ambiance staging: On A Roll! Staging SOLD a Longmont Home - 11/05/08 02:44 PM
I gotta tell ya that I'm so pleased with the ROLL we are on! The real estate market here in Boulder County, although admittedly feeling a slowdown, is still holding strong in comparison to the state of Colorado overall... and even to many markets nationwide.
However most people here in Boulder County are taking a 'wait and see' attitude, so volume has gone way down. Hence, most of the clients we are working with are selling because they have to sell, not necessarily because they want to.
So... in this market selling clients on Home Staging is more difficult than ever … (11 comments)
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ambiance staging: Cafe of Life: The perfect "Thank You" - 06/16/07 12:49 PM
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 … (10 comments)
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ambiance staging: Armed and Dangerous! - 06/14/07 10:43 AM
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 … (30 comments)
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ambiance staging: Don't call us we'll call you... - 04/19/07 12:48 AM
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 … (36 comments)
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ambiance staging: My New Favorite Pillows - 04/14/07 12:48 PM
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. … (19 comments)
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ambiance staging: Marketing yourself: Staging Shows - 04/05/07 02:02 AM
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. … (16 comments)
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ambiance staging: Ambiance Staging is Growing! - 04/04/07 12:56 PM
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 … (17 comments)
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ambiance staging: My blog was published as an article! - 01/30/07 02:43 PM
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 … (29 comments)
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ambiance staging: Staging 2.0: The Next Level - 01/21/07 03:48 AM
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 … (28 comments)
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ambiance staging: Hey it's 2007! Where to go from here? - 01/01/07 08:02 PM
"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 … (32 comments)
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ambiance staging: ActiveRain & Staging - 12/10/06 04:54 AM
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 … (26 comments)
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ambiance staging: Ode to my daughter......... - 12/06/06 09:07 PM
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 … (17 comments)
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ambiance staging: That's why they are called ACCESSORIES - 11/30/06 09:53 PM
My daughter illustrates my point perfectly. An accessory is:
ac·ces·so·ry ( k-s s -r ) n. pl. ac·ces·so·ries 1. a. A subordinate or supplementary item; an adjunct.b. Something nonessential but desirable that contributes to an effect or result. See Synonyms at appendage.adj. 1. Having a secondary, supplementary, or subordinate function.
The listing I did a bid on today for staging reminded me of one of my pet peeves. I often see vacant listings on the market that the realtor or the home owner has ‘spruced up' with accessories. The wooden watermelon slice on the counter, a few baskets over the fridge, a … (7 comments)
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ambiance staging: 6 ½ Reasons NOT To Stage (Part II) - 11/01/06 03:22 PM
This time in reverse order, Letterman style! (A followup to 6 ½ reasons To Stage)
#6 You have a fabulous sense of style and know that your home doesn’t need staging. The faux zebra pillows and bronze monkey chandeliers are the IN thing. <--
#5 You are secretly afraid that you’ll like the way your home turned out so much you won’t want to sell it. -->
#4 You know that your home is ridiculously overpriced and that staging won’t make a difference. <--
#3 You prefer to blame it on your real estate agent, you can always get a new one every 4 months … (23 comments)
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ambiance staging: 6½ Reasons To Stage - 11/01/06 12:33 AM
As per Craig's request on my Listmania blog. Drumroll Please!!! THE TOP 6 ½ REASONS TO STAGE
#1 Staging gives the best first impression to potential buyers. Stagers strive to provide an ambiance that emotionally connects buyers to your home. A good stager will have researched the current trends in the market as well as the buyer demographics in the local area. If your demographic is mid thirties couples with 1.2 children, then that is the target style they will use. However, if your area attracts mainly baby boomers seeking a second home for vacationing a different style is called for. … (13 comments)
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