Karen Schaefer's Blog

Sick as a Dog...With one Good Idea to Change the World

Karen Schaefer (APSD - The Association of Property Scene Designers) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 13:14:55 -0800

Where does the expression 'sick as a dog' come from...I don't know but I know I had a sick husband all week, a sick dog all week...they are both better, but can you see where I am going with this? If you guessed that I am 'sick as a dog' you guessed correctly! The nice part...Pete cleaned the bathrooms! Whoo hoo...maybe this isn't so bad after all! The other nice part is that since I can't concentrate, I had the idea to just sit with a notebook and come up with a million ideas, thoughts, and concepts---and just write them down. I figured I could then go through the good ones ( I mean how many could there be since I was in a cold medicine induced fog?)later and put some further thought into them. I promptly listed 3, not a million, before I fell asleep (see above comment about cold medicine) but I have to admit, 10 hours and an entire box of Kleenex later...I came up with 1 great idea from those 3. That is a 30% success average which I thought was really good. No, in case you are wondering, I am not going to tell you the idea, but you will experience it shortly and for those of you keeping tabs, you may see the subtle reference and recognize it...however, my point is, I stopped, thought and came up with one amazing idea that I will now implement. If you had just one amazing idea today (don't get this confused with the 'bright, shiny object' syndrome)could you change your business, change your life, change the world? Do you know that Nelson Mandela started with just one idea... so did Ghandi, and so did Rosa Parks...some are big ideas and others small but look at what they did for the world. I am sure you are all thinking, 'Karen, you might just be sniffing a little too much Vicks...we are home stagers' and trust me, I get that. But right now so many people need you, your talent and your expertise...and it all starts with just one idea. One idea to help someone, to change your business, to change your life, to change a world. And really, if you could just help 1 or 10 or 100 people sell their houses faster, wouldn't that change the world? I now for certain, it at least changes their world, and yours. So today, sit down (with a box of Kleenex and a strong halls if you want to simulate my experience) and write down your one idea, that you can implement today...that will help change the world tomorrow...and YES I want to hear about it so I can cheer you one! Home Stagers Change the world...hmmm, I can see the headlines now! To your home staging success, Karen Schaefer Founder, APSD www.APSDmember.com

All I want for Christmas is 7 little men…

Karen Schaefer (APSD - The Association of Property Scene Designers) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 11:51:08 -0800

Now before I have to tell some of you to get your minds out of the gutter, let me explain. APSD is growing by leaps and bounds and I am hardly able to keep up on a daily basis. Recently we have added a new Operations Manager, a Website Manager, a Director of Training and a Director of Distribution…all of whom you will soon meet. But even then, I have been ‘cursed’ with an amazing vision and amazing members that are constantly forcing me to continue to grow, build and be the very best I can be so…help!!! I could really use Snow White’s tribe to get a few extra things done around here! I realize that many of our APSD Professional Home Stagers are also growing and regardless of whether or not you need full time staff, we all need help with different things. So, if I had 7 extra people in my life that would bow to my every whim…here is how I would use them…. 1) Grumpy- Customer Service. While we have almost ZERO negative customer service at APSD I would love to have someone whose sole purpose is to take care of our clients. To me, if you are doing things right, you don’t have to handle too many negative things, but rather practicing GOOD customer service is the way to go. In 2012, my goal is to get more calls out to clients, just to see how they are doing and find out how we can better help them to grow their home staging businesses. I want to make sure that we celebrate with our customers more often, and of course do anything possible to ensure their home staging success. Grumpy would be great at this because he would have to work harder than all the other me, it would force him to step outside of his box and really put his best foot forward every day! 2) Dopey-Event Coordination. Now this is a tough job so you are probably wondering why I have appointed ‘Dopey.’ The truth is that you have to be really laid back in order to handle all the stress and details of an event. When I do Home STAGE each year, it takes us 6 months to prepare, do the marketing, find the hotels, sort out menu’s, travel, do hand-outs and so much more. Unless you are REALLY relaxed to begin with, this can be a total nightmare. While everything happens under my direction, a full time event coordinator is in my future especially since we are taking our Home STAGE Events across the globe. What can you use help coordinating on a regular basis? 3) Sleepy- Product Creation. This is my most difficult task. I develop all the materials within our company and it is a ton of work. Not only do you have to come up with the idea, but it needs to be turned into a useable, profitable and proven system. You have to have a way to effectively and successfully communicate the message, build it into an offline and online training system, create workbooks, handouts, and even tests. Whew! Once I have the idea and the outline, that is when I would love to turn the rest of it over to Sleepy. You see the work is not difficult but it is tiresome and Sleepy would be perfect for the job. He just needs to follow my lead, cross the ‘t’s and dot the ‘I’s’ and then give it back to me to ‘sprinkle the fairy dust’ and turn the product into a true profit center for all of our home stagers. 4) Sneezy- Curb Appeal Expert. While I love Curb Appeal I think it can only be a true love if you are willing to suffer for your art…I do and so does Sneezy as we both have horrible allergies! Curb Appeal is one of the most essential components in selling a home and when you are an expert at Curb Appeal, as a professionally certified home stager, you stand out in the crowd. Curb Appeal is also one of the most searched for terms on the internet when it comes to real estate so if you can talk about Curb Appeal and showcase your APSD Curb Appeal Expert status on your website, it will also bring you more traffic! If you are not familiar with our Curb Appeal Certification program, you can find a complimentary 59 minute video at: www.APSDmembers.com/CurbAppeal 5) Doc-Head of marketing. This is a position that I am desperate to fill but being a marketing person myself, it is hard for me to let go of it. I think Doc is an in charge and confident person. Plus he is completely creative when it comes to getting others to get things done so I know his creativity would serve me well. If you are not good at getting your own marketing done, then a ‘Doc’ may be in your future…or a special marketing program I am going to announce in January so make sure you watch for it. No matter what, marketing is your most important tool when it comes to running a healthy home staging business. Whether you do it yourself, hire it out or have your own ‘Doc’ of Marketing, make sure it gets done every single day! 6) Happy-Personal Asst. I have Eve as my personal assistant and she does everything within her power to take care of me. She quietly manages my schedule, and my overload, does various tasks and always makes sure that I don’t miss a beat. My only desire is that Eve was not virtual I have never even met…but she is always happy when she talks to me which makes me feel good. I like happy people and I like to surround myself with happy people. The person that spends the most time with me is a personal assistant so they have to be happy…even when I am not! And, let’s face facts, when you have someone that is happy to help you, happy to take care of you, happy to answer the phone and happy to drop off your dry cleaning…doesn’t that make you happy in return? 7) Bashful- Head of PR. Have you ever noticed how celebrities get great PR from their press agents but you never really ‘see’ press agents? I think it is because they are bashful and living vicariously though those they promote. This is exactly the kind of person you want to promote you and your home staging business. You want them to look at all of your key selling points, such as your niche within the home staging industry, your expertise, where you do the majority of your home staging services and of course, what is really special about you. Then, have them shout it from the rooftops, post it on the internet, talk about it in social media and send it via direct mail to every single possible prospect. If you are not good at promoting yourself, get a ‘Bashful’ to do it for you! Well, there you go! Now you know what I would do if I had the help of 7 little men….what about you?

Take Your Home Staging Business To The Next Level

Karen Schaefer (APSD - The Association of Property Scene Designers) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 14:11:03 -0800

An Unprecedented Offer…. Watch my new 4 part training video series being unveiled over the next few weeks. Here’s Video #1 – Absolutely Free!!! Training Video #1: Taking your Home Staging Business to the Next Level In this video you will discover: The exact steps to creating Multiple Stream of Income How to use the BAR Formula (for marketing results) Easy process to find out your clients goals Plus much more… Watch Now at: www.apsdmembers.com/thenextstep

The 6 Secret Strategies to Selling Your Home in Today's Lousy Real Estate Market - That no one "Selling" is Telling

Karen Schaefer (APSD - The Association of Property Scene Designers) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 16:08:42 -0800

Unless you have been living under a rock or perhaps have been on an extended vacation in some far flung part of the world where they make their own huts, and barter chickens, you should know all about the down turn in the real estate market. And if you are like many people, this is not good timing because you may want or need to sell your property, but don’t even know if it is possible. Well, it is, but you have to be willing to do a few things “outside of the box…” or in this case, outside of what you are watching on your favorite Home Show. There are 6 very specific strategies to selling homes in today’s market. These strategies work for every type of house, and every type of exit strategy. 1) Know your customer—In order to be able to deliver exactly the right property to the right person, you have to know who they are, what their family is about, and their preferences. We tend to market and present (Often known as “Staging”) a property for ourselves, appealing to our own tastes and sensibilities instead of that of our customer. When we learn who they really are and appeal directly to them, vs. ourselves, the property becomes unforgettable because it “spoke” to them. 2) Don’t over or under fix- In today’s market, the buyers have all the power so they can negotiate on every single term and they don’t have to be in a hurry because there are so many choices. If you under fix a property instead of making it “apples to apples” to the other properties for sale in the neighborhood, it becomes a wholesale property, not a retail property. If you Over fix, you take a chance on intimidating the customer, making it uncomfortable for them and their family (too nice, too formal) and ultimately you will over spend for the neighborhood. Because your buyer has so much negotiation power, they can wait on you to get desperate and sell at their price, not yours, which of course forces you to lose your ROI (Return on Investment) completely. 3) Never Show an Empty Property (or one that is dirty or in the middle of a rehab) - Don’t show a property until it is ready to be shown. The buyer will try to convince you that they can imagine the transformation, but really they can’t and you will lose them as a potential buyer. It is better to show the property when it is 100% ready to be shown. People will wait on it if you do a marketing campaign to entice them to register for a private showing while you are making the property unforgettable (Just like “coming soon” in the movie industry). If you don’t wait, then the property will still be unforgettable but more for the 2x4’s with nails in them and dead flies in the bathtub…not what you are going for! 4) Brake Stopping Curb Appeal—Most people believe this means mowing the lawn and picking up the grass. That is part of it, along with trimmed hedges, flowers and a mailbox in good condition. However, that is just the foundation of Curb Appeal. To make it Brake Stopping Curb Appeal, you really need to layer in Pockets of Emotion™ to catch their eye as they roll to a stop. Give them something to really enjoy, share with their family, sneak in for a closer peak, and tickle their funny bone. No one takes the time to do this and yet, if they did, your buyer would come to a dead stop, every single time. 5) Do Personalize- It seems as though we have always been taught to de-personalize a property. I’ll admit, that used to be the case. But just as fashion changes, so do people, trends, and selling strategies. In weak or poor real estate markets, it is especially important to add personality to the home. If, as a society, we did not want to see something personal, would Reality TV be such a hit? Give your home a personality. Add bits and pieces of the family that made the house a home, like little league announcements, report cards and a photo or two. Show them a “story” about the parents, kids and pets—just make sure you really define your customer, so in essence they will be seeing themselves in the home. 6) Create Simple Appeal with Pockets of Emotion™- Everyone wants to fall in love with their new home, so give them a reason to do so. A Pocket of Emotion™ is something that is selectively placed within the scene of each room that creates extreme emotion, laughter, gives pause, causes remembrance and ultimately lets the buyer make a strong connection and fall in love with the home. In other words, you have just created an “Unforgettable” home for your buyer. For more information on Karen Schaefer and her Proven Real Estate Marketing and Home Staging Selling Strategies, go to www.APSDmembers.com/ezine

Shared Letter

Karen Schaefer (APSD - The Association of Property Scene Designers) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 12:24:57 -0700

Just wanted to share a letter written to Kristy Morrison, who is an APSD Certified Master Home Stager Trainer... Hi Kristy Hope you are doing well. This event is definitely an event I will have to plan to attend once I am more established. I can't wait to meet Karen (Schaefer of APSD) one day, she is, as you are, an inspiration to me!! Taking your course at Bell was just the beginning of what has propelled me to move more seriously in a new direction that I am so excited and passionate about. Here's a little update. I've signed up as a business and have registered a domain name for my website (which I am working on like crazy) The business is called WELCOME HOME staging and design. I have just finished Session 1 and can't wait to move on to Session 2. I am loving the way Karen is teaching the program. Her passion and excitement comes through so much. My sister just moved here from Sudbury, so I am busy staging her house to live (getting some nice shots for the website) and I have been asked about staging a couple of rental properties.... ;-) Cheers, Linda Warne

Are you ‘Afraid’ to sell your home staging services?

Karen Schaefer (APSD - The Association of Property Scene Designers) — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 13:26:35 -0700

People work too hard at selling their services vs. selling themselves these days. It seems that none of us are having fun any longer and unless your client can have some kind of fun they don’t really want to participate. And, if you can’t get them to say ‘yes’ to your home staging services, pretty soon, it won’t be fun for you either. The problem? You don’t want to fully commit, but that is what it takes…full commitment. Let me give you an example: Each year Chick filet; the chain that runs a funny tongue in cheek campaign with cows advertising for you to ‘eat more chicken’ has a cow appreciation day…if you show up dressed like a cow, with any cow theme, you get to eat for free. Last year 400,000 people dressed like cows. Their biz is up 12% and they don’t open on Sunday’s…They committed to something personally and professionally and it works. So, the question is, what are you committing to? Now, lest we all jump to conclusions and assume I am suggesting you attach a cow theme to every home you stage, allow me clarify. Today the world needs to laugh. I need it, you need it and your client needs it. Additionally, it helps your business to stand apart from every other Home Stager that is saying exactly the same thing to the same potential client. What can you say or do that is different? That will literally help you to stand out, be remembered and stay in the mind of your customers? This is reminiscent of what we do with Pockets of Emotion™ when we are staging, but for now, let’s stick with marketing. You can do a variety of things: 1) Stick with a consistent them, like Chick Fila has done, all year round. 2) Change your marketing monthly to suit your specials and occasions but with an underlying consistent message. 3) Be consistent with anything. If you choose to stick with a theme like Chick Fila has done, you need to first stop and think about who you are marketing to and what kind of theme would appeal to them. This is no different than prior to beginning to stage, you define the customer as we state in the first step of our home staging pyramid. Same thing applies. When it comes to choosing a fun marketing theme, think about what works in your marketplace. When I was only doing real estate investing, I was marketing to a funky, hippie town that was a very desirable place to live but I really had to get into the mindset of my potential seller. So, I had an artist take my image and turn me into a characature of a hippie girl and I held a big peace sign that said “Karen Buys Houses” and the tag line was “Activate your Flower Power and Join me on a Sit-in about selling your home today!” Then, I did a follow up campaign with peach patches and Cheech and Chong air freshners. Yes, it was bold but the results were amazing. I ran the campaign for 2 years. I did a similar campaign with a cowgirl theme and received the same outstanding results. These were consistent campaigns, directly targeted at my buyer and they worked for as long as I ran them. Secondly, you can also run campaigns each month to suit a special, an event or a holiday. If you do this the one mistake people make is they forget about an underlying message that must always be consistent. Even now, I run multiple Home Staging Training Campaigns throughout the year but always have a consistent message about ‘the business of home staging.’ With my own home staging company, I would run marketing campaigns every quarter to coincide with the specials I was offering and then I would always attach my tag line of “Anybody can make your house pretty, we make it sell!” By doing so, my marketing would stand out, but each time a client or prospect would receive a piece of marketing they would see my tag line and know that it was from me. Finally, as long as you are consistent with anything, it helps. It may not be chick fila but at least it will trigger memory response for your customer. This does not mean just putting out your logo will make any difference at all, it won’t. But, if you decide that you still want to market like everyone else by just using a few pretty photos and your logo and assume your client will immediately race for the phone…please, at least offer an amazing USP (Unique Selling Proposition) as I have done above. Ultimately, the more fun and consistency you can offer your customer, the better off you and your business will be. I realize I will receive flack for this as many of you will interpret this as less than professional, or less than serious…but think about it. If you had 10 people with great results or a team with great results tell you what they could do for your home, would you take the boring, serious, traditional person, or the one that also had great results, but added a bit of humor, compelling marketing and a fresh perspective? I know the answer…but you are welcome to tell me your thoughts!

The 3 magic steps to Selling Your Home in Today’s Real Estate World

Karen Schaefer (APSD - The Association of Property Scene Designers) — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 17:45:21 -0700

Unless you have stuck your fingers in your ears and started humming “Mary had a little lamb” a few years ago…and have not stopped, you are well aware of the lousy real estate market. It used to be that you could start to think about selling your house or listing and suddenly, the house selling fairy would bring you buyers. You practically didn’t have to do a thing except put a sign in the yard and wait a few weeks. Today, it is completely different and you must take action in order to sell within a reasonable number of days --the national average Days on Market is said to be about 170! -- And for a fair price. When I work with a client, given that the price is realistic and the property does not have any really unusual quirks, we focus on 3 magic steps: Staging, Curb Appeal and Marketing. It seems logical yet most people don’t focus on any of these. Surprisingly, even industry professionals miss one, two or all three. To effectively stage it, you must first clearly define the new buyer. Remember, they may not be the same as the current owner. Neighborhoods often change, so we must change the décor to appeal to and accommodate the next generation of home buyer. The previous sewing room may now need to be staged as a nursery. Next, you have to perform “brake stopping” curb appeal. Give your prospective buyer a reason to slam on their brakes when they see the outside of this house. You might be surprised by how many people would love the inside yet never even see it because the outside was unappealing. This is also a good time to surprise them and even tickle their funny bone. Try using fake birds around the bird bath to capture their attention. Finally, you must offer compelling marketing. How many “Nice 3 bedroom ranchers” do you really want to read about? Wouldn’t you rather spend your time looking at the “Home of a lifetime with gorgeous views of the mountains while still walking distance from the middle school, with special financing available now?” With so many choices of properties on the market you must be a step ahead of your competition to sell quickly and for a fair price. By following the “3 magic steps” you will leave your neighbors and fellow realtors begging for your “secret formula.” For more information on Karen Schaefer and her Proven Real Estate Marketing and Home Staging Selling Strategies, go to www.APSDmembers.com/ezine

APSD Home STAGE Training Event 2011 - Don't Miss Out!!

Karen Schaefer (APSD - The Association of Property Scene Designers) — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 09:53:14 -0700

Yes, it is possible to have it all, but you have to be ready to learn…and commit to something new, different and exciting and then be prepared to take your home staging business to the NEXT LEVEL. Whether you are a new Home Stager, already a Pro, an Interior Designer, Decorator, Real Estate Agent or Professional Organizer, this is the training you have been waiting for! At this event, you will experience: 1) “Marketing, Marketing, Marketing” : I will reveal the 19 ways to market your home staging business PLUS my 2 favorite FREE ways to get in front of up to 100 agents all at the same time…without speaking at their sales meeting! 2) 25 Streams of Income to add to your existing home staging, design and real estate business that can add up to thousands of income for you just this year! 3) Business Make-Over Sessions where Karen will literally transform your business before your very eyes! This is a ‘Tough love’ session that will change your business and your life forever!!! 4) Social Media specifically for Home Stagers. Learn how to get yourself recognized and have everyone refer YOU and your home staging company on Twitter, Facebook and all the social media sites! This session is by Kristy Morrison, APSD Certified Home Stager Trainer and owner of Capital Home Staging and Design in Ottawa, CN where they do over 40 Home Staging Jobs a month!

Just Announced - Karen Schaefer's APSD Home STAGE Training Event 2011

Karen Schaefer (APSD - The Association of Property Scene Designers) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 19:52:47 -0700

Two new locations just announced!

Buffalo, NY - November 11th and 12th, 2011 and Vancouver, BC - November 29th and 30th

Join us for the only Home Staging Training Event that focuses on the BUSINESS of Home Staging, the Effective and Copelling Marketing to Attract all the Clients you need and Money Making Strategies so you can build a great business and have a great life.

Visit www.apsdmembers.com/stage/ for more details!

Keep watching my blog as I announce further details!!

Giving your Home Staging Company Celebrity Status part 3 of 4

Karen Schaefer (APSD - The Association of Property Scene Designers) — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 15:46:05 -0700

So far in this series, we have talked about creating curiosity with Press Releases and announcements as well as giving your potential clients what they really, really, really want in order to build celebrity for your home staging business.

This week, we are going to venture into the idea of limited availability. Immediately, you will default to thinking “I have to be available all the time for my clients otherwise they won’t want me.” Actually they want you more when they can’t have you all the time.

Think back to your dating days, did you ever play ‘coy’ to get someone’s attention. Really, business is no different. Jordan McAuley of ‘Celebrity Leverage’ talks about Magnolia Bakery and how they put ‘cupcakes’ on the map by offering limited access and controlled quantities…of cupcakes!

Magnolia Bakery literally has stanchions around their entrance so people have to ‘wait in line’ to get cupcakes. Then, their VIP’s can only get up to 12 at one time. They also have limited releases on new flavors and the list goes on and on.

How does this translate to your home staging (or real estate) business? Easy. When you have a home staging client that wants to book your home staging services, tell them the two days and times that you have available each week. Don’t just say ‘when do you want to do this,’ put up your own stanchions so they know how truly in demand you really are. Let them know that you have Wednesday at 9am or Friday at 11am and ask which works best for them.

Next make sure that you make them feel like a celebrity by customizing everything you do for them. Leave your promotional information and edit it so it says “This home was prepared for Kelly Smith of ReMax Properties by Simple Appeal Home Staging.” You may even want to take a photo of you and Kelly and place it in a small frame next to your promotional information. Don’t forget to leave your business cards or flyers, along with Kelly’s so people can contact you both.

This not only celebritizes Kelly, but also your services and guess what else…that’s right! Every single agent that sees that is going to want it as well (just another way to ‘give them what they want’) and take your card and give you a call!

By the way, most agents that you work with will also let you follow up with other agents that have viewed your home staging job. When you do this, make sure you treat them as a ‘celebrity’ by commenting on their expertise in showing such a great property.

Then you can send them a follow up ‘press kit’ that includes Happy Client Comments, Information on how home staging can help their business, a small bit about you and why your business is different, your contact information, a special offer and some kind of piece that makes your business appear as a celebrity such as a newspaper clipping that was written about you that you frame.

The point to all of this is to not be 100% available and accessible because then people know you are not busy and possibly desperate which will make them question your quality of work.

By having “limited availability” in your schedule, you will begin to celebritize your business so people will want you even more than if you were constantly available.

I know that I will receive flack from some of you telling me this is poor customer service, but that is not what I have said at all. The best customer service is delivered when you manage your client’s expectations and by telling them exactly what they will receive, how and when, you will service them far better than if you keep the door open for question.

Today, put up those stanchions, systemize that business and begin to run the only celebrity driven home staging business in your town!

Karen Schaefer
Founder, APSD The Association of Property Scene Designers
The World Leader in Home Staging Training and Certification

For more information on Karen Schaefer and APSD and to receive a free home staging CD go to www.APSDmembers.com

Giving your Home Staging Company Celebrity Status part 2 of 4

Karen Schaefer (APSD - The Association of Property Scene Designers) — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 12:52:47 -0700

Last week we talked about creating curiosity and leveraging your home staging business celebrity by sending out press releases and announcements. This week, we will talk about the fine art of making your customer want what you have, often by not giving away too much too soon.

When you first release press statements, you want to make sure that you make bold statements. You need the reader or listener to sit back and say “Yes, I feel that pain” or “Wow, that is exactly what I need” or even “Can they do that for me?” When they say things like this, they are telling you that they want what you have.

So, the question is “How do I get them to say those things?” In copywriting they always say to appeal to someone’s pain or greed.

What this means is you have to determine their problem; what keeps them up at night. Many of you are thinking this sounds harsh but sometimes, you have to take drastic measures to achieve drastic results.

With one home staging job, you can change someone’s life by helping them to sell their home quickly so don’t you think they deserve to find you?

One way you can appeal to their pain or greed is by telling them your current results. You can do this by stating your DOM, how fast you sold a home in their neighborhood or by telling the story of a home that did not sell until you provided your home staging services and then it sold.

This appeals to someone’s pain that may be in a distressed situation and with you and your home staging services they see the light at the end of the tunnel and it may appeal to another person’s greed in that they see a way to make more money on the sale of their home and pay less holding costs.

Once you create curiosity, you immediately begin to build the desire. Before you know it, your home staging company will be the biggest celebrity business ever seen by your local market place.

I’ll talk to you next week!

Karen Schaefer
Founder, APSD The Association of Property Scene Designers
The World Leader in Home Staging Training and Certification

**For more information on Karen Schaefer and APSD and to receive a free home staging CD go to www.APSDmembers.com

How to Get More Home Staging and Real Estate Referrals part 5 of 5

Karen Schaefer (APSD - The Association of Property Scene Designers) — Tue, 31 May 2011 15:43:41 -0700

Attracting your Centers of Influence

In the past, I have spoken often of Centers of Influence yet it still amazes me how few people actually find them and use their extraordinary powers of connection.

Who are your Centers of Influence? It can be a mentor, a leader in your home staging or real estate field, the head of an organization or association…pretty much anyone that knows who you want to know.

For me as a Certified Home Stager, my ‘Centers of Influence’ started as a few good real estate agents, one real estate broker, a well networked real estate investor and finally, the owner of a local real estate investors club.

I took care of these people, and in turn, they took care of me. They introduced me to everyone they knew that could benefit from my home staging services, I was well spoken of from the stage, on conference calls and in emails by these Centers of Influence and they would also have me present my services during their events or meetings. It was a win-win situation. Naturally, I staged their listings and investment properties, gave them real estate marketing advice and did whatever they needed that was within my power to do.

These centers of influence allowed me to make multiple 6 figures in the home staging industry.

As I grew and developed APSD, The Association of Property Scene Designers (www.APSDmembers.com) my Centers of influence changed. While I still had my others, I now attracted new Centers based upon my needs and what I was able to offer. My new Centers were global leaders in the real estate investment arena, worldwide marketing, coaching and mentoring business owners, and CEO’s,. I was now able to give them new and different information based on my experience, expertise and connections, and they reciprocated in kind.

Because of these Centers of Influence, I have been able to expand APSD, our Home Staging Training Business into 8 countries…and we are growing. Currently, we have APSD Certified Home Stagers and Home Staging Professionals in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Puerto Rico, Ireland, Brazil, Spain and we are about to expand into France, New Zealand and soon in other parts of the world as well.

You can see how important these Centers of Influence are to your business. If I were you and you really do want to grow your home staging business and real estate business, I would sit down today and create your list of ‘Centers of Influence’ and start to build your relationship!

I hope you enjoyed this series. Please feel free to send me your comments, questions or requests. Next month, we will continue with another compelling series.

And for those joining me at STAGE!—I can’t wait to see you there! www.APSDmembers.com/STAGE

To your Abundant Success,

Karen Schaefer
Founder, APSD; The Association of Property Scene Designers
The World Leader in Home Staging Training and Certification
www.APSDmembers.com – Get your free Home Staging Training CD Today!

PS- If you are serious about building your Real Estate and Home Staging Business this year, join me at our Home Staging and Marketing Training event this June. And, right now, we have a ‘Refer a Friend’ 2 for 1 special. www.APSDmembers.com/STAGE

How to Get More Home Staging and Real Estate Referrals part 4 of 5

Karen Schaefer (APSD - The Association of Property Scene Designers) — Tue, 24 May 2011 15:44:34 -0700

What does an effective Home Staging and Real Estate Referral Program look like?

The better question may be, “What do I want it to look like to best serve my home staging and real estate clients?”

Let’s talk about both.

When I show my APSD Certified Home Stager Property Scene Designers referral programs, we do them to serve a variety of clients and situations. Following are an example of three programs:
1)   Use a referral program to offer a thank you gift
2)   Build a ‘Frequent Referral Program’ which can offer discounts on future services
3)   Creating a “Bankable Referral System” to give free gifts and services of your clients choosing

Using a Referral Program to offer a Thank You Gift:

Because I know many of you are immediately going to call RESPA on me, I will say upfront, make sure that what you offer and how you offer it does not in any way violate any laws, restrictions or ethics. There you go, now let me tell you how this program works.

When someone sends you a referral, or what I like to say is ‘a new client’ because that way there is no ambiguity about the fact that the referral needs to do business with you, you send a gift.

I am going to back track for a moment. Each time you receive a referral, you should first send a thank you note to the person that referred you a new home staging or real estate client. Next, you should put them into your marketing referral cycle which we discussed last week, and now, you can implement the referral system once you have confirmed the referral as a new client.

When that happens, you should again contact the referral source and thank them and then send them a standard gift or give the a choice of a gift. I normally recommend at this level, to send them a standard gift. Usually, the gift can equal 5%- 10% of the total dollar amount of work that you booked.   So, if you are sending a Visa gift card and you booked a $1500 home staging job, you should send a $75-$150 thank you gift card. This may seem like a great deal, but look at your profit margin! You can of course, send any amount you deem appropriate.

A few other good gifts for this category are: boxes of good chocolate such as Godiva, a basket of coffees or a coffee gift card or flowers.

Just so you know, when they receive the gift, you can probably expect another referral. Remember the law of reciprocity?

Building a ‘Frequent Referral Program’ which can offer discounts on future services

I wish I had more room to expand on these ideas, but I think you understand the process. It is like the frequent user card you get at your favorite coffee shop or a frequent flyer card from the airlines. When building a ‘Frequent Referral Program,’ you want to incentivize your clients to work with you on a more consistent basis so you offer them discounts based upon the number of referrals they give to you.

Again, when I say ‘referral,’ what I really mean is ‘client’ but part of YOUR job is to be educated enough to convert them from a home staging or real estate referral to a new home staging or listing client.

You might want to do this with a punch card or keep track of it on your computer with an Excel spreadsheet or customer service software. It all works. When one home staging or real estate client sends you a new client, you give them a ‘referral bonus.’ For each new client they send to you, they receive a discount on their next home staging service. So, if they send you one client, they might receive a 5-10% discount. You can also calculate this into dollars if it sounds better. For example on the $1500 home staging job we mentioned earlier, you might give your existing client a $75-$150 credit off their next home staging booking (again, I hope you can see how this works in ANY business). You might find a flat $100 discount works best.   If they send you 2 clients, you can give them $100 off of two services or $200 off of one. I prefer the former since that gives me two home staging jobs instead of just one.

Creating a “Bankable Referral System” to give free gifts and services of your clients choosing

This referral program is really a combination of the other two mentioned above. In this program, which is far and away my favorite, but also a little more complicated, we allow the client to choose what they would like to receive upon referral of new clients. Clients can also ‘bank’ their referral credits in order to build up to a big gift.

So if my existing home staging client sends me a new client that books me for a home staging or curb appeal service, really any APSD or other home staging service (and as I keep saying, this will work for any business) they will get a credit. They can use this credit to get an immediate gift card, box of chocolates or coffee basket.

If they decide to ‘bank the credit’ they can build them up in order to cash them in for a bigger gift card, a designer purse, jewelry or a variety of other higher end items. The best way to choose your items is to really look at who your clients are and ask yourself “what would they really want?”    And of course, you can also offer additional home staging or real estate services. Some of my clients prefer to refer 10 clients to me and get their next home staging service for no charge. Others, prefer quick, smaller rewards, but the point is, they can choose a gift or they can choose to ‘bank.’

Now it is up to you to decide which system works best for you and your clients. I would recommend that you begin with the easiest system for you to immediately implement and fulfill and then you can build from there.

Next, week, will be our 5th and final article in this series so it is there where I want to discuss the most powerful referral resource, your ‘Centers of Influence.’

To your Abundant Success,
Karen Schaefer
Founder, APSD; The Association of Property Scene Designers
The World Leader in Home Staging Training and Certification
www.APSDmembers.com – Get your free Home Staging Training CD Today!

PS- If you are serious about building your Real Estate and Home Staging Business this year, join me at our Home Staging and Marketing Training event this June. And, right now, we have a ‘Refer a Friend’ 2 for 1 special. www.APSDmembers.com/STAGE

How to Get More Home Staging and Real Estate Referrals part 3 of 5

Karen Schaefer (APSD - The Association of Property Scene Designers) — Mon, 16 May 2011 11:27:06 -0700

Wow, are we ever getting great feedback from this series of articles….thanks for all the ‘referrals!’ Get it? Oh, some days I have to entertain myself as well!

Last week, I promised that we would discuss the best cycle of communication when requesting referrals and that is exactly what I am going to do right now.

Many of you that are already APSD Certified Home Stagers, some of my small business and marketing clients and other followers are familiar with my 1/7/30 marketing cycle of communication.

Briefly, it means that you will communicate with a potential client within one day of meeting them, then within 7 and then within 30 days forevermore.

There is a similar process for requesting home staging, client and business referrals. Last week, we learned that the first time you request a referral is the moment your client (which may be a seller, a real estate agent, a real estate investor or another home stager with whom you are doing business) is ecstatic with your work or results.

If you receive referrals at that point, that is wonderful but the mistake that many real estate professionals make is that they stop there. Why would you stop oiling your referral engine?

The next time to request a referral, whether or not you have already received them, is within 7 days of the completion of your services. This serves as a gentle reminder, without being intrusive and generally they will send you another referral or two because they realize they had forgotten to do so as previously promised.

A great way to approach this is simply by asking them out to coffee. You can discuss the home staging job or real estate listing, any future jobs or listings, how the curb appeal is working and so on. Be there to help and service your client. At the end of the conversation, it is okay to professionally ask once again for any referrals. You might approach this in such a way as “By the way, have you had time to think of anyone else that I might be able to help? Also, last time I asked, I could not remember if I told you about our referral program.” Then you can go on to explain your referral program. With our APSD Certified Home Stager Property Scene Designers, I give them a very specific home stager referral program and a multi-client referral program, but you can use anyone that works…just make sure you are working it properly.

Finally, the next time you will request referrals are at the moment the desired result was achieved. Usually, for Certified Home Stagers, Real Estate Investors, Sellers and Real Estate Agents, it is when the home goes under contract. It may also be at the closing table depending upon your clients.

Remember, they want to help you and they want to refer you, so give them every opportunity to do so and don’t forget to reciprocate in the process.

Next, week, we will delve further into ‘rewarding for referrals’ and show you how to build an effective referral and reward home staging and real estate model.

To your Abundant Success,

Karen Schaefer
Founder, APSD; The Association of Property Scene Designers
The World Leader in Home Staging Training and Certification
www.APSDmembers.com – Get your free Home Staging Training CD Today!

PS- If you are serious about building your Real Estate and Home Staging Business this year, join me at our Home Staging and Marketing Training event this June. And, right now, we have a ‘Refer a Friend’ 2 for 1 special. www.APSDmembers.com/STAGE

How to Get More Home Staging and Real Estate Referrals part 2 of 5

Karen Schaefer (APSD - The Association of Property Scene Designers) — Mon, 09 May 2011 11:24:35 -0700

As we continue our series on “How to Get More Home Staging and Real Estate Referrals” this week, I want to talk about the best time to ask for a referral.

Do you know the answer? All of our APSD Certified Home Stagers and Home Staging Professionals because I am a big believer in getting your referral engine revving, so we talk about it a great deal.

The very best time to ask for a referral is when your existing client is absolutely thrilled with the results you have created for them.

That might be right after you have listed the home, the first moment they saw your home staging transformation of the property, or it might be after your initial conversation when you offered your home staging or real estate services. They may have thought you were amazing right then and decided you were going to be friends for life.

Other times, you won’t receive referrals until you receive an actionable result. So, your client may not be willing to refer you until the home gets a contract, sells or closes. That is okay as long as you stay on top of your communication and referral request marketing program.

I will talk more specifically about that during the next article.

Normally, I carry ‘Referral Sheets’ with me when I do a home staging or real estate marketing job. As soon as the agent, sellers or investors eyes light up when they see the magic I created, I ask them for a referral. Of course, I am delicate. I first thank them for the opportunity to work with them. Ask if there is anything else I can do for them to help sell the home in the shortest amount of time for the most amount of money and then, I say “Who else do you know that I might also be able to help sell their home in the shortest amount of time for the most amount of money?”

I have now planted the seed and I pull out my sheet of paper in preparation to write down the referrals information on the spot.

Sometimes, they will say ‘I can’t think of anyone right now, but I will give you a call.” Or they may ask to take the sheet with them and send it to me later.

That is all fine as long as you know how to respond. What I do is to simply ask when they will have a moment to write down the names and I will pop by and pick up the list since I will be in the neighborhood of their office anyway. Usually, I offer a time, such as “9am” and ask if that gives them enough time.

Of course, they say yes and give me a little laugh at my tenacity. I am okay with that because I just did a great job for them and they know I am about to do a great job for the next person as well.

What happens if I get to their office and they still don’t have any names? I say, “oh, no problem, I am just going to grab a cup of coffee while your write…do you take cream or sugar? I will get you one too and be right back.” Again, we might both have a chuckle, but the truth is they want to refer me, so I have to give them the opportunity.

Remember, when you refer someone good, it only makes you look good, so give them the opportunity to look good in the eyes of their peers…and yes, it is okay to have a little fun with it!

Next week, we will continue our Referral discussion with a discussion on the best cycle of communication when requesting referrals.

To your Abundant Success,

Karen Schaefer
Founder, APSD; The Association of Property Scene Designers
The World Leader in Home Staging Training and Certification
www.APSDmembers.com – Get your free Home Staging Training CD Today!

PS- If you are serious about building your Real Estate and Home Staging Business this year, join me at our Home Staging and Marketing Training event this June. And, right now, we have a ‘Refer a Friend’ 2 for 1 special. www.APSDmembers.com/STAGE

How to Get More Home Staging and Real Estate Referrals part 1 of 5

Karen Schaefer (APSD - The Association of Property Scene Designers) — Mon, 02 May 2011 12:19:35 -0700

How to Get More Home Staging and Real Estate Referrals part 1 of 5

Last month, we had such a huge amount of response to our series on ‘The Psychology of Home Staging’ that I thought I would write one more series again this month.

While I am a big fan of referrals and I will share some of my techniques and tactics with you during this series,I also want to acknowledge John Jantsch of The Referral Engine. It is an excellent book and I have often recommended it to many of my small business and coaching clients.

I happen to be re reading it as I write so I thought this was a great opportunity to share some of my strategies as well as those of this exceptional author.

One of the first things you need to realize is that referrals go both ways. While we hope everyone refers our home staging services and sends us more home staging clients, jobs and referrals, you have to reciprocate, which we discussed in last months series. If you have an agent that you may want to work with, start by referring a client to them that may be in need of their listing services.

If you are trying to add a real estate investor to your list of clients, tell them about a vacant property you recently saw that might be a potential investment deal for them.

Once you refer them, generally speaking, they will hire you, refer you and send you referrals as well so you can quickly build and grow your real estate and home staging business. Once you get good at it, in my opinion, referrals are one of the best marketing tools you can have in your home staging tool kit.

As an APSD or otherwise Certified Home Stager or Real Estate Professional, understanding the process of referrals is vital.

The first thing you need to understand is ‘why people refer you.’ According to Jantsch, we refer as a form of survival. Meaning “do you know of a good home stager?” If you know of one, you refer them immediately so you can help your friend ‘survive’ and because you know that they may need to help you do the same in the future.

Secondly, we refer to connect other people. If you have a good home stager or real estate agent, you want to connect this group of good people. This also sets you up as a good resource and ultimately, as a ‘go-to person’ for needed information and as a reliable source

Third, we refer to build our own social currency. Note, I did not say ‘social media-‘ this will do nothing to add to your friends list, it won’t tweet for you and it won’t even create your fan page…however, it may create fans in general. As we build our ‘social currency’ just like I noted above, you build your status as a ‘go-to’ person thus creating a higher value for you, your services, your guidance and your business .

So, the next time you ask for a referral or give one, keep these 3 steps in mind…
1)   Understand why people refer you
2)   The benefit of connecting other people
3)   When referring and being referred, how can you build your ‘social currency?’

Next week, we will continue our Referral discussion by answering the question “When is the best time to ask for a Home Staging or Real Estate Referral?”

To your Abundant Success,

Karen Schaefer
Founder, APSD; The Association of Property Scene Designers
The World Leader in Home Staging Training and Certification
www.APSDmembers.com – Get your free Home Staging Training CD Today!

PS- If you are serious about building your Real Estate and Home Staging Business this year, join me at our Home Staging and Marketing Training event this June. And, right now, we have a ‘Refer a Friend’ 2 for 1 special. www.APSDmembers.com/STAGE

The Psychology of Persuasion as a Home Stager, part 4 of 4

Karen Schaefer (APSD - The Association of Property Scene Designers) — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 13:16:32 -0700

The Psychology of Persuasion as a Home Stager, part 4 of 4

The law of reciprocation is the final training in this 4 part training on the Psychology of Persuasion as a Home Stager. As I mentioned in the beginning of this series, many of these concepts are based on a great book by Robert B. Cialdini, PH. D called The Psychology of Persuasion and while his concepts are amazing, he did not use Home Staging as an example…I did that just for you!

I love the law of reciprocation because (remember the ‘because’ training in part 2?) I love to give. In selling your home staging services, you have to learn to give a little something without the expectation of receipt and guess what, it still comes back to you!

This is how this works in your home staging business. You may want to focus in on getting business from one specific and active real estate office in your target home staging market. So, you send all the agents in the office a letter of introduction from yourself. The letter does not have to be anything special, just a little about who you are, the fact that you are an APSD Certified Home Stager since APSD is recognized in 8 countries, this will carry a great deal of clout (www.APSDmembers.com ) and some recent results you have achieved in this target market area. If you don’t yet have results, cite those of your APSD team in this way, “…and our APSD team has a national average days on market of only 21.”

In the letter, I would not recommend trying to sell, but rather, give. You may want to send them a Starbucks card with a note of explanation, saying ‘enjoy a nice hot cup of coffee the next time you are pondering the sale of your next listing.’ You can also give them a great tip on getting a home sold fast such as ‘ According to Veranda magazine, the number one selling exterior color this year is SAND. I hope that helps you to sell your listings faster.’

Then simply enclose your contact information without making an offer.

Just from this act of introduction and kindness, the law of reciprocity will kick in and chances are you will book a home staging job. It might be a small one, but because you gave something first, others feel obligated to give something in return and in this case, it is a home staging job! Yeah! Yippeee! Yahoo!

Next, you will begin your cycle of marketing, 1/7/30 which I teach in all the APSD Certified Home Staging courses, www.APSDmembers.com

Once again, if you have done your marketing correctly, you will get a home staging job. On this home staging job, give a little more than what you promise. I refer to this as ‘under promise and over deliver.’ If you tell them you are going to do 3 main rooms, then add a small scene in a Baby room at no charge. One of our APSD Certified Home Staging Trainers does this, Barbara Heathcote of Raleigh NC with amazing results.

Obviously, if you have done a good job with your staging and the home is priced correctly, the chances of you selling the home are very likely. And, because you have given the agent, a little more than you promised, once again, the law of reciprocity kicks in and you will receive your second home staging job.

The idea behind this is to give with an open heart but also be smart about it as it is an extraordinary marketing tool for you. In return, you shall receive home staging abundance.

To your home staging success,

KarenSchaefer Founder, APSD The Association of Property SceneDesigners The World Leader in Home Staging Training and Certification

PS- If you would like to learn more about Karen Schaefer and APSD, The Association of Property Scene Designers, The World Leader in Home Staging Training and Certification, visit www.APSDmembers.com to receive Session #1 of the APSD Certified Home Stager Training Course, as my gift to you.

The Psychology of Persuasion as a Home Stager, part 3 of 4

Karen Schaefer (APSD - The Association of Property Scene Designers) — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 11:28:24 -0700

The Psychology of Persuasion as a Home Stager, part 3 of 4

The contrast principle, according to Cialdini, of home staging, according to me, refers to presenting two contrasting items that may not be all that different, but by way of presentation the difference appears extreme to your prospect.

When I teach pricing in our APSD Certified Home Stager Training Program, (www.APSDmembers.com) I teach it in a way that is pretty basic and straightforward so that new home stagers will still get out there and present their home staging services. As our APSD home staging members move up the ascension ladder with APSD and get APSD Stager Pro Certified or APSD Property Scene Designer Certified, I begin to show them how to present 3 offers instead of simply one offer for their home staging services.

I have created a rather intricate home staging quote sheet that I give to my high level APSD Pro’s, it is the same one that I have used in my own home staging business. On this quote sheet, you can present one, two or three home staging offers. Normally, I recommend presenting 3 offers so your prospect will choose one of your offers (usually the middle one) instead of choosing between you and one or two other home stagers.

The reason for this is not only that you automatically appear more professional (and you are) because you actually have quote sheet, but also that have taken the time to put thought into their particular home instead of just doing for them, the same thing you do for everyone else. Remember in part 1 when we talked about finding out their specific problem?

But the real reason they will choose one of your quotes is because of the contrast principle. If you initially quote on a APSD Full Home Staging Service, APSD Curb Appeal Service, and an APSD Home Staging Marketing Service, you might also, as a bonus, add an APSD Color Analysis service, your quote may come out to $5,000- $15,000 depending upon the house and the area.

You might also offer just the APSD Full Home Staging Service and it would be $3,500, knowing that you can still upsell your other services later to help them sell even faster and finally maybe you offer a consultation service for only $997.

Because your first offer is so much more than the second offer, and the third is really not what they are looking for, you will sell the $3,500 home staging service and book the home staging job based on the concept principle.

Just be aware of the order in which you present your services and make sure that each of them carefully and specifically serves the needs of your client as you always want to run your home staging business effectively, and with 100% integrity.

To your home staging success,

Karen Schaefer
Founder, APSD The Association of Property Scene Designers
The World Leader in Home Staging Training and Certification

The Psychology of Persuasion as a Home Stager, part 2 of 4

Karen Schaefer (APSD - The Association of Property Scene Designers) — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 11:40:39 -0700

The Psychology of Persuasion as a Home Stager, part 2 of 4

‘…because I said so.’ If you are a parent, have you ever found yourself saying that? ‘Because’ is a transitionword meant to explain or justify an action.

The word ‘because’ can also help you sell your home staging services. In the first part of this series on The Psychology of Persuasion as a Home Stager, we talked about finding out your client’s true problem, agitating it, and solving it. Your solution offers great value and hence allows you to raise your prices. Your client will now contract your home staging services BECAUSE you gave them a compelling reason to do so.

In professional copywriting this is called ‘reason why’ copy. It means that your future client has to have a reason to invest in your incredible home staging services.

It is important that you start with the positioning that we discussed in part 1 of this series and now on part 2, we need to come up with our reasons, BECAUSE, that is what we need to be able to get our client to make a choice.

Whenever you are presenting your Home Staging, Curb Appeal or APSD Home Staging Marketing Services to a client, always give them the specific reason they should invest in the fast sale of their home. The easiest way to do this, once you find out their need is to then transition into a ‘because’ statement.

Believe it or not, people are far more likely to say yes to booking you for a home staging job when you literally use the word ‘because’ and then give them a reason that solves their problem.

A quick example of this is: “Yes, I can help you sell your home in half the time at full market value with our extraordinary fox valley home staging services because we only stage in fox valley so we are 100% in tune with the special needs of the area and of course, our track record speaks for itself with our APSD teams national average DOM of only 21. Is Thursday or Friday better for you BECAUSE they are the only two days that I still have appointments available?”

While we are doing several things with this statement, you will notice that we use the ‘because’ statement twice. Once, to show how to solve the problem and show the value and a second time to secure a home staging date and to show how booked we already are with our proven home staging services.

This will require a little pre-planning and practice on your part, but BECAUSE I really want you to be a home staging success, and I know you can do it!

To your home staging success,

Karen Schaefer
Founder, APSD The Association of Property Scene Designers
The World Leader in Home Staging Training and Certification

The Psychology of Persuasion as a Home Stager, part 1 of 4

Karen Schaefer (APSD - The Association of Property Scene Designers) — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 00:08:02 -0700

Happy April! I have just finished reading The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert. B. Cialdini, PH.D. for a second time and decided to devote this entire month to the Psychology of Persuasion as a Home Stager. In other words, for all of you that have ever run into a Real Estate Agent, Home Seller or Real Estate Investor that just doesn’t see the value in home staging, now you will be able to easily and effortlessly deliver the value, with great confidence. Sound good?

One of the first things we are going to discuss is pricing. Most of you, especially those starting out, think that you have to be the ‘Wal-Mart’ of Home Staging Services. What I mean by that is you have priced your services far below that of your competitors in an effort to make sure you get home staging clients and home staging jobs. How is that working for you? Chances are, not so great.

Most of the time, home stagers don’t ‘price shop’ their market to begin with, which I highly recommend. While I give pricing suggestions for every market in the APSD Certified Home Stager Training Program (www.APSDmembers.com) it can still vary even in as small of an area as a neighborhood. So, call around and find out what others are charging.

Next, figure out exactly what your target market is looking for regarding home staging services. Normally, this has to do with solving their immediate need or problem. You may for instance, be living in an area, where people are just slashing their home prices in a desperate attempt to sell. Well, what can you do to help them sell MUCH faster without slashing their price or with a more moderate reduction? Much of this is about learning their greatest problem and then positioning your services to answer the need of their problem.

Now, you have to position the value. If you did your research and found out REALLY what people need, what is keeping them up at night regarding the sale of their home, now can begin to build the value of your home staging presentation. You will always speak to their need or desire, often agitate it even more, and then offer them the solution. The formula is: problem, agitate, solve.

What happens here is miraculous. When you can clearly define your client’s problem, position your home staging, marketing or curb appeal services to solve their problem, now you can charge a premium instead of charging ‘Wal-Mart’ prices.

Cialdini refers to this concept as a ‘weapon of persuasion.’ That is how powerful it really is.

With home staging and home staging services such as Color Analysis, Curb Appeal and the specialty of APSD, home staging marketing, you have to position yourself as the person that can take these services and solve your future client’s problem. Then, they will pay you 25% or even 50% more than the other home stagers in your local market place that are all saying the same thing, none of which solves your client’s immediate problem.

If you are frustrated with not being able to get enough home staging clients or home staging jobs, then try researching your clients true problem, position your offer in such a way that is completely solves their problem and shows extraordinary value, then double your price so they know you are serious about the value you offer. And, when you position your home staging service as a problem solving service, with a higher price, in your client’s mind, ‘expensive= good’ just like when we choose between designer jeans instead of thrift store jeans. This means you have to do a little research and be willing to stop saying the same thing as everyone else, but it will pay off, 10 fold.

To your home staging success,

Karen Schaefer Founder, APSD The Association of Property Scene Designers The World Leader in Home Staging Training and Certification www.APSDmembers.com

PS- If you would like to learn more about Karen Schaefer and APSD, The Association of Property Scene Designers, The World Leader in Home Staging Training and Certification, visit www.APSDmembers.com to receive Session #1 of the APSD Certified Home Stager Training Course, as my gift to you.

Relationship Building with Home Staging

Karen Schaefer (APSD - The Association of Property Scene Designers) — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 03:06:59 -0700

“How do you get your first home staging job?” “How do I find clients?” “How do I get referrals?”

At most of my APSD home staging training courses, I teach at least 30% of the course on home staging systems and creativity,30% of the course on the business of home staging and 40% of the course on effective home staging marketing skills. So, in essence, we teach what it takes to successfully and completely build and grow your home staging business.

One of the things that I cover extensively in marketing is building a relationship with your clients. As a matter of fact, I really only think you need 5 good clients to get 50 home staging jobs each year. As one of our Certified Property Scene Designers about it and they will tell you the formula.

Life and Business is all about relationships. Think about it, if you are married, or ever have been, did you develop a relationship before you made a commitment? What about your friendships, same thing, right. The same holds true in business, especially today.

Your client, or future client wants to know who you really are and whether or not they can trust you, will enjoy doing business with you and if you will always under promise and over deliver. So, they may test you out a little. That’s okay, all you have to do is show them how fabulous you really are and they will love you forever….as long as you maintain the relationship.

If you are asking yourself, the questions at the top of this page, I think you might want to think about a better question, because you know the old saying ‘ask a better question, get a better answer.’ So, what is the better question? How about, ‘how can I build lifetime relationships with my existing and future home staging clients?’ THAT is a good question.

There are lots of ways, and some depend upon whether you are talking about new clients or existing ones, for the sake of space, we will discuss both, together.

New Clients;

1) Go where they go. Is there a local real estate investors club in your area? Go there and meet everyone you can. Don’t come right out and try to get them to help you, find out how you can help them and then build your relationship from there. I am not saying you have to give away the farm, but maybe give a little advice on color or curb appeal, even marketing if you feel as though you can. Then, keep in touch. You know our APSD marketing cycle, 1/7/30.

2) You can do the same thing with sellers or real estate agents as you have done with investors. Is there a local meeting of agents or an event agents are sponsoring for home sellers (some of my small business clients are real estate agents and they hold these events weekly at a coffee shop…very successfully)? Make sure you attend. Bring everyone a small gift that has your business card tied to it such as a silk flower, pennant for a local team, a pak of via, or even a rubber duck. Just anything that makes sense to them that they like and will keep. Then, follow up.

3) In general , once you make the connection, follow the APSD 1/7/30 marketing cycle (ask any APSD certified home staging member if you need help with this), and always make sure that you add a personal touch. This week, I sent 2 personal emails, obviously that only took me a minute or two, but one was to an APSD Trainer, telling her I was keeping her in my prayers as her family was struggling with a personal issue and another was to another APSD certified trainer, just saying thank you, that I really appreciated her and hope that she stayed with us forever. I did not do this with expectation of anything in return. But, boy did I ever reap a reward…from both. The point here is that I kept in touch and made it personal by touching on something that was specific to them. During another posting, I will discuss creating your client information file system.

These are just a few examples of how to build a home staging relationship, there are many and I would love to hear your ideas as well.

For more ideas on building your home staging business and making some of the best home staging relationships of your life with your fellow home stagers, join us at STAGE; www.APSDmembers.com/STAGE

To your Home Staging Success,

Karen Schaefer
Founder, APSD, The Association of Property Scene Designers
The World Leader in Home Staging Training and Certification
www.APSDmembers.com

PS- I only have 5 hotel rooms left for STAGE… find out more details at www.APSDmembers.com/STAGE and get in on our ‘interest free’ payment plan now thru March 31^st!

Are you a “BIG” Home Staging Thinker

Karen Schaefer (APSD - The Association of Property Scene Designers) — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 13:01:46 -0700

Are you a “BIG” Home Staging Thinker

In this economy, now more than ever, it is important to think BIG. There are APSD Certified Home Stagers all over the country, all over the world as a matter of fact, and the ones that are thinking ‘Big’ in terms of building their home staging businesses are really moving to a whole new level, which of course I love to see because I want each of them to achieve their dreams.

Donald Trump (and I am sure, many others) said ‘If you have to think anyway, why not think Big?’ I couldn’t agree more.

Usually, in a down economy, people tend to curl up and hide and yet, for all of us in the Certified Home Staging Industry, we have the opportunity of a lifetime, not only in helping ourselves, but in helping others as well, which is my favorite part.

So, how can you think ‘BIG’ right now, as a Home Stager, Decorator or Real Estate Professional?

1) Don’t trip over the dollar to pick up the dime. There are a ton of great staging jobs out there right now, people that need your help; sellers, agents and investors but you have to be willing ot do what it takes to get their business. Sometimes that means you have to give something else up, like cleaning your house, or picking up the mail or running errands. You may need to hire someone for $10 an hour to do those things so you can start to do more valuable things like market for a new home staging job or client.

2) Decide on how many homes you want to Stage this month. Then, do the math. If every time you talk to a seller, agent or investor, you get a booking, how many do you need to speak to in order to get to your goal? Depending upon where you live you may need to speak to 3,5, or 10 people before you get a booking. The point is, decide on what you can achieve, then do the math!

3) Focus on helping others. I know this does not seem like a ‘thinking big idea’ but the truth is, when you take the focus off yourself and decide how many people you can help, whether you are helping them with their business (and trust me, all the agents out there love the APSD home stagers when they help them sell their listings in 21 days or less), sell their home, or make someone feel good by your beautiful design, it is so much easier to achieve great things. And, as a little side note, it also holds you accountable, so you are very likely to achieve success.

Each month I decide how many home stagers I can help, how many trainers, and how many, sellers, agents and investors. It makes me much happier and allows me to think BIG because I am always willing to step ‘up’ for people that I want to help.

So, make a list of all the ways you can think big this week as a certified home stager. You can think BIG, by letting go of small tasks and focusing on your value tasks, you can think BIG by ‘doing the math’ and you and think BIG by helping others get to where they need to be…you will be surprised by how quickly this helps you to build a BIG Home Staging Business!

I hope you decide to ‘Think BIG’ and join me at Karen Schaefer’s Home Staging Training Event, 2011; STAGE! This will be the BIGGEST transformation in your home staging business that you have ever experienced!

To your Home Staging Success,

Karen Schaefer
Founder, APSD, The Association of Property Scene Designers
The World Leader in Home Staging Training and Certification
www.APSDmembers.com

PS- I only have 5 hotel rooms left for STAGE… find out more details at www.APSDmembers.com/STAGE and get in on our ‘interest free’ payment plan now thru March 31st!

Is Your Home Staging Business…Fishy?

Karen Schaefer (APSD - The Association of Property Scene Designers) — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 22:42:08 -0700

I just read a fax from one of my mentor’s and he told an old salesman’s joke…”A salesman approaches the front door and there is a little boy and dog sitting on the stoop. So as not to scare the little boy, the salesman bends down to pet the dog to show that he is a ‘good guy’ and the dog bites him. The salesman says to the little boy, ‘Hey, you didn’t tell me your dog bites…’ and the little boy responds ‘it’s not my dog.’”

Now this will tell you what assumptions can do for you. Because the boy was sitting next to the dog, the salesman assumed that the dog belonged to the boy. Sounds like ‘fishy’ business, doesn’t it?

The same is true today with our Home Staging businesses. We assume that everyone knows how great we are, that what we do really makes a difference and that all of our fellow Home Stagers act with honesty, integrity and creativity.

Unfortunately, it is just not the case. Many sellers, agents and investors have not received the stellar service that they expect because they have been watching HGTV and assume that is how all home Staging’s happen…but they want it to happen for $500 when it took $5000 on TV.

Or, they were promised one thing and received another, which is really even worse.

The first has to do with managing your client’s expectations. What can they specifically expect to receive based on your agreement to deliver services.

The second really has to do with operating an honest business. Yes, I could find loads of ways to say that in a overcomplicated convoluted definition, but let’s call a spade a spade and know that you have to give a little more than what you promise, especially in this environment.

Here is the problem. Most Home Stagers, because they only learn to Stage, and don’t take the time to put multiple streams of income in place, nor do they learn to market or run a business (this is why business and marketing has become the focus of my own Home Staging Training Company; APSD www.APSDmembers.com), are so desperate or grateful for the job that they usually over promise and under deliver because they can’t possibly deliver everything they promised for the amount upon which they agreed.

Hence, they do not manage the expectations of their client (whether this is a Real Estate Agent, Seller or Real Estate Investor) effectively and they don’t act with integrity in the eyes of their client.

Now we could say that there are many issues at play here, and there are, the least of which is that you were not fair to yourself by not charging enough, but that is the topic for another day. Today, it is all about running an honest and ethical business, not assuming anything, and letting your customer know they can trust you and why. Don’t run a fishy business, make it a great experience for both you and your client.

If you over deliver and under promise, this goes a long way toward gaining your client’s trust. If you let your client know that you have also seen shoddy work by other Home Stagers in your area (don’t get petty, don’t name names) and don’t feel as though that is the right way to do business, they will begin to like you. Then, if you prove it, they will hire you and refer you.

Today, the name of the game is trust. Your client has to be able to trust you to not only do an extraordinary Home Staging job but also to help quickly and effectively sell the house or listing. They no longer assume anything (remember the dog?) and neither should you.

You must start to show them in multiple ways that they can trust you. Tell them, and then prove it. You will need to keep proving it but once you do it a few times, it will become your system and will not require more and more effort.

Customer Service, but more appropriately Customer Care is what will win the race as we battle thru this economy. Always be on top of your game, act with honesty, integrity and great care. Then, all you have to do is say it and prove it. You will become the Home Stager of choice in your entire area.

For more information on Karen Schaefer and her Proven Real Estate Marketing and Home Staging Selling Strategies, go to www.APSDmembers.com

How to Create an ‘Active’ Home Staging Scene

Karen Schaefer (APSD - The Association of Property Scene Designers) — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 01:47:58 -0700

In home staging, one of the most important things you can do is start by defining your customer, which happens to be the first step in the APSD 6 step home staging pyramid, so you know the most effective way to stage the home.

Today, our world is all about personalization and good customer service. Defining your customer in advance satisfies both of these key selling strategies. Think about it, when you go shopping and get great service, they remember you, and make you feel special, you want to continue to shop at that store, right? The same is true with home staging. When we make the customer (buyer) feel important, comfortable and as though we are speaking directly to them, they want to buy the home you staged.

One of the things that I always teach in our APSD Certified Hand’s On Stager Pro Training and next, at our Home Staging Training Event; 2011 (www.APSDmembers.com/STAGE) is ‘do –personalize.’ The days of ‘de-personalize’ are long gone and while a few of the pioneers of the home staging industry may argue this point, I will just say, look how much, as a society, we love Reality TV. We want to know other people’s business, a little of their history and maybe even their antics. Yes, we have become nosey! Go ahead and satisfy your buyer’s curiosity with a few personalized scenes.

Now, you just need to learn stage accordingly. One of the most interesting ways to stage is to have an active staging scene, which again, I will discuss at length during our 3 day training event in June (yes, this is shameless promotion, but I want you to be there because I know it will change your business and your life. It did for me and countless other APSD members – www.APSDmembers.com/STAGE)

A great example of this is to have a food scene. Most people will just set a table and call it good. What is more iteractive, engaging and memorable is to really complete the scene for the new buyers. If you have a middle America home with 2-3 kids that are in grade school and middle school, you may want to have a snack scene laid out on the counter for them with a note from mom.

The snack scene might include apples and granola bars along with 3 bottles of water. The note from mom, might say “Hi Kids…here is a snack, no junk please! Kyle, get your home work done, you have hockey practice at 4:30- Dad will pick you up. Megan, no phone tonight, you know why… Paul, heard your good news! Congratulations! I will see you about 7! Love, Mom”

Your kitchen scene might have 5 plates stacked, along with 5 napkins and forks sitting on top of the napkins. Portions of this may already be on the table depending upon how much furniture you are using.

Then you can set out the entire scene. Now you already have an active snack scene, and the reason it is interactive, is your guests will enjoy engaging in the scene and laughing about the note, comparing it to their own family. They may also partake in the snack, which is a good sign!

As for your cooking scene, one of the easiest things to do is spaghetti because it is such a dry food it is easy to work with. Keeping in mind that we are talking about a middle America home and family, I would set out a cookbook on a cookbook stand and open it to a page on spaghetti or meatballs. The important thing is to match the ingredients with the picture. If you live in a climate where there is no problem with mold, you can set out a big colander and fill it with multi-colored peppers and purple onions. This looks great, but if you have an issue using real food, go ahead and use fake replicas of these. Next, you can set out a jar or two of spaghetti sauce or a can of crushed tomato’s, tomato paste and a jar of garlic. I would add a few appropriate spices to the scene as well. Use dry spices in small dishes or creative spice jars, use fresh if you are displaying for a one day open house event so you get the wonderful aroma.

Next, open your spaghetti and splay it out into a cooking dish on the stove or set it next to the rest of the scene. Spaghetti is such a dry food that you really don’t need to worry about it attracting mold or pests, but when it is displayed, it expands your scene and becomes much more real and interactive to the buyer.

Now, add a few wooden stirring spoons and either a real or faux loaf of French bread along with a bottle of olive oil and you have a great ‘active’ scene. It is engaging, interactive, speaks directly to your client and of course, is very memorable.

Remember, your ultimate goal is always to serve your client in the best possible way which means that you want to stage in order to sell the home in the shortest amount of time for the most amount of money.

Currently, our nationwide APSD home staging team boasts a national average days on market of approximately 21! They fully understand the goal of the seller or their client and by making their scenes speak specifically to the right customer and creating extraordinary remembrance, they are selling their homes like hot cakes and keeping their home staging jobs ‘funnel’ full!

To learn more about Active Scene Creation so you can sell your client’s homes faster and for more money, join at Karen Schaefer’s ‘Home Staging Training Event; 2011’ All the details are at www.APSDmembers.com/STAGE

To your home staging success,

Karen Schaefer
Founder, APSD The Association of Property Scene Designers
The World Leader in Home Staging Training and Certification
www.APSDmembers.com/STAGE

What is in your Home Staging Warehouse?

Karen Schaefer (APSD - The Association of Property Scene Designers) — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 00:09:40 -0700

People ask me all the time, “Karen, what do you keep in your Home Staging Warehouse?” It is a great question and actually one of our APSD training systems has a 144 Basic items that I keep in my warehouse and nearly all of our APSD Certified Home Stagers and Home Staging Professionals now warehouse the same items.

These items include: Towel Sets (A set is; 2 bath, 2 hand towels and 2 wash clothes), Rugs, Shower Curtains, rods and rings, Tissues, TP, Dish Sets (4 plates, 4 bowls, 4 salad plates, 4 mugs or matching glasses), place mats, kitchen towels and so on.

Generally, I list these basic home staging items room by room so that it makes sense to everyone that follows our 144 basic home staging warehouse item checklist.

At the end of each room, it says ‘Pocket of Emotion Specific to Buyer, Family, or Room.’

Last week I wrote an entire article on Pocket’s of Emotion because it really is the turning point for buyers when they are looking for a home. And, you know, as a Home Stager, Investor or Real Estate Agent, if you can get them to fall in love with the home, you can get it sold.

At the “Karen Schaefer’s Home Staging Training Event 2011” I am going to spend an entire session on Pockets of Emotion. What they are, how to best use them, the best POEs for your buyer and so on. The best part is that we are going to hold at contest at the Home Staging Training Event, 2011 for the “Best Pocket of Emotion.” And, yes, I already have mine! So, if you are already coming to our ‘STAGE’ event, start getting your Pocket of Emotion™ ready! If you are not registered, we have less than 60 seats available and the price goes up on April 1^st, so get registered now! www.APSDmembers.com/STAGE

The purpose of the Pocket of Emotion™ contest is to help everyone that joins us, flex their creativity muscle. You know how sometimes you can get caught in a rut, but what if you had 100 new ideas when you left this amazing 3 day home staging training?

Why do you need to use Pockets of Emotion? Well, when you can help your client sell their home in the shortest amount of time for the most amount of money, I PROMISE your agent, seller or investor will already have your next home staging job lined up for you, not to mention a referral! Whoo Hooo! One great Pocket of Emotion…the house sells…you get another home staging job and an referral! THAT is why they are so important! Imagine having 100 of them at your disposal.

In this real estate market when there are so many home choices for the buyers, you have to figure out exactly what makes yours stand out. It is always the APSD Pocket of Emotion that gives your buyer pause, makes them remembers, has them crying tears of joy or laughing their tail off! Now that is what gets them to remember your property.

You can find out the details of the Pocket of Emotion contest at www.APSDmembers.com/STAGE along with all the other details of the amazing ‘Karen Schaefer’s 3 Day Home Staging Training event 2011.’

So, next time you are doing inventory in your warehouse, make sure you have the 144 basic items, along with the perfect Pocket of Emotion for each home….your POE results will speak for themselves!

Here are some of the results Pockets of Emotion™ have achieved for our members!

“ Fran and I staged a house in Nutley, NJ on 3/8 and I found out tonight that it sold for full price on 3/10! Staging Works!Thanks again Karen for putting us all out there in the spotlight. That is something that is invaluable and also very humbling. With sincere gratitude,” Mary Fitzgerald, Staging Works!, NJ

“Karen just wanted to let you know, staging works for us great. We use the strategy for all our houses from St Louis, MO, Monmouth Co, NJ, Atlanta, GA to St Petersburg, FL . Just sold a house for 98% of list price. Let me now if you ever need a testimonial.” Be blessed, MJ Mark Jackson

Isn’t it great when people get results?

To your home staging success,

Karen Schaefe

Founder, APSD The Association of Property Scene Designers The World Leader in Home Staging Training and Certification

www.APSDmembers.com/STAGE Join us for the best 3 Day Home Staging Training of 2011 – Karen Schaefer’s Home Staging Training Event 2011