Karen with Snow White
Now before I have to tell some of you to get your minds out of the gutter, let me explain. APSD is growing by leaps and bounds and I am hardly able to keep up on a daily basis. Recently we have added a new Operations Manager, a Website Manager, a Director of Training and a Director of Distribution…all of whom you will soon meet. But even then, I have been ‘cursed’ with an amazing vision and amazing members that are constantly forcing me to continue to grow, build and be the very best I can be so…help!!! I could really use Snow White’s tribe to get a few extra things done around here!
I realize that many of our APSD Professional Home Stagers are also growing and regardless of whether or not you need full time staff, we all need help with different things. So, if I had 7 extra people in my life that would bow to my every whim…here is how I would use them….
1) Grumpy- Customer Service. While we have almost ZERO negative customer service at APSD I would love to have someone whose sole purpose is to take care of our clients. To me, if you are doing things right, you don’t have to handle too many negative things, but rather practicing GOOD customer service is the way to go. In 2012, my goal is to get more calls out to clients, just to see how they are doing and find out how we can better help them to grow their home staging businesses. I want to make sure that we celebrate with our customers more often, and of course do anything possible to ensure their home staging success. Grumpy would be great at this because he would have to work harder than all the other me, it would force him to step outside of his box and really put his best foot forward every day!
2) Dopey-Event Coordination. Now this is a tough job so you are probably wondering why I have appointed ‘Dopey.’ The truth is that you have to be really laid back in order to handle all the stress and details of an event. When I do Home STAGE each year, it takes us 6 months to prepare, do the marketing, find the hotels, sort out menu’s, travel, do hand-outs and so much more. Unless you are REALLY relaxed to begin with, this can be a total nightmare. While everything happens under my direction, a full time event coordinator is in my future especially since we are taking our Home STAGE Events across the globe. What can you use help coordinating on a regular basis?
3) Sleepy- Product Creation. This is my most difficult task. I develop all the materials within our company and it is a ton of work. Not only do you have to come up with the idea, but it needs to be turned into a useable, profitable and proven system. You have to have a way to effectively and successfully communicate the message, build it into an offline and online training system, create workbooks, handouts, and even tests. Whew! Once I have the idea and the outline, that is when I would love to turn the rest of it over to Sleepy. You see the work is not difficult but it is tiresome and Sleepy would be perfect for the job. He just needs to follow my lead, cross the ‘t’s and dot the ‘I’s’ and then give it back to me to ‘sprinkle the fairy dust’ and turn the product into a true profit center for all of our home stagers.
4) Sneezy- Curb Appeal Expert. While I love Curb Appeal I think it can only be a true love if you are willing to suffer for your art…I do and so does Sneezy as we both have horrible allergies! Curb Appeal is one of the most essential components in selling a home and when you are an expert at Curb Appeal, as a professionally certified home stager, you stand out in the crowd. Curb Appeal is also one of the most searched for terms on the internet when it comes to real estate so if you can talk about Curb Appeal and showcase your APSD Curb Appeal Expert status on your website, it will also bring you more traffic! If you are not familiar with our Curb Appeal Certification program, you can find a complimentary 59 minute video at: www.APSDmembers.com/CurbAppeal
5) Doc-Head of marketing. This is a position that I am desperate to fill but being a marketing person myself, it is hard for me to let go of it. I think Doc is an in charge and confident person. Plus he is completely creative when it comes to getting others to get things done so I know his creativity would serve me well. If you are not good at getting your own marketing done, then a ‘Doc’ may be in your future…or a special marketing program I am going to announce in January so make sure you watch for it. No matter what, marketing is your most important tool when it comes to running a healthy home staging business. Whether you do it yourself, hire it out or have your own ‘Doc’ of Marketing, make sure it gets done every single day!
6) Happy-Personal Asst. I have Eve as my personal assistant and she does everything within her power to take care of me. She quietly manages my schedule, and my overload, does various tasks and always makes sure that I don’t miss a beat. My only desire is that Eve was not virtual I have never even met her…but she is always happy when she talks to me which makes me feel good. I like happy people and I like to surround myself with happy people. The person that spends the most time with me is a personal assistant so they have to be happy…even when I am not! And, let’s face facts, when you have someone that is happy to help you, happy to take care of you, happy to answer the phone and happy to drop off your dry cleaning…doesn’t that make you happy in return?
7) Bashful- Head of PR. Have you ever noticed how celebrities get great PR from their press agents but you never really ‘see’ press agents? I think it is because they are bashful and living vicariously though those they promote. This is exactly the kind of person you want to promote you and your home staging business. You want them to look at all of your key selling points, such as your niche within the home staging industry, your expertise, where you do the majority of your home staging services and of course, what is really special about you. Then, have them shout it from the rooftops, post it on the internet, talk about it in social media and send it via direct mail to every single possible prospect. If you are not good at promoting yourself, get a ‘Bashful’ to do it for you!
Well, there you go! Now you know what I would do if I had the help of 7 little men….what about you?
