You will never have to pay to be listed as a top neighbor. Period. That important detail clarified, let's discuss how we arrive at two "top neighbors" for a given region:
Localism is a bustling collection of hyper-local communities, and the top neighbors should reflect those members who are most active. When ranking users in a given region, several factors are considered. To get your foot in the proverbial door, you need to have posted at least one "Localism" article or photo for the region.
The very best way to quickly rise to #1 is to post high-quality local content. Keeping a steady strem of incoming posts and photos will massively tilt the scales in your favor.
What doesn't count toward the top neighbor ranking? ActiveRain points and community sponsorships. The top neighbor spots will always go to the most active members in a region. We want to create a level playing field that encourages the growth of communities — talent and dedication are required to win the day.
I had the opportunity to attend the Canadian Staging Professionals Conference in Las Vegas as an extra day after the Real Estate Staging Association Conference.
It was a fabulous day of people sharing their expertise.
Teresa Robertson of "Design to Go" winner of the CSP mentor of the year for 2010. Teresa shared with the group her ideas "to help grow and manage a successful staging business."
Nairn Friemann, president of "Ingenuity & Pizzazz, Inc." shared "Mastering the Art of Difficult Conversations with sellers in 10 simple steps."
From the "Social Media Academy For Women".
Francine Allaire shared steps for "using Flip Video's and some simple scripts to increase your visibility on Social Media".
Forbes called Francine one of the "Top 20 Women for Entrepreneurs" to follow on Twitter for advice on business,marketing and technology.
Cindy Ratzlaff guides us through "the steps of using Twitter lists to increase your visibility on Twitter.
Lisa McKenzie guides us through "the steps of creating powerful, targeted Facebook ads."
Other guests included
Tara Savelle, owner of "Home on Display" shows us her "secret formula to securing lunch and learns in Real Estate Offices.
Kelly Ralph talks about team building in your business.
Jackson West of "Revealestate" and one of our own Activerain friends shows us "How to Write an Attention Grabbing Professional Bio."
Kimberley Seldon, well known interior designer spoke about the "Business of Design". She has written a book and she did a book signing during the conference.
I learned a lot from Kimberley and during her whole presentation I was sure she was talking about me. Highly motivating us to take care of the business part of home staging. She says "80% business and 20% design".
Christine Rae, President of Canadian Staging Professionals had her sister, Lynne Corfield, speak to us again. I have heard her speak 3 times now and she is always an inspiration.
Our keynote was Bodine Balasco - Focusing on "The Master Method for Creating Desired Results in Challenging Times".
I really enjoyed Bodine. He is a magician as well as a wonderful speaker and presenter.
Take a look at some of his presentation on this video.
I enjoyed the conference very much and can't wait until the next one. I flew over the Grand Canyon via Dallas to Toronto.
The Real Estate Staging Association Annual Conference in Las Vegas was a huge success. The RESAconference was held in January and approximately 400 stagers from all over North America were there.
Although there were many hi-lights from the RESA conference event the top three for me were:
Jackson's presentation for the RESA conference was "How to Close More Sales and Raise Your Profits by Perfecting Client Proposals". I learned a great deal and am now putting together a template for my own Client Proposal.
Christine is very passionate about going green and especially being green in your home staging business. Some things Christine shared about the state of our water here on the planet was eye opening.
There is an organization called "One Drop". They are working hard around the world to make our water safe and to preserve our earths water supply.
3. Key-Note Speaker Matthew Finlason from "The Stagers"HGTV was very entertaining to listen to. He taught me to tell a story about who would be a buyer for a property. His humour was greatly appreciated.
A great time was had by all and I can't wait for next year.
To view the video of the RESA Home Staging Conference follow this link
Thank you to all who shared. I took something away with me from everyone. I couldn't get enough. Thank you to the panel of experts for sharing their experiences and helping me to realize I am on the right track with my home staging business.
In one of my previous posts, I shared Hamilton/Halton Real Estate Staging Association Chapter's Charity of choice "Wall's of Hope".
Sera Mansueto, the founder of "Wall's of Hope" was being honoured by Debbie Travis as an unsung hero in Oakville for her generous and hard work in helping families in the Oakville area.
The show "All For One" was taped at the end of August and aired on October 31.
Many of our RESA chapter members were part of the 5 day project honouring Sera .
It was an exciting, exhausting, and educational 5 days.
Here are some pictures of some of our RESA Chapter members. You might recognize some of them.
Linda Graydon from "Soulscape Interiors" was chosen by Debbie Travis as the Design Crew Leader. It was a very stressful 5 days.
Here I am Karen Hubert from "Center Stage Design" being wired for sound by the crew. Debbie is checking out our work. The guys stole our nail gun so back to basics.
I am painting a trunk for one of Sera's daughters room. What do you think of this colour? Allison Roberts of "Burloak Home Staging and Decorating" gives Charlene a hand making the bed.
Anne Vernon from "Rooms 'n Blooms" gives Linda a hand. Luisa Giaitzis from "Absolute Simplicity" enjoys painting and Patrick Fornasari from "Studio Linea' was a big help during the project. All members of our Hamilton/Halton RESA Chapter. Thank you for giving of your time for someone very worthy.
Some carrying on with Debbie. Charlene, myself and Allison. Debbie thinks I am short.
The finished product.
The Reveal
Check out Debbie Travis's website to view the episode if you missed it. This was definitely a "stage it forward" project for the Hamilton/HaltonRESA Chapter members.
Hamilton/Burlington Real Estate Staging Association October Chapter Meeting was a big success.
We had many in attendance and some very good presentations.
Linda Graydon shared some photos with the group of our "Wall's of Hope" project.
Linda also shared a slideshow of the "Debbie Travis" project some of us also participated in. Debbie Travis's new show is"All For One".
This is me listening intently to what Debbie is telling me.
Also during the meeting I shared the picture hanging tip I learned here on Activerain via Kym Tarr's blog post.
Laurie Carther from "Silklauer" Designs also shared a picture or mirror hanging tip.
Our guest speaker was Anthony Giaitzis from "Stoneridge Insurance Company". He is husband of Luisa Giaitzis who is one of our members.
He has come up with a RESA Group Insurance Plan for our Hamilton/Halton RESA Chapter stagers. Many of our stagers are not CSP's having access to an already great insurance plan. Many of our members are Haverhill, ISP, ASP, and Staging Divas.
Anthony hopes to offer this great deal to other RESA Chapters in Ontario in the hopes of getting the numbers needed for the group plan.
Our sponsor for our meeting was David Hills from "Signaids". He shared with us his business of Estate Mailboxes and glow in the dark house number plates. This service can also be offered through our businesses as a resell program. His giveaway was a number plate. Congratulations to Mara Snider who won this great prize.
The Hamilton/Burlington RESA Chapter met on September 27 at Tansley Woods Community Centre.
Our guest speaker was Laurey Fawcett from Sherwin Williams Paint. Laurey had a lot of information to share about paint and how to pick the right paint for your project. She taught us how to read the fan deck properly and the types of finishes were discussed. Unfortunately we were unable to have Laurey complete her whole 1.5 hour presentation due to the time allowed for our meeting. This was a little disappointing.
Each member attending the RESA Chapter meeting will be getting a free fan deck.
Laurey shared a website to our Hamilton/Burlington Chapter members to receive free paint chips in large sizes to use for our businesses. I am unable to share this website unfortunately.
Our Hamilton/Burlington RESA Chapter Charity "Walls of Hope" has completed the home for the family chosen for help.
Many of our RESA Chapter members pitched in to help on many levels. In June it was started by decluttering and organizing and getting together all the help necessary to complete the project.
The last week of September the job was completed. A new roof, new kitchen, new bathroom, floors, painting, landscaping, are just some of the projects taken on. Of course staging at the end for the reveal. The President's Choice charity will be funding the remodel of the main floor bathroom to make it wheelchair accessible for one of the children.
A special thank you was given to Linda Graydon, Soulscape Interiors, home staging for all her hard work with the charity. Linda is heading our "Walls of Hope" charity committee. Other Hamilton/Burlington RESA Chapter members sitting on the committee are Allison Roberts (Burloak Home Staging) and Kim Abraham (Harmony Home Staging). They did a lot of work for our Charity.
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