marketing: First Impression-ist Masterpieces Now Hang in the Active Rain Gallery - 04/14/08 04:05 AM
Last week something new began to be seen in the great hallowed halls of Active Rain. Beautiful blog masterpieces started to appear. Active Rain gave to us all another great new improvement to help us all better differentiate and further brand ourselves through our blogs. We now all have the access to a FREE tool, the ActiveRain Customizer, that allows us to easily create a visual masterpiece of our own blogs. I have scoured Active Rain's walls to find 15 fine examples of blogs that have a new and improved branded" look. I encourage you to click and open the examples below, to see in detail what others have already done. You … (58 comments)

marketing: I FINALLY Gots Me a Purdy Puddle... in the Rain - 04/11/08 08:09 AM
The ONLY problem I have EVER had about Active Rain was it is UGLY. YUP UGLY and I have not been afraid to let the Rain Gods (Matt Heaton and Johnathon Washburn) know how I felt.
But there is a saying, "you only get to complain if you are willing to provide a solution." So not only did I register a complaint, I also tried my best to get them over to the "pretty side". I sent them mock-up ideas JUST to get this site LOOKING better.
But the AR guys could only move so fast on all the improvements they were providing us. I could no … (32 comments)

marketing: Chipping Away at the "PRICE IS KING" Myth Too Many Realtors Rely On - 03/31/08 09:22 AM
I hate to break some Realtor's chips... but for many of you the belief you have, regarding the role pricing plays in real estate sales, is not cracked up to what it could be. Believe it or not there is a simple yet profound parallel lesson that can be learned from how Lay's potato chips are packaged, priced, marketed and sold and how real estate is packaged, priced, marketed and sold.
Let me be clear... when it comes to selling anything, be it real estate or potatoe chips, Price IS King. It is a fact that the seller (market) will only get the price the buyer (market) is willing to … (27 comments)

marketing: Are You and Your Seller's Thoughts in the Gutter? - 10/15/07 02:15 AM
Until recently, it was always true that what a homebuyer saw when they first drove up a property could either make or break its sale. For if the home was appealing, from the gutter, it was said to have "Curb Appeal". Which was a good thing.But times have quickly changed, and while "Curb Appeal" still matters... today it matters in a different place and way.
Below is a 30 second "Curb Appeal Quiz Show" I created to show just where Curb Appeal ACTUALLY now begins... the final conclusion might challenge your way of thinking. (In fact I hope it does.)CURB APPEAL QUIZ SHOW … (40 comments)

marketing: SELL the TOUR to Sell the House! - 09/10/07 12:55 PM
Whether it is in our work life or in our personal life, each day we are all hit with a ton of advertising messages.  Because this is so, the trick for those of us in sales is to find new ways to cut through the all the noise and get our message out to our respective markets... which is not always easy.
However, I have found, in this age of constant "screaming" advertising messages, I have a knack for creating ways that help others to cut through the noise. Typically I do this by taking some approach/medium people are familiar with and change it up a bit. … (24 comments)

marketing: All the Advertising without the Nausea! - 08/19/07 11:51 PM
Being that I work in an industry that CREATES first impressions, I am a stickler for how end results look. This coupled with the fact that I worked in graphic arts, print media and advertising for years... I am passionate about how an advertising "message" is crafted AND presented. Whether the "message" is an ad of self promotion or an ad for a property that is for sale, what ever medium is used it is vital that it presents a clear, professional and well crafted message.
Today, part of real estate advertising is done through the means of virtual tours. And while there seems to be many virtual tour solutions... some of them, I have to admit, confuse … (30 comments)

marketing: People Like Touching Our SIF Stuff - 08/14/07 10:51 AM
Just a quick update...
This past August 4th the Stage It Forward (SIF) widget was created & released.
Since then, I am happy to report, it has been doing well and is attracting a nice amount of attention in the way of clicks. 2,176 clicks to be exact!
Considering it is just the first 10 days this is NO shabby start. This means we are averaging 217 hits a day coming in from all the SIF widgets placed out there.
You may wonder WHY to install the SIF widget to your website or blog site?
Well, as you know, (because sometimes in life you are one too) if a consumer is interested in something they … (9 comments)

marketing: I'll Show You Mine If You Show Me Yours! - 06/18/07 11:40 PM

Revealing how I approach and how I actually study what I see working with my blogging here in the Rain is what this post is all about. (Its NOT about the goofy picture to the left... that is just to make you smile a bit.)
First I know that blogs that have fresh original industry related content reigns in the Rain. Yes, the fun and quirky personal posts add an interesting dimension and they do help to reveal your unique personality and differentiate you from your fellow bloggers. But all in all, industry related posts that inform are the posts Active Rain Moderators like … (31 comments)

marketing: Run Off and Join a Blog Carnival... You Might End Up Being FEATURED in the Rain - 06/11/07 02:52 AM
So, I just finished being the guest judge for this week's Carnival of Real Estate. Some really great and informative winning posts for this week's contest  can be found here on my "pretty" blog: Judging for Real Estate Blogging Award Ain't Just Easy as Black & White.
But that is not what I want to talk about. While judging it was fun and informative, I have to admit I was a bit shocked and surprised as I was reading through the variety of colorful and varied Real Estate industry posts that were submitted this week... it hit me that NOT MANY Active Rain Bloggers submitted their work for this week's carnival. And … (14 comments)

marketing: Do Shifty Sellers Stage to Bamboozle Buyers? - 05/02/07 02:56 AM

Realtors, if you use home stagers, here is a point to ponder...
Should an occupied property that HAS been staged be ADVERTISED as such? 
I bring this point up as I feel an educated Realtor is an empowered Realtor.
So, before answering "YES" consider this... I personally think it is the LISTING REALTORS responsibility to decide if, when, where and how to reveal the fact that a home has been staged.
With more and more people understanding what staging is and how it can actually INCREASE the asking price of a home, some buyers, may use that fact AGAINST the seller that has staged their property, and negotiate a price they "feel" is … (49 comments)

marketing: Getting MORE RETURN for your Blogging Dollar - 04/03/07 11:59 PM
If you have blogged, for ANY amount of time, you know it is an investment IN time. However, one of the "PERKS" I have found in blogging is it gives me a means to capture and articulate, in a concise manner, just what I do want to communicate to my clients. So now instead of saying someday I SHOULD write something about XYZ topic... I find I HAVE written about that topic.
Which is all fine and good.
But... did you ever notice that ONCE you posted your blog it quickly becomes "yesterday's news?"  And all that investment seems a little lost. I have... and that bothered … (54 comments)

marketing: NBC picked up my blog... How do I EVEN BEGIN to thank Active Rain?!!!! - 03/19/07 04:35 PM
Today has been a day I will ALWAYS remember... and I have to thank ACTIVE RAIN for so very much of it.
Yesterday morning I discovered that NBC-5 TV in Dallas had picked up one of my recent posts from my "Pretty Blog" (which is my AR blog slightly re-constituted) and posted it on the station's website. I was flabbergasted. I was floored. I was thrilled. And I really wanted to thank Active Rain... However, my "thank you" was going to have to wait as I really wanted to also post my 3 Year Anniversary Post.
When I finally DID get  to post my … (119 comments)

marketing: THINK CRUSTY THOUGHTS... When Taking Listing Photos - 03/06/07 01:38 AM

Realtors you'll notice that while I am a home stager, a number of my blog postings have to do with taking better photos of listings.  This is because I KNOW that what a home buyers SEES influences their desire to purchase... or NOT. But what a buyer SEES often starts BEFORE they drive up to your listing or walk through its front door.
With each passing day the Internet becomes more and more of a resource for buyers to PRESCREEN your listings by looking at the photos YOU have provided. So with digital photography being so easy and inexpensive... Realtors you have the responsibility to feature PERFECT images … (55 comments)

marketing: REALTORS... Selling a home is as easy as riding a Tricycle - 03/04/07 07:24 AM

When a home seller puts their home up for sale, they are much like kids about to go on a tricycle ride. But for this selling ride there are 4 basic elements impacting how smoothly the ride will go: Market, Location, Condition, and Price.
The Market is the sidewalk that the seller's tricycle maneuvers on. Sometimes the market is bumpy, sometimes smooth. Regardless, what the markets surface conditions are, the seller must just roll along for there is little they can do to impact the market path.
However, to get the tricycle ready for its travels, the seller must consider the 3 wheels … (55 comments)

marketing: Home Stagers... Your Website is the Display Window of Your Talent & Skills - 03/03/07 08:35 AM
Knowing that the home staging industry is in the business of creating great first impressions, I often search the Internet looking at the websites of home stagers to see what kind of first impression they are or are NOT creating for the consuming public.
I first started checking out home staging websites 3 1/2 years ago when I was opening my own home staging business and researching our industry. At that time, 2 home staging company's websites caught my eye and left me with an great impression of who they are and what the do. Those 2 staging companies were: Dekora in Vancouver and Nest Home Designin San … (19 comments)

marketing: Real-Time Networking Event in the Spirit of Active Rain! - 02/07/07 11:16 AM
I know I have been kinda quiet in the rain... but it has been VERY busy here at Real Estaging.
However... for all my Chicago-land Active Rain collogues I am VERY proud to announce a very cool event that I am co-sponsoring along with 2 other Active Rain Members. (Tripti Kasal of Real Living Infinity and Joe Zekus of YoChicago.)
The event embodies the SPIRIT of what Active Rain makes possible... in REAL TIME. AND... the cool thing about the seminar is that it is a networking event that teaches real time networking skills!
After attending a SIMILAR event, geared to the general business … (23 comments)

marketing: Set Your Sites Low... to Raise Your Standards - 01/15/07 04:49 AM

The brilliance of Active Rain and Localism is that they can work together to everyone's benefit. As Active Rain provides a forum to share ideas and information amongst peers, Localism provides a place to apply this knowledge and better reach clients... immediately. Here is an example to make my point...
As a home stager I believe what a home buyer sees, regardless of where, when or how they see it, matters greatly. (I believe in the importance of this so much that I am ongoingly investing in and building an entire company devoted exclusively to improve what buyers see and visually exprience.)
So to keep … (42 comments)

marketing: Home Staging = Sweat Equity ON STEROIDS! - 01/09/07 11:25 AM
Realtors, with the spring selling season just around the corner I think now is the time to FLEX YOUR MINDS to make a very GOOD point! While home staging does not raise the appraised value of a property, IT STILL CAN BE A VERY PROFITABLE VENTURE!
Here's why... As every realtor knows, a home that goes to market has a possible low/high list price point range.  This low/high price is primarily based on location, condition, features, and finishes.
But you might not know is that if staging is done correctly, and at the right time, the asking price can be raised toward the high side … (33 comments)

marketing: Standing Out in the Rain... a Lesson to take to Localism. - 01/04/07 05:10 AM
Yesterday it was announced that of the 27,229 blog entries* posted on Active Rain since its début on June 25, 2006 my "very personal" post entitled "The Gift of Tears" was voted the Most Memorable post for the year. First, I have to say WOW and huge thank you to all who voted!
And while I am flattered and grateful, it got me to thinking... Why? Why THAT post? Did that post REALLY have anything to do with Real Estate?
As a professional in the Real Estate industry I know that working with people is at the core of what I … (40 comments)

marketing: I can’t hold it any longer… this old Blog-Dog is gonna hit his 100th Post. - 12/08/06 01:25 AM

Well I am about to a hit a personal milestone here in the rain. My next post will be #100!
And while that may not seem like a lot for some bloggers here in the rain... it is for me. You see prior to joining Active Rain I barely knew what a blog was... let alone write one. (Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?)
Anyway, now that I have been a part of all this am I am grateful for all I have learned AND the fun I have had. Yes... FUN! Fun has been for me part of my personal Return-On-Investment … (33 comments)

 
These are the creative writings of Craig Schiller, a home staging professional, passionate real estate marketing professional and founder of the Real Estaging, one of the nation's leading home staging companies.


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