Webinar – Learn How to Make Your Photos Market Ready with Jackson West!

This Saturday, 2/13/10 at 7pm ESTjoin this one hour webinar for only $25.

Have you met Jackson West?

Jackson West is the owner of Reveal Estate Home Staging and a Certified Staging Professional Trainer. Jackson’s work has been featured in Home Staging for Dummies, as well as in several issues of Staging Standard Magazine.

Jackson has a penchant for excellence when it comes to presenting photos. Grab this opportunity to see live how he does it. You can have great photos too!

This webinar is an online course, you sit in the comfort of your own home, in front of your computer, listening and watching a presentation with a LIVE host. It is interactive and you can ask questions. Please call 1-888-782-4464 1-888-782-4464 to secure your spot. Or click here to register for the webinar.

I was lucky enough to meet Jackson in person last month in Las Vegas. He’s a lot of fun and he knows what he’s talking about. Do yourself a favor and sign up for his webinar, you will be happy you did!

Photos courtesy of Jackson West

“Friends”
A Social Skills Group
Presented by GOALS for Autism, Inc.

My daughter has been volunteering for these types of groups to socialize and play with the kids.  She is getting a lot out of it, and loves seeing their improvement as time goes on.  I thought I would share this group with all of you!

These groups are designed to involve social, motor and especially language skills through fun activities with skilled ABA therapists.  Our groups focus on the essential skills identified in the SSIS (Social Skills Improvement System) as building block skills with positive interactions with skilled therapists and age-appropriate peers. Each group has experienced therapists involving the children in positive activities which emphasize development of language, social and motor skills necessary for play with typical peers. Groups are organized for children between 4 and 13 years of age.  Group size is typically limited to six children to ensure optimal interaction with both adults and peers for every child.

Locations:
Pleasant Hill, Pleasanton and Brentwood

Date: Classes will begin the week of January 11, 2009

Time: Groups meet for 90 minutes for 8 consecutive weeks.

Four to five year olds meet on Saturdays from 10am – 11:30am.
Six to eight year olds meet on Saturdays from 12pm - 1:30pm.
Nine to ten year olds meet on Tuesdays from 4pm – 5:30pm.
Eleven to thirteen year olds meet on Thursdays from 6pm – 7:30pm.

Cost: There is a $300 charge for the 8-week program.

Contact: Amy Bona, Director of Operations at 415.218.4157 or abona@goalsforautism.com.

- offering website design, redesign, maintenance, hosting and virtual assistance.

I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a win-win situation to me!  Tomorrow (12/18/09) Pacific Puffs in San Francisco, California will be donating 10% of their sales to Team in Training to help the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  Did you need a good excuse to try a delicious cream puff?  I think I just gave you one!

Pacific Puffs is located at 2201 Union Street in San Francisco.  Make sure if youi are in the area you pay them a visit tomorrow and help people fighting blood cancers!

If you prefer to make a donation, my friend Adryon is participating in the fundraising and you can donate at her Team in Training page.

Sibling Support Groups Presented by GOALS for Autism, Inc. (Contra Costa & Alameda County)

Locations: Pleasant Hill, Pleasanton and Brentwood

Dates: Groups begin January 11th and 13th

Time: Groups meet for 90 minutes for 8 consecutive weeks. Elementary groups are on Mondays from 4-5:30pm. Junior groups are on Wednesdays from 4pm-5:30pm.

Cost: $200 for the 8 week program

Therapists conducting the groups have a Masters degree and have been working with children with disabilities for many years.

Children in 4th through 6th grades are welcome to join the elementary group. Children in 7th and 8th grades are welcome to join the junior group.

This group is for brothers and sisters of persons with developmental disabilities. Siblings meet to talk about their mutual concerns and feelings. They gain information regarding the specific problems of their brother or sister and come to realize that their family and personal situations are unique and yet common to many families. The groups are fun, informative and provide a tremendous amount of support.

Contact Amy Bona, Director of Operations at 415.218.4157 or abona@goalsforautism.com.

FOOD DRIVE
FOR
Mt. Diablo Unified School District
Volunteer Food Pantry
Assisting Families in Need in Our District Community

Families in the Mt. Diablo Unified School District need your help.  There is a food pantry at the District office which is a maintained by group of volunteers.  Child Welfare and Attendance Liaisons (CWAs), School Psychologists and other District employees pick up boxes of food from the District office and deliver them to families in need.  As food is donated, volunteers check expiration dates, box up the food (emergency 3-4 day supply) and store excess food in cabinets in their main lunchroom.  All volunteers help during their lunch hour or after work.

 The food pantry is not just for the holidays.  This is a year round project.  Please consider organizing a donation station at your school either by asking your school administrator directly or going through your PTA, PTO, or PFC organization.  It’s simple, fill up some cans or barrels, then email or call Lori Amenta at amental@mdusd.k12.ca.us or 682-8000 ext 4002 and make arrangements to drop off your donations.  This is a great way for your school communities and your scouts to help families in our immediate area, as all donations are given out to families in our District.  This is also a wonderful community service project for your girls to be involved with.  If you have any questions about setting up your donations please call Gina Soleimanieh at 925-429-0433.  Thank you.

Top 10 Items to Donate

Peanut Butter
Rice
Canned Fruit
Cereal
Canned Tuna
Canned Chicken
Whole Beans
Canned Chili
Pasta Sauce & Pasta
Canned Vegetables

Other Suggested Items to Donate

Soup (Cans or Instant)
Crackers
Macaroni and Cheese
Jam/Jelly
Protein Power Bars
Granola Bars
Individual snacks such as:
Cheese & Crackers
PB & Crackers
Velveeta Cheese
Instant Powder Drinks
Canned Evaporated Milk
Juices — no refrigeration
Pickles
Mayo
Mustard
Catsup

 All Nonperishable Items Accepted

All this content in one fun packed day!
Prizes, gift certificates and cash, contests, networking and guaranteed at least one tip that will earn you the cost of admission. You can’t afford to miss this!
Visit www.StagersLISTExpo.com and click on Metro New York!

Keynote Speaker Christine Rae
Speaker at California Association of Realtors Convention October 2009, past recipient of RESA Innovator award, President of CSP International Training Academy, trainer and author of Wiley Publishing’s Home Staging For Dummies (& a Resource for the Rest of us). This book is a terrific tool which guides the reader to discover that staging is a specialty that the average person needs professional help with.

Christine’s talk, 5 Mistakes Businesses Make, 5 Steps to Turn Your Business Around, 5 Market Driven Trends to Build Revenue will inspire you to take action to turn your business around. She challenges you to answer, “What keeps you from the success you want?” You will leave motivated and ready to turn your business around. Businesses need to grow and change to increase their market share; learn the trends that can help you reach your financial goals. What heights do you want to achieve in 2010?

Melissa Marro
Founder of First Impressions Home Staging & Interior Redesign, IRIS, CSP, Dewey Trainer

Melissa will be presenting Marketing for Explosive and Consistent Sales. Learn how to effectively market your staging business with a minimal budget for consistent and explosive sales without cold calling or placing expensive media print ads. Melissa will cover e-newsletters, agent “lunch & learns”, neighborhood and agent farming techniques and more. Master these topics and you will be able to break free of the ebb and flow of the sales world and launch into increased, sustained sales and bookings.

Melissa will also have a workshop titled Overcome Objections – Increase Sales. Having trouble closing the deal or even setting appointments? In this session Melissa will teach you how to overcome common industry objections masterfully and with confidence. Melissa’s company has had incredible success in their marketplace, once managing 40 staged properties in one month! Learn simple, proven techniques and increase your presentation skills with this informative workshop.

Visit www.StagersLISTExpo.com and click on Metro New York!

Leigh Hagen
Photographer, professinal stager and cofounder of LH2 Staging, Leigh’s work has been featured on the cover of Home Staging for Dummies, Midwest Living Luxury Tours, and International Staging Magazine Staging Standard.

Leigh is presenting our lunch workshop, Photos – the final ingredient. The Sale Begins in the MLS. Photographs sell your work, your talent and your staged properties IF they reflect what you’ve done. Learn how to take better photos, what you need in a camera and how to utilize your photos to sell more by marketing yourself and your work online and in your portfolio through brilliant photos.

Suzy Minken
Home stager and Feng Shui practitioner

Suzy’s workshop is Feng Shui – The Home Staging Connection. Suzy blends home staging and Feng Shui with great success. Staging IS Feng Shui. Feng Shui does three things: 1. Harmonize space, 2. Neutralize space from negative emotions, 3. Direct energy to a specific goal. For home stagers that means creating space that buyers “feel” at home in. Learn how home staging and Feng Shui blend and compliment each other. Realtors know how a home feels makes a difference in what properties buyers will spend more time viewing. Stagers use these techniques all the time. Suzy will teach you why it works and help you understand how to use them with purpose and intention for even more success and SOLD properties.

Visit www.StagersLISTExpo.com and click on Metro New York!

Chris Fisher
Creator of StagersLISTWebsites.com, blogging expert and virtual assistant

Chris’ workshop is Websites, Blogging, SEO – The Key To Building Your Business. Learn how you can get a web presence on YOUR budget. Do you have a website? Do you know it doesn’t have to be expensive to be effective? If you have a website, is it active, engaging and bringing you business? You may only need slight changes to improve your existing site dramatically? Do you know that blogging is bringing Realtors and home stagers across the country business? If you answered no to any of these questions, this workshop is for you! Drive business to your door without spending a fortune doing it. Take this workshop and receive a FREE blog header for the blog platform of your choice.

How to Create and Solidify Realtor Relationships

We have three successful professional home stagers to talk about how they create partnerships with their Realtors and continue to get business. Sid Pinkerton has been featured on TLC as a home staging expert and has staged hundreds of apartments in Metro Nerw York in the last six years. Kate Hart is an award winning home staging expert, has helped hundreds of families prepare homes for sale, has mentored and trained thousands of Realtors and home stagers. Lynelle Hartman has been a trainer for the two largest staging training companies in the US, trains in the Dewey Color System and authored a continuing education course on vacant home staging.

Visit www.StagersLISTExpo.com and click on Metro New York!

FREE HIV Testing

Friday, Nov 6, 6-8pm
Monday, Nov 9, 6-8pm

When was the last time you got tested? Have you talked with anyone about ways to protect yourself against HIV?

Come to the RCC on Friday, Nov 6 & Monday, Nov 9 between 6-8pm and you will get:

• FREE HIV oral rapid testing- You will know the result in 20 minutes with 99.7% accuracy;
• FREE safer sex counseling;
• FREE condoms & lube;
• Peace of Mind that comes from knowing you are taking care of yourself!

Rainbow Community Center (RCC)
3024 Willow Pass Road, Suite 200
Concord, CA 94519-2588
Phone: 925.692.0090
Fax: 925.692.0091

The RCC also offers counseling, support groups, food services and so much more.  If you’d like to donate to help this wonderful organization, please click here.  If you’d like to learn more about their programs and services, visit their website.

Thank you!

www.FromDrabtoFab.com  Sid Pinkerton was featured on TLC as a home staging expert. Sid has staged hundreds of apartments in Metro New York in the past six years. “Even in this market, we continue to have more than 90% of our staged properties of those within 7 days,” says Sid. Sid says his clients are the Realtors and he is acutely aware of that. Sid’s business is referral and word of mouth only.  Learn how Sid turned his love of Real Estate into a passion that earns him a six figure income with NO outside marketing. We will talk about Sid’s philosophy and how he maximizes the Realtor relationships in a challenging and unique marketplace, New York City.

Sid will be a part of our Professional Home Stager and Designer Panel at the Real Estate Home Staging Expo on November 12, 2009.  You won’t want to miss this!  The panel will focus on How to Create and Solidify Realtor Relationships.

Don’t forget to register before November 1, 2009 to receive the Churchill Furniture Rental special price!

Location:
Churchill Furniture Rental
56 Utter Avenue
Hawthorne, NJ 07506-2117

Join us and learn from Sid and our two other Panel Experts, Kate Hart and Lynelle Hartman.  Learn how to solidify your Realtor relationships and keep your business thriving in ANY market.

This expert panel is just one feature of the full day’s events.  Check out the full Real Estate Home Staging Agenda and join us November 12, 2009 for a great day of learning and fun!

Title: Real Estate Home Staging Expo in Indianapolis
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Link out: Click here
Description: Visit the website for full agenda. This is our second two-day expo of the year. We bring Industry Experts to you as speakers and to facilitate workshops. Don\’t miss it!
Start Date: 2009-09-29
End Date: 2009-09-30

The money raised from this multi-family yard sale will be used to rescue bunnies from local shelters, rescue abandoned bunnies, as well as for medical attention, fostering, and spay/neuters!

Come meet some of the rabbits and hear their stories!

You can shop, donate items, donate money, visit with the rabbits, and of course adopt a rabbit if you are ready for a wonderful new pet.

Where: 141 Murwood Court in Walnut Creek, 94596 (In the Walnut Knolls neighborhood, off San Miguel).

When: Saturday, August 1st, 2009 from 8am – 4pm.

Why: Why not?  It’s fun to shop, it’s fun to pet rabbits, and it’s a great cause!

Hope to see you there!

- offering website design, re-design, maintenance, hosting and virtual assistance
- and trying to help the bunnies. : )