I am so fortunate to have such a lovely and versatile staging assistant.  Chloe works behind the scenes making my job easier.   She is a self-starter....when she sees a task that needs attending to, she jumps right in and does it.   

I would like to share some photos of her on the job:

Inspecting newly acquired inventory

Selecting artwork

Choosing the right accessories

Arranging flowers -- her favorite task! 

Making sure all the proper tools are in the staging bag!   

Helping to locate my purse and keys!    

Helping prepare for a staging workshop!     

Proofreading -- No need for spell check when she is on duty!       

Sticking her toes in the marketing arena!    

I recently saw a staging show on HGTV in which the staged living room was beautifully arranged but, at the same time, was an example of poor staging.  Poor Staging??? In a beautiful room on HGTV?  How can that be? 

Misuse of focal points! 

Rather than put the emphasis on the room's focal point, a large picture window, the stager opted to put the sofa in front of the window thus preventing potential buyers from being able to walk over and see the view.   But that was not her worst offense!  You are NOT going to believe this!!!  She brought in a RENTED fireplace to serve as the focal point.  Not only did she neglect to play up the room's one and only architectural feature, she taunted potential buyers by focusing on a fireplace that would not be staying with the house. 

Sometimes in our zealousness to make the rooms look inviting and functional, we neglect to highlight the home's best features....the one's that stay with the home after the furniture has been moved out.  They are the home's real stars! 

• Buyers want  to walk over to the window in the living room and be able to see the neighborhood without having to lean over a sofa to do it.
  
• Buyers want to appreciate the uniquely arched windows without trying to imagine how they would look without the inexpensive topper cutting them in half.
  
• Buyers shouldn't have to stand up on a bed, that is using the window as a headboard, in order to see what the backyard looks like.
  
• Buyers love bay windows!  They want to see them in all their glory; not have them half-hidden by a sofa.
  
• Buyers want to see the lovely hardwood floors without having to lift up decorative rugs that cover ¾ of the space.

There have been some discussions here on AR about the differences between interior decorating and staging.  To me it comes down to the focal points.  In staging, the focal point always, always, always stays with the house!

When I was in the planning phase of my Home Staging business, I worked out a deal with a Realtor friend.  I staged her house in exchange for the privilege of taking before and after photos for my portfolio.  Since she lived two hours away, this involved me staying at her house for a couple of days.  It also included a variety of shopping trips in search of the perfect accessories.

I came away from that experience with more than just some great before and after photos.  I had the privilege of observing a networking pro in action!  My friend took advantage of any and all opportunities to hand out her business card to everyone we met...from the wait staff in restaurants to the people in line at Pier 1 or Marshall's.  

Not only did she give out a lot of business cards, she had a clever way of minimizing the likelihood that they would end up in a dumpster.  When she handed a business card to someone, she did so with a big dose of WIIFM.  (What's in it for me?)

 She would smile and say "hello" to everyone she came into contact with.   When the timing was right, she would hand them a business card and verbally instruct them to write their name and phone number on the back of the card and then to put it in their wallet for safekeeping. The puzzled looks on their faces quickly turned to smiles when she told them that, should that card ever find it's way back to her, after close of escrow, her friend "Benjamin Franklin" would be on his way to see them.  She kept  a crisp, new $100 bill in her purse to show to anyone who needed a little extra incentive.

I asked her how many times she had to send "Ben" on a trip and she said, "Ben was a frequent flyer!" 

Unfortunately, I never mastered that technique. As a stager who predominantly does consultations and hands-on staging of occupied homes, setting up a travel itinerary for Ben Franklin was too rich for my blood.  And sending Alexander Hamilton in his place just didn't have the same allure.

After having this info lie dormant in the recesses of my mind, I recently had an epiphany...in a convenience store.   The prospect of being rewarded with $10 is not likely to stir up much interest, but what if the $10 was transformed into 10 chances of winning a lottery?

As I waited my turn at the counter, I envisioned myself passing out business cards and saying, "If this card lands in my hands after payment for a consultation or hands-on staging, $10 worth of lottery tickets will land in yours!!!" 

Woo Hoo!!! Visions of huge jackpots and rolling in dough would surely be great motivators for passing along my card.

And I intend to make it crystal clear that this offer only applies to completed transactions...not inquiries or free estimates.

This should make it easier to hand out  business cards to everyone I meet.  Because, not only would it be beneficial to me, it could possibly benefit them as well....in more ways than one!  Who wouldn't want to receive $10 worth of lottery tickets for doing nothing more than giving a business card to a friend or family member? It would also be an incentive to hold onto the card in hopes that they or someone they know would be able to use it in the future.

So what you do think, is it worth a try? 

You know you didn't stage those rooms.  So why are those photos in your portfolio?  Whew...there, I said it!!!  My grievance is with stagers who pass off someone else's work as their own in their portfolios.  My very first blog on AR, almost a year ago, was about this very subject.  However, I was a lot nicer in that one and was indeed wearing my kid gloves.  Not anymore.  Taking them off and flinging them into the ring!  

So what's the big deal?  Why am I getting myself so worked up?  Since joining AR, I have seen many photos on staging websites that I know were not done by that particular stager.  Most of the time, I knew they were stock photos provided by their staging training company.  However, I cannot recall ever seeing a staging website, in which stock photos were used, that had a disclaimer explaining that the photos were not actually work performed by the stager.  But rather stock photos intended to show the benefits of staging.  A website with such a disclaimer would not be deceitful but neither would it bring in much business.  

As the numbers of stagers on AR increased, I began seeing even more stock photos.  I figured no harm done.   They are only hurting themselves.  I was wrong!   Let's say a Realtor or homeowner hires a stager based on the quality of work presented in her portfolio.  If the result of that staging project turns out to be far inferior to what was represented in the portfolio, it doesn't bode well for the industry as a whole.  They could get the impression that all stagers practice deceptive measures.  It is my opinion that some of the "bad stagers", who use tricks to cover up flaws rather than having them repaired, may be some of the same ones who think it is okay to pass off photos of someone else's work as their own.

Even though your training company says it is okay to use stock photos to show what staging can do, your common sense should tell you that it really is NOT okay.  Someone interested in hiring you to stage their listing or home doesn't want to see examples of what staging can do...they want to see what YOU can do!   

Do you think that no one will notice that you used stock photos?  Well, the chances of keeping that little secret decreased sharply when you joined Active Rain.  Stagers on here are very savvy.  We check out each other's websites.  We are familiar with many of the staging training websites and online furniture rental stores.  Some of us use Clip Art in our blogs so your chances of getting something by us are quite slim.  And we stick together.  We want to help each other succeed.  However, Active Rain is a community and we are forming relationships with Realtors.  We are asking them to trust us with their clients.  How can we gain their trust when we stand by and allow them to be deceived?   

A few weeks ago, I enjoyed reading a blog from a realtor on AR explaining how he had been searching for a stager and had finally found one that he thought would work well with his team.  He praised her professionalism and knowledge of staging.  He made her sound so special that I wanted to learn more about her.  I clicked on the link to her webpage and immediately went to her portfolio section.  What a letdown!!!  I was so disappointed!!  I had never been to her website before yet I immediately recognized the set of before and after photos on the first page.  They were the same ones used on the cover of a staging book written by the owner of one of the larger staging companies.  When I clicked on the portfolio....the disappointment deepened.  Out of about 6 sets of before and afters, there was only 1 set that I couldn't say absolutely for sure that they were indeed stock photos.  The other five...I was 100% sure because I had seen them so many times.   She may truly be a very talented stager but, unless she told him the truth about her portfolio, she entered into that business relationship with deceit.  My first instinct was to contact the stager and ask her if she told him about the stock photos.  For a fleeting moment, I wanted to e-mail the Realtor and ask him if he knew about the stock photos.  In the end, I decided it was really none of my business so I opted to do nothing.

What pushed me over the edge and made me mad enough to finally speak out was when I clicked on a blog posted in the Stage It Forward group just a few days ago.  I wanted to know more about the poster so I went to her website and clicked on "gallery".  I think steam is still coming out of my ears from what I saw there.  I recognized each and every one of those sets of before and after photos....but they were not stock photos.  They were photos that she cut and pasted from another stager's website...one who is a personal friend of mine.  We are talking about plagiarism as well as deception.  That is why I am so mad!  If that stager thinks nothing of deceiving people on her website, what does she do when she is hired to stage a house?

This has to stop!!!  Fellow AR stagers, we can't keep overlooking this issue.  We all know it is being done.  We keep quiet in allegiance with our fellow stagers.  Well, what about the Realtors who are being deceived?  They need our support!  We can't just keep sweeping this under the rug.  We have to take a stand and say, "This is unacceptable and we are not going to look the other way any more."  I am not talking about whistle blowing or public humiliation...no need to go to those extremes!   A good place to start would be to send a copy of this blog to any stager that you know for sure is using photos of someone else's work.  If you do contact someone you know for sure is using stock or shared photos, be sure to do it in the spirit of Stage It Forward.  Do not accuse, condemn or chastise.  The goal is to make them aware of the disadvantages of using photos of someone else's work since it is possible that they may only be familiar with the advantages. 

Since joining AR, I personally have sent brief e-mail to 2 stagers that I knew were using photos of someone else's work...one was using photos from her training school and the other was a photo directly from the pages of Cort Furniture's online catalog.  Both of them thanked me for the information and immediately removed the photos in question. 

If you find photos that you know have been taken from another stager's website, it is best to inform the stager and let her decide the best course of action.  I have already informed my stager friend about my discovery and she confirmed that those photos were definitely used without her permission.  

AR Realtors have been so forthcoming in their willingness to learn more about staging and form relationships with stagers.  I feel the least we can do is give them tools to determine whether the stager they are interviewing is qualified to do the job.  So I am working on a blog just for Realtors entitled "How to Tell Whether Your Stager Can Do What He/She Says He/She Can Do!"  It will include tips to help decipher whether or not the photos are of work done by that particular stager.  Also included will be questions to ask when interviewing a stager to further prove that the portfolio contains all original photos.  Be looking for it.  

I am also working on a "how-to" blog for stagers who really want to use photos of their own work but don't know where to start.  It is intended for those who truly didn't realize that using stock photos in their portfolio was a no-no.  Be looking for it.

Stagers and Realtors, your comments and thoughts on this issue will be greatly appreciated to reassure me that I didn't go too far out on a limb in tackling this extremely sensitive subject! 

If you didn't stage it, don't show it! 

Being a member of Active Rain has given me a pretty good idea of how the majority of real estate agents regard home staging.  Most seem to be for it!   For quite some time, I have been searching for a forum that would allow us to see what potential buyers and sellers thought about staging.  And finally I found it!  Click here: Oh, dear....(staging) - Topic Powered by eve community  It is from the HGTV message boards under the category Buying and Selling Homes.   

The phrase "be careful what you wish for" comes to mind in this circumstance because I wasn't quite prepared for just how candid those responses would be.  Even though these opinions were expressed by only a handful of viewers, it still gives valuable insight as to how staging is perceived by both buyers and sellers.  Reading these posts was a real eye opener for me.  And painful, too!  However, just like the homeowners on the staging shows who have to listen to the frank comments of people touring their homes,  we do have to take to heart what is being said.  We are strong!  We can handle it!  

I was taken aback by the many things they perceived as being true that we would view as misconceptions; such as:  

• Staging is a fad. 
• A house that that has been cleaned, decluttered and recently painted IS staged.
• Professional staging gets tacked on to the asking price.
• Staging should only be for vacant or model homes.
• New furniture must be brought in to properly stage a house.
• Staging was invented in order to supersede interior design.
• Staging is fake decor.
• Suggestions for preparing a house to sell should only come from a realtor as they know the market.  

There were a few posts in defense of staging but they were mostly from home stagers or sellers whose homes were staged by their Realtors.  Some of the other concerns mentioned were:  

• Having a sign in the yard stating that the home has been professionally staged.  The assumptions were that the house was staged free of charge by a new stager or that the homeowner got a reduced rate by allowing the advertising.  They feel that  a house should not be advertised as staged by a professional staging company anymore than it should be advertised that it was freshly cleaned by a commercial cleaning company.  One mentioned that, while house hunting with her spouse, they purposely never stopped to view homes that had a rider on the sign stating that the home was staged.  Their perception was that  staging was being touted as a feature of the home rather than a provided service.  The consensus was that it is okay to advertise that the house was staged in a vacant home but not so in an occupied one.  
  
  
• Staging should be invisible...not contrived.  One person stated that if she was viewing an obviously staged home, she would be more interested in critiquing the stager's abilities than focusing her attention on the house.  Another felt that staging was manipulative and somewhat desperate.  Potential buyers were turned off by homes that were staged with fake lemonade set ups on the porches, open novels on tables next to reading chairs, and having all the tables in the house, including the patio,  set for company--complete with fake food.   
  
  
• Several posters stated that they hated staging.  As both a stager and homeowner whose homes sold quickly and profitably as a result of staging, I just can't fathom how anyone could hate staging.

Now that we know what buyers and sellers are thinking, we need to address these concerns and make sure that our marketing materials and blogs clear up the misconceptions.  We also need to make sure that our staging efforts are not being perceived as "contrived".   

I welcome any thoughts or suggestions on ways to address these issues.  Go to Oh, dear....(staging) - Topic Powered by eve community  and let me know if I missed any important points. 

One of the mantras I hear most often when doing a home staging consultation is: "I am selling my house...not my stuff.....why can't buyers just look past my things and concentrate on the house?"  Easier said than done.  Even if they can overlook the deerhead over the urinal, worn out furniture and an extensive doll collection, they can't overlook how they feel when standing in a room that is uninviting or overcrowded.  It is all about emotions....how  buyers feel when they are in the room. 

When buyers walk into a house that is freshly painted in a neutral color, with plenty of light, and just enough decorative touches and furnishings to make the space feel welcoming....they feel good...they feel like they could live there.  They may not know why they feel good....only that they do.  They are not going to focus on the couch or the bedspreads....their eyes will be directed to the views, arched doorways, fireplaces, granite countertops, hardwood floors, etc....because they are the focal points and the house is staged to make sure they are the stars.  When buyers feel good immediately upon entering the house, they focus their attention on things that help continue that feeling. 

Buyers do the opposite when in a home that makes them feel uncomfortable such as one that is dark, cluttered, with furniture that is poorly arranged.  They may not understand why they don't get good vibes from the room so they begin focusing on the worn out couch or the doilies on the coffee table....even though those are items that won't be staying with the house.  Buyers are soon ready to move on to the next home in hopes that it will give them the feelings they are looking for.

Staging websites, staging brochures and even staging TV shows chant the mantra "De-clutter, de-clutter, and de-clutter some more....oh, and don't forget to de-personalize and neutralize, too!"     

Could the overuse of these common terms actually be helping homeowners come to the conclusion that they really do not need staging after all?

• De-clutter:  This staging term is often used to denote "too much" of anything.  "Clutter" is usually synonymous with messy or disheveled so someone who has too much furniture in a room or too many items neatly lined up on the mantel may be thinking:  "My house is not cluttered.  There are no toys or dirty clothes on the floor.  I don't need home staging."
  
  
• De-personalize:  This is a term used by stagers to refer to anything that reveals the owner's personal tastes.  Someone who has proudly displayed a doll collection or children's artwork  may be thinking:  "I don't need someone to help me de-personalize my house.  I already took down all the family photos.  Home staging won't be necessary."
  
  
• Neutralize:  This is a staging term for anything that needs to be "toned down".  Someone whose house is decorated with animal prints and bold florals may think:  "I don't need to neutralize---all my walls are beige.  My house IS staged!"

Are we inadvertently insulting our clients with marketing messages that imply they have done something wrong?

Not many of us would be inclined to hire a housecleaning service whose marketing message is:   Let us help you de-filth, de-germ, and deodorize your house so you won't be ashamed to invite people over.  The cleaning companies don't say that they can make our homes look better than we can.  Their marketing messages imply that our homes are clean and that they want to help us keep them clean so we will have more time to enjoy other things.  This message comes across as helpful; not demeaning.

We need to describe what we do in terms that don't insinuate neglect or wrongdoing on the part of the homeowner.  Our focus shouldn't be on the things that are faulty with the house but rather on implementing methods to assure that buyers notice and fully appreciate everything that is RIGHT with it.

• Negative message:  We will help you de-clutter, de-personalize, and neutralize this space so buyers can envision themselves living here.  This implies the homeowner has done something wrong.
  
  
• Positive message:  We will eliminate eye-catching distractions and increase visual enhancements so that potential buyers can fully appreciate the home's special features and the lifestyle it offers.  This implies that you are going to make the home even better than it already is.

So, let's stop "insulting" our clients or "helping them talk themselves out of the need for our services" and start using some compelling phrases that will entice them to hire us even if it is just because we piqued their interest and they want to see just how we plan to  "remove beautiful distractions, eliminate interesting detractors, eliminate eye-catching distractions, and increase visual enhancements."

When choosing a plastic surgeon to perform your nose job or face lift, viewing before and after pictures is crucial because you want to be assured that they will do outstanding work and you will get the end results that you desire.  Would you choose a plastic surgeon who was unable to provide any before and after photos of his work?  Would you be upset or feel deceived if you found out that the plastic surgeon that just did your surgery used another surgeon's before and after pictures on his website?

Not only am I seeing lots of home staging websites with no before and after photos, I am seeing many staging websites with the same beautifully staged rooms in homes all over the country.  Thus, it is evident that there is a lot of photo sharing going on. 

I have seen some staging training websites that provide their graduates with photos for their portfolios and slideshow presentations.  The same can be said for staging workshops where a property is staged by the students.  Unless you have done a room totally by yourself, it should not be used as an example of your  work.  I have seen many websites where it is obvious that several stagers, within a tri-state area,  took the same workshop on the same day because they staged the same house! 

The training programs that supply the photos and the home stagers that use them justify it by saying they are only providing samples of what staging can do.  The realtor or homeowner who has found your webpage through  a Google search for "home staging" already has an idea of what staging can do....they want to know what YOU can do!  In my opinion it is deceptive to pass someone else's work off as your own.

Questions for realtors to ask when interviewing home stagers:

• Did you stage this home by yourself?
• Are these photos taken of work that was personally done by you?
• Are these stock photos?
• Were the photos taken during a staging training workshop?  If the answer is yes, ask how much of the work was done by them without help from other students or the instructor.
• Ask to see photos of the stager's original work.

If you are a home stager just starting out and need to build your portfolio, begin by staging and photographing your own home as well as the homes of your friends and family.  This not only gives you the pictures you need but also some confidence-building hands-on experience.