Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kimberley_Pacholko

Setting up a web page is only the beginning to online marketing. Now you need to get it seen by potential customers. This used to be challenging in many markets, but there has been a big change in what matters. Today, what matters is being seen on the Google Places Page, and you don't even need to have a web site to do that. (although you should.) The good news is that its free, and if you know what you are doing, you can maneuver yourself to the top listing in many markets. That's one of the skill sets I bring to the table. If you would like to get your Google Places Page properly set up send me an email at enetwal@gmail.com and put "Free Initial Evaluation" or something similar in the subject line. Be sure to include your current web site and contact info.

The Benefits Of Home Staging.

One of the hottest trends to sell a home today is home staging, an interior decorating technique for making the most of your home’s attributes and making it more appealing to the widest array of potential buyers. Home staging has been known to boost home sales prices, as well as quicken the amount of time the home stays on the market. But the question is – What is the pricing for home staging-and is it worth it?

Preparing Your Home for Sale.

Most sellers realize the importance of cleaning up their home before putting it on the market. Things like fixing leaky sinks, mending cracks in the walls and completing other minor repairs are also pretty standard. These things are often good to do, and, in many ways, are considered forms of “staging,” or preparing your home for sale.

What Do Home Stagers Do?

There are professionals, however, who will go above and beyond what most homeowners think of when they go to sell their house. While decorating is geared toward the owner, Home Staging is aimed first and foremost at pleasing the biggest possible number of buyers. For a fee, these home stagers will come into your home and use your existing items. Or, bring in items that add that special touch to complete a room and make your house as attractive as possible. Home staging costs often include moving around, removing or adding furniture and adding tasteful artwork or other decoration to make your home really shine.

Staging – Is It Worth It?

The main benefit of hiring a professional to stage your home is that they will look at your surroundings with an experienced, tasteful and objective buyer’s eye. They won’t be attached to a souvenir plate collection, like the homeowner would. They will be able to come in and tell you which items should be removed, what should be added, and how best to feature your home.

While home staging may seem like an unnecessary expense, there probably isn’t a single house that couldn’t benefit from a bit of carefully manipulated staging. Only a mere 10% of home buyers can actually visualize living in your home, or your homes hidden potential. This is why having a vacant home staged is so important. Buyers cannot visualize size and scale, so furniture helps to give them a frame of reference.

Why Can’t I Just Stage My Own Home?

Home owners have gotten used to the way their home looks and in fact it is difficult emotionally to change it. If you can’t view something objectively then you are unable to market and package it effectively. Not to mention, most home sellers don’t stage homes everyday for a living. Staging is more than a “to-do” list, de-cluttering, and painting. Its about decorating a home for potential buyers. Home Stagers, rearrange, shop the home, and pull items from other rooms, to create a whole new look to rooms. It takes a designers eye, to pull the rooms together. And often, suggestions and changes from professionals can amount to significant increases in the bottom line profit when selling your home.

Will My House Sell If It’s Not Staged?

Eventually, every house will sell…it’s just a matter of when and for how much. Even if your house sells quickly in a good market, it doesn’t mean it sold for the amount it would have sold for had it been professionally staged.

How Much Does Home Staging Cost?

Having your home staged, doesn’t cost a fortune. It’s the most inexpensive way to achieve the most dramatic and profitable results. Home staging pricing runs from $200+ depending on the market you’re in. According to a 2003 Survey, by Home Gain, statistics showed an average of a 6+% increase in the final sales price on homes that had been staged, versus those that had not. On a $300,000 home, that’s a $18,000 increase! And well worth the low cost of home staging fees.

To find out how to best showcase your home for sale, contact a home staging professional or your local realtor. Many realtor’s will even offer home staging services as part of their listing package, so be sure to ask if that’s something they offer, or if they can recommend someone in the industry. If you’re willing to put out a bit of money up front, you just might find that the benefits from staging your home can greatly outweigh home staging costs. In the end, Home Staging is really a no risk, win-win situation for everyone involved!

Cindy Bryant – Owner of Redesign Etc. a Home Staging & Interior Redesign Service. Serving Houston’s Bay & Gulf Coast. Featured on ABC Houston, The Houston Chronicle, Live Talk Radio, and author.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Cindy_Bryant

Technorati Tags: Home Staging, home staging cost, Does home staging work, what do home stagers do, benefits of home staging, preparing your home for sale, preparing my home for sale

Setting up a web page is only the beginning to online marketing. Now you need to get it seen by potential customers. This used to be challenging in many markets, but there has been a big change in what matters. Today, what matters is being seen on the Google Places Page, and you don't even need to have a web site to do that. (although you should.) The good news is that its free, and if you know what you are doing, you can maneuver yourself to the top listing in many markets. That's one of the skill sets I bring to the table. If you would like to get your Google Places Page properly set up send me an email at enetwal@gmail.com and put "Free Initial Evaluation" or something similar in the subject line. Be sure to include your current web site and contact info.

Technorati Tags: benefits of home staging, Does home staging work, Home Staging, home staging cost, preparing my home for sale, preparing your home for sale, what do home stagers do

Below is a good article by Karen Schaefer. I particularly like the comment she makes about naming your company, which is particularly applicable if you want to be found online in a Google Search.  Her USP is also a key concept. You must have a great one that you can use to communicate with prospective buyers in an instant. There is no law against using hers for your own, but you may well be able to come up with a better one for yourself.

And once again, look at the free publicity I  just provided her. All because she wrote a good article. I am sure I will not be the only one reprinting this. This gives her traffic to her site, credibility and more.   You should be doing the same to promote your business.  -etn

How to Combine Creativity With Business
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Karen_S_Schaefer]Karen S Schaefer

The number one request that I get from all of my clients, whether they are from my Home Staging Training Company, Marketing and Networking Business, one of my Speaking Clients, all of them, are always looking for a way to be more creative, or at least add more creativity to their marketing efforts and effectively combine it with business. For some reason, we have been conditioned that the two don’t go together… but they MUST!

Over the years, people have constantly told me how “Creative or Imaginative” I am. Funny, I never thought of myself as such, but I am a self-professed dreamer, and I love letting my imagination run wild…which can be good, and of course, bad as well!

But, I think ultimately that you have to have a set foundation in every type of business, no matter what it is. You have to have a solid vision, a way to implement the plan or vision, have a strong team, a goal or intention and of course the marketing, direction and management to make it happen.

Rarely can this happen without a “Creative Department.” Most small businesses don’t have the luxury of an entire department, so it is up to YOU to be the Creative Leader of your Business, so that your Business is presented as a Creative, Productive, and Effective Company to your Client.

As Home Stagers, we all have a natural inclination toward creativity. Most of you explore that creativity each time you do a staging job. I know I do because it is almost a release for me. It is a creative outlet, a way to vent any frustration, and it also allows me to constantly flex my creativity muscle. I am able to in turn get better each time (and most importantly, offer more creative advice every time to my nationwide team of APSD Certified Home Stagers).

But, in business, we can’t simply be creative in what we do; we have to be creative in what we say and how we present ourselves and our services. In other words, your Marketing must be creative if you want to stand out from the crowd and catch the attention of your potential client.

That is why the first thing I always teach all of my clients is:

1) Name: What is the name of your company or Service? Does it say what you do and where you do it?
I know you are thinking, “Karen, to just say ‘Los Angeles Home Staging’ is boring. I want to say ‘A feather in your cap Sales.’”

Now, I would agree that the ‘Feather in your Cap’ is far more creative, but it does not tell me anything. When you come up with a name, people will search under categories, which is why, in this instance something “practical” comes in handy.

Even today, if I were naming my own Home Staging Company again, I would not name it Simple Appeal. I love the name, and it speaks to me, but for people that don’t know me, they are only going to search for Home Staging Services in Colorado-not Simple Appeal.

2) USP- Once you have figured out your name, now is your chance to be creative. A USP is a “Unique Selling Proposition.” Sometimes you can use this as a tag line, like I do, “Anybody can make your Property pretty, we make it Sell” or as a unique way to capture the attention of your customer. In other words, use your creativity, and figure out a way to say something about your service or business that makes you more compelling than any other person in your industry in the eyes of your client.

The best way to approach this, which you many already know if you follow me on Twitter, is to tell your client what they WANT to hear vs. what they NEED to hear. And say it in such a way that makes them think “I HAVE to have it!”

You can have so much fun with this and when you hit the nail on the head, your lead generation will explode. It is the perfect way to combine creativity with business.

3) Position- So, now you have a name that opens up the door for good and easy search criteria. You then have mustered up all of your creative resources and developed an extraordinary USP. So, you have burst open the door on your new lead generation. Now, you have to correctly and effectively position yourself in the market place so that you can convert those leads into sales, thus increasing your business’s bottom line.

My USP, “Anybody can make your House look Pretty, we make it Sell” is not only a great USP, but it also offers me great positioning in my market place. It is good marketing. The reason that I chose this USP is that I wanted to position myself in the market place as the Home Stager that actually knew how to stage a home so it would sell. I did not want to just be about decorating, accessorizing or rearranging…I wanted to be about results.

So, what you have to do… once again is be creative. What do you want to say about your business? And, how do you want them to envision you and your services?

All of these steps require creativity and with that, you will find that new doors will readily open for your business. The key to success is to combine your creativity with your business skills, because although they can each stand alone, the fact of the matter is that you could increase your business 10 fold over night by adding just one effective touch of creativity. And, let’s face the facts; it sure is whole lot more fun to be creative!

Keep in mind that creative marketing and positioning is just good business. So for those of you that immediately assume you are not good at business, by implementing the 3 steps above, you will now be 3 “business” steps ahead of any other Home Stager in your area.

In the future, I will offer a business program, but for now, follow the information above and you will be amazed at the results.

To your greatest joy,

Karen Schaefer

Founder, APSD

Your Worldwide Leader in Home Staging Training

By Karen Schaefer, Founder of Simple Appeal, Inc. and APSD – The Association of Property Scene Designers. Through Karen, you can learn more about [http://www.apsdmembers.com/membership.html]home staging, [http://www.apsdmembers.com/homestager/directoffer.html]marketing houses and selling houses quickly.

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?How-to-Combine-Creativity-With-Business&id=3571566] How to Combine Creativity With Business

Setting up a web page is only the beginning to online marketing. Now you need to get it seen by potential customers. This used to be challenging in many markets, but there has been a big change in what matters. Today, what matters is being seen on the Google Places Page, and you don't even need to have a web site to do that. (although you should.) The good news is that its free, and if you know what you are doing, you can maneuver yourself to the top listing in many markets. That's one of the skill sets I bring to the table. If you would like to get your Google Places Page properly set up send me an email at enetwal@gmail.com and put "Free Initial Evaluation" or something similar in the subject line. Be sure to include your current web site and contact info.

Technorati Tags: Article Marketing, Company Name, USP

Another in my series of articles that almost any home stager could write.   Although this one uses some quotes and references.  When you get into writing your own, you should keep on alert for authority figures and quotes you can use. They help make an article sound more authoritative and thus more likely to get reprinted in someone else’s blog, just as this one did.

———————————————————————————

Why Houses That Smell Better, Sell Better
By Jolanta Dougherty

If you are planning to sell your house today in a SLOW paced real estate market you will already come to know that the competition is much higher than a year ago. This can be one of the more stressful aspects of having your home on the market, because in a slow or “buyers” real estate market, your house is just one of many for sale in your neighborhood. Many agents may be advising the only way to sell your home is to drop your price. But in most cases, this is not always the solution, there are other ways to sell house at the highest price no matter how slow the market is.

Once you have done your homework and picked up an effective real estate agent you should prepare your house for open day…which means you have to get rid of clutter; clean, clean, clean; ensure cupboards open and shut and that no taps are dripping, pack your personal house accessories (e.g. pictures, children drawings) and the list goes on…But one of most essential thing you must to do before you put your house on the market is get rid of any odors that are lingering in your home, especially if it’s not pleasant.

There is nothing worse than walking into a stuffy house or one that smells of smoke and pet odors…

Doctor David Lewis is adamant: “Bad smells get up your nose – literally,” he says. “They have a negative effect on your brain. Pleasant smells have a positive effect and so it pays to have these in your house, especially if you are trying to sell it to a complete stranger.”

“Quite often you cannot smell your own home because you are so used to it. It’s the same as if you live next to a railway line or under the flight path of an airport. You get used to the trains and planes and you don’t hear them. And when you move, your odor hangs around like a ghost for a while, particularly in odd corners, until the new owners become established.”

Scientists recently confirmed that everyone’s home has a unique smell. Kind of like a fingerprint, only with odor. Craig Warren is a PhD who’s logged over thirty years in the “smell business”. He says that all homes have an “occupancy odor”. What causes your special smell? Some of the culprits are what you cook, pets, smoking and how you clean. A recent study found that there are a lot of places in your home for these odors to hide. Your couch, pillows, and drapes have a way of capturing smells that aren’t easy to remove. And a house with wood floors will have a different smell than a carpeted home.

When you are selling your house make sure that you done everything you can to get the best price and to sell your house as fast as you can. It will save you time, money and emotional stress…

Get my Free Report to find out tips and advice what to do when you need to get rid of cigarette smell, dog and cat urine smell, bad food and house smell and much more…visit http://www.thehomestagingservices.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jolanta_Dougherty
http://EzineArticles.com/?Why-Houses-That-Smell-Better,-Sell-Better&id=2222191

Setting up a web page is only the beginning to online marketing. Now you need to get it seen by potential customers. This used to be challenging in many markets, but there has been a big change in what matters. Today, what matters is being seen on the Google Places Page, and you don't even need to have a web site to do that. (although you should.) The good news is that its free, and if you know what you are doing, you can maneuver yourself to the top listing in many markets. That's one of the skill sets I bring to the table. If you would like to get your Google Places Page properly set up send me an email at enetwal@gmail.com and put "Free Initial Evaluation" or something similar in the subject line. Be sure to include your current web site and contact info.

Technorati Tags: articles, eZine Articles, Smell

Here is another in my series of eZine articles demonstrating the type of material that you could also produce in article of your own. As homestagers you are likely able to come up with your own list of the five biggest don’t do’s you have encountered or heard about in your career. Write them down in 300 to 600 words or so and put them on eZine articles and other article directories. Include a reference box at the bottom that links back to your web site. This will give you “Google Juice” and start establishing you as an expert article writer, and home stager. The article below was written by Teri B Clark, and while she is a professional writer, I bet you could have written the article below, and maybe an even better one, what do you think?
—
Home Staging and Renovations – The 5 Don’ts
By Teri B Clark

It is time to sell your home. You take a good hard look and realize that there are a few things you need to do to make your home a showcase. But now you wonder…..what things are the best? You certainly don’t want to fix your home in a way that doesn’t get you any return on your investment. Why waste money, right?

Here are five things you don’t want to do:

1. Adding high-end appliances to a modest home. Unless you live in an area where every home on the block has high-end appliances and a granite countertop, don’t add them to yours! You will spend a lot of money and see none of it in return. If you need new appliances or countertops, consider refinishing either or buying nice but less costly versions.

2. Adding hand painted tiles in the bath or kitchen. Sure, they look lovely. And, if you were planning to live there for years, you might want to do that for your own enjoyment. But adding a hand painted tile reflects YOUR tastes and you are trying to sell the home to others. If they want hand painted tile, they will add it!

3. Adding a central vacuum. These are a great feature. But, once again, only do this if you plan to live there and enjoy it yourself!

4. Replacing windows with newer models. Windows are very expensive and will not increase the value of your home at all. People expect a home to have windows and they don’t expect to pay more for a house just because they have them!

5. Adding a swimming pool. This is true even if people in your neighborhood do have them. It is true that a homebuyer likes the idea of a pool, but they are not willing to pay more to get it.

Just be sure that you check to see if a permit is needed before starting any new project. Many departments require permits, even for things as simple as changing a dishwasher.

There are other projects that are often part of home staging, such as replacing old or worn carpeting, painting the walls, refreshing the kitchen with new cabinet or freshly painted cabinet doors, or even putting in a new kitchen floor will give your home added value. That is what home staging is all about – adding value so that you can sell your home faster and for more money!

Teri B Clark is a professional writer and published author. Her most recent book, 301 Simple Things You Can Do To Sell Your Home NOW and For More Money Than You Thought, explains these tips in more detail and offers many, many others. To learn more about Teri’s latest book, visit http://staging-your-home.blogspot.com or sign up for a free newsletter

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Teri_B_Clark
http://EzineArticles.com/?Home-Staging-and-Renovations—The-5-Donts&id=501421

Setting up a web page is only the beginning to online marketing. Now you need to get it seen by potential customers. This used to be challenging in many markets, but there has been a big change in what matters. Today, what matters is being seen on the Google Places Page, and you don't even need to have a web site to do that. (although you should.) The good news is that its free, and if you know what you are doing, you can maneuver yourself to the top listing in many markets. That's one of the skill sets I bring to the table. If you would like to get your Google Places Page properly set up send me an email at enetwal@gmail.com and put "Free Initial Evaluation" or something similar in the subject line. Be sure to include your current web site and contact info.

Technorati Tags: Article writing, Home Staging

Home stagers interested in attracting more clients and buidling their web presence are wise to post on active rain.  They get a couple of beneifts. First Active Rain is a relatively high ranking site in terms of Google Page Rank and backlinks from Active Rain to your website carry greater weight. This is good in terms of your ability to rise in the Google Listings.

The second advantage of active rain is that it exposes you to Realtors in your market who may also use active rain.

What Active Rain is less good at is reaching beyond the Active Rain community and into the home selling market at large. That’s an area where traditional article marketing has some potential.  I’ve written before about eZine Articles.  They are probably the biggest article directory online, but there are hundreds of others. A post on one of these directories has a chance of being picked up by any of thousands of other blogs and ezines around the world.

Such an article has a far better chance of doing some good missionary work on behalf of home staging than an article on Active Rain.  There are far more people who don’t know about home staging than do out there. And article marketing is one of the best ways to slowly reach out to tell the home staging story.

Beyond prosletizing, while a backlink from Active rain is positive to your google Ranking, after the second or third time the “Google Juice” it provides diminshes rapidly.  Google would rather see you get incoming links from a variety of sources and not just one.

This is where article marketing shines. Many of the article directories also have high page rankings, and just putting an article on their site can do as much as a post from Active Rain.  And when one of your articles is picked up by a number of other users, it multiples the effect. And that’s what Google wants to see.  Not one or two sources linking to you, but first tens and then ultimately hundreds of sites. When you do that, you will virtually lock yourself into top ranking in your market.

In the process you will be building the national and international market for home staging. And while that may be hard to quantify, in the long run it will come back and benefit you as well as everyone else.

Now the big secret here is that you can often use the same material and articles you write for Active Rain and post them on the article directories.

One of the best educations you can get on article marketing is Understanding Article Marketing by Doug Champigny.  While written to address the article marketing needs of online internet marketers, the lessons he teaches are directly applicable to home stagers and most any small business.

Don’t get mesmerized by the hunt for points and ranking on Active Rain. While it matters some, in the long run you will do yourself and the home staging industry more good on the mainstream article directories.

Setting up a web page is only the beginning to online marketing. Now you need to get it seen by potential customers. This used to be challenging in many markets, but there has been a big change in what matters. Today, what matters is being seen on the Google Places Page, and you don't even need to have a web site to do that. (although you should.) The good news is that its free, and if you know what you are doing, you can maneuver yourself to the top listing in many markets. That's one of the skill sets I bring to the table. If you would like to get your Google Places Page properly set up send me an email at enetwal@gmail.com and put "Free Initial Evaluation" or something similar in the subject line. Be sure to include your current web site and contact info.

Technorati Tags: Active Rain, Article Marketing, eZine Articles

Writing a good article is an excellent way to demonstrate your expertise and showcase your business in a local newspaper or online.  An article in a local paper of course will bring you some immediate attention in your home market and that is a powerful way to build your business.

The benefits of online article marketing may not be as clear nor as immediate, but it too can be a powerful way to market your business.  Each article posted online can contain backlinks to your web site. These backlinks are one of the factors Google and others use to decide where your web page appears when someone searches for a home stager in your community.  The more back links you have, the more likely you are to get top billing. And you want top billing.

A lot of articles will also make it more likely that the local media in your community will find you and seek you out, when an editor decides to do an article or newscast on home staging.  If a newspaper article is good for business, a minute or so of exposure on local TV is golden.

Article writing comes naturally for some and less so for others. But whatever your situation, it’s worth doing. But once done, there is no reason why you should submit it to only one venue.

The article is yours, and if you post it to Active Rain that’s great. But if you have gone to the trouble of writing the article why not get double and/or triple duty out of it?

Actually you can do a lot better than triple duty. Let me explain.

There are tons of people writing newsletter, blogs and ezines on the internet. Some write all their content themselves, but this gets to be time consuming and a royal pain for most. So, rather than writing everything themselves, they will go to one of hundreds of different article directories that exist and find suitable articles they can use for their publications.

These directories are always looking for fresh content to offer to these bloggers and editors. So they are willing to take your article and post it on their site so newsletter editors can find it.  To make it worth your while, they stipulate that anyone who uses your material must include your resource page.

Your resource page is a brief statement at the bottom of you article that you write that says who you are, and allows you to include usually two links to your web site and or other site you want people to go to.

When I write articles I might include a link to one of my blogs and maybe another to an eBook I am selling.

The article directories make money on the advertising on their site, the people using your article get fresh content to use in their publications.  It’s a classic win-win-win situation.

The Granddaddy of all article directories is www.ezinearticles.com. If there were just one place you wanted to post you article it would be there.  It is free to sign up as an author.  And almost everyone I know who is serious about internet marketing uses them. But as I said earlier, there are hundreds of similar article directories.

Now understand that each of these has their own set of rules, and it can be a bit frustrating at first to understand their different editorial requirements. But If you are capable of writing an article a week or even just an article a month, but are able to commit to doing so on a regular basis, it will be well worth your while to learn your way around these sites.

One of the biggest shortcuts out there are some of the article directory submitters. These are services that will take your article and submit it to multiple directories at once.  Some of these are pretty pricey for occasional users.  I use a service developed by Brad Callen called Article Submitter.

It too is designed for the professional.  It’s top level service the platinum allows you to submit your article to over 250 directories with the click of a single button. That’s a big time saver compared to going to each site and copying and pasting your article, title, resource box, and other items like keywords directory by directory.

But I don’t use the platinum version myself.  Frankly I started out with his Free version and later upgraded to the Gold. These take a little more effort, but once you have the basics down you can upload the same article to a lot of different directories. I usually submit to about 25 different directories for each article I write.

That gives me a lot more chances that my articles will be picked up by different newsletters and bloggers. Now this may be especially valuable to home stagers.  That’s because a lot of Realtors use newsletters to keep in touch with their farms or prospect list. (Home stagers should as well – that’s why you need something like market maker to build your own lists)

Since home staging topics will be relevant to many of these newsletters, I would guess that you would have a good chance of getting relevant article picked up. And while most will be from markets outside your market area, each will include a link back to your web site and do you some good.  And sooner or later, you will find a local Realtor or two using them in your own market, with any luck at all.

Article marketing is a powerful, if slow working tool to build a significant marketing advantage in your local area.  Article marketing is one of the topics that will be part of the monthly marketing calls we will be doing as part of the Market Maker Program.

PS: if you are interested in the free version of the Article Submitter,  look for the four tabs at the top of the page and click on article submitter.  That will take you to the free version.  If you can afford it, and plan on becoming a regular article writer, the Gold or Platimum versions are more powerful.

Which ever you use, once you have taken the time to write an article it make sense to distribute it as widely as you can.  The more directories you post on the more editors that will see your work and the more likely it will get published. It multiplies the benefits of your efforts.  Check out Article Submitter.

Setting up a web page is only the beginning to online marketing. Now you need to get it seen by potential customers. This used to be challenging in many markets, but there has been a big change in what matters. Today, what matters is being seen on the Google Places Page, and you don't even need to have a web site to do that. (although you should.) The good news is that its free, and if you know what you are doing, you can maneuver yourself to the top listing in many markets. That's one of the skill sets I bring to the table. If you would like to get your Google Places Page properly set up send me an email at enetwal@gmail.com and put "Free Initial Evaluation" or something similar in the subject line. Be sure to include your current web site and contact info.

Technorati Tags: Article Marketing, article submitter, eZine Articles, Market Maker

The Staging Diva is one of the best known personalities in home staging circles. It should not come as a surprise that one of the tactics she uses to attain and maintain that position is article marketing.

You may not be as articulate and experienced a writer but that’s not necessary either, We will continue to post home staging articles here from top notch writers and more everyday ones to demonstrate to you that article writing is another tool you can put in your arsenal.

If you would like to get an excellent how to resource on article marketing I highly recommend Doug Champigny’s Beginners Key to Understanding Article Marketing

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Home Staging Marketing Tactics That Will Put You Out of Business – Part 1

Unfortunately, many individuals with a talent for decorating attempt to become home stagers without any kind of business training or marketing knowledge. With the best of intentions they stumble into some awful marketing tactics that will put them out of business faster than you can say, “What were they thinking?”

When you’ve made a career of being a home stager, like any business you might run, marketing must be a focus of your efforts to generate a steady stream of paying clients. Unfortunately, some home stagers aren’t portraying an image of professionalism, which not only hurts their own success, but casts a bad light on the home staging industry as a whole.

Before I entered the home staging industry, I owned a marketing consulting firm where I used my MBA and experience working for advertising agencies to help promote Fortune 500 companies. It pains me to see tacky marketing gimmicks being used by any company. But it’s worse when it’s a staging business because I sincerely want to see people succeed in this field and raise the standards in the industry. That’s why, when I train others to become home stagers, there’s a great deal of focus placed on smart marketing techniques.”

The following are some of the worst marketing tactics I’ve seen carried out by home stagers:

Using sexy as a selling point.

It’s true that sex sells, but it’s a terrible idea to use your sex appeal to sell home staging services for many reasons.

* It’s not safe. You’re going to a stranger’s home, most likely by yourself. If you don’t want to put yourself in a bad situation, don’t claim to be a sexy home stager.
* It’s irrelevant. As long as you can present a polished image and prove your ability to transform a property to appeal to buyers, it doesn’t matter what you look like.
* It’s inappropriate. Usually, the marketing I’ve seen by home stagers who are trying to attract customers based on their level of sexiness is just ridiculous and it’s impossible to take these stagers seriously.

I recently came across a “home staging” website featuring a strange animated character telling the world that she was her state’s sexiest stager. The whole thing was strange. After the animated head introduced herself as her state’s sexiest stager she said that if you want your home to sell fast and for top dollar you should stay tuned for weekly tips on sexy staging.

Then the animated head tells a joke: What is the difference between broccoli and boogers? Kids won’t eat broccoli. Which led her to sharing the day’s sexy staging tip which was (and months later still is), “Remember to clean the boogers off the walls before you put your house on the market.”

This is enough to make any reasonable adult cringe, and would lead even a teenager to ask, ‘Is this a real home staging business?”

Nobody is going to trust that person to prepare their largest asset to sell. There are ways to use video effectively to enhance your marketing message, but a “sexy” animated robot, especially one joking about “boogers”, is not one of them.

In part two of this series of articles, learn why offering a guaranteed sale based on home staging services is a terrible marketing idea.

Internationally recognized home staging expert Debra Gould, president of Six Elements and creator of The Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program with 900+ Graduates worldwide. Debra is the author of two home staging guides and offers a Directory of Home Stagers to help homeowners and real estate agents locate home stagers who will decorate homes to sell quickly and for top dollar

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Debra_Gould

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Learn how to use article marketing to build traffic to your web site and build your reputation in the home staging universe. Get a copy of the Beginners Key to Understanding Article Marketing by Doug Champigny.

Setting up a web page is only the beginning to online marketing. Now you need to get it seen by potential customers. This used to be challenging in many markets, but there has been a big change in what matters. Today, what matters is being seen on the Google Places Page, and you don't even need to have a web site to do that. (although you should.) The good news is that its free, and if you know what you are doing, you can maneuver yourself to the top listing in many markets. That's one of the skill sets I bring to the table. If you would like to get your Google Places Page properly set up send me an email at enetwal@gmail.com and put "Free Initial Evaluation" or something similar in the subject line. Be sure to include your current web site and contact info.

Technorati Tags: Articel Marketing, Debra Gould, Ezines Articles

Tasha Moody got me see colors with this useful article she has posted to the eZine Article Directory. I bet it gets a lot of use in real estate and other blogs. Each time it gets used it will send Google Bots back to her web site and even if no one takes her up on her offer for color swatches, or lives in the Atlanta area, she will benefit by way of a higher search engine placement in the Atlanta Market. Plus should someone in her market see it, they will recognize that she is knowledgeable, maybe even an expert, and that will help raise her status in their eyes.

There you are, touring a new listing in the perfect location, with the right number of bedrooms and the best school district. It’s the only one in your price range, and while it’s clean and new and generally de-cluttered, you just can’t get past the master bathroom seeming uninviting and the finished basement feeling a bit dark. As much as you’d like for it to be, it just isn’t “the one.” No offers today.

Unfortunately what that seller failed to realize is that a simple change in paint colors would have been the missing link to clenching an offer, all for the cost of a can of paint. Choosing the right paint colors is a critical step in preparing a home for sale and is one of the biggest players in the emotional connection (or lack thereof) that a buyer makes with a property. What are those perfect paint colors for helping sell houses? Well, that’s the million dollar question that can be very difficult to answer if you don’t know color. Read on for some basic tips that will get you on the path to choosing the right colors for staging a home:

1. Neutral is great, but all beige is boring
A common real estate misconception is that painting the walls white or beige throughout the entire home will give the buyers a “blank slate.” Problem is, it usually turns out to be a very boring, unmemorable blank slate that rarely results in increased profits or a faster sale. While beige is much safer than super bright or very bold colors, having a variety of color within the right palette is ideal. However, using a warm beige or tan such as Shaker Beige by Benjamin Moore in the common areas (hallways, stairwells, foyers, etc.) is recommended.

2. Stick with earth-toned varieties of tan, green, yellow, blue and grey
For example, when looking at greens stay in the sage, celery or rosemary ranges. Or when thinking of yellow go with the more buttery or golden tones as opposed to the brighter varieties. Look to the types of tones and shades you see in nature most often and mimic those in your color choices.

3. Either the walls or the décor should take the stage – but not both
If your living room has dark brown leather and walnut-toned furniture, you’ll need to go with a lighter tone on the walls to balance. Likewise, if you have a maple dining room set and white fabric upholstered chairs, you’ll need a warmer color on the wall and complimentary place settings/centerpiece to ensure the room doesn’t appear washed out. Consider your furniture, cabinetry, artwork, flooring and countertops when choosing the shade of paint.

4. If in doubt, go with the lighter option
If you’ve narrowed your options to two or three colors and all would make great choices, a rule of thumb is to pick the lighter option when going to sell. While deeper tones can make fabulously enticing rooms, they can be tricky. If you aren’t working with a home stager or color consultant it’s better to air on the side of safe, rather than chance overwhelming the seller.

5. Green, red and yellow are appetizing colors
Sage green, apple red and golden yellow are great colors for dining rooms and kitchens because they evoke appetite. Red is definitely the trickiest of the three to use effectively without overwhelming a room, but if combined with the right furniture and accents it makes for a very appealing color. Yellow is a cheery color that encourages conversation. Green is a combination of appetizing and soothing, making it popular with many different types of people and in several different rooms of the home.

6. Cool colors like blue and green have soothing, spa-like appeal
Use a gray-blue in a bathroom with an orchid by the sink and a stack of fluffy towels by the tub, or sage green in a bedroom with white bedding and dark wood furniture for a soothing, harmonious appeal. Some studies have shown that blue and green actually have healing properties such as lowering heart rate and blood pressure! Try “Iced Marble” or “Mosaic Tile” by Benjamin Moore.

7. Order a sample can
When you have decided on your colors and picked the shade you feel is best, always pick up a $5 sample can of paint and test it on a decent-sized area of several walls with different lighting in the room to ensure it works on the grander scale. This small investment will save you a lot of time and energy in the end, as tiny paint swatches can often be deceiving.

Good Luck!

Tasha Moody is a certified Home Staging Expert and President of Simply Staged, an Atlanta home staging company. Go to http://www.PaintColorsThatSell.com to learn about the 27 BEST staging colors that consistently help sell the listings Tasha stages. Order your own paint fan of the colors with oversized swatches and details of which room the color works best in for just $25 so you can start recommending paint colors with confidence! Choosing beautiful paint colors has never been so easy.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tasha_Moody

Setting up a web page is only the beginning to online marketing. Now you need to get it seen by potential customers. This used to be challenging in many markets, but there has been a big change in what matters. Today, what matters is being seen on the Google Places Page, and you don't even need to have a web site to do that. (although you should.) The good news is that its free, and if you know what you are doing, you can maneuver yourself to the top listing in many markets. That's one of the skill sets I bring to the table. If you would like to get your Google Places Page properly set up send me an email at enetwal@gmail.com and put "Free Initial Evaluation" or something similar in the subject line. Be sure to include your current web site and contact info.

Technorati Tags: colors, Paint

Sailing beyond Active Rain, don’t miss the boat.

[Many home stagers post on the Active Rain Blog site. While this is a great forum and brings home stagers and Realtors in close proximity, it shouldn't be the sole marketing focus. Instead, if you post there learn in the article below how you can leverage your efforts.]

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Listen to Sailing Beyond Active Rain on Podcast

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Posting on ActiveRain has many benefits but if that’s all you are doing, you are missing the boat.

Active rain is a good place to share with other homestagers, to learn from them and to get exposure of your business with other active rain members. But most Realtors and home stagers are not on active rain, so don’t let yourself spend all your marketing efforts there.

Instead, multiply your results.  Post articles on your own blog and on article directories and not just on Active Rain.

This will significantly boost the number and value of back links to your web site. It will accelerate your rise in the search engine results and win the top ranking in your market.

A post on Active Rain, puts some wind in your search engine rankings because the Active Rain site is seen by Google as an authority site. It has a page ranking of 6 which is pretty good, and a link from active rain back to your site gets more credit that a link from your cousin Mary’s occasional blog.

That said, if your only back links are coming from Active Rain, there is reason to believe that each additional post is less and less meaningful from Google’s perspective.

To really fill you sails, you want to get back links from dozens and then hundreds of other web sites.  And it’s easy to do. Particularly, if you are already posting regularly on Active Rain.

There is no reason why you can’t post the same article you intend to put on Active Rain on your own blog first.  I highly recommend that you set up a either a free Blogger Account, or better yet a free WordPress blog. There are a lot of reasons for this, but most notably, having your own blog sets you up as the expert and allows you to develop your own identity.

The second additional step is to register with eZine articles, and begin publishing your articles there as well.

These steps work in combination with each other, and capture the wind of your effort like a three masted ship captures the same wind three times over.

The same article with a few tweaks can be used for all three. And the results are a swifter voyage to the top of the rankings.

Let me explain it a bit more.

Your own blog makes you an authority in the eyes of those who come to it. Be they past or prospective customers, other homestagers or realtors or the media and general public.
This increases your status as the go to person in your market on home staging.

You have an article idea.  You write it up and post it on your blog.  You then take the same post and share it on Active Rain. You get Active Rain points, and rise in their listings. Plus you enjoy all the other benefits of participating in the active rain community.

Once you have it up on your blog and active rain, your rephrase it slightly to appeal to the general public. You then post in on one of hundreds of article directories. I recommend eZineArticles as the place to start.

Once posted on eZine Articles, your post is available to be reprinted by bloggers and ezine writers around the world. The bargain is that anyone can post your article, but they cannot change its wording and must include your resource box.

The resource box is where you put a brief blurb about yourself, and a back link to your blog and to your main web site.

As your article is picked up by blog writers, you get more and more back links. It builds slowly at first, but as time goes on it grows into a gale of a windstorm sending tens, then hundreds, and then thousands of back links to your web site.  Before long, Google realizes that you are an authority, and blows you past the finish line as the regatta winner and top ranked homestager in your market.

The beauty of this system is that you go yourself to the article directory and find other home stager’s articles from other markets and print their articles as entries on your blog.  That way you can add new material to your blog on a regular basis without having to write it all yourself.

For Example, I posted this article on Active Rain, and a modified form here and as a broadcast to my Home Staging mailing list.
You should do the same thing.  You write an article a week, and post one or two others from elsewhere on your blog. It sets you up as an expert.

You take the one article you wrote and with minor revisions as necessary post it in three places.

This provides you with a great deal of leverage, and will make you captain of your own destiny.

When you become a member of Market Maker, which will be opening next week, I will be sharing other ideas and techniques that will help you maximize your return on effort as you market your home staging business. Marketing can be challenging, that’s why it’s a good idea to put as much as possible on auto pilot, and then leverage the work you do so that it has maximum benefit.

Market Maker is a limited membership program. Members will have access to some innovative marketing tools that will put them on top of their local markets and provide a genuine competitive advantage. It is highly recommended that you sign up for advance notification of the start date as only one home staging company will be allowed to join from any given market place, and initial membership will be limited to only 30 companies.

To get on the advance notice list register your company at
http://homestagingbusinesstips.com/MarketMaker/ComingSoon.html

Setting up a web page is only the beginning to online marketing. Now you need to get it seen by potential customers. This used to be challenging in many markets, but there has been a big change in what matters. Today, what matters is being seen on the Google Places Page, and you don't even need to have a web site to do that. (although you should.) The good news is that its free, and if you know what you are doing, you can maneuver yourself to the top listing in many markets. That's one of the skill sets I bring to the table. If you would like to get your Google Places Page properly set up send me an email at enetwal@gmail.com and put "Free Initial Evaluation" or something similar in the subject line. Be sure to include your current web site and contact info.

Technorati Tags: Article Marketing, home staging marketing, search engine optimization, SEO