There are 12 months in a year. I find as I travel around the country at our StagersLIST.com Expos that the more I talk to the individual stagers the more I am amazed how our industry seems to accept the fact that business is only busy 5 - 7 months a year. That it is an acceptable fact and that its OK for that to be the case.
I have to ask - do the bills stop cominig the remaining months of the year? Does you overhead go away and the light bill not need to get paid?
If the answer is no, then keep marketing, keep working, diversify those income streams and work all year long.
Don't accept the fact the your core business slows down this time a year, make plans all year long and start marketing in July about your November, December, January and February services. So when those months come along your phone continues to ring and your business continues to thrive.
Sure its nice when our lives are not jam packed every minute of every day and our weekends fill up with work. This time a year might be just the right time to take a breath, but don't forget to keep breathing new life into your business.
Tweak your business model. The time is now to develop your marketing plans for the new year while keeping the phone ringing because of your marketing plans that you implemented from this past summer.
We have spoken to over 500 stagers around the country, in person, face to face, listening to their needs and local issues. The number one thing that comes up time and time again is marketing. I don't know how to keep the phone ringing, I don't know how to get new business, I don't know how to get a Realtor to refer me for every house.
Market, Market, Market. All year long and your phone will keep ringing!
Kym Hough, www.StagersLISTExpo.com, www.Staged-to-Sell.com, www.GreenTrainingCSP.com, www.StagersLIST.com
Our StagersLIST.com Tri-State Expo held at the AFR warehouse in Secaucaus New Jersey this week SOLD OUT and we still made room for additional walk in attendees.
We are continually amazed at the huge turnout for the StagersLIST.com Expos that we are holding throughout North America. It takes a village and the Tri-State Expo was no different. We have seven more Expos in the work and if they are anything like the past four we know we will be meeting amazing Stagers and Vendors who want to work together to make our industry stronger and their business a success.
Claire Andie from AFR, Juliet Johnson, Juliet Johnson Staging and Phyllis Pafumi, Restyled to Sell were the local coordinators that laid the ground work and beat the local drum to make it happen. The coordination of Claire's team at AFR was truly inspiring. Although the day started at 9:00 a.m. and ended at 5:00 p.m. it was flawless and flew by in a flash!
Christine Rae, Owner and President of CSP, opened the day with a content rich presentation on "How to Make Staging a Staple in any Market." She left group wanting more even after a 75 minute presentation!
I had the pleasure of presenting "Building a Profitable Staging Business" and sharing some business models and techniques that I have created and learned for my business, bottom line MAKE MONEY!
Terrylynn Fisher,Diablo Realty & StagersLIST.com, had the room's attention when she presented "Demystifying the Realtor". She educated the crowd on what a Realtor needs from a Stager and how to become a collaborator instead of a service.
Shell Brodnax, RESA's CEO & President, let the 125 Stagers know that we have an amazing Trade Association just for us and that the benefits of joining for $10.00 a month will move their business in the right direction for pennies a day.
Juliet Johnson pulled together a masterful marketing panel of 100K Staging Professionals who were very open with their techniques and ideas in marketing a staging business. The panel consisted of:`
& myself Kym Hough
Juliet kept the flow and humor going and pulled out some golden information from seasoned professionals that was rich and full of content. A day with these ladies on the panel and a Stager's business would improve ten folds.
The amazing vendors The Plant Atrium, Bekins, Pas Software, New Jersey Movers, ProSource and AFR were professional, generous, and fun to boot! Wonderful resources for the local stagers to add to their team of full service staging services.
Thank you to all the attendees. Their enthusiasiam and interest set the tone and makes us happy to committ to coming back for the StagersLIST.com Expo in 09!
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LOCAL FURNITURE RENTAL COMPANY CHOOSEN TO CO-SPONSOR 1st ANNUAL TRI-STATE STAGING EXPO StagersLIST.com announces co-sponsorship with American Furniture Rental (AFR) Secaucus, NJ, October 23, 2008. The First Annual Tri-State Staging Expo will be held on Wednesday, November 5, 2008 at the American Furniture Rental Warehouse and Showroom located at 30 Enterprise Road in Secaucus, NJ. This event is sponsored by www.StagersLIST.com, the resource for Professional Home Stagers online. This is the fourth in a series of Staging Expo's that www.StagersLIST.com is conducting across North America through 2009. "We started the Staging Expo series in Dublin, California this past summer and it was a huge success with well over 100 Professional Stagers from all over Northern California attending," states Kym Hough, Marketing Director of www.StagersLIST.com . We have now plan to hold an Expo every two months through the summer of 2009. Our East Coast Expo will be the biggest and most exciting one yet. The Expo is being held at the AFR Warehouse in Secaucus and was chosen due to the quality of the co-sponsor AFR and the central location to NY Metro, Long Island, North & Central New Jersey, and Connecticut. The event is open to all Professional Stagers and Designers no matter what the designation or affiliation. This is a one day event beginning at 9:00 a.m. and going to 5:00 p.m. Christine Rae, Staging Expert/Trainer and author of Staging for Dummies will be speaking on "Making Staging a Staple in any Market and will be taking part in a Marketing Panel with other four other six figure Professional Stagers such as Kate Hart, Hart & Design, Pennsylvania; Melissa Marrow, First Impressions, South Carolina; Kym Hough, Staged to Sell, California; Phyllis Pafumi, Restyled to Sell, New Jersey, and the Local Event Coordinator Juliet Johnson of Juliet Johnson Staging, New Jersey. To register for this event or to learn more about speakers and sponsors of the event go to www.StagersLIST.com. Fee is $30.00 for RESA members and $35.00 for non-members. |
Three fourth of homeowners in a national survey said that energy-efficient features would influence their buying decisions in a home purchase?
51% said they would pay $5,000 to $11,000 moreif it reduced their utility bills, 16% said they would pay ore than $11,000 extra for a green home.
Do you know what a green home is? Would you know it if your buyers were looking for it? Listing agents do you know how to highlight and feature the green features in a home?
The majority of Realtors in today's market do not have this knowledge. It's important to find them out and to put them in your marketing plan. Whether you are working with buyers or sellers this important marketing tool is the next step in increasing your business and marketability to consumers - both buyers and sellers!
A couple of questions to ask yourself prior to going to your next listing presentation or buyer meeting:
- 1. Do you know the top 5 green features in today's market?
- 2. Do you know what passive solar energy is and how it effects electricity bills?
- 3. Do you know the three low, and I mean low, cost items your sellers can do to increase their green feature appeal?
- 4. Do you have the name of a good Energy Audit company at a great price?
- 5. Are you using green in your marketing to increase your business?
If not, you should.
Realtors and Stagers need to start using their marketing programs. Get the basics or even better gain the knowledge that has credible science behind it.
For more information go to www.GreenTrainingCSP.com.
I have a secret...Actually, it's not that big of secret. Every chance I get I tell everyone all about it...So how big a secret can it be?
One of my secret weapons in having a successful profitable business is my web manager/virtual assistant Chris Fisher. My website is never the same...week to week, day to day, I am adding deleting and changing content, photos, branding or something constantly.
Marketing today has drastically changed from years past. I have been a marketer for over 25 years. I was trained in classic marketing techniques, but today's maketing trends are driven by search engines rankings, credibility through website presence and visuals. How do we get this new trend in marketing - a robust and active website that is constantly changing!
Many days Chris arrives to her office and finds 5 - 10 emails from me with questions, changes or additions to my website. Believe it or not she doesn't scream or send me nasty emails. She simply checks them off her list as she efficiently gets them done!
What does this cost? On average month with changes at least two - three times a week? Never more than $100.00. She is simply amazing.
Chris creates new websites, updates curent websites, helps with branding and color - you name it she does it. The best part, we never talk on the phone, it's all by email. I am not really a phone person so this added benefit is HUGE in my busy world.
Check her out www.stagingwebsites.com you can't afford not to.
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Kym Hough is owner of Staged To Sell, a Green Home Staging Co serving SF East Bay. We have over 25 staging styles in our 4,000 sq. ft warehouse.
Kym Hough's Staged to Sell located in Danville and San Leandro in the East Bay of San Francisco, CA is a Green Home Staging company serving Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. We love what we do and have been staging successful for over 6 years.
When Kym started her business her goal was creating the best Professional Home Staging Company in the area. In this short time she has achieved prestigious industry awards, appeared on the ABC News Program 20/20, has been interviewed in several local and national articles and has come to be a leader in the industry. Kym is a sought after speaker in the Home Staging Industry to both her Staging peers and consumers.
Kym firmly believes that the key to being a successful Professional Stager is to continually innovate and fine tune the process. "At Staged to Sell we never settle for second best. We continue to strive to improve our designs and introduce new and innovative staging techniques to the industry. We travel as far away as New York City to attend Table Top Show each year to aquire new vendors and keep up on the latest table top trends." Our vendor supply list has grown from 2 local vendors to well over 100 nationwide and include the some of the finest accessory and furniture manufacturers in the country.
Kym Hough and all members of the Staged to Sell team are Certified Staging Professionals. We are trained in the art and science of staging our clients properties to sell.
Staged to Sell has gone GREEN! We are now a certified Green Staging company as part of the Live Green, Live Smart Institute. Even more exciting Kym is one of just a handful of trained instructors in the Live Green, Live Smart Institute teaching Real Estate Professionals, Professional Home Stagers and Business Owners in the Green Sciences certification program. It's an amazing opportunity to give back to the community while increasing the marketabilty of their businesses. www.GreenTrainingCSP.com
Kym Hough lives in Danville, California with her husband Graham, daughter Alix and dogs Petey Mackenzie, Tootsie Rose and Homer Thadeus.
Kym Hough, owner of Staged to Sell, has greatly exceeded all of my expectations as a stager. She provided services beyond her title, becoming my interior designer, buyer, profiler, real estate marketing consultant, personal shopper, construction referral resource and even sometimes psychologist! Kym is a great communicator listening first to my needs and service requirements. Highly organized, she produced a complete schedule and budget from the start of my project. As the consummate professional, she "delivered" at every meeting with very creative and resourceful ideas that gave me the big "WOW" factor, making my home a memorable experience. The end result was an appealing, staged home that matched the tastes of my target buyer. I sold my home within one week of the first broker open house at a top of the market price. There is no doubt in my mind that Kym's staging services was a major contributor in helping me sell my home in these tough real estate times. Glenn Ishino, Harper Avenue, El Cerrito, August 2009 ___________________________________________________________________________ Thanks! You are awesome by the way. I've really enjoyed working with you and hope to have a few more properties for you to stage by the end of the year. Nathan Hitchcock, Hitchcock Realty, July 2009
___________________________________________________________________________ "It's been a great pleasure to work with Kym and everyone at Staged-to-Sell. I know that I can call them and they will handle every detail. Not only are her jobs stunning, she is professional, timely, and flexible. Her style is elegant yet practical and appropriate for the space she is working with. I've gotten nothing but rave reviews from potential buyers and other Realtors. I look forward to working together soon." Erica Jones Starkey, Broker, Co-Founder, JSCA Real Estate Group, 2009
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In a very short notice, Kym transformed our empty and undefined house to a beautiful, serene family retreat. Her staging enabled prospective buyers see and feel what it really is like to live in our house. She was also very professional; arriving before an appointment time, and doing the beautiful staging as promised. Our house went into an escrow within a month, in this tough time with bad economy. It was truly "Staged to Sell"! Mikaboo, El Cerrito, CA, 2009
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Kym did an excellent job staging our home. She had great ideas and reasonable prices. She brought in pieces that matched our home and enhanced the presentation dramatically. I would recommend her highly!! Eric S, Piedmont, CA, 2009
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A belated email to you about the work you did on 2294 Lomand Lane. It should come as no surprise that the appearance and your staging were received enthusiastically by open house attendees last Sunday and by agents at the Broker Tour. What a great job...the house looks terrific...love your staging. Photos are also great too. Thanks so much. Heidi Sl., Coldwell Banker, June 2008
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"Staged to Sell is an A+ Staging Company. In preparing to put our home on the market we went out in our area to research Realtors and Staging professionals. What we saw was a C- except for Staged to Sell! They were an A+ every time! Their furniture is wood, upholstered and glass. They use upscale custom silk florals and beautiful beddings! Nothing but quality. Many of the staged properties we saw had slipped covered furniture and Ikea like furniture. It cheapened the property in our eyes. We were so happy to have Staged to Sell on our team when preparing our home for market. We gave out their cards to everyone we knew and will use them again and again!
- Kathleen and Michael Young, Homeowners, Monterey Avenue, 2008
Richmond, CA
"Staged to Sell are amazing. What a difference. My property was on the market for 60 days prior to staging. When my friends told me about staging and high recommended Kym Hough's Staged to Sell I figured I would give them a try. I am so glad I did! My vacant house looked incredible and it SOLD! I loved the free Virtual Tour and Custom Website. The photos were gorgeous and really increased the exposure of the property. I would recommend Staged to Sell to anyone interesting in selling their property and making it look its best!"
- Rose Micleli, Homeowner, Danville Oaks, CA, 2008
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Staged to Sell is Fantastic to work with...
- Liz Fitch, Realtor, Walnut Creek, CA, 2008
What I love about Staged to Sell and Kym Hough is that they take all of the worry off my shoulders when preparing our client's property for market! When I call Kym and her team I know that I will never be disappointed and the property will also look amazing. Realtor's have enough to do! I love letting the professionals at Staged To Sell do the work to make it the best property on the market!
- Gaby Diskin, Green Key Realtors, Richmond, CA, February 2007
Hi Kym,
Just wanted to let you know the SUPER job you did for me a staging the house at 654 37th st. It was really an incredible showpiece!! The seller was very happy and especially the fact that she received about $25000 more than we were asking, and this is in a down market. If we did not stage that house it would probably still be sitting on the market like all the others. I was happy too because I was able to double end it from someone who just came to the open house and fell in love with it. The buyer said "it was the most beautiful house she had ever seen"!! Everyone came out a winner!! I will be listing another property in a few weeks and would like you to stage it for me again, believe me it is money well spent. Thank you again and let me know if you need any recommendations for your services they are the best.
- Mike Hughey, ReMax Real Estate , August 2007
We agreed to use Kym's services for the sale of my Dad's house.
What a dazzling transformation. From just a "nice house" to something
the really looked good. The end result was that we sold the house for
$60k over asking price, which I don't think we would have gotten
without her services.
So when we sold our own house it was a no brainer to hire her again.
She worked her magic a second time which resulted in the house selling
for $15k over asking price, on a much higher priced house, in a tougher market.
Our thoughts on all this? Get your house staged and get Kym to do it.
Otherwise you'll be kicking yourself when your neighbor, who WAS smart
enough to hire her) sells his house for a lot more than yours.
- Greg Mee, Homeowner, Richmond, CA, 2006
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