stage it forward: Where is that Staging Waldo? - 01/16/08 02:03 AM
Many of you have emailed wondering just where the heck I have been for the last month. Well, I really have no better explanation than to say that I have been busy "working" on many things I needed to do to succeed in a market that has thrust upon us all new challenges. While there have been quite a few changes around here... I thought I would share some of the bigger things that have been keeping me busy.
Soon after my trip in December to Sacramento and the Stage It Forward Round Table discussion held there... the holidays were upon us. And typical, for that … (77 comments)

stage it forward: The Stage It Forward Banner Unfolds and Rises... - 12/01/07 02:51 AM
Jackie Peraza recently wrote a good post entitled Banner's, Bloggers and Staging that I encourage you to read. In is she asks an important question about Stage It Forward and what is happeing under its "banner". I've learned that if one person is thinking thoughts like this... others are too. Question like this need to be asked and should be asked.... so thank you Jackie. I am so pleasee you asked this question. I know you and I share a similar hopes for this industry. Sometimes the reply is better heard, just because the question HAS been asked.
So, in her recent post, Jackie questions what SIF is, in a legitmate statement … (14 comments)

stage it forward: Jennie Connected the Dot... Now I am Gonna Paint the Picture! - 11/29/07 03:10 AM
While I have learned much from fellow members here on Active Rain and in Stage It Forward... I have to admit there are some member's posts I follow more regularly. What they have to say about Home Staging and the Home Staging Industry time and again captures my attention. So recently when Jennie Norris, a Vice President at stagedhomes.com, connected one of the critical and troublesome industry "dots" that other home stagers in others markets have experienced... I was intrigued.
Jennie wrote a bit of an expose' on home staging and what she felt were wrongful pricing strategies in her post entitled Get off your back and on … (24 comments)

stage it forward: Is ROCK & ROLL "Where Its At" for Home Staging? - 11/25/07 11:50 PM
A winter's drive over the holiday weekend gave me a chance to reflect on all that I see going on in our industry. As I stand back and look WHO we are and WHERE we are... the more I am sure this industry is not quite YET ready to handle the BIG vision so many of us want. I see our collectivey industry action speaking louder then our words. This is not a BAD thing, this is just an "IS" thing. Early last week I made a comment in a post regarding how home stagers could learn from the Realtor community who annually benifit from coming together and learning together as our own unified … (25 comments)

stage it forward: A Thankful Message for all our "Colors" - 11/20/07 11:02 PM

Oddly, of all weeks, I stumbled on a old song... we all have heard before.
But sometimes an "old" song can sound new.
In light of recent Home Staging Industry issues and dialogue... this song holds a hope-filled message that seems to fit our needs, wishes and dreams.
The song simply reminds us to think bigger, see more, be open and be respectful.
Its message is one all in our colorful industry can benefit from... in a new context and way.
"For if you walk the footsteps of a stranger, you will learn things you never knew … (22 comments)

stage it forward: It's CLEAR... 21 SIF RoundTables Across North America Are Going to REFRESH Our Industry! - 11/17/07 08:16 AM
Yesterday both Chicago and Manhattan successfully held their respective Stage It Forward (SIF) ROUNDTABLE discussions.
Earlier today I spoke with Val Allocco who was the facilitator for in Manhattan. Val said that their group had about 15 attendees at the luncheon sponsored by American Furniture Rental. (THANK YOU AFR) Val will share her own sparkling account of the 3 hour Round Tabletable discussion they had here: TRI-STATE ROUND TABLE MEETUP - NOV. 16TH, 2007  I guess the fact that Manhattan is read for their NEXT round table... tells us that SIF is on to something here. 
On to the Chicago RoundTable...
IT ROCKED! In Chicago the event was graciously hosted by Brook Furniture with … (26 comments)

stage it forward: STATISTICAL VERIFIABILITY... Key in Our Crawl Toward Professional Recognition & Acceptance - 11/07/07 01:53 AM
On Monday I introduced  SIF Quarterly Qwik Staging Stats (QSTAT) program to the stagers here on ActiveRain, and yesterday I introduced the concept to the Realtor community in a post called REALTORS... Will Staging Stats Crack Your Nuts?. While that post was fortunate to be FEATURED on the main page in the "big" Active Rain... I have to admit I was disappointed in the lack of Realtor Comments.
As you know posts on the main page of ActiveRain usually attract many comments. (In fact as of 10:05 AM CDT of the 20 Featured Posts on the main page -of which my post from yesterday is still part- … (19 comments)

stage it forward: REALTORS... Will Staging Stats Crack Your Nuts? - 11/06/07 02:17 AM
You have all read the stories and/or watched the HGTV shows triumphantly boasting... "SOLD in one day after home staging!" "Multiple offerings after home staging!" "SOLD at first open house after staging!" But even after all these great staging experiences have been reported in various medias, there still seems to be some apprehension by the Realtor community to present home staging solutions to sellers who COULD benefit from more comprehensive levels of staging.
Now don't get me wrong, there are those of you who have been "early adaptors" of the home staging concept. But in general when talking to Realtors, Stagers still … (35 comments)

stage it forward: What has ActiveRain Done Lately? How About Unifying an Entire Industry? - 11/05/07 10:12 AM

This past Saturday something small yet amazing happened in an industry... and it is all because of ActiveRain. The home stager's group Stage It Forward turned one year old. Now this might not seem like much, for those of you are NOT home stagers, but for us this is remarkable and HUGE. For prior to ActiveRain and the group Stage It Forward (now commonly called SIF) there was no unified place for home stagers to discuss the issues facing their businesses and their industry.
Stage It Forward gave us a forum to connect, communicate and grow. Every home stager that has entered this site has left … (52 comments)

stage it forward: Stagers: We are Talking in AZ to Carry the Staging Message Forward. - 10/22/07 03:55 AM
Well in less than one hour the first Stage It Forward Roundtable Discussion will be taking place in Scottsdale.
Many of you emailed asking that I send you the questions we gathered from stagers all over North America... so here they are. 
I thought that posting the questions we will be discussing will give those of you interested in participating a chance to be heard too.
I really gotta run but I wanted to get this posted.... we will be sharing more later.
Me
PS: I know many of you would like a Round Table in your area... we are working on that too.
AFTER EVENT POST SCRIPT: All I am … (25 comments)

stage it forward: 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)

stage it forward: Another new "TOY" for Stage It Forward Members - 08/04/07 04:19 AM
With Stage It Forward on the Go and on the Grow... I thought it might be good to have yet another new FREE "toy" for members to use to show their affiliation to one of the busiest groups on Active Rain.
This new "toy" is a custom widget... which is a little tool that you can add to any blog or website.
The Stage It Forward widget will continuously and automatically update and display the most current posts written and published in Stage It Forward... including yours!
The default widget color, dark blue, can be seen under my profile on the right side of this post. (This is a live working … (12 comments)

stage it forward: Who was Stage It Forward's MYSTERY MODERATOR? - 08/02/07 09:40 AM

One of the things that makes Stage It Forward such a thriving and active group here in the Rain is the fact that the Moderator position is passed to someone new each month. Each month what is featured in the group as the "best to be read" for the day is selected by a different person with a different perspective. While a particular moderator might not pick what other's feel is "best" for the day, the fact that differing insights are welcome keeps the group vital and active.
In return for taking taking the time and making the commitment to the group, the moderator gets a … (24 comments)

stage it forward: Stagers... if NOT Here, Then Where? - 06/14/07 07:19 AM
I woke up this morning and that headline was in my head. I guess it was there because I went to bed thinking about all the controversy that has swirled around and in Stage It Forward... for the last couple days.
If you feel like an outsider that missed all the action... here is a link to all the post that had something to say or share. It was a HEARTY and HEART FELT discussion for sure.
WARNING TO THE KOOLAID DRINKERS-Now it is getting personal... does this seem like an injustice to you?
Dear "Anonymous" #2 on Kate Hart's "Kool-Aid" … (34 comments)

stage it forward: 100,000 DING DONG's, Stage It Forward Calling... with a Member Button for YOU! - 06/04/07 07:35 AM
With this post I have gone over the 100k Point. How befitting to reach this milestone with this post. While I did not time it as such, (I actually thought it would be this Friday with a Good Word Series post.) this post really does make this special for me ... because this post is about the Stage It Forward group created just last November here on Active Rain. This group, because of its many wonderful members, really has become a mini-Active Rain for the Home Staging Industry.
I LOVE the fact that being a member to both Active Rain and Stage It Forward is … (55 comments)

stage it forward: Staging an Event... With the Help of Many, For the Benefit of Many. - 05/24/07 12:26 AM

Well this house now sits empty once again... but for a couple of days last week it was MAGICALLY TRANSFORMED (as these photos show).  Last weekend was the culmination of over a years worth of "staging" event preparation. For one weekend a small army of people came together and donated their time, talent and treasure to transform a vacant home into a beautiful show-house... all for the benefit of Brickton Art Center. The event was a resounding success. Everyone is already buzzing about next year... full of ideas and anticipation on how to make it even better. One resident already offered their home as a tour … (18 comments)

stage it forward: ENTER THE RAIN... from a New, Beautiful & Different Perspective - 04/05/07 02:37 PM
Every Realtor knows that first impressions matter. So can I be honest here? (And this has bugged me about Active Rain from the start.) Active Rain's front door is UGLY.
Yup UGLY! Yes, Yes I know it is fully "functional" door... but let's face it... its ugly. It has NO SNAP, NO WOW! NO... DANG I gotta go in and take a TOUR of this site.
And as all my staging colleagues (and Realtors too) know... first impressions matter... so it better be good!
Sooooo...  I did a little cyber Staging, and made a new fully functional doorway into Active Rain for my … (63 comments)

stage it forward: ANNOUNCING: James Frazer as April's "Editor-In-Chief" of Stage It Forward... - 04/02/07 08:26 AM
A core value, of Stage It Forward is that by creating one united voice... all home stagers will benefit.Since the groups start-up in November 2006 I have been "Editor" of the group... which means I select and give a small yellow star to those posts WITHIN OUR group that are featured each day.Recently, I had lunch with fellow stager and group memeber, James Frazier. We were talking about the group, and managing all the great posts so many have written and how it could be "done better"... and still keep the group's dynamic fresh and fair.We came up with the idea of creating ROTATING EDITORS... so that … (12 comments)

stage it forward: POWER of the RAIN... AR's Group Feature GIVES VOICE to Our Industry - 03/26/07 11:43 PM
 I know there are MANY milestones that are now taking place, almost daily, here on Active Rain. So with so many wonderful stories of success being shared, the power of just what this site is capable of has definitely been proven. AND, considering Active Rain is REALLY only just in its infancy, it is mind boggling to think what is possible in the future. I can personally attest to just what impact Active Rain can do to legitimize and move forward an entire industry.  You see, the very day Active Rain added the "Group" functionality... the Stage It Forward group was born. This past Saturday, that small group hit its own milestone...  the 300th … (42 comments)

stage it forward: Staging Training Pride - 02/10/07 03:40 AM
From the moment I found Active Rain I knew it was a very special site. It was amazing to see how Realtors from "rival" companies reached out to colleagues to freely share information to help and better their "competition". I believe because of this generosity, Active Rain is the success it is for ALL who participate.
In the beginning of Active Rain, there were only a handful of Home Stagers. Over time more and more Stagers found this site and began contributing. Amazingly, Stagers from across North America (YEAH CANADA!) started sharing, ideas, frustrations, challenges, successes, tips and approaches to staging homes and running home … (29 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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