of the things written about ANY captain of ANY industry will be good, some bad, some indifferent. This is the way of the world. THE BLOG world makes it possible for anyone to say what THEY THINK or FEEL... INSTANTLY! Blogs have EVEN given YOU a forum to express your feelings as a comment.

My original post was NOT mean, it was questioning. I shared with ALL just what I was wondering about when it came to Barb Schwarz's upcoming book. I had NOT made up my decision about her book... but when I REALLY started to think about it, I was led to a conclusion. This conclusion I did NOT share. I was NOT going speculate and pre-judge Barbs book; as THAT would no have been fair. But sharing my thought process about how I saw Barb needing to position her book is FAIR GAME for ME in MY blog. In fact, sharing your thoughts, via comments, is EVEN fair game for YOU in my blog. I do NOT delete comments... good, bad of indifferent.

The first thing you accused the AR stagers of is EXACTLY the thing that upsets them the most with Barb Schwarz and many graduates (not all) ASP and ASPMS of the StagedHome.com. Whether you chose to acknowledge it or not, there is a SNIDE indignant attitude that NO-ONE but an ASP/APSM can stage. Phyllis Parfum wrote of this in her own post yesterday. It is VERY REAL in our industry. The Universal-oneness you accuse stagers on AR of not having toward Barb is the same thing. ONENESS WILL be part of this industry when and only when all in this industry... this INCLUDES Barb Schwarz, support it. (Don't get me wrong, I am well aware that competition is NOT oneness.)

Barb is a leader. Even in this matter of ONENESS. However, ONENESS is NOT one sided.

If Barb wants this to change than SHE too needs to take a stand of ONENESS. Right now her words tell a different story. Because they do, people will continue to snipe at her. There have been times throughout history when all a people asked of others was to dignify them by acknowledging them. It happens between generations, between cultures, between countries, between races, between sexes, between religions and many other areas.

WHY this can NOT occur in a simple industry is beyond me. HOW many times do others stagers need to hold out the olive branch only to get a cold shoulder? THIS is a sad fact , because if we can not get it right HERE... on such a smaller scale, the there is NO CHANCE for Peace in places like the Middle East.

Barb will play a role in making this happen. OR not making it happen by staying the same. I actually thought this book WOULD help. That was one of the reasons why I wrote what I wrote. She IS walking a tight line. This was part of the quandary the book put her in. I even wrote "she was DAMNED if she did and DAMED if she didn't" somewhere in some comment. I do believe that. But this is also a great opportunity for her... if she sees it and if she can seize it.

However, Barbs own words in that very revealing email are like Rick Wagoner (CEO of General Motors) saying that Toyota, Ford, Daimler/Chrysler, etc can't build cars!

Barbs email does not shed a positive light on her. It reveals much of what she thinks of her non-ASP peers. HER words fuel this fire. HER words incite the negative comments that people make about her. HER words reinforce the snide attitudes (I too have personally experienced) from other ASP stagers. THIS was the negative barrier I wanted to break down. THIS was the reason I spoke of ONENESS in the industry way back in the very first Stage-It-Forward post.

Defending Barb because YOU have experienced her as a nice lady is not the same experience OTHERS have of her. (For the record the time I did meet her she was very gracious.)

Whether Barb likes it or not this is NOW an industry. An industry made of REAL PEOPLE. These people are as REAL as you remind us Barb is. However, Barbs words in that email close off possibility for ONENESS of an industry. I wish Barb could get that she is NOT just a leader of OF a company any longer. NOW she is a leader IN an industry. "Of" and "In" are 2 different things. She needs to realize this industry is made up of others. But she has to now share the industry with other leaders too. In my opinion she is thinking TOO SMALL. She holds tight to something much smaller than the possibility of what can be.

It is a fact Barb is seen as a leader in this BIGGER and GROWING INDUSTRY. And as a leader she is open to criticism... just as the leaders of our country are. Bush is bashed daily. Hillary is bashed daily. Do I like it? No. But being critical and questioning is woven into the fiber of our society.

And... as any leader can do in any industry, if they don't like it...they can LEAVE the industry. But if Barb should leave... warn her on my behalf... she will be criticized for leaving too.

Stage It Forward...

Me

Well, I couldn't have planned it better if I tried. But considering my last post, about the difficulties of owning a home staging business, the fact that Barb Schwarz is releasing a new book this week entitled "Building a Successful Home Staging Business" is timed perfectly.

Just what will this book reveal?  I do not know. But I will SURELY read it and share my thoughts about it in a future book review here.

However, the inside front cover (quote taken from Amazon) says this: "Whether you are thinking about starting a Home Staging business or want to improve upon an existing one, this timely guide can help you master the essential elements of a successful Home Staging business." So, considering and knowing what the home staging industry is hungering for... that sounds mighty good.

But I have to admit Barb's book puts her and her company StagedHomes.com in an odd predicament. If her book reveals too much it could jeopardize the enrollment of future students from taking her expensive classes. For they might think that all they now need to do is "buy the book".

On the flip side, if Barb's book reveals to little it can STILL jeopardize her seminars. For if people who are interested in a career in home staging buy it  believing in its promises to provide "various strategies and techniques needed to achieve unparalleled success in this field" (inside cover quote) but think it is "fluffy" they then might think the same of the seminars.

Additionally, revealing too much might alienate her from her past graduates who already paid thousands of dollars to learn in her home staging training seminars. Buying a key and strategic book for a mere $16.47 (today's price on Amazon) might be seen as now selling off the ASP secrets. PLUS, if the book is any good, any non-ASP stager can benefit from the ASP leader's wisdom... Barb's book might be seen as a betrayal, to those who have helped her build and were committed to her StagedHomes.com network, for she is now directly helping their competition!

(WOW! As I write this I see the pickle this one book puts Barb in... what a thin line she has to walk!)

So that leaves just one more scenario to examine. How will revealing too little in the book be looked upon by graduates of Barb's ASP seminars? Well, her ASP graduates tend to be her biggest fans... so they will most likely be content and cheer it along as they did with her previous book. Others, outside StagedHomes.com - who make up the fastest growing segment of the staging industry, if they buy and read it and think Barb's book is just "puffed up fluff,' they will then rip it to shreds. She will be seen as shrewd, but as an opportunist. This surely will give Barb's PR people something to dance around.

Just in writing this post I now have come to a conclusion as to what I think Barb's Home Staging Biz Book will reveal (or not).  I look forward to reading it, and when done I will surely let you know in my review if it hit the target.

Stage It Forward...

Me

5/23/07 Post Script: The release of this book must have been delayed. Amazon HAD been pre-selling and stated it would be available on May 18. Amazon now says its availability is anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks out. It is Amazons policy to tag books that ARE in-stock as "In Stock".

In my readings of this week I came across these few simple words that touched me.

When I say "touched" I mean they stopped me for a moment and made me think. When this happens I knew these are the words that I should share here.

So... Happy Mother's Day to all Mothers here in the Rain... and to your Mothers who taught you to be.

Share it Forward...

Me

For more "Good Words" Click Here to see others that make up this series.

With each passing week I receive emails with questions from stagers asking me how to approach and solve a myriad of issues and challenges facing them and in their staging business. Some of these are issues QUITE complex and take MORE than just a quick email response. Unfortunately as I work on growing my own business I do not have the time to reply. I would love to help, but I literally could have a career JUST answering the questions and solving the problems that new stagers are asking. But the realty of what has been going on got me to thinking... and asking the question, "Why are stagers having such a tough time creating successful staging businesses?" *

I have concluded that in order for individual home stagers to succeed, the home staging industry needs to look at itself and examine itself and correct that which it is doing wrong if it is to grow to its fullest and experience its greatest possibility.

This post (the first of a series) takes a tough look at one of the "stone cold" realities and dynamics many people who are entering into this industry do not take into consideration. These realities and dynamics compromise the possibility of owning and operating a successful staging business.

First, let me say I am NOT anti-education. However, as a whole, since the home staging training industry is not regulated in any manner, it makes it extremely easy for anyone to open their doors and start a home staging training program... and MANY have. With classes fetching anywhere from $2,500 to $3,000 per student for ONLY one week's worth of training, it is not surprising to see why trainers and courses in home staging are popping up all over. The home staging training industry is a lucrative cash cow.

Home staging foundation training company's have a vested interest and are quite successful at advertising to and enticing people to take their courses. Just go to any company's website and you will see courses on home staging being offered all over the USA and Canada. Plus to make it even easier some companies are offering training in the comfort of the student's home... via the web.

Starry eyed students are buying into the dream that you can take a class in a week... and be a "professional" stager tomorrow. The home staging training industry is a resounding success.

Unfortunately, while home staging training companies have done a GREAT job at selling the dream of being a stager, they have not done an equally effective job at educating the real estate community and the home seller so that they want to invest in the services of their graduates. There is a huge disconnect in the market.... the consumer market is not educated enough to absorb the glutton of stagers that graduate weekly from the multitude of home staging foundation courses offered nationwide.

People who invested their time, money and hearts into these courses to learn how to be a home stager are finding themselves spending a considerable amount of time NOT STAGING, but trying to convince and educate realtors and home sellers on the virtues of home staging. Just becasue Home Staging works, does NOT make it an easy sell. (This totally baffles me... but it is true.)

This is not to say all hope is lost, as there are those who will train to become home stagers and go on to be quite successful. But, it is important for people interested in becoming home stagers to know the realities and dynamics they face.

It would be wonderful if the market for staging services was accepted and growing as fast as the market for training. However, these markets are mutually exclusive of the other! So please, do not make the mistake in believing they are one in the same.

Stage It Forward,
Me

PS: If you are a Realtor reading this... please click on your answer in the Poll on the right. >>>>>>>

THANKS! ABC Orlando News for picking up this very important post on the Home Staging Industry.

*POST SCRIPT: The original opening paragraph of this post has been changed... I incorrectly stated that the featured Oprah Stager was closing her doors. This is not the case... I have learned she is EVOLVING her business.... but not closing. The original text can be seen below in a comment if you want to read it.

UPDATE ON PARTY DETAILS CAN BE FOUND HERE! MANGIA! MANGIA! and Celebrate Active Rain in Chicago-land this June 16th

Well the Rain Gods have spoken, (actually the Rain Goddess) and its official.

Chicago is to be a celebration destination for Active Rain's 1 Year Anniversary Party Tour.

The date for Chicago's event will be Saturday June 16th. Other events are scheduled for:

• June 2,   Seattle, Washington
• June 9,   Los Angeles, California
• June 23, Orlando, Florida
• June 30, New York, New York

Here is what I know so far...

Exact Time... TBA. Exact Location... TBA. Why are the details TBA (to be announced)?  Because the Metro-Chicago area is HUGE and we want to accommodate as many people as possible. Knowing who is interested, and where you are coming from will help us plan where to have it. Remember, many active bloggers here in the Rain are from way out in Dupage County and beyond.

Currently I am thinking the the Oak Brook Area would be the ideal location, because it is in the middle of the Metro "Windy" Region.

So... if you are interested in actively celebrating the Rain's 1st Anniversary, PLEASE just RSVP in a comment below.

As this Anniversary Party unfolds, I will have my people contact your people... or I might just post another blog with the details.

Party On...

Me

PS: I have been told that one of the Rain Gods will be attending... which Rain God (Matt, Ben, Caleb, Jon or James) I am not sure. I am ALMOST sure it won't be one of their "flat" clones.

UPDATE ON PARTY DETAILS CAN BE FOUND HERE! MANGIA! MANGIA! and Celebrate Active Rain in Chicago-land this June 16th