Vowing to regain control of my mental (and actual) desktop,  I’m ruthlessly cleaning out my inbox, deleting and un-subscribing left and right.

Uh-oh.

“Find Out if Mona is a Secret Genius” beckons the subject line.  DAMN.

Regular readers know Mona is my beloved rescue pup… and my kryptonite. I mean, just LOOK at her! She was young, found very pregnant and sleeping behind a dumpster in Houston, not destined for a happy ending.

Its from my vet’s office…so I love them.  But they’re trying to engage me when I’m in no mood to be engaged. YET the mouse hoovers. I mean, who am I to deny my precious girl the recognition and accolades that come with “Genius”??

So I click. Despite vowing to stay focused and just get to the part of how genius she is, almost immediately I fall into another zone, losing track of well, whatever else I was doing. Yup, they got me. But I was happy.

Bypassing the logical brain, they went straight to the heart. HEY, this IS good content! Immediately I’m planning to bake dog biscuits, teach her more tricks, and ok, maybe I better book that nail clipping appt.

We are faced with many fast mini-decisions like this during the day.  Lots of noise, lots of competition for our brains.  We develop filters, so there’s even less we let in.  Not good for someone who’s got something really, really good for you to see. 

Used to be BIG was what broke through in real estate. Big….was big. But in recent years, way before COVID, if all you had was ‘big’ in your listing photos you got wows, but probably not the offer you wanted. COVID has winnowed out the superflouous, and has us keenly focused on what matters. 

Good listing photos show the space; really good ones touch the heart.  Photo styling means taking the time to know who the buyer is. Not just their demographics, but their why, their motivation, even, yes, their kryptonite.  Time was taken to look past the standard and expected; to know their heart and touch their dreams.

One very easy way is to find, and celebrate niche spaces:

• A reading nook or a garden
• An organized workbench, or coffee on the (maybe teeny) balcony
• A meditation space or an artist’s corner; a workout space, or a fire pit.

Inexpensive photo styling to implement, but, as they say, “priceless”.  Because you paid attention to them, your buyers will pay attention. They’ll respond, and will feel happy about engaging. 

More tips on Photo-Styling in Uncertain Times Tuesday September 22nd via ZOOM webinar, sponsored by the Harrison Public Library . Cllck here to register and get your link to meeting. Hope to see you there!!