Wednesday, June 28, 2006

What Makes Up Self Esteem?

Self esteem, or how one feels about one self, is made up of both our personal feelings of self-worth and our personal self-trust.

Let me explain it this way.

Your self-esteem is derived from the feelings you have about who you are, whether you're happy or unhappy about being you, whether you're happy or unhappy about your body, genes, family, background, education and so forth.

Self-trust, on the other hand, is your personal ability to believe in your abilities in a positive and effective manner, along with your belief in your ability to control (within reason) what happens to you in this uncertain world.

You can like your personality and looks, but if you don't believe in your abilities, your decision-making power and if you're not willing to take responsibility for your choices, then you are suffering from poor self-trust.

You must have healthy self-esteem AND self-trust to be successful in a business venture, whether it is home staging or something else.

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Thoughts on a Home Staging Business

Herbert and Dorothy Vogel began searching out unknown artists and purchasing works of art that they loved or thought were interesting pieces. They didn't do it because they were looking for an investment. They never sold any of the pieces they bought. They did it just for the love of art.

Thirty years later they had collected over 2500 works of art. Eventually they donated most of their collection to the National Gallery in Washington, D.C.

If you are one of those people who just loves to decorate, loves to organize, loves to create serene spaces that feel calm, you should absolutely love being in the home staging business. But if you don't like to fix things up, correct problems and be with people, then you're not likely to enjoy home staging as a business.

When you love what you do, you have a much, much better chance of being successful. You'll be happier, you'll work harder, you won't be focused solely on the pay back.

Loving what you do is so important. Life is too short to spend all day doing what you hate.

For a career in home staging, take a look at this tutorial: Home Staging for Profit.

Monday, June 26, 2006

Winning Attitudes for Home Stagers

We are all born with intrinsic value. Our bodies may be flawed. Our minds might have varying degrees of sharpness. But none of that has anything to do with our value as a member of earth's society.

Unfortunately, growing up can destroy that value in our inner being.

One of the key traits shared by champions and winners in every walk of life is the fundamental belief in their own internal value.

Another way of putting it is that we are all beautiful roses when we are born, even though a petal here and there might have a flaw. But over time outside influences may cause us to lose our petals, and once they are gone, life appears bleak.

We cannot control much of what happens to us and around us. But we can control how we react to it. We can accept the critical comments of those we know as being truth, and let them destroy our sense of value, or we can toss them off into the gutter where they belong.

You can never win if your concept of success depends on the compliments and favour of others. You can only win when you know you are a valueable person with something to contribute.

Saturday, June 24, 2006

Controling the Urge to Criticize

I can't go into anyone's home any more without looking it over and evaluating it for the furniture arrangement, color, flow, accessory choices and all the other elements for which I have an expertise. Try as I may, I can't help myself.

I'm a trained actor, as well. And the mere fact that I have received training in this area sometimes inhibits my ability to enjoy movies or TV, because I can tell when an actor is picking up their lines from cue cards. When I notice it, my attention is drawn away from the character and the story plot. But most of the time I'm able to get past that and go on and enjoy the presentation.

So it's not surprising that other people react the same way in the areas where they feel they have some sort of expertise or special training.

As you build your home staging (or redesign) business, you must watch out for the temptation to be judgmental about the homes you enter and the projects you bid on. There will be times when you will be called upon to mention something to a homeowner that needs improvement. It's part of what you are being paid to do. That's one thing.

But if you're not being paid to critique something, learn to keep your mouth shut.

Too often people blurt out a criticism, based on their perceived expertise, and only cause ill will that was totally unnecessary. In my experience, those people usually wind up embarrassing themselves because, all too often, they don't have the expertise they credit themselves with having.

There's no such thing as "constructive criticism". Criticism is criticism, and unless you're being paid to give it, it's best for you if you remain silent. That way you won't be in danger of disrespecting others and you certainly won't run the risk of embarrassing yourself.

Friday, June 23, 2006

Success in the Home Staging Business

Many people make the mistake of putting all of the responsibility of their success on their trainer. They mistakenly think that the most important aspect of their success is the background and history of the trainer.

While getting a good trainer is important, they completely ignore the fact that the X Factor is them. And it's the X Factor that determines the success or failure of a business.

No individual's experience will be the same as another individual's. We are all different. We learn differently, we absorb differently, we apply differently, we act differently, we speak differently, we have different backgrounds and experiences.

So to measure your success against another person's success is foolhardy. To believe that the secret to success lies in what trainer you select is also foolhardy.

There is only one road to success: hard work.

There is only one attitude for success: positive.

There is only one goal for success: long term.

There is only one expectation for success: confidence.

Add to these: goals, determination, tenacity, trust, talent, time and a host of other ingredients.

Success is up to you.

Thursday, June 22, 2006

The Measure of Your Self Worth

Most people believe that success and winning is something that you get by reaching outside yourself and proving to others that you are worthy. Or that success is watching your bank account grow.

They believe that you have to prove, or earn, or win, or perform in some special way to deserve the proverbial "gold ring", or medal, or beautiful home or new car.

It is this false belief that you have to get the approval of others BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Many parents make their children feel that they are only entitled to feel good about themselves AFTER they have performed well.

This is wrong.

You need to believe in yourself first. You need to feel good about yourself first. You need to be your own personal best friend first.

You need to feel love inside yourself before you can offer it to anyone else. And because of this, it will be your own sense of value that determines the quality of your performance, which is what other people see.

Your performance is only a REFLECTION of your internal worth; it is not the measure of it.

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Home Staging: Becoming Successful

Delayed gratification is a very difficult achievement, especially in America. We are so accustomed to fast food (getting fed immediately), microwaves (fast food preparation), credit card debt (getting what we want now).

Delayed gratification, that element that separates champions from "also-rans", is a sacrifice.

I've developed a weight problem in my latter years. Since I know weight reduction is best done in small increments to be healthy, the goal of reaching my total weight loss must be a long term goal. I'm not going to see pounds and inches slipping away by leaps and bounds.

This makes weight reduction more difficult.

There is no immediate gratification and that's coupled with anxiety about what to eat, when to eat and if it will do me any good at all in the end.

In business, that delayed gratification for the end result may mean you can't go away on weekends, or go on vacations for a while, or buy that new latest home gadget.

In business, there are many players. But only a few succeed. That's because only the few will be willing to sacrifice what is needed to attain the end goal.

Lee Trevino, one of the greatest golfers of all time, said, "I learned a long time ago that the best psychology in golf is to hit so many balls that your hands get blistered and calloused. If there's sunlight, there are golf balls to be hit!"

In my own career, there have been many, many weeks I worked late hours, and even 7 days or more non-stop. Yes, there needs to be balance, particularly if you have a family, but there is a need for sacrifice as well.

Sunday, June 18, 2006

Home Staging: Managing Setbacks

The world is made up of losers and winners. So what's the difference between the two? Well, there are many reasons, of course, but one that always sticks out has to do with gratification.

Losers like pleasurable activities just for the sake of the "now" pleasure. They are after the "instant gratification".

Winners, on the other hand, choose activities that will give them long-term positive results. That is known as "delayed gratification".

Losers will quit working early so they can go play or socialize.

Winners will keep on working even though everyone around them is playing and even though they would rather be playing. They have the ability to keep their mind focused on the long term goal, not the short term gratification.

And one last thing.

They will work hard without complaining.

Saturday, June 17, 2006

Home Staging Business Success

You've done all the right things.

You took some training, hopefully from me because, if you did, you saved a ton of money. But if not, so be it.

You've chosen a business name. Done all the legal stuff. Got all your materials together. Told some people. Had a few appointments.

Nothing has happened.

Don't give up. You'd be amazed at the number of people who get this far and then decide it's more work than they imagined - and they quit.

Gee, if it just magically fell into your lap, and kept doing that, everyone would be doing it.

Sure, you can get lucky once in a while and something just comes to you, but let's be real. Most of the time you have to work hard for what you get.

But stop for a minute and think about it. If everything was super easy, the success wouldn't mean much to you.

Case in point: a person wins the lottery. They win big. They suddenly have all this money, this gigantic loot, and they didn't do anything to earn it except play a few numbers.

Ever wonder why in no time at all they are flat broke again? Is it because they are stupid? Lazy? Ignorant? Maybe. But I'll tell you for a fact that most of them didn't appreciate their situation and they blew through the money as if it was water, making no plans for the future.

It happens also to kids who inherit an estate they didn't work for from their parents. All too often it is totaly squandered and wasted.

Decades ago my husband and I borrowed on our home to give his brother and wife enough money for a downpayment on a home. They were appreciative and went and bought a home. A few years later, the wife decided she didn't want to work any more. She quit her job and lay around the house reading while the home went into foreclosure.

She didn't care about saving the home because she wasn't the one who slaved to earn the money for the downpayment. She had nothing invested in it. It was many, many years before my husband and I paid off that loan. How sad.

There is a saying: "Nothing ventured; nothing gained."

Success is a choice you make yourself. It may take you some time. You may have to work and work and work. But if you hang in there and do everything you are trained to do, you will eventually become successful. But you have to stay the course with determination.

Friday, June 16, 2006

Home Staging: Set Your Own Standards

Since I primarily write to women, let me address an issue most of us seem to fall prey to: comparing ourselves to other women.

This week my daughter auditioned for Beyonce's all-women's band she is purported to be gathering to tour this fall during the release of her new CD.

My daughter plays bass.

Knowing she would be competing with women all over the country who have far more extensive experience than she, it was quite natural that she was apprehensive. She asked me earlier in the day if I thought it was worth her while to go audition, or whether she should forget it.

I told her to just "go have fun, do the best you can and gain the experience of auditioning. No matter what happens, you will benefit from the experience."

Many times throughout the day and while waiting her turn she wanted to run away. She had only had one day to learn the song and pull together a "groove" of her own in the key of E.

She had one choice: run away and let fear conquer or stay and do her best.

I'm happy to report she stayed, went through the whole process, played way better than she thought she would play, experienced a "break through" according to her coach, and received a round of applause from the other musicians in the hall when she left the audition room!

It was a highlight of her life that she will never forget.

Had she succumbed to her fears, she would have missed out on a phenomenal opportunity to experience growth and the unmeasurable pleasure of a job well done. Instead of becoming a quitter, she became a winner, whether she landed the gig or not.

Competition should be viewed as a way to maintain excellence and a way to keep yourself performing up to YOUR own standards - not the standards of others.

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Home Staging Commitment

How committed are you to the success of your business?

"Very committed," you answer.

"Prove it," I respond.

"How?", you quiry.

My answer:

Are you willing to do the things that other people are not willing to do?

Olympic Gold champion, Mary Lou Retton, gave up living at home with her family at the age of 14. She moved to Texas to live with a total stranger: Bela Karolyi, the world famous gymnastics coach, who is extremely hard on his athletes.

Karolyi changed her whole technique, diet, schedule - everything. She practiced 7 days a week while other young girls her age were having fun.

A few weeks before the summer games, Mary Lou's knee locked up. She had torn cartilage fragments wedged in her knee joint. Orthoscopic surgery was needed.

Less than 10 days later, Mary Lou was back practicing.

In her final event, the vault, she needed 9.95 just to tie the Romanian leader.

Giving it everything she had to give, Mary Lou tore down the runway and sprung for her life. A perfect 10.0 score! And even though she didn't need to vault again, she took the optional vault, and again scored 10.0!

Success cannot elude someone this dedicated.

Is that someone you?

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Home Staging Mistakes

Even though mistakes are painful when they happen, over time they become a collection that becomes part of your level of "experience".

Mistakes can also be good things and they inevitably force you to constantly re-evaluate your strategies, tactics and procedures.

Case in point.

I recently placed 3 orders for tutorials: one for Home Staging for Profit, one for Rearrange It and one for Advanced Redesign.

Fearing that I was going to run out of printed versions before the new ones arrived, I requested that two of the books be shipped "2nd day air". Without asking the price difference between 2nd day air and ground shipping, I put the whole order down to come by air.

Big mistake.

Not only could I have just requested 1 box of each be shipped by air, with the balance coming by ground (duh!), I should not have been so panicked.

The difference in shipping cost was more than double and there were alternatives if I had taken the time to think the situation through more carefully.

But this one mistake has forced me to look more closely at our ordering processes and create better records for knowing when we need to reorder.

So look at every mistake as an opportunity to make your business better. For that is exactly what it is.

Monday, June 12, 2006

Difference Between Staging and Redesign

QUESTION
"What is the difference between the courses of house staging (which I am about to start reading) and redesign. Just need to make sure I will not be going over ground I have already studied or will read in the staging course. Cheers, Jill"

ANSWER
Home staging is the term we use to refer to the work done in a home where the owner wants to sell. It is the process of decluttering the space, depersonalizing the space, and then fixing, cleaning and arranging what is kept to make the home look as spacious as possible, help prospective buyers visualize themselves living in the home, etc.

Redesign, however, is working to make the home beautiful, full of personality and functionality for an owner who wishes to continue living in the home. Contrary to staging, in redesign we are attempting to fill up the space, make it functional and bring out the personality and style of the owner.

Two different goals.

All of the business set up, marketing, promotional, organization etc will be pretty much the same for both businesses, but the how to will differ when it comes to advice and design techniques. Staging is a pared down look, redesign is a full look.

Friday, June 09, 2006

Hiring Subcontractors: Payment Arrangements

QUESTION
First I want to thank you for replying back so quickly. I am so enjoying your staging book. I get goosebumps reading it and thinking about actually doing it.
I do have another question. You had mentioned a daily fee ie. $500.00 a day for a home needing many projects done. If we are not confident in doing the repairs, cleaning or painting and need to hire it done do we use our daily fee to pay the workers? Still confused. so sorry. I just want to be very consistant about the $ part to be fair.

ANSWER
Holly, well you'd have to balance out the cost of paying someone and compare to what you are getting and see if you're still making enough to "oversee" the project. But my advice is to put your person in touch with the homeowner and let them work their own deal. Have the vendor build in a referral fee for you. That way if the vendor screws up, you're not caught in the middle. If you accept a fee and hire the laborer yourself, you can do that, but then the contract is between you and owner, and if the job is sub-par, you will have tocorrect the problems or issue a refund. So it's kiind of precarious. In most situations, it's best to let other sub contractors strike a deal with the seller on their own, giving you a referral fee. In that case, might be good not to collect a fee from owner, unless they want you on the premises while the work is done. They probably won't as it will cost them for the service.

Monday, June 05, 2006

Home Staging Fears

When I was in high school, I lived in Japan. Our home was at the base of some beautiful foothills. We had winding small roads that were largely paved, but all uphill. My dad had purchased a 50cc Honda motorcycle as traffic in Japan was really getting bad.

Naturally I wanted to ride the motorcycle. My desire was a combination of excitement, thrill and fear all rolled into one. It didn't take long to learn how to change gears and ride, but I was only allowed to ride the bike on the back roads where there was practically no traffic.

It didn't take long to learn that when negotiating a curve on a motorcycle one had to lean into the curve, getting closer to the ground. To ride erect was an invitation to a fall.

In business, you have to learn to "lean into the curves" as well. When you are a novice, it's understandable to try to avoid situations that scare you or that feel potentially dangerous. But the sooner you figure out that the best way to keep from falling is getting closer to the ground, the easier your business will grow.

And should you get a little too close to the ground and fall, you just pick up your "bike" and get back on and keep riding. Before you know it, you will be maneuvering easily and effectively with all the confidence in the world.

I publish an easy to understand tutorial called Home Staging for Profit which will help you navigate and learn to zip through the curves.

Sunday, June 04, 2006

Home Staging Confidence

Working hard isn't enough to succeed. Of course you have to work hard. But in and by itself, it isn't enough.

I received a call this week from a gal who decided she didn't want to spend an extra $50 to switch from my ebook on home staging to a printed version. I couldn't believe that she (or anyone for that matter) would let $50 stop her from moving forward to get the training she wanted.

As I talked to her further, it became quite apparent that she lacked personal confidence. This seemed strange because she was the daughter of a prominent architect/designer and had grown up "in the business", so to speak.

If you don't believe in yourself, people will sense that. People only hire people who are confident - not arrogant - but sure of themselves.

If you don't believe in yourself, can you really expect someone else to believe in you? Only your mother does that.

How do you get confidence?

By doing it.