As I think back to my years in various businesses, from when I first got started as an actor, making ends meet as a waitress and bartender, becoming a “Car show girl,”a national trainer for Oscar de la Renta, then as a global spokesperson for Fortune 500 companies and on to my own businesses today; APSD, ES5000, GKIC Marketing, and soon to enter a whole new arena with my Children’s Program…I think about how many times I have been knocked down.  I am sure that it far outweighs the times that I have been helped up or even encouraged to get up.  Mary Kay Ash, the Founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics always says; “Every silver lining has a cloud.”  I love this because she is saying that you have to work your way thru the cloud every time to get to the silver lining.  The problem is that most of us choose to stay in the cloud.

She is also famous for saying “Every no leads to a yes.”  I agree.  A common problem amongst Home Stagers is that they don’t feel as though they can get enough work.  Today, there are more homes available for sale than since WWII!!!  You don’t think there is enough work/houses/opportunities? Just go get more “no’s!”

I think that what is really the truth is one of two things:

1)      You are simply not willing to do what it takes to achieve the success you desire

2)      Once you get knocked down, you don’t want to pull yourself back up.

This past week, I had two big blows to my ego.  The first was that I had to decide against rejoining a group that I have been a part of for 3 years and truly loved, but it just wasn’t right for me this year.  People will make judgements and assumptions about why I am not there, but I have to be able to take that and move forward.

The second thing that happened, and this really surprised me, hundreds of you asked me to develop a way for you to get more bookings with your Home Staging Business.  I hesitated to do this because it was a great deal of work for me and I would be giving away many of the secrets and marketing templates that I used to make my own Home Staging business, Simple Appeal, a success.  I wasn’t sure if I was ready to share that.

But, I committed myself to the success of this industry some time ago, so I developed this amazing marketing course specifically designed to take your “Home Staging Businesses” to the next level.  It is really incredible, and I am very proud of the extraordinary quality.  I even gave it to you practically at my cost because I WANT you to succeed.

Here is where the “BLOW” came in…after all that work, both physically and mentally, only a handful joined the program.  I have to admit that I was shocked, surprised and hurt, especially since I was literally revealing my magic formula to success.  But, I had to realize that maybe #1 (refer to reason #1 above) applied.  I am going to keep the program as a regular resource and at the ridiculously low price I offered for the first 100 people because I said I would, but now, I have to pull myself back up, step away from my ego and decide how I can get rewarded for my ability to stand back up.

As many times as we are told “no” or the call is not returned or the door is closed in our face, we have to ask ourselves “Am I committed to my success?”  If the answer is yes, then you must be prepared to knock on the next door.  It is as simple as that.

I picked myself back up and decided to dive into my children’s project part-time beginning this week and full time beginning April 1^st.  It was a huge reward for me because it is something that has been in my heart for 12 years and by pulling myself up by my bootstraps, I was able to see that I had walked thru my cloud to the silver lining.  I don’t think I would have done this had everything else gone perfectly to plan.

Oh—and, the sales on the marketing program are picking up too, and although they are not nearly where they should be, I am happy to weather the  storm to see the gleaming silver when the skies clear.

To your greatest joy,

Karen Schaefer

Founder, APSD

Your Worldwide Leader in Home Staging Training

Your Home Staging Weekly Mission:

Allow yourself to get knocked down by taking at least 3 risks this week.  Make that call that you’ve been wanting to make, stop in to introduce yourself to a new managing broker, send out 25 postcards.  Put yourself in the position of being “knocked down” and I would bet…that you will be able to get back up and get rewarded for it!  Probably, with another Home Staging job!  Keep me posted!

Post your awesome results on this blog.  I can’t wait to hear from you!

P.S. “How to Market Your Home Staging Business” Online Training Program – the next step in evolving your Business