The number one question that I always get from all of my clients, whether they are Certified Home Stagers, Home Stagers in Training, Real Estate Agents or Investors, Small Business Owners, Speakers, Entrepreneurs…you name it, this is their question: How do I market my business?
Many have some idea how to market their business, but they don’t know how to effectively market, in order to get the results they desire, which is the key. Usually, they delegate their marketing to an advertising channel such as the yellow pages, some random online marketing or a flyer or two that has been passed out at a meeting in the hopes that everyone that takes one will call you back…keep hoping!
I love the coffee cup as an “extra hot” marketing tool. Not only is the Bakery advertising with each cup of coffee, but they are in turn selling advertising to other clients on the mug. Super Smart! And of course the mug makes sense to their customer since they serve all sorts of coffee drinks at the Bakery.
Could they have done better with an extraordinary offer and a guarantee? Of course! The problem was lack of space, so they worked with what they had.
The real question though, is what does it take to make your marketing “hot?”
1) It must speak to your customer- Just like the coffee speaks to the customers buying a croissant, yours must do the same. Ask yourself who your customer is and what appeals directly to them. Is it a real estate agent, an investor, a home seller…who is your customer and what speaks to them? Then, make sure your message sizzles!
2) Scare them or speak to their greed- Yes, that is the truth. The best way to capture your customer’s attention is by scaring the pants off of them or appealing to the sense of greed. So, if you are marketing your Home Staging Services, then you would send them a message like; “Are you ready to sit on that listing for another 6 months?” Or, “Would you like to make an extra $5,000 this month?”
3) Make in Incredible Offer- You can do this in a variety of ways. It can be accomplished with a 100% money back guarantee, the offer of a FREE flatscreen TV, 50% off, Buy One Get One Free, or even through a great prize that your customer wins by participating in your contest. The idea is to give them something so juicy that they feel compelled to give you a shot.
4) Market Consistently- One of the most attractive things to potential clients is that they see your marketing consistently. Now they know you are not a “fly by night” home stager, running your business as a hobby instead of as a real company, and that you are smart enough to know how to market. That in and of itself is often appealing enough to some future clients.
5) Surprise them with your Marketing- The coffee cup was a surprise, so it was fun. When we stage homes and hide a pocket of emotion in the drawer and the buyer opens the drawer, that is fun (and it is house marketing). Having a message like “The 25 Reasons a Rubber Duck Can Sell Your Home” is a fun surprise because they don’t expect it. If you really want to have “hot” marketing, surprise them with the unexpected.
I think the last thing I would say about marketing is to simply look and see what your competition is doing and do the opposite. They are the ones inclined to post an ad and then not get any calls so they quickly determine the ad does not work. Hmmm, maybe they did not place an ad in a location that their customers see, or the ad just was not compelling.
The best example I can give for this is when I started my own Home Staging company, I looked around at all the other Home Stagers out there talking about making houses pretty and it dawned on me that their marketing was all about them instead of the results they could achieve for their potential clients. That is when I came out with our tag line of “Anybody can make your house pretty, we make it SELL.” Obviously, that did the trick.
So, let’s get you a great list of customers beating down your door so you can show them how extraordinary you really are, while introducing them to your “hot” marketing.
In order to accomplish this, one of the best things you can do is to start to attract more and more clients and customers. Get my Complimentary Plan on “How to Attract a Million Customers in the next 90 Days” and follow me in real time as I do the same! It is my gift to you! www.TheBornLeader.com/BusinessPlan A million new customers…now that sounds good!
Giving Back: As I step further and further into a Leadership role, with APSD, The Born Leader, Phoebee Fleabee and LuvMyStripes.com and as an international Business and Leadership Coach and Mentor, I have realized the importance of giving back.
True leaders, Born Leaders, give back without expectation of receipt. So, it has become my goal to do the same.
Don’t you think Phoebee Fleabee is cute? This is a children’s book I have written and I am giving her away at no charge to everyone that is looking for a good book to enjoy with their child. You can get her story as my gift at www.LuvMyStripes.com Oh, and please, pass her to everyone you know!
By giving her away to over a Million People, I am satisfying my need to give, as well as the burning desire within me to spread the word about my wonderful book. It is interesting what happens when you give…you receive abundantly!
Be a Leader every day and look for ways that you can give back. Sometimes, it might mean calling someone to say hello, picking up a piece of discarded trash in a park and throwing it away, or throwing in an extra tip or two at no additional charge. Whatever it is for you, practice being a leader every day, by giving back.
To Your Greatest Joy and Success,
Karen Schaefer
Founder, APSD The Association of Property Scene Designers www.APSDmembers.com www.LuvMyStripes.com
That is the question that you should always ask yourself if you are working on your home or investment property. I am continually amazed at how people will over fix and blow their budget on a home or investment property. Then, they expect to get that amount and more out of their house. The basic rule of thumb is to ask yourself two questions and the answers to these two questions are within the reaches of an expert home stager.
Will I make more money if I do this?
Will it help to sell my property faster?
The latter obviously, then results in more money due to less holding time.
These are just some of the things that you need to know for your home staging careers:
More often than not, in bread and butter homes, (your blue collar, working class neighborhood, of 3 beds, 2 baths and a garage), I will rarely change windows, carpet, counter tops, cabinets, appliances or bathroom vanities. Rather, I will stage it and give the staging items as a gift to the new owner or tenant. This always results in a greater quality tenant that treats my house with respect, stays longer, and thankfully, pays their rent on time. With a buyer, they become emotionally tied to the property because they like the “stuff.” They will play by all of your rules, including put down extra earnest money, get their financing quickly and close on time. All of this with effective staging.
Most people believe that staging involves heavy furniture, monthly rental costs and a high up front fee. Most people are correct. The Simple Appeal staging system however is enormously different. On average, a home staged by the Simple Appeal system will transact in less than 30 days in a market of average DOM of 122! There is hardly ever a sofa or a dining room set and as a matter of fact, I can’t ever even remember a time that a sofa actually sold a home. There is strength in simplicity. This is a phrase that I find myself saying over and over again when people ask me “where is the couch?” Of course they quickly forget that question when their property sells at lighting speed for about a fourth of the normal staging cost.
What is the niche? Really it is simplicity. A home is sold on emotional. Once you understand your customer, you can appeal to their emotion, and transact the property. That’s it really, just the psychology behind human nature. Of course those humans are quirky, so I would advise you to really know what is important to your customer versus thinking that you know. In other words, don’t rehab and stage the property as though you are going to live there or stay there. Rehab and stage it for your end user. Understanding the psychology behind staging property will save you thousands dollars and months of time.
To find out more about the psychology of buyers, visit www.SimpleAppeal.com
About the author:
By Karen Schaefer, Founder of Simple Appeal, Inc. and APSD – The Association of Property Scene Designers. To learn more about home stager training, marketing housesand selling houses quickly go to www.5stepselling.comfor more info on Karen Schaefer’s “5 Proven Steps to Selling Your Real Estate in 1/2 the Time at Full Market Value” and the best home stager school there is.
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