Home Staging - Asheville NC Local OnLine Presence

Home Staging - The Search For A Local Online Presence
The Real Estate Home Staging School ™ - Asheville, NC

Your Home Staging Career IS Our Business




Home Stagers, when you think about marketing your business, most of the buzz is rightfully about social media marketing and search engine optimization for your home staging web site. There is another area that you need not forget about, your Local Online Presence.



Think about the searches in your hometown. If I want to find a home stager in Asheville, NC, I am going to search locally. Last year it was reported that at least 35% of all searches had keyword content that was local. So if we understand how people search we can use that to our advantage and target local customers more effectively.

Back to my example, if I am looking for a home stager in Asheville NC, I am going to enter maybe Asheville NC Home Stager. So I need to make sure my website pages have these keywords and keyword phrases. This applies to blogs as well.

Have you maximized search engine local listing directories? Are you listed in Google, Yahoo or Bing Local? Learn how to submit your site to Local Guides and increase your ability to target local customers on the web.

The Real Estate Home Staging School ™ will teach you the ins and outs of local online presence and help you develop a marketing campaign before you complete our home staging course. When you complete the home staging course, you are ready with your marketing strategy.

The Real Estate Home Staging School was founded TOTALLY with you in mind. Having been trained quite a few years back, our belief is YOU need to know HOME STAGING for today, not yesterday! We want YOU to be successful home stagers leading the industry! Your work will not only be beautiful and praised. Your work will be thoughtful of the customer and your business success -money in the bank!. Start learning today how to create a successful home staging business plan and implement skills like, guiding the eye of the buyer where you want it to go, taking an uninteresting room to a show piece, and doing all that through the perspective of the buyer.

For more information about The Real Estate Home Staging School ™, contact us through any of the links below.

The Real Estate Home Staging School
Eileen Wheeler - The Asheville Home Staging Company
Leslie Godbold - Asheville Stagers

Home Staging Workshop

Our 3 Day Hands-on
Home Staging/Merchandising Skills and Business Development Workshop

June 24th, 25th and 26th, 2010

This Home Staging Workshop is two days of intensive Hands-On home staging to learn and practice implementing home staging and merchandising skills. The third day of this Home Staging with Merchandising and Business Workshop is dedicated to business development. (The 3rd day can be attended via teleconference and materials, if your schedule demands.)



Itinerary for 3 Day Home Staging Workshop

Day 1- 9am to 5pm (lunch provided)



Home Staging Project - Location 1

•▪ Intense Coverage of All Home Staging Principles and Core Competencies- conducted in a actual staging location.

•▪ Hands-on Home Staging:

•▪ You conduct an analysis of the Staging Project and prepare a written Home Staging Plan.

•▪ You present your report to one of our staff members. Then implement your staging plan!

•▪ The home staging class tours all of the staged rooms and each before picture, for thought provoking discussion.

*

Day 2- 9am to 5pm - (lunch provided)

Home Staging Project - Location 2

Morning Activities: conducted in an actual staging location.

▪ Instructions and guidance on Verbal Consultation with Written staging report.

▪Role Play- You will conduct a walk-through consultation with the "homeowner". Give specific recommendations based on your staging core competencies, merchandising guidelines and property issues. You will addresses the homeowner's many questions.

▪ Prepare a written staging report on this property Submit to Mentor for review and discussion



Afternoon Activities: conducted in a different room than the morning activities

•▪ Prepare Design Board and a Bid on a Vacant Staging Room.

•▪ Present Design Board to your Home Staging Class and Instructors. Your bid will be analyzed by your instructor

A great home staging plan is of no value if you cannot communicate that plan effectively to the client. Throughout the workshop activities, your communication skills verbally and in writing will be assessed and recommendations for improvement offered.

(departure time may be delayed until all required activities are accomplished)

*

Day 3 - 9 to 4pm (lunch provided)

Home Staging Business Development Workshop

4 pm- Business Development Graduation Ceremony



This Business Development Day can be conducted via a teleconference with one of our Head Instructors

Morning Activities-

•▪ Business Development-Names-Business Set up- Accounting-Customer Service-Business Research

•▪ Branding and Marketing-Internet and it's benefits- Networking - SEO

Afternoon Activities-

•▪ Role Playing- How to effectively turn a received call into a new client

•▪ Create A Home Staging Business Plan . This instrument can mean the difference between a Business Success and a Business failure!

4pm- Graduation Ceremony Home Staging Graduate Logo

All Home Staging Graduates will receive their diploma and graduate materials during their graduation ceremony. Photos will be taken of all graduates to remember this event.



If you are interested in joining our June 24th, 25th and 26th 2010 Three Day Home Staging Workshop go to the Contact Us page on our website.



The Real Estate Home Staging School

http://www.TheStagingSchool.com/

(828) 337-9954 OR (828) 658-1790

Home Staging - Curb Appeal - Asheville NC - Going Green With Native Plants




Home Staging starts with Curb Appeal. If you are a Home Stager in a Green Community, consider using Native Plants in your Home Staging Plan.

In most cities, the local County Extension Services have pamphlets to help the home stager learn the advantages of native planting. In a community that is green, this tactic could be good for your home staging business.

Many buyers look for low maintenance yards to address their environmental concerns. Plants grow well and require little care when in their native environment. They require less water and possibly fewer pesticides.

Curb appeal is often addressed with color pops and many native plants show their beauty in showy flowers. Above is a mock orange, great flowers, draws butterflies and hummingbirds to the landscape.

With the growth of suburbs, habitat concerns exist. Many homeowners like to draw wildlife of all kinds. Native planting provide that habitat. Fruits and seeds provide food and cover. The hickory nut tree shown above is great for wildlife that rely on nuts in their diet and provides plenty of green leaf cover.

A Home Stager in a green community can "sell" their home staging plan using native plantings. A Home Seller can have the selling point added to the other selling features of the home.

The community is enhanced as more people use native plants. Preserve our natural heritage in your curb appeal home staging plan.

The Real Estate Home Staging School ™ encourages it's students to have a community focus in their businesses. Students work with a mentor to develop their ethics policy and mission statement. In both cases, we deal specifically with how our actions affect the community. We believe an ethical and community focused home stager has an edge.

Contact: Eileen Wheeler at The Real Estate Home Staging School ™
President, Western North Carolina Chapter RESA
Owner, The Asheville Home Staging Company

or

Leslie Godbold at The Real Estate Home Staging School ™
President, State of NC, RESA
Owner of Asheville Stagers

Selling Your Home? Assist your Agent With Home Staging - Don't Cede Responsibility


Assist your agent in selling your home with Home Staging. If you are currently selling or planning to sell your home, think about what responsibilities you have in the process. Your agent will help you price your home and they will market the property through advertising. But, you are responsible for what the potential buyer sees when they arrive at your home. Will they see the selling features of the home or will they see how you live?

If you think that once you choose an agent and list your home, your responsibility ends, you will likely wait a long time for the sale. If your agent recommends a professional home stager, do it! If you are in the Asheville North Carolina area, contact The Asheville Home Staging Company. Cleaning up and packing away a few things and painting the walls a fresh neutral color does not equal home staging. That work, while essential, does not make your home stand out from the competition. That is the work of your Home Stager. If you like, you can also learn how to stage and do it yourself. Either way, do it!

When your agent stops in to take photographs for the MLS Listing, what will they look like? Will they be a total reflection of you?

If so, rethink what you are presenting.


If your enormous flat screen t.v. is the first thing they notice in the picture, they will miss what you should want them to see, the vaulted ceiling or the double french doors overlooking a great patio. Since 9 of 10 buyers start their search on the internet, the photos placed in your listing are the first impression. They will often be the deciding factor in requesting a walk-through.

When a potential buyer gets to the house, what do they see? Is the yard clean, grass cut, do you have a focal point to draw them in and make them want to keep going. Or, will they see an unkempt yard, overgrown shrubs and think immediately about the work they will have to accomplish to make the exterior appearance acceptable?

When they open the entry door, what do they see? Is the abundance of natural light hidden behind dark heavy drapery instead of being enhanced with reflective window coverings?



If they walk through and must walk around things to get to the destination, you are reducing the impression of square footage, something all buyers want. If you insist on using a king sized bed in a small room, you take away all important square footage.

A professional home stager, assists you in taking your responsibility to heart and acting on those things you always wanted to do, but just never did! They can do that in any number of ways and one of those ways will fit your budget.

First you can ask for a free estimate from most all home stagers. They will visit the home and estimate the work to be done and the cost. It is up to you whether you move forward. If you establish a budget, most home stagers will work with you to maximize that budget. After the estimate You make the decision.

You can also ask for a Home Consultation. If you Google, Home Stagers -City In Which You Live, you can usually find the cost of a Home Consultation on their websites or with a simple phone call. In Asheville NC contact The Asheville Home Staging Company. The home stager will visit your home, walk thru with you and advise you of the elements that need address and suggest the corrections. Usually they are prioritized and you can choose what to do in what order as a way to manage your budget by doing it yourself.

Another option is to learn how to stage. The Real Estate Home Staging School ™ offers homeowners a one day intensive workshops. Take what you learn and start the process the next day!

Whatever option you choose, it is the best decision you could make. Your home has great features that will sell it, they need to the obvious elements when a potential buyer steps through the door.

Eileen Wheeler is the Owner of The Asheville Home Staging Company and Co Founder of
The Real Estate Home Staging School TM

How To Improve Your Home Staging Business Performance

If you are not as successful as you should be in your Home Staging Business, you may or may not need additional training. Chances are there's an easily identifiable reason or reasons that you just can't see when you do not meet your goals in a Home Staging Business. Often it is difficult to critique a business plan that YOU create. So, before you spend money on additional training, consider a Business Audit and Consulting Service we offer at The Real Estate Home Staging School.

Businesses of all stripes around the world hire external auditors to provide an objective outside assessment of the effectiveness of their business plan and the execution of their strategy. With that assessment comes a plan to turn around the week areas and enhance the strong.

Business functions and procedures that need attention are identified and corrective steps discussed. We examine and critique your client's experience in all areas of your business. Public perception of your business and your brand will be examined.

Some of the questions for which we will find answers related to your Skill Level include; how well you understand the market you are in and how well you integrate that into your staging plans, can your existing business plan lead lead you to success, how well do your business practices attract new clients, how's your USP working?

Ultimately, we take what is learned and help you develop a new or improved business plan based on performance criteria. We help you set up fiscal monitoring plans.

Our qualifications are simple. Over 25 years in the business audit field and over 10 years in home staging and merchandising and over 15 years in business development, financial reporting and tax preparation.


Eileen Wheeler
The Real Estate Home Staging School
The Asheville Home Staging Company

Decorating Staging and Merchandising: The Difference

If you are starting up your own home staging business, the difference between decorating, staging, and merchandising is essential to understand. If you are choosing a home stager to prep your home for sale, choosing the right home stager is a critical decision.

When a homeowner or agent hires a home stager a clear vision of what is needed to enhance the ability to sell the property is required. That vision should be a shared vision between the client and the home stager.

When a Home Stager prepares a vacant home and merely furnishes and accessorizes, they are decorating. Decorating will make the home more appealing and enhance the sell-ability. Often, this style of staging is indicative of a home stager that has not yet learned the value of becoming a true asset to the agent or homeowner.

A Home Stager trained in the skills of marketing analysis and merchandising incorporates those techniques into the initial staging plan and assures consensus with the client. Doing so adds value to the home as well as the client relationship.

As an example of a highly skilled stager using market analysis, consider the following scenario. When a Home Stager receives the request for bid the first action might be to view the MLS. Immediately thereafter a skilled stager will research comparable homes for sale in the area and analyze the Internet photos. This gives a starting point for the bid home's analysis.

In addition to the photos a skilled stager will review the listing details, understand the location of the property and proximity to amenities. These two factors will help determine the anticipated demographic of the purchaser and will guide the staging plan. While it is true most homes should be staged to appeal to a wide variety of potential buyers, it is also true that a modern high rise, 2 bedroom condo, in the middle of a bustling downtown area is going to draw a specific demographic and that consideration is crucial. So, to properly merchandise the property as an asset to the selling agent, certain furnishing may well be preferred or certain focal points may take precedence.

As an example of a skilled home stager using a merchandising perspective, consider the home that is vacant. After discussion with the agent it is discovered the open house feedback is potential buyers "can't see how their things will work" in the house and therefore cannot see it as their home. Home-buyers want square footage and need function. A skilled home stager will create a room plan that meets the function requirement and is aesthetically compelling. A skilled stager utilizes function as well as aesthetics. The function aspect is merchandising. If a home stager ignores function and puts furniture in the room, they are decorating.

These are two of many examples of what a skilled home stager can accomplish if properly trained in both the core competency of staging and merchandising skills.

As Co-Owner and Co-Founder of The Real Estate Home Staging School, we assure our students are trained and knowledgeable in staging skills and guidelines, merchandising procedures and marketing needs in the real estate field. If you need training to become a home stager contact us. If you desire a stager that can professionally provide all of these preparations for your property....Look for The Real Estate Home Staging School Graduate.

New Stagers..Why Are You Special

My business partner Leslie Godbold recently blogged on Active Rain and I thought I would share what she had to say here.

As a budding new home stager your opportunity for success is dependent on so many factors. All things being equal, if you do not use your marketing and web site to tell potential clients why they should choose you over your local competition, your chances of selection are minimized.

So think about it. You may well have the talent and the eye for this sort of thing. You may also think you do after watching how easy things appear on the many decorating and home staging programs on HGTV and TLC. But reality is another story. Your business must be founded in sound business practices and demonstrable talent in the field and you must communicate those 3 things.

Don't start your business until you have a solid foundation in business practices, communication skills and have your special "IT", i.e., what makes you the best choice. If you ask yourself this question and do not have a good answer, think again. Without an "IT" you can communicate, you are in for a long road ahead. Visit Leslie's blog at Active Rain.com.