 A Picture is Worth 1000 Words
I drove through the Village of Southampton the other night, what a beautiful sight! It was enough to get even Scrooge in the Holiday spirit! How fortunate we are to live in such a picturesque part of the country.
Yes, the Holidays are upon us and with 2009 just around the corner it's a good time to evaluate the past year and set goals for the future. The New Year is traditionally associated with fresh starts and new beginnings. What will you be doing differently to grow your business this year? With our current state of the economy having every possible tool at your fingertips is a must. Information is power.
Obviously we are all aware that the way we all do business is constantly changing due to the Internet. For instance did you know that over 86% of home buyers find their homes on the Internet? This means how your listings are presented on your companies website or any other marketing website, can greatly effect it's chances of getting sold. It also means how your listings are photographed is crucial.
That old saying "a picture is worth a thousand words" is now more true than ever . This applies to homes for sale as well as rental properties. With so many rental properties on the market (a figure of over 14,000 appears in a recent issue of Homes of Eastern Long Island and is attributed to Judi Desiderio of Town & Country Real Estate) you have to make sure your listings stand out from the competition.Styled and Sold offers a rental enhancement service that can help promote your rental listings.
Rental property before staging:
 Rental property after staging: .
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Staging for the Internet
To ensure that your listings appear on the Internet to their best advantage make sure they are properly staged. (photo to the left is an actual MLS photo) It goes without saying that personal items (shampoo, toothbrushes medications etc) should be removed and this also includes things like hoses and garbage cans in exterior shots as well. Furniture can sometimes feel over scaled and block visual vistas so its placement may require rearranging before photographing. Consider de-cluttering by eliminating some furniture for a more elegant look. The buyer needs something to fall in love with but keep in mind you are selling space. Accessories should be simple and strong. Every room should look clean and inviting.
Vacant home before staging
After staging
Vacant homes viewed on the Internet are the biggest challenge. Without the visual references that furnishings and artwork provide your listing will not appear to it's best advantage.
For some fun techie gadgets to help insure your listing photos are top notch check out the following link:
www.frontdoor.com
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 Come into the Rain
Another great way to promote you business through the Internet is Active Rain Real Estate Networking (www.activerain.com )If you are unfamiliar with Active Rain, here is what www.webnewsforus.com (News for Real Estate Agents-Tips for the Real Estate Industry in Black and White) has to say about it:
"Active Rain is a site that is designed to drive consumers to real estate agents and others in the real estate field. There are no fees and no sales pitch of any kind. Active Rain says it's "the real estate industry's first online networking resource for real estate professionals."
First off you have your profile, in your profile you are able to write a brief description, an "about us" section, an "Areas of Expertise" section, and list some testimonials. This profile is the page that most visitors will end up finding so make sure to take a little time when filling it out. Link to a couple key pages in your site to help visitors find what they are looking for.
Next there is a blog for each member. This blog is linked to and from your main profile page. For those that have been thinking about starting a blog this is an easy way to do it without having to learn all the details of blogging. A nice bonus to blogging is you have a chance to build some links to your site. Blog posts will show up in the search engines and can drive some traffic for you.
Then the networking part of the site. You can add other members as "Associates" and they are then linked from your profile. You can add agents that you know, referral sources, a loan officer, and more. This is kind of a neat feature and is a lot like MySpace friends list."
If someone Googles Allegra Dioguardi or Styled and Sold Home Staging or even "find a Home Stager in Sag Harbor" guess what comes up before my own website? My Active Rain Profile. Everything I write or blog about on Active Rain is easily found and read by the general public. What a powerful marketing tool and a great way to establish yourself as an expert! Just a word of a warning, once you get started on Active Rain it's addictive!
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