I get ask these questions all the time from people who want to enter staging fields and are contemplating which program is the best. Frankly, since I’ve been out of training classrooms for awhile so I don’t really know which one is better since every course probably has been modified throughout the years. Most importantly, if this is you, you should pick a training course that will fit into your career scheme and goals, unfortunately, that’s something someone you just met on internet cannot tell you.

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Good Morning Cindy,

My name is Miss C and I am a Real Estate paralegal and investor in Dallas, Texas. I am embarking on a new career in Home Staging (which I have been doing “unofficially” for awhile now) and found your wonderful website. Congratulations on that!  Most other sites that I visited were not nearly as professional, informative and easy to navigate.

I am considering the [blah blah designation] training and was curious if you (1) went through and would recommend the training and (2) if you find that this [blah blah designation] accreditation has been beneficial to your business?

It is a little expensive, so before I invest in the program, I would really appreciate any feedback that you could give me.

Thank you Cindy!  I really appreciate your time and consideration. Have a wonderful day.

Sincerely,

Miss C

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Hey Miss C

Congrats on your new career. I personally went through quite a few designations and they are all beneficial in their ways. I think you need to ask each programs what they are offering and how their students are doing in this economy. I personally have not been in the classrooms of these designation programs for a long time so I cannot say how different they are since the courses do change throughout the time.

I think the best answer would be talking to recent graduates as well as course trainers to get a better idea of how this program will fit into your lifestyle and your career goals.

I want to wish you best of luck.

Cheers,
Cindy

I have been feeling pretty unbalanced and abnormal for the past couple weeks, mainly because of CSP’s Staging Convention in Toronto, San Mateo County’s Housing Expo as well as wrapping up the Sustainable Building Advisor class this past weekend.

I am actually very happy to report that while in Toronto, we (Staged4more) actually won Green Bud Business of the Year award! In additions, CSP unveiled the eStager course that I authored, which is a technology 101 course for stagers of all backgrounds and denomiations (for more of my tech work, you can go to smallbizgurltalkstech.com). It was a very nice trip indeed and seeing old friends in the staging world.

Staged4more at SAMCAR's Housing Expo

We also participated in the San Mateo Housing Expo that SAMCAR (our realtor association) hosted. It was really nice to meet a lot of visitors and agents. Also got some real great questions in regards to our Live Green Live Smart green training, which is now approved by Califiornia DRE for 8 CEUs for Realtors.

The banner on the left is actually made completely out of recycled materials. The banner itself is printed on recycled soda bottles and the stand is made from recycled aluminum. (from EcoShowPiece who was great to work with)

And YES! Finally finished up my Sustainable Building Advisor class! (Well, almost anyway. Exam in June) I really cannot believe 10 months passed so quickly. It felt bittersweet to finish up the class. It was a really robust and well-rounded program, although we could definitely do more work on social equity in green building, like affordable housing issues, etc. All and all it was a great green education. It definitely touched on a lot of the science behind green building. I appreciate while there were philosophical debates, but that was not the focus of the course. I personally feel there are just too much philosophical debates in the green world sometimes. It can get quite frustrating.

Now that these major milestones are achieved… back to our regular programming

Come visit Staged4more at SAMCAR Housing Expo!

Y-A-Y.

Here are a few of our new updates & plan for 2009.

I was very honored to be invited and got invited to speak. The most incredible thing is of course visiting seeing friends in the staging industry and meet new ones.

If you are coming to see me speak, PLEASE DOWNLOAD THIS WORKSHEET:handout-los-angeles-stagers-appreciation-event

Brook Furniture is generously hosting a day of networking, learning and lunch for all Los Angeles Home Stagers. And the best part? Its FREE!

Who? All professional home stagers are invited

Where? Brook Furniture Distribution Center

18960 E. San Jose Ave.

City of Industry, CA 91748

When? Monday February 9, 2009, 10:00AM

The Agenda:

10:00 – 11:00 AM Networking and socializing

11:00 AM-12:00 Noon Presentation about SEO (search engine optimization) by Professional Stager Cindy Lin of Staged4more

12:00 – 1:00PM Lunch and presentation about adding custom window treatments to your offerings for additional income, presented by Ashley Whittenberger from The Interiority Complex. Lunch is generously provided by Brook Furniture.

1:00 – 2:00 PM Tour of the Brook Furniture Distribution Center. A behind the scenes look at their warehouse facility.

2:00 – 3:00 PM Presentation about Feng Shui and how it applies to home staging by Feng Shui Expert Sharon Ball

3:00 – 4:00 PM Additional networking and socializing

This event is free, but please RSVP so we can get an accurate head count. Here is a link to the Evite:

If you have any questions, you can email Michelle Minch at Michelle@MovingMountainsDesign.com or contact Connie Tebyani (805)553-9952 or Connie@PlatinumHomeStaging.com .

I look forward to seeing you all there!

Although I have moved Staged4more into its current location (3,600 square feet commercial building: see blog Angel Singing Moment!) for awhile now (umm like 6 months?), the warehouse still looks like a hot mess. (’Tis the woe of a solo-preneur!)

Even though a lot of racks are up, I am still in the process of building more shelves to accommodate weird-shaping inventories like florals, tabletop accessories, etc. It feels like we are under construction every day! (And we actually are… Right now we are adding faucets in the front part of warehouse for a mini kitchen!) The kitchen cabinets you see are actually old kitchen cabinets (Read more …)

Hello ladies & gents

I am in the process of finishing up my book on real estate marketing that is set for publishing this spring and want to incorporate a few more case studies.

Please email me cindy@staged4more.com if you are interested. I am looking for case studies of agents who:
*transformed their businesses after incorporating home staging as selling strategy
*have successes of selling homes after the properties are staged:
if this is the case, please share the details of the listing: listing price, sold price, days on market, sellers’ comments, etc.

These interviews will be done via podcasts or blog formats and will be incorporate into the book as well (double exposure!) I am looking to incorporate success stories nationwide.

Cheers,
Cindy

cindy@staged4more.com