Home Staging Boulder County: Jessica (aka boulderite)'s Blog

Do you know what a Peloton is?

Jessica Hughes (Ambiance Staging) — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 21:31:42 -0500

Kudos if you do! My husband did, but then again he's a cycling enthusiast, For the rest of us here's the def. according to Wikpedia:

Peloton: a field, bunch or pack is the large main group in a road bicycle race. Riders in a group save energy by riding close (drafting or slipstreaming) near (particularly behind) other riders.

The point being?

Some of you know that I'm planning a move soon, but for the rest of you, I thought I'd share what is going on in my life of late. My husband and I decided to take advantage of the 'pre-construction' sales price and buy into a Luxury Condo Community that's going up in Boulder.

The Boulder Peloton, is an exciting new mixed-use community going up in a fabulous location in Central Boulder, next to the 29th Street Shopping District, with direct access to the Boulder Creek Path, the Cyling Artery through Boulder. Initially we weren't sure whether we were buying for investment only or if we wanted to live in it ourselves, at least for a little while!

In the end the Community Center with top-notch amenities including: Year-Round Heated Rooftop Pool, with 2 Hot Tubs, Fire Pit and Barbecue Area, 6,000 square foot Fitness Center, 22 seat Movie Theater, Billiards/Game Room, and Conference Center to name a few; and of course the stunning mountain view are what sealed it for us!

We are planning to move in sometime this August, and I'm getting more and more excited each week! In the end we decided to that we'll sell our mountain home, even though it's not necessarily the strongest market right now. But one of the reasons we're moving is to simplify our lives and having our current home as a second home would complicate matters....

Of course I'm planning to stage the heck out of it, and I'll post pictures for you all to see when we list!

I'm not sure why the developers chose the name Peloton, but it really rings true to me. One of the reasons we bought was because the idea of downsizing from a 3,000 square foot home to a 1,200 square foot condo really appealed to us. And of course that by combining smaller living spaces with shared amenities would be an energy saver. By downsizing and moving closer to where we work, and the girls go to school, we're significantly reducing our carbon footprint in a most luxurious way and it feels great! If only they'd hurry up!

Jessica Hughes
Ambiance Staging

We don't sell homes, we make homes sell!!
If you are in the Boulder area and are thinking of having

your home stagedgive Ambiance Staging a call @ 303-435-1784!

"Cozy" Home? Not Anymore!

Jessica Hughes (Ambiance Staging) — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 23:07:15 -0600

I know it's been a while since I was on AR, but I just had to share this funny story with you guys (Dena I hope you read this!).......

I have been doing more and more photography for my Realtor clients, and I was contacted by one to do the photos and Real Estate Show for a vacant. More often than not, I also will have staged the home (either vacant or occupied) first, but this time it was just for the photos and the show.

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" :)

So I found myself at a bit of a loss on how to 'sell it' on Real Estate Shows.

For example, here's an example, for the same client, my usual style:

And here's the end result of the TINY house:

So Remember Folks!!! It's not COZY.... It's SMALL CARBON FOOTPRINT!!!

UPDATE: FYI THIS HOME WENT UNDER CONTRACT ONE DAY AFTER LISTING!!!!!

Staging a "new" "old" home in Boulder

Jessica Hughes (Ambiance Staging) — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 23:36:26 -0500

We just completed a staging job today at the Portland Place Condominiums that was a lot of fun to do. It's Victorian that was split into condominiums (each averaging 950 sq. feet). I rarely get the opportunity to stage older homes, in this case, a restored Victorian in the Mapleton Hill area. It's a great location, right off Broadway and Portland, across the street from Ideal Market and Vic's. I really love the architectural features, exposed brick, and original floors. Combine that with modern wiring, state-of-the-art kitchens, and gorgeous baths; and you've got a winner! Here's the result:

Although I love staging homes in a more transitional style, I also enjoy working with more classic styles when the opportunity presents itself!

If you are interested in any of these condos, contact Lance Smith at Four Star Realty:

Need home staging services in Boulder County? Call Ambiance Staging! (303) 544-6005 or visit http://www.ambiance-staging.com/ "We Don't Sell Homes, we Make Homes Sell!"

Realtors: Don't take those MLS photos!!!

Jessica Hughes (Ambiance Staging) — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 20:33:12 -0500

....until after we've finished staging the property! We just finished staging a home out in Longmont last week for a super sweet couple that is being re-located back to California. They were some of the most organized people I'd met, but they still had the normal 'clutter' that is LIFE!

We met with them for 2 hours initially, then prepared the staging report which contains the recommendations for them to implement in the coming week, and scheduled to come back a week later to spend a 1/2 day staging to complete the finishing touches. We rented them a few items: a coffee and 2 side tables, a few lamps and lots of artwork silks, and florals.

My partner Mary and I had a lot of fun working on this home, getting all of the final touches 'just so'! The transformation was nothing short of amazing!

So today I was excited to go online to check up on the home. One reason is because I often send other Realtor's the MLS numbers of our 'current listings' to show our volume and range of styles. But I was shocked to see that the photos had been taken BEFORE we had the chance to stage!!

This is what I saw...

This is what I should have seen!

I was relieved to find that the "Visual Tour" of the home was taken after the staging was complete!

Lesson learned? Always take photos for the MLS and internet AFTER the staging is complete. As we say in the staging business, "You never get a second chance to make a First Impression!" How many potential buyers might have overlooked this property because it did not appeal to them? With the number of buyers searching the internet before viewing properties (over 90% in Colorado according to the latest stats), it is more critical than ever to make that first impression count.

Thinking of selling your home? Call Ambiance Staging to make your First Impression counts! "We Don't Sell Homes, We Make Homes Sell!" Proudly serving Boulder County. Call (303) 544-6005 or visit our website at http://ambiance-staging.com Need Real Estate photography Listing Tour services? Call us! All of the "after photos" you see above are provided by Ambiance Staging!

Neon Green and Ochre: OH MY!

Jessica Hughes (Ambiance Staging) — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 16:07:41 -0500

How do you stage around Ochre and Lime Green walls? Well, I'm happy to report that we pulled it off (click to see our fab photos)!

My partner Mary recently completed a staging job on a vacant home in South Boulder, which proved to be much easier than we first thought it was going to be.

It was a vacant home, however the owners were still in the area and met with us during the consultation.

They had made a lot of improvements to the property, including extensive landscaping and a beautiful trex deck (with hot tub!), kitchen and bath upgrades, the whole nine yards; and were very obviously house proud.

But the wall colors were, ehem, striking to say the least; and one of the first rules of staging says that wall colors ideally should be warm NEUTRAL tones!

Naturally we wanted to test the waters to see if they would would be open to the idea of re-painting most of the rooms on the main level. But they were so obviously proud of the colors and adored them so that I thought better of it (I didn't want to lose the bid after all!). And I have to admit that I really like bright colors on walls, so it's hard for me to advise people to spend an extra $1,000-2,000 on painting over their artistic endeavors.

Photo by Kameel

So we strove to work with the colors and really make the rooms POP! The planning was a little more intensive and we had to bring 3 sets of bedding to ensure that at least one would work with the VERY ochre walls; but in the end we were very happy with the result, as was our client. Here are some of the photos we took for the MLS.

Did I mention the Periwinkle Blue spare room?

OK, so the dining area wasn't too bad :)

Might as well show you the cute bathroom!

And the fab kitchen (with mauve tiled walls!)

And last but not least the very cool deck which we also staged, with the help of Fruehauf's Garden Center. If you like what you see give John Bross a call over there (303) 449-9551 and he'll be glad to help you out!

The lesson here folks? How do you combat bright colors? With MORE bright colors!! And although our seller may be narrowing their buyer demographic with their home making such a 'statement', I'm sure that those who like it, will LOVE IT!

Happy Staging :)

P.S. If you are in the Boulder area and are thinking of having your home staged, give Ambiance Staging a call @ 303-435-1784!
We Don't Sell Homes, We Make Homes Sell!

Cafe of Life: The perfect "Thank You"

Jessica Hughes (Ambiance Staging) — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 12:49:27 -0500

As we know, repeat business and referrals are critical to succeeding in the real estate industry and finding that unique way to say thank you to clients is a part of that!

Ambiance Staging has found the perfect way to say THANK YOU!

I have been searching for a way to express client appreciation for months now but just hadn't quite found what I was looking for... until now! The Cafe of Life holds the key!

I really wanted to find something that would be a truly unique gift, not some marketing gizmo from an internet company.

It was also very important that I be able to source from and support local business; and that it be an environmentally friendly gift.

Well, a couple of weeks ago as I was rushing through the checkout of our local Whole Foods when I noticed they had those portable massage chairs set up near the exits.

I immediately thought of my mom and how much she enjoys those 5-10 minute massages when she's traveling. The sales clerk noticed that I was eying the chairs and asked me if I'd like to purchase a voucher for a 10 min. massage.

That's when it clicked! What a great gift a massage would make! Upon further inquiry I discovered that the massages were provided compliments of The Cafe Of Life, a local massage and chiropractic facility.

After giving out a few gift certificates to some select clients and vendors that I especially wanted to show appreciation for, and getting very positive feedback from them, I am now in the process of negotiating bulk quantities at a discount price.

The great thing about these vouchers is that they can be used either in the Whole Foods when you're shopping and on the go, or in the Cafe of Life where the atmosphere is more zen and relaxed & they are both are walk-in locations, so no reservation is needed. And I can get them in any quantity; I've purchased from 10 minutes to 1 hour.

These gifts are perfect for most 'on-the-go' types like me by providing flexibility of location, no need to make an appointment, plus there is no disrobing, (which I never have time for anyway) so even the most shy will not be deterred. Of course, for the longer massages the Cafe offers 2 private rooms for a more spa-like experience.

The types of massage include:

Swedish

Deep Tissue

Thai

Shiatsu

Physical Therapy

Rolfing

The exciting thing is that if the merger of Whole Foods and Wild Oats does go through, it's possible that the Cafe could have massage facilities in any or several of the Wild Oats locations as well.

For more information on the Cafe of Life:

(303) 444-7744
2835 Pearl Street
Boulder, CO

Namaste!

We don't sell homes, we make homes sell! Call us to find out how!
Ambiance-Staging is Boulder's Premiere Staging Service:
call (303) 544-6005 or visit www.ambiance-staging.com

Armed and Dangerous!

Jessica Hughes (Ambiance Staging) — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 10:43:30 -0500

OK so I am armed, but the dangerous part is a small stretch :)

I JUST received my wireless scanner to go with my new IMagic inventory software.

Fellow stagers, are you seated? OK, I picked up the complete package of: inventory tracking/invoicing software, a wireless scanner, and barcode software for $440!!!!

Although Ambiance Staging is the relative new kid on the block we have already built up a sizable inventory of furniture and accessories. Though this has been great for us, it has proven more difficult than I imagined to keep track of my inventory. I don't know if you can relate but I found myself:

buying new items last minute to fill in job to job and neglecting to tag and inventory them
transferring items directly from one job to another with no accounting
grabbing things for staging consultations on the go when I’m in a hurry neglecting to mark it out.

To top it off I rent furniture and accessories from 4 other sources, sometimes 2 sources per job, and work with several local and national furniture companies on some of the higher end homes. The end result is that our inventory tracking system was in a MUDDLE!

So I decided to dedicate some time to get organized. I bought some more great shelving from Costco, plastic bins, large Ziploc bag for bedsets and pillows, wire baskets in shelving for pillows, color coded stickers, labels, pens ++++ and got to work organizing my inventory and putting on the computer. I decided to just create my own template in excel but quickly became frustrated because I couldn’t customize it to my needs.

That’s when I discovered “Props On The Go” owned by Lucy Butcher, of Presentation is Everything. Lucy, a fellow stager in Colorado Springs, has been searching for the perfect inventory control software for almost 5 years and recently hit the jackpot with IMagic! I purchased the system from her on Monday and had downloaded it and was using it almost immediately. She simply e-mailed me the software key. I did a bit of research before I purchased, and spoke to another local company who had purchased and were extremely happy with the software. I found that comparable systems go for at least $1,500-2,000, but from what I can tell, there is no sacrifice in features or quality of product.

Some of the major benefits include:

Barcode compatible so you can just zap your items for each job and it deducts them from the stock
When they come back in, you simply zap them back into stock.
You can upload a photo for each item!’
Very flexible in allowing you to create categories, sub-categories.
Allows you to have more than one warehouse location (as I do).
Automatically creates invoices when you pull inventory (has several different ‘sales’ settings; for rental and resale for example).
Doubles as a client database very useful for marketing
Pulls stats and data to show activity graphs based on virtually any criterion you desire.
Network compatible without having to purchase multiple keys
Automatically notifies you when you’re running low on a certain stock item.
Allows you to export to excel and other programs.

This software is very easy to use, versatile and robust. It has a virtually limitless stock quantity. You don’t have to be a computer type to pick this up! Fellow stagers, even those of you with relatively small stock or no big furniture; this software is a ‘no-brainer’! The invoicing, reporting/productivity tracking, and client database tools alone are worth the $189 you pay for the software. And although I considered purchasing the wireless scanner locally so that I wouldn't have to wait for it to be shipped, I found that computer stores in my area charged in the region of $400-450 for the scanners, so I opted to wait for the flic scanner. Besides it looked so much sleeker! Check it out! The scanner also had a better cache, but there's supposedly one coming out in the next month or 2 that will have a 4,000 item cache.

Should you decide to purchase please let Lucy know that you read my blog on Active Rain!

Happy Staging!

Don't call us we'll call you...

Jessica Hughes (Ambiance Staging) — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 00:48:58 -0500

Are you patiently waiting by the phone for your local newspaper to suddenly call you eager to write an article about you and your company in their news column?? Yeah, so was I.... but somehow they never called.

Well, wait no longer. CALL THEM yourself.

I did just that, and spoke to Greg Avery in the Business department of the Daily Camera here in Boulder.

I said "Hey Mr. Newspaper man, you should write about home staging." and Mr. Newspaper man (aka Greg) said "how fortunate that you called, we were just talking about doing a segment on preparing your home for sale; your timing is perfect!"

Here is the result:

Your Home is a Stage: Buyers want to see House, not Clutter!

So fellow real estate professionals, pick up the phone and call your local newspaper, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain!

I'm still trying to convince Greg that vacant home staging is particularly newsworthy; so that is also in the pipeline.

Another alternative is to write an article about staging and submit it to them to see if they'll run it. At the very least contact your local board of REALTORS with an article and they'll surely publish.

I haven't received any direct business from the article, however, it has helped tremendously with name recognition with REALTORS. I'm starting to get my branding out!! I'm also taking a hard copy of the article with me on presentations to add to my arsenal. You'll find that being in the newspaper suddenly makes you an expert!

P.S. I also helped the Camera by recommending another (fabulous) stager, Macky Bennett of Rearrangements & More so that they didn't have to research it; saving them time. When the photographer came to take the photos he was supposed to only shoot a 'before' and 'after' photo of the home we were staging, but we got him to take our photo as well, and buttered him up a bit ;) The end result is that WE were pictured!!! That was a huge score.

The only downside was that we had not planned to have our photo taken, and as you can see we were NOT prepared! Oh, well the opportunity far outweighed any potential embarrassment.

My New Favorite Pillows

Jessica Hughes (Ambiance Staging) — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 12:48:33 -0500

For a while now I have been using ' sofa accent' pillows on beds, to add bulk and beauty to a bedset. You know, those 13-15" square pillows normally placed on either side of a sofa?

But I always felt they looked, well, like you put sofa pillows on a bed (kind of wierd). I much prefer the look of 'bed accent pillows' on a bed, or if you buy the whole bed-in-a-bag that had multiple sizes of accent pillows.

But it's not cost effective to always buy those. So, as you all know, you gotta mix it up a bit.

Sooo... lately I've been noticing an increase of those rectangular bed pillows being sold in the discount stores, and I love using them on beds; the just look so much more appropriate.

My eureka moment was why not use these rectangular 'bed' pillows on a sofa??

I tried it and I LOVE THE LOOK!!! Now I use these rectangular pillows on beds, sofas, loveseats, dining room chairs, accent chairs, and on and on.... And this way around I don't think they look wierd or out of place at all.

They are so versatile and look FABULOUS wherever you sling em!

Marketing yourself: Staging Shows

Jessica Hughes (Ambiance Staging) — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 02:02:44 -0500

I recently started using Jeff Turner's Real Estate Shows to create listing shows for some of my clients with tremendous success! So far most have been extremely pleased that I am able to provide photography and listing shows as part of my services. And they have been blown away by them!

My newest show is of before and afters of a recent job to give to agents, and so that they can show them to their clients: Staging your Vacant Property I will be working on one for an occupied staging before and after next. They should go hand in hand nicely.

I chose RES solely on the basis of my opinion of Jeff Turner as an amazing individual and did not price shop or compare the hundreds of tour 'factories' out there. I have been blown away by the ease of use of this software! It is incredibly simple and fast! The only drawback is that I end up spending WAY TOO MUCH time changing out the music trying to find the most mis-matched music to tour possible. Pink panther, mission impossible, space odyssey; I especially like the "Funky 70's Flashback" category. It has had me in tears from laughing so hard :)

Seriously though, the software is amazing, is simple to use, has a streamlined and professional look, and my tours have my photo and logo on them! All for an amazing annual fee! And you can create as many free shows as you want (must purchase with in 14 days or they expire though and you have to start all over).

Last week I posted one of my tours on Sarah Cooper's "I'll show you mine if you show me yours" since no one else had taken her up on it. BTW, her shows are incredible and got me thinking about how I could market myself and my staging services using RES, instead of just using them for creating listing shows for my clients. In fact, Sarah compiled a great tour of staging tips for homeowners preparing their home for sale!

Shortly after I posted on Sarah's blog she honored me by mentioning my tour on another of her blogs "Are you getting all you can from your tours"

"Stagers, you should be using this tool! Jessica Hughes is a stager using RES with GREAT results. Hope she doesn't mind, I'm going to share the show here that she shared with me -- AWESOME way to show off your work, Jessica! Isn't that a great addition to "flat" pictures? "

Thank you Sarah!

Anyway, inspired by Sarah, I decided to create a RES to market myself to agents, showing before and after photos of one of my most recent vacant staging jobs. I just created this show this afternoon in a jiffy, but I like how it turned out so I thought I'd share it with you guys. The hardest part is coming up with the text...

So much better than flat pictures!

Is anyone else using tours for their staging?

Ambiance Staging is Growing!

Jessica Hughes (Ambiance Staging) — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 12:56:26 -0500

I have recently decided to to take on a business partner to grow my business. Mary Hickling, a Boulder resident, and fellow home stager and I have decided to form a partnership!

My vision is for Ambiance Staging to be a driving force in our community and an industry leader; and I felt that in order to do that Ambiance Staging would need to be a more substantial entity. I didn't want to be just a 'one-man band'.

Also, together we can get so much more accomplished, share the load, and respond to inquiries/needs in a more timely manner.

Mary has always had a passion for 'staging' and interior design, and now that her two daughters are in high school she felt the time was right to branch out in a new direction.

Mary contacted me about 6 weeks ago when she was researching home staging online. She found my Active Rain blog, read about me online, liked my online personality, and thought it worthwhile to contact me to see if I was interested in working together in any fashion.

Since then we have collaborated on a couple of projects and find that we work well together. I am so pleased and grateful to have met her. I couldn't have found a better partner if I'd tried, and she just stumbled across me in the most serendipitous of ways thanks to Active Rain!

Now we just have to iron out the details and figure out the logistics of how our partnership will work; all the legal stuff YUCK!

My blog was published as an article!

Jessica Hughes (Ambiance Staging) — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 14:43:38 -0600

As they say in England I feel like the dog's bollock's today! (translation= I feel very important, like I'm on top of the world......)

A few hours after I submitted my Staging 2.0 Blog to ActiveRain I was contacted via e-mail by Frances Flynn Thorsen, the managing editor of RealTown.com, a real estate portal. She said that she enjoyed blog and wanted to tweak it into an article to showcase it on the RealTown site along with a photo, byline and link. I immediately e-mailed back saying that I'd be thrilled! How cool is that?! But then I didn't hear anything back and I assumed that I had been passed over. Well, I e-mailed Frances today and she linked me to the article which had been published pretty much immediately after we 'talked' last week.

So here is a link to the RealTown article Staging 2.0: Take Your Business to the Next Level.

I have broken out of ActiveRain and launched into the world wide web :) I am so honored and excited.

In addition Kristal Kraft has asked me be a guest on her very cool Denver Real Estate and Relocation blog. It might be a while though, I'm working hard at a blog that will do justice to her illustrious site!

I heart Google Images!

Jessica Hughes (Ambiance Staging) — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 12:12:10 -0600

I just had to do a quick post to tell you all how much I LOVE Google images! A few months ago my daughter (who had just turned 2 at that time) and my husband were talking about our last trip to the zoo. He asked her if she remembered the giraffe, and she shouted 'yeah!' Then he asked her if she rememberd seeing the zebra and she chimed in enthusiastically 'yes!' After a few of these she got more and more excited and wound up. When he asked if she remembered the peacock, she started saying 'I wanna see the zeeber, I wanna see the zeeber' and we could see a meltdown approaching.

My quick thinking husband typed in 'Zebra' in the google search box, and we went to the images page. Voila! Zebra's galore! Big zebras, little zebra's brown zebra's black zebra's running zebra's, momma and baby zebra's. That was the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

Now my daughter often comes up and shouts out what she wants to see pictures of and we "google it".

We've looked at spiders, ducks, seagulls, catapillars, giraffe's, bears, monkies, babies, mountians, snow, red cars, motorcycles, mexico(when my husband was in Mexico on business my daughter insisted on 'seeing' mexico), England, and sesame street to name a few, all unprompted. We have spent hours looking at photographs, it's like having a full color encyclopedia with limitless information. Since she is only 2 she's not interested in the text, just the images. This is just the beginning, I can't wait until she's older! I wish I had the same thing growing up!. It's like having the worlds biggest library in your living room. I remember when I was around 15-16 my parents got a computer version of Encyclopedia Britannica, and I spent HOURS AND HOURS reading the material, looking at pictures, listening to the music files, and don't forget the the timelines (my absolute favorite). I can't wait until my daughter gets older and we get lost in Wikipedia together.

Oh and for anyone else out there with young ones, I love Fisher Price's online learning games! They have lots of games for all ages infant to preschoolers. Both the girls love watching the 'Shapes and Colors' and the 'Animal Alphabet".

Anyone else have online activities that they recommend for preschool age children?

All photos copyright Jessica Hughes 2006.

2" Purple Shag

Jessica Hughes (Ambiance Staging) — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 22:23:22 -0600

I know you guys are probably thinking that this has something to do with staging, but surprise! Not a smidge! I am hesitant to admit this, but we have 2" purple shag carpets in our house. The entire top floor actually (it's a play room/entertainment area up there).

I REALLY love it. We got extra thick pad too, so it's super cushy to walk on. I know it's not everyone's taste, and I considered taking it out a couple of years ago when we replaced all the rest of our carpet (which was quite old) with non-toxic natural wool carpet, but I couldn't bring myself to pull it out 'toxic' or no (besides it cost a fortune)! It was one of the first things we did to the house when we moved in almost 5 years ago. The carpet that was in when we bought the house was this hideous teal color.

At any rate, I no longer REALLY love my purple shag carpet. Until last week, the reason was because it is IMPOSSIBLE to keep clean with my girls running/crawling around all over it trailing bits of food behind them, spilling drinks and pulling at the carpet. They love being up there! What a NIGHTMARE!

Then last week, I had a whole new reason to loath the purple shag. My daughter was playing with my engagement ring and I totally forgot she had it. Later I remembered that we were in that room and my stomach lurched! I have spent the last week foraging on my hands an knees, sifting my fingers through the carpet in the huge room. OMG, it could be anywhere! She could have swallowed it, what if she flushed it down the toilet.....

I FINALLY found it today, lodged in the flokati rug. I am so relieved! It's not like it was massively expensive, but in losing it I discovered that I'd grown attached to it over the years. I'm lucky that my husband is totally oblivious (you know, the type that doesn't notice when I chop 6 inches off my hair).

The worst thing was wearing just my wedding band all week; it felt so weird. There is a dent in my finger where my engagement ring is supposed to be, the skin is softer there. Wow, it just amazes me that my hubby and I are coming up to our 4 year anniversary! Time flies!

Do you have any engagement/wedding ring stories to share????

Staging 2.0: The Next Level

Jessica Hughes (Ambiance Staging) — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 03:48:45 -0600

There has been a lot of talk in the blogosphere lately about Web 2.0. For those of you not familiar with the term, our own Matt Heaton gives an excellent explanation in one of his blogs. I have been thinking a lot about this concept and how it applies to staging. To me it means taking Home Staging and one's Staging business to the next level of service & networking in innovative ways. Here are my thoughts on this: Staging 2.0 the next level.........................

Business Side:

Website: A web presence is critical considering the level of internet usage among home sellers and buyers. Once the website is up it is important to make sure that the site is optimized so that search engines will be able to find it. Fellow Rainer Mary McKnight is the one to ask about this!
Blogsite: In true web 2.0 fashion, a blogsite is critical to take your business to the next level. Show to your local realtors and homeowners that you have the skill and experience needed to provide them with a top quality service. Even more importantly, give them an idea of who you are, your personality should shine through in your posts. ActiveRain makes having your own blog easy and fun!
Education: The more you can bring to the table the more your clients will value you. Many stagers advocate going into real estate brokers and offering to do a short presentation on staging for the realtors in that office. I decided to take it to the next level by working with the resource committee at our local realtor association to provide a comprehensive education 'course' on staging. It is an hour long presentation, and it will be offered through the association to all member brokers for use in their continuing education.
Pareto's Principle: With the proliferation of the internet it is easier than ever to determine who the top producders are and target those professionals in your marketing campaign. Why waste your efforts to market to the the 80% who only do 20% of the sales volume? Apply Pareto's Principle to your business and you will see the results! Craig Schiller found a fabulous way to do this and graciously shared with the rest of us.
News & Media: If you are published in your local area you will add credibility to your company and help spread the word about what staging is all about. My fellow Coloradoan Dena Stevens had the great idea of e-mailing a copy of all her blogs to her local newspaper. So far this has resulted in 2 publications of her 'articles'.

Staging Side:

Rental Furniture: Whether for vacant or occupied homes, offering a furniture and accessories rental adds a new dimension to your business. The most cost effective way, (though the highest initial outlay) is to have your own stock of furnishings, as Craig Schiller advocates. Offering rental of accessories and even possibly furnishings to fill in the gaps of the existing pieces in an occupied home is rarely done and doing so would put you on the leading edge. This would require a good written agreement, since there is added liability in having your stock in an occupied home.
Home Organization: Although this is not a strong point of mine, this is one way to take your staging business to the next level. Many companies out there offer home organization services, so what better way to add value to yourself and expand your service menu than to offer this? Gina Dougherty has some great tips on how to help the homeowner do this.
Feng Shui: If you have a genuine interest in the concept of Feng Shui and how energy moves this might be worth looking into, to enhance your services and set you apart from other stagers. By integrating principles of Feng Shui when staging a home one achieves improved energy (Ch'i) and natural flow to a home. Admittedly, this concept might work better in some areas of the country than others. ;) A good place to start would be Feng Shui Your Life by Jayme Barrett.
Color: Take staging to the next level by offering color consultations to your clients if they have all white walls, tacky paint colors or the ever dreaded wallpaper. Find a quality painter in your area to form a relationship with. Its a relatively simple and inexpensive change a home seller can make that can dramatically increase the appeal of a property. If you're not amazing with colors, Maureen Henry has graciously taken the time to give us a list of her favorites.
'After' Photos: Realtors can pay anywhere from $50 to over $200 for a professional photographer to take their listing photos. Offering the after photos (which hopefully you will be taking anyway) for free is a great way to add incentive when bidding jobs. Jeff Turner even found a compact, inexpensive camera that takes great home interior shots. Better yet, invest in a digital SLR, with flash and tripod and join the pros. Once you have established yourself as a competent real estate photographer you can start to charge for this service.
Visual Tour: Why not use those still shots you just took and compile a nice little visual tour for your agent/client. I'm sure that agents would love to be able to offer this service as an added bonus to their clients. It is just the natural progression to do it for them. Jeff Turner, in addition to being an awesome individual all around, also has an awesome company that sells inexpensive and easy to use software to make real estate shows.
Redesign and Move-In Decorating: Last but not least, expand your business by focusing on the redesign aspect of staging. As the concept of staging becomes more recognized in your community, the demand for redesign services for your average homeowner will increase. Offer as part of your serviced menu, quick 1 day redesign transformations. Also, just letting your homeowner clients know that you offer 'move-in' staging services can automatically increase your business. Most would never think of this until they knew it was a possibility!
Say Thank You: I always give a small 'signature' gift to each client in thanks for allowing me to work with them. Take a tip from the top producing agents all of whom can credit much of their business from repeat customers and referrals. So don't forget to say Thank You (Craig Schiller has mastered this in a classy non-overbearing way)! You WILL BUILD your repeat and referral business.

On that note: My SINCEREST THANKS to all the other Stagers and ActiveRain members who contributed to this post. With your help, I was able to represent a much larger picture than I would otherwise!

Of course you wouldn't necessarily want to implement all of these ideas, you have to 'find your niche' as Judy Kincaid did. But the more you can expand your level of service, the more prepared you will be to 'take it to the next level'!

Attention Stagers: Please lets brainstorm, let me know of anything else we can do to implement Staging 2.0???

Hey it's 2007! Where to go from here?

Jessica Hughes (Ambiance Staging) — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 20:02:47 -0600

"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"

"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.

"I don't much care where," said Alice.
"Then it doesn't matter which way you go," said the Cat.

From Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol

Reading all the recent posts about other Rainers plans for 2007 got me thinking about my own marketing plan. I was asking my father's advise, as I always do and he stressed the importance of having a comprehensive marketing and sales plan.

I did eek out a tentative bullet style action plan when I first started my new business 6 monts ago; but honestly my strategies have changed as have the demographic that I plan to target (thanks largely to my participaiton here on ActiveRain I as able to find my niche). So in addition to being insufficient, it is also largely antiquated. However the idea of writing a complete business plan seemed insurmountable.

That's when my father gave me an article he wrote on the same subject a few years back. I found it so useful I asked his permission to post it here for the rest of you. I did quite a bit of tweeking, but the majority of the text is my fathers.

Image: ©Polixeni Papapetrou Wonderland

HOW TO WRITE A SALES AND MARKETING PLAN by Mike Adams

Why take the time to write a sales and marketing plan? Simple: If you don't know where you want to go, how will you ever get there?

Actually, all businesses do have some form of business plan; it just may not be in writing. If you are daunted by the prospect of writing one, don't worry, there are many resources available to help. The U.S. Small Business Association has a series of publications as well as freeware and shareware software programs and templates that make writing a business plan much easier. SBA's website has these and many other resources available at: http://www.sbaonline.sba.gov/

The sales and marketing plan is an integral part of a good business plan, but it is usually not given the attention it deserves. Some companies pride themselves on the fact that they have no marketing or sales efforts. They say, "We have grown to this size just on word of mouth," Or "Salesmen are a waste of money." These companies generally have one person who deals with the customers, usually the owner, who is, in reality, the salesperson. Unfortunately, the owner usually also manages the production, makes deliveries and does anything else that needs to be done in a crisis.

This way of thinking will always limit the size of a company. That size varies with each individual; it is the amount of sales and production that one person can handle. If a company wants to grow past that level, it must have sales and marketing efforts, and any company involved in these efforts should have a written plan. What justifies the additional time and effort you'll spend creating a written plan? An increased chance for success. More specifically, a plan is:

	A reality check when you first examine the results of your efforts
	A timetable, helping you to coordinate all the activities
	A tool that helps you evaluate your position in the market
	A vehicle for tracking the progress of your plan
	A blueprint for adjusting your efforts to respond to changes in the market
	A starting point for future planning

Where Are You Now?
This question involves more than just the current sales figures. Who are you as a company? What do your customers think of you? Do you specialize in one or more segments of the market? Do you sell to customers nationwide? Regionally? Locally?

Where Do You Want To Go?
Some organizations really do not want to grow, and that's okay. However, if growth is a goal, you need to ask, "where do I want to go?" The answer might be "I want to increase sales by 50% of current levels each year for the next four years" or "I want to be the leading company in my region within two years." If you want to grow, however, you must be ready to increase production and willing to accept all the changes growth brings.

The Market
The next step is to identify your market. Asking the following questions helps to clarify this. What is the market? How large is the market? Where is the market headed? How is the market segmented? Who is your competition? How are they marketing? Why do customers buy from you instead of the competition?
Why do customers buy from the competition instead of you? Is your company perceived as a technological leader or follower? Is your company aggressive and not averse to risk-taking, or do you plan to grow carefully and slowly? Have you acquired an reputation for fast and reliable service by expanding your business only as quickly as your service organization can support it? Do you aim for the high-priced, high-quality end of the market, or does your company try to make an adequate product that can capture a large market share by selling at a low price?

Market Research
Some of the answers to the questions above can be answered by trade associations, magazines, and journals. The most important aspect of market research, though, is feedback from prospective buyers. How do they feel about the product or service you are offering? What do they like, and what do they dislike?
Getting such information, of course, requires that you speak with these prospects or get them to fill out questionnaires. In any case, the more hard data you have from potential buyers about their needs and preferences, the more valuable the marketing plan will be.

Writing the Plan
Once you have answered the questions above, you are ready to begin writing the plan. If you plan to consult with a sales and marketing firm, this would be a good time to bring them into the picture. Otherwise, the plan is generally divided into the following sections, including information from the questions asked above.

Executive Summary
This section summarizes the information in the entire plan. It provides a quick overview for new management or marketing employees who need to be familiar with the plan.
Market Analysis
Market Definition: Who are your customers?
Market Segments: How are they segmented?
Current Strengths: What are the strong points (from a marketing position) of your company?
Weaknesses: What are the weak points (from a marketing position) of your company?
Opportunities: What are some areas that could easily be exploited?
Competition: List each competitor and analyze their strategies.
Pricing: What do your competitors charge?
Marketing Plan
How do we get from here to there? Marketing must be distinguished from sales. Marketing is the art (and science) of identifying a need and then developing a strategic plan to satisfy it with convincing prospective buyers to purchase your product or service.
Marketing Objectives: What do we intend to do?
Positioning/Repositioning: How do we want to be perceived by the customer?
Advertising: How much do we want to spend (and where) on advertising?
Editorial: Identify individuals in the organization that can write technical articles to be published in trade journals. Plan to write a minimum number of articles each year.
Public Relations: Send press releases, product announcements, and sales announcements to the trade journals and industry association journals of your customers at every opportunity.
One-on-One Contact: Many companies choose their sources because of a solid personal relationship with their vendors.
Trade Shows: Determine the trade shows and industry association meetings you want to attend.
Direct Mail: Is direct mail advertising appropriate for your business? Plan the number of campaigns you want to do each year.
Telephone Marketing: Is telephone selling appropriate for your business?
Corporate Capabilities Brochure: This is a brochure outlining the capabilities of your organization.
Sales support Materials: Other Printed materials used by sales.
World Wide Web Presence: A home page or website outlining your company's strengths.
Sales plan
No single aspect of the business is more important than determining how to sell. Without sales there is no business, no matter how well production, marketing research, and other functions are handled. Your plan must first address the question of exactly how your product or service will be sold.
Sales objectives: Outline specific measurable objectives.
Pricing: How do we intend to price our products?
Commissions: Everyone involves in selling needs incentives. The incentives must be properly structured and clearly explained if they are to be effective.
Discounts: Company policy should be determined as to the discounts and those doing the selling should be aware of the policy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An important thing to keep in mind is that this type of plan is a starting point. It should be reviewed often and changes should be made accordingly. After all, as Dwight D. Eisenhower said, "In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable."

P.S. Add Giving Back to your 2007 Marketing Plan!!

Rich Came to Denver!

Jessica Hughes (Ambiance Staging) — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 13:15:38 -0600

When I read that on Maureen's blog that Kristal had spotted Rich shoveling snow in Denver, I thought what a gentleman! I wish he'd stop by to do my driveway! That'll never happen right?? A bit later, imagine my surprise when I heard a kufuffle and rukus going on outside, and opened my door to find none other than our own fine Rich Jacobson, decked in a festive hat; dutifully shovelling snow. It took him a good hour to finish the whole driveway, after which he insisted on clearing my elderly neighbors drive and clearing her car off to boot. What a nice guy! A steaming cup of hot chocolate compliments of old Mrs. Forester was his reward.

I figured by this time he had worked up an appetite so I invited him out to lunch, my treat. Knowing how much he loves sushi, we decided to pay a visit to the best sushi bar here in Boulder. After stuffing ourselved silly on nigiri (BTW, Rich, you're gonna have to start watching that belly, you'r not getting any younger you know!) and a few bottles of Sapporo later, Rich said it was time to move on.

There was a tense moment when I remembered that Denver International Airport, DIA was closed due to the huge snowfall! But Rich assured me that he had arranged for alternative means of transport. He also said something about having a lot of travelling to do coming up later this week, and that his mode of transportation was very reliable and very fast! I wonder what could be faster than an airplane??

As we parted I wished him a wonderful bicentennial celebration and we toasted our sake to 50 more! I was feeling embarrassed that I didn't have a birthday gift for him. In fairness, I wasn't expecting him, but I usually have something around the house, you know those reject re-gifts, that can be used in a pinch? But we are so strapped this Christmas that I've set aside all my re-gifts for family and have been crocheting pot-holders for the rest. Then I remembered that after our recent snow I discovered a possible new source of income, and had some samples in my car. I gave him a free sample! Rich said there should be a great market for this on Ebay!

Happy Birthday Rich!!

5 Things you Don't Know About Me.

Jessica Hughes (Ambiance Staging) — Sun, 17 Dec 2006 12:07:30 -0600

Wow, I go away for a day and get memed twice! Just when I thought the rain was letting up!

I'm participating in the Active Rain Mini-Meme. To fulfill the requirements of the game I have to tag 3 new people and to tell you all 5 things about myself that no one knows.

For those of you who don't know what a meme is (neither did I until this morning). According to Mary McKnight who was the inspiration for this community building tool:

It's a thought stream carried from one person to another, or, to be more precise, a "unit of cultural information transferable from one mind to the other," so says Wikipedia. Basically, it's the blogging equivalent of a chain letter. The cool thing about blogging is that the meme can be tracked. Entire websites are devoted to doing just that.

I'm tagging: My 35 week Buddha Belly

Mitchell Hall
Kelly Mitchell
Val Allocco

My responses are:

1. I was home schooled for most of my primary shcool education- 3rd through 8th grade.
2. I used to compete as an ice skater, and later taught figure skating to Neil Bush's children (President Bush's neice and nephew).
3. I was accpeted into medical school and was planning on going right after I took a year off to 'recuperate' from undergrad. It never happend. I moved to England instead to start my own business selling machinery into the packaging industry.
4. I almost married my high school sweetheart when I was 22 years old. We had been together over 7 years at that point. About 1 month before the wedding I freaked and backed out. The invitations had been sent, deposits paid. At the time it was traumatic, but now all I can say is PHEW! My parents were very understanding and supportive: they said better to cancel a wedding than to get a divorce later; HOW TRUE! The funny thing is that I still ended up getting married twice! My husband is British, so we got married (on paper) the 10th of Feb. 2003 to speed the immigration process, and the second time (the ceremony) on the 25th of May 2003.
5. My second daughter Eloise was born at home (with the aid of a midwife) after 5 hours of labor. I'm a pretty 'hippy' mom, so experiencing natural childbirth was important to me. I found it to be both a wonderful and empowering experience (with both my girls!).

Thats all folks!

Lolita the Lammy

Jessica Hughes (Ambiance Staging) — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 22:20:10 -0600

This the first post in a series about our beloved collection classic vehicles. My husband, a classic car lover, owns a 1962 Series IIa Land Rover which we had shipped from England when we moved to the States; but that story is for another day!

This story is about MY ‘baby', which happens to be a Lambretta Motorscooter; the 1956 LD 150 manufactured by Innocenti. I first became fascinated by classic scooters when I moved to England in 1997, and was spending a lot of time traveling to Italy among many European Countries.

I loved their classic lines, their ease of use, and fuel economy (well, compared to cars anyway!). I almost bought one to bring back with me when I moved back to the States, but didn't quite make it happen. Then one day, shortly after I discovered EBay, I lost my head and bid on a 56' Lammy, thinking that I wouldn't possibly win it. I did! Well, I was a proud owner of my little scooter, but the problem was that it lived in Nevada, and I in Colorado.

There was only one thing to do: fly out to Vegas, rent a moving truck to pick up Lolita (yep, that's her name) and drive her back home.

This would turn out to be one of the greatest adventures of my life. My husband and I flew out to Las Vegas, Nevada together and picked up Lolita. She was everything I could have hoped for and more! That night we stayed in the Hotel Bellagio, which had a stunning art display in the lobby with 2,000 blown glass flowers on the ceiling. We decided it was worth the ‘splurge' since we were camping for the rest of the trip back home. We drove down "The Strip" together on Lolita, one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life. We discovered that we were able to park her right at the entrance to each hotel/casino; my husband simply explained, with his lovely accent ;) that we had no way to lock her, she could be easily stolen so we wanted her to be in a safe place; and all the security guards & concierges' were more than happy to oblige. It was like having a VIP tour of Vegas.

The next day we drove to toward the Grand Canyon (which I had seen once before) via Boulder City and the Hoover Dam. What a masterpiece of engineering.

I have to tell this funny story which still makes me laugh to this day. When we arrived in Grand Canyon National Park the light was fading fast and we found ourselves cruising down rim road trying to get a glimpse of the canyon before the last rays were gone. I thought it best to park the truck and leg it by foot to the canyon trail, which, looked very close on the map. After walking for a few minutes my husband became frustrated & grabbed the map to see for himself in response to my latest: "just a few more yards for sure!"

With a voice full of despair he exclaimed, "Are you crazy? The canyon is at least a mile away from here, maybe even two!!" "Look, here we are and here's the river! "We'll never get there in time!"

I looked at him and started laughing! Pointing at the map: "And here's the rim of the canyon" "Holy moly" (or something similar) says he "I had no IDEA it was THAT BIG!"

"That's why they call it the Grand Canyon" said I with a smug look on my face. We carried on up the slight hill through the woods and a minute later we were looking out over the vast expanse that is the Grand Canyon all alight with the golds and reds of the setting sun's rays. That was a moment to remember!

The next day we did the rim to river hike and back. A grueling 15 mile hike, but absolutely stunning! Next time we're planning on taking one of those river rafting tours, river to rim is more my style. After another night in the park, recovering from our hike, we took the scooter out for a run on the rim trail very early in the morning. Though we technically shouldn't have had a motorized vehicle on the walking trail, it was worth the trespass; luckily we encountered no other pedestrians at that time of the morning. The view was breathtaking and all during the ride I was giddy with the thrill of glancing down into the abyss. Another unforgettable moment.

Next stop on our list was Williams, Arizona, a quaint old town on the Historic Route 66, and terminus of the Grand Canyon Railway (which I hope to ride someday). Of course we had to unload Lolita again to give her a quick run on the 66! I recommend Pancho McGillicuddys if you're in the area. A neat little Mexican restaurant with nice outdoor patio overlooking the train station. We also enjoyed the little gas station museum and the 50's style gift shops. We spent the next day in Flagstaff, Arizona, one of my favorite small cities in the United States. It was there that I learned that knitting was the ‘new yoga'! All I have to say is whoever coined that term must not know how irritating it can be to try to knit when you really aren't good at it! Not relaxing in the least! But I digress..........

After our stay in Flagstaff we drove to Mesa Verde, Colorado via the Four Corners where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet. Mesa Verde, with over 4,000 archeological sites built between 600 and 1300 AD, contains some of the most significant archaeological findings in the world, including the famous cliff dwellings. There had been a great fire 2 years before our trip, and much of the landscape still looked a desolate graveyard of trees; but the fire had uncovered more than 1,000 archeological sites, most previously unknown. The fire also provided us with ample wood for our camp that night. After watching the sun set in the park, we cruised to Durango, Colorado to find our accommodation for the evening (in the dark). Luckily there's a lot of camping options in Colorado! There are many great restaurants to choose from in downtown Durango, but the one we chose shall remain anonymous because they graciously allowed us to cork our wine bottle and take it with us (I wouldn't want to get them in trouble). After dinner we went back to our riverside campsite, and drank the rest of our wine by the warmth of the fire under a limitless starry sky.

The next day we decided to take a detour and stop by Sand Dunes National Park, nestled in the Sangre de Cristo mountain range, on our way back. The highest dunes in North America (the tallest being 750 feet from base to crest), this 30 square mile ‘mini-desert' nestled at 8,000 feet above seal level is a stunning natural phenomenon. It also happens to be a lot of fun, especially if you have a cardboard box with you!

Our last stop on the way home was The Garden of the Gods near Colorado Springs, Colorado. We had taken some friends/family there when they came over for our wedding a few months prior, but this time as we were on our own, we had the chance to get in some bouldering.

What had taken us 2 hours to traverse by plane, took 6 days by car to cover! By all accounts, it was the best road trip I've ever been on; and my husband (having only lived in the United States 1 year at that time) was blown away by the vast size and scale of everything he saw. It was wonderful to see it all again through his ‘virgin' eyes. And of course, the best part about it all, is that I have my lovely Lolita to thank for it!

THE END

Come and join us in the Car Buffs group and share your experiences or love affairs with your cars, past present and future!

ActiveRain & Staging

Jessica Hughes (Ambiance Staging) — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 04:54:57 -0600

There have been a number of posts here recently about how some stagers are having difficulty convincing realtors to use their services. Many have voiced frustrations about ‘selling' the concept of staging to potential clients. In response to this I feel compelled to point out the following:

1. It is as much about selling ourselves, the art of marketing ourselves than it is about staging.

2. We are sitting on a gold mine of valuable information here on Active Rain that can help us do this.
Case in point: I had a meeting with an agent last week to discuss my services and to negotiate a contract with him to do consultations for all his future listings. The negotiation was successful. Was it because I relentlessly persuaded him of the benefits of staging? Maybe, to some extent ;) Being new in the business as I am, my portfolio certainly wasn't as impressive as it could have been. Being new also means that I don't have a long list of satisfied clients to refer him to.

However, as we chatted over coffee, I was able to demonstrate my in depth knowledge of real estate trends; many specific to our market. We talked about Erin Toll, the new director of the Colorado Division of Real Estate. I asked if he had seen her speak, and he seemingly taken aback, replied that he had not, had I? Well, I explained that I though I had not, I had read about a recent WCR meeting. Thanks to Kristal Kraft I was able to give him a brief synopsis about Ms. Toll stating her intent to weed out the unethical players in our industry. Which lead to the discussion of the high rate of foreclosures here in Colorado. "Well", he said, "you know Colorado is #1 in the nation for foreclosures". "Actually", said I, "that statistic is rather misleading, as there are 3 different sources that track foreclosures and only one of the 3 (a California based company) lists Colorado as #1. The other 2 sources list Colorado as being 13^th and 8^th down the line. It all has to do with the way in which Colorado is required to report foreclosures; there was an article about it in the Denver Business Journal I would be happy to send it to you if you're interested." "Sure, that would be great."

Talking about how statistics can always be manipulated to serve the best interests of the quoting party, we got onto the subject of listing homes online and the recent NAR statistics of how many people conduct internet research before buying a home.

Which lead us to discuss strategies for online marketing, websites, SEO, and how the future will look with web 2.0.

Thanks to Mary McKnight I could tell him how much he should be paying for search engine optimization.

Thanks to Bryant Tutus I could ask this agent about price ranging & plant the seed there.

Thanks to Craig Schiller I was able to emphasize the importance of quality photographs for the listing with an air of expertise, and to further explain that I offer as part of my service, professional ‘after' photographs for his web listing and flyers.

Thanks to Sarah Lipnitz I gave him a great new idea for how to attract more traffic to open houses.

Thanks to many here on ActiveRain I was able to intelligently discuss the happenings with Zillow.

"I'm amazed" he says! "You even have your own blog?" "How do you do it?" "How do you know so much?" That's when I tell him about ActiveRain and how to join. I think THAT was the deal clincher ;)

In conclusion, fellow stagers, the more you can bring to the table, the more value added. Give realtors marketing tips, strategies, and information and they will certainly value you more! Use the knowledge you have access to here in ActiveRain to validate yourself.

Thank you ActiveRain, thank you Matt, Jonathon, and Caleb for giving me the tools! P.S. I think I'm going to need some of those AR business cards!

Staging it forward.................

Ode to my daughter.........

Jessica Hughes (Ambiance Staging) — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 21:07:32 -0600

The photo you see was taken by my 2 year old daughter Adeline. It is the last image that my Panasonic Lumix Digital will ever take, may it rest in peace. I was downloading photos from my camera onto the computer the other day when my daughter chimed in that she wanted to ‘take a picture of weezy' (her 6 month old sister Eloise). How cute! So I gave her the camera and she took the shot like a pro. Then she threw the camera on the ground and jammed the *!%&* lens.

As soon as my frustration subsided, I suddenly realized that this was a blessing in disguise. Although I love my 35mm, it's use has dwindled over the last few years, to the point where it now just collects dust. I am going to get back into photography and this time I'm going digital! I have to admit I've been drooling over the digital SLR's for quite a while; now my time has come.

Especially since the Staging business demands that I have a decent camera for the "After" shots. A good quality wide angle is needed for interior shots and digital SLR's are the only way to get em'. Reading Craig Shiller's blog on photo editing and how critical good photographs are inspired me to go all out and get a really nice getup! Now I'll be able to offer as an added value to my service amazing shots for the realtor to use in their MLS and flyers. Now I just have to figure out how to use the camera and the photo editing software!

So without further ado, I would like you to meet my new best friend. A Canon XTi with the 17-85mm f4/5.6 USM *IS* lens!!! AND I got the Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5 - 4.5 USM wideangle lens. I will be posting some shots as soon as it comes in the mail! With the uv filters, hoods, memory, etc it cost a pretty penny.

I would like to formally thank my daughter Adeline for breaking my camera, Craig for inspiring me & my dear husband Stuart for letting me spend the money!

I am so excited!!!!!!!!

P.S. Adeline, you are not allowed to play with mommy's new toy!!