On Friday I introduced the topic of how the wrong marketing tactics can sink your business and promised to share the worst home staging examples I’ve seen lately. One of my least favorite tactics for home stagers is to use sex appeal to sell their real estate staging services.
It’s true that sex sells when it comes to beer, cars and seemingly shampoo, but it’s a terrible idea to use your sex appeal to sell home staging services for many reasons:
- It’s not safe. You’re going to a stranger’s home, most likely by yourself. If you don’t want to put yourself in a bad situation, don’t claim to be a sexy home stager.
- It’s irrelevant. If you can present a polished image and prove your ability to transform a property to appeal to buyers, it doesn’t matter what you look like.
- It’s inappropriate. Usually, the marketing I’ve seen by home stagers who are trying to attract customers based on their level of sexiness is just ridiculous and it’s impossible to take these stagers seriously.
I recently came across a “home staging” website featuring a strange animated character telling the world that she was her state’s sexiest stager. The whole thing was strange. After the animated head introduced herself as her state’s sexiest stager she said that if you want your home to sell fast and for top dollar you should stay tuned for weekly tips on sexy staging.
If that wasn’t bad enough, then she makes a second mistake, inappropriate use of humor.
The animated head on her site actually tells a joke: What is the difference between broccoli and boogers? Kids won’t eat broccoli. Which led her to sharing the day’s sexy staging tip which was (and months later still is): “Remember to clean the boogers off the walls before you put your house on the market.”
This is enough to make any reasonable adult cringe, and lead even a teenager to ask, “is that a real home staging business?” Nobody is going to trust that person to prepare their largest asset to sell.
There are ways to use video effectively to enhance your marketing message, but a “sexy” animated robot, especially one joking about “boogers,” is not one of them.
I don’t know what I’d do if I saw a Staging Diva Graduate resorting to something like this. Fortunately that probably won’t happen because students of the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program learn smart home staging marketing techniques!
Do you have thoughts on using sex appeal to sell home staging services? What about humor? Please add your comments below and contribute to the discussion! Check back Wednesday for another very bad home staging marketing example!
Debra Gould, The Staging Diva®
President, Six Elements Inc.
Entrepreneur and Home Staging expert Debra Gould, The Staging Diva®, knows how to make money as a home stager and has taught over 1000 others to do the same. Discover her secrets to business success in the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program.
Technorati Tags: Debra Gould, Staging Diva, Six Elements, home staging marketing, marketing strategy, marketing strategies, home staging marketing gimmick
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{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
well, unfortunately in today’s world people are capable of doing anything that is not with honor to succeed. It’s like with any profession. You practice unethical and leads to giving the public a bad impression for the rest of those who actually do things right. I’m not a home stager, yet, but I think we are to display ourselves with honor, respect, of good character and with leadership in the Home Staging business. Anyway, when I read about this so called “sexy stager”, I couldn’t believe it.
OMG!!!
Debra words cannot describe how appalling that is……………I’d have a hard enough time even saying that b……… word to someone.
Does she Really expect to be taken seriously?
Woman today have enough to worry about without having someone today openly demoralize herself, but take a budding and prosperous profession with it.
I concur with Leah’s comment: there is a strong likelihood this woman is not a stager at all. If she is, what on earth is she thinking? and where did she take her training?
I have a similar reaction when I see photo’s of female realtors looking like “babes” instead of professional sales people. Considering that it is most often the wife who chooses the house, who is their target market?
Oh she’s a real home stager, active rain profile and everything!
Well just when you think you have heard it all. I can’t imagine marketing in this way. I like Leah’s take on the whole thing. What’s next ??? Staging in the nude. I am certainly glad Diva Graduates represent the staging industry in a much better fashion.
I don’t believe the sexy stager is a stager after all. I bet the whole thing is a front from something else. Maybe it’s like Babe-a-Maid. You just never know.
It’s important to always remember your target market. As Debra mentions, we’re not selling beer to 20 year old men. We’re selling staging services to homeowners who are most likely 35+ years old. In most cases women are the ‘purchasers’ and a sexy woman is not who they want to stage their home. They need a professional who will do a great job.
I wonder what the statistics say about females verses males who a home stager works with when staging a home…Seems to me if a home stager markets herself as “being sexy” she’s (or he) limiting who she’s even marketing to. I would think that would be a huge mistake!
Strangely enough, my husband could relate to the “booger” story. When he bought his condo, the walls were white so he didn’t notice that they were covered in boogers! He only found out when he went to re-paint and realized what was on the walls! Yuck! So yes, its important to clean boogers off the walls however I don’t believe this should make it into our home staging reports. Seems to be just a general logical thing to think of to do.
In terms of “sexy” advertising – I want to be sought after because of the work I do – not because I’m sexy. Next thing you know, after advertising that, someone will call and request that you stage in some kind of skimpy outfit – and then take pictures! You would *never* live that down and could never change your image.