Be at war with your voices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every New Year find you a better man.– Benjamin Franklin

Reflecting on 2010

As year-end comes around, it’s a time to look back and assess the year’s activities. The idea is to evaluate and make adjustments to improve in the new year.

I found that I spent 2010 busy being busy. Constantly on the go: going to meetings, going to events; going to presentations – you get the picture. I spent more than 60 % of my time going to meetings and participating in marketing events, and the balance of my time actually Staging; making telephone calls, working on non-profit organizations' activities; trade shows/expos and financial planning/meetings.

A restless night came to an end at 5:09 a.m. by the realization that it may be time for me to reassess not only where I’m spending my time, but also what profitability actually means.

Of course, there is the monetary profitability we all automatically defer to when the word profit is used. What about personal profitability? What is it that makes us feel good and contented? Maybe all the social interaction with others actually triggers more creativity in us. And could it be that others inspire us to do better and be better in many phases of our lives? And maybe, I realized, the enjoyment I get spending time in the company of others -- whether doing a presentation or listening to one -- is invaluable. This is my reward, i.e., profit, for spending time with others.

And, what about the bigger picture? You know, the one beyond our P&L and desires to grow our business.

Maybe it’s just because it’s Christmastime, but as I was laying in the darkness this morning tossing around all of these questions, I could not help but think of Jimmy Stewart’s character in “It’s A Wonderful Life.” Well, actually it was this movie combined with a recent Mastering Performance luncheon I attended. In the luncheon, our instructor shared with us the reality that 75% of our world as we know it is filled with stuff that we don’t know – and we simply don’t know what we don’t know. Are we making a positive impact somehow, someway, on someone or some thing that we don’t even realize?

And all through this process I hear a voice that says, “you’re doing fine.” My company is less than two years old and intellectually I know that as the business grows, the time paradigm will shift accordingly.

But this morning I resolved to stop worrying so much about making more money and to stop focusing solely on monetary profit. I realized that God is in control of my life and I’m only a small part of His big plan. I must trust and believe that these things that keep me up at night will all work out. Perhaps it is the Christmas season -- and all that it is about -- that is now speaking softly to me in a very big voice.

Merry Christmas.

www.ballantynehomestaging.com | 980.322.5825 | carol@ballantynehomestaging.com

Partnership with the Power of 2 Brokers

Ballantyne Home Staging is excited to announce a partnership with Keller Williams Ballantyne Realtors® Jim McGuire & Eileen Simms "Power of 2 Brokers"! Ballantyne Home Staging offers a proven track record and will Stage® your home to make an excellent first impression and invite offers!

Eileen Simms & Jim McGuire PowerOf2Brokers
http://www.powerof2brokers.com/
Contact Eileen & Jim:
Phone: 704-497-2224
Cell: 704-608-7863
Fax: 704-717-5772
3430 Toringdon Way, Suite 101
Charlotte, NC 28277

www.ballantynehomestaging.com | 980.322.5825 | carol@ballantynehomestaging.com

We want to see THAT house. The importance of online pictures.

How many home buyers start their home search on the Internet?

 

 

I’ve seen statistics ranging from 82% to more than 90%. So just for fun, I conducted my own non-scientific survey of those looking at houses and asked them:

 

1. “What are you looking for while viewing all the different homes for sale online photos?

 

2. “What makes you stop and spend more time looking at a particular house online?”

Here are the most common/similar replies:

• Empty rooms don’t show me anything (except what color the walls are painted.)
• If the house looked like a mess, we skipped it.
• If the pictures were too dark, I skipped right over them.
• If the pictures were hazy or blurred, I skipped past them.
• It’s hard for me to see how large the rooms are when they’re empty.
• I can’t tell if our furniture will fit or not.
• If the furniture is worn & out of date, it makes me think the house is worn and out of date, too.
• Houses that look nice and clean go to the top of our list.
• Houses that look nice on the outside and inside catch our attention because they seem to be well maintained.
• Nicely decorated houses are attractive, plus we can see how big the rooms are more so than when looking at empty rooms.

None of the answers surprise me, but does make me continue to wonder why so many home sellers do not seek the assistance of a professional Home Stager prior to listing their houses. Home Staging makes such a huge impact and should be done prior to any photographs being taken.

Professionally Staged Home + Professional Photography + Properly Priced Listing = SOLD.

www.ballantynehomestaging.com | 980.322.5825 | carol@ballantynehomestaging.com