Brainerd Lakes Real Estate News

Hi Kathleen, I haven't heard of that but am checking it and the one Shell recommended.  We can't have enough support to help us in our businesses.  Thanks for sharing.

Terry Haugen - STAGE it RIGHT!

Kathleen, I have looked at them both and can't wait to see how each goes forward. I am excited about having an association independent of school affliation and for all stagers.

Hi, Kathleen-

I joined DANA the other day (I, too, get Nika Stewart's newsletter).  When I joined they were offering memberships for $25 to the first 300 participants.  I enjoy Nika's newletters, so I figured if she's involved with DANA, it would probably be very worthwhile.  And for $25, I didn't think I'd have much to lose.

Tammy Kemp  -- First Impressions

Kathleen, Thanks for mentioning this. I spent some time on their website and see that they are not quite up and running yet. It is interesting. I too wondered if anyone had any personal knowledge of the person's starting DANA. I assume it is the 3 (or is that 4) sponsers listed as associates or something like that on the site. There is no "About Us" link that I can find. I do notice some great differences between this organization and the one Shell is trying to get off the ground. Shell's is obviously directed at Home Stagers only. (Which is a good thing.) Shell's is targeting the Real Estate market directly which is also a good thing.  

 Tammy, What benifits do you see as being the most valuable from DANA? How do you think it compares to RESA? I'm not trying to support either of the organizations in this response, I just want to be well informed.

 

Yvonne --

As a newbie to AR (although I now officially have 8 days under my belt), I have to confess that I wasn't even aware of RESA when I joined DANA.  My reason for joining DANA was that I have been receiving Nika Stewart"s e-letters for about a year and I have always been impressed by her level of professionalism (mixed with just the right amount of humor and personality to make her genuine and relatable).  I really liked the fact that they stress on-going education -- I actually blogged about DANA on Wednesday, entitled "DANA Anyone?".  I have to admit that I most definitely could be a professional student, but I think on-going education is extremely valuable.  Teachers have to do it, as well as other professionals, to keep up their certifications or licenses and aren't we trying to get the public to view us as just that:  Professionals?  Additionally, the cost was such that if it doesn't pan out as well as DANA hopes, I really didn't lose anything.

Tammy Kemp -- First Impressions

 

Tammy, you sound like me, feeling like the professional student.  Sometimes, it seems like info overload!  I haven't had a chance to check on either of the mentioned groups, at length.  Like the price on DANA, though.  Memberships can be so expensive.

When I took my Staging training, I learned I wasn't, at that time, eligible to join IRIS.  They have since changed their by-laws and are allowing Stagers to join.  In the meantime, I've done Redesign training, and have joined the SDP, The Society for Decorating Professionals.  It was founded last year, by former Iris members.  It is very inclusive-anyone in any decorating related field you can think of is able to join.  They also have ongoing education, webinars, and are very supportive.  The second annual conference is here in the Chicago area.  Membership is steeper-$200, but I think worth it.  The site gives you info about the founders and anything else you might need to know.

Kathleen, I was just checking in on your tool bag blog, to see if there had been any updates I hadn't seen- might be a gadget I'm missing!  It's kind of like the continuing ed and AR-addictive.

Thanks for the information on DANA, and everything else. 

I think some of these sites can be very helpful if they get a high ranking on a lot of the searches people may do that you may not come up so high in. For example, although there is a high number of people searching for colors, I do not come up high on that....We have a directory that I find useful and also a Guild and I have belonged to both for many years. Check out the benefits and also from time to time, check out their page rank. I know some people don't believe in that but I do. And good luck to you, it's difficult to figure all these things out!

Compared to paying for Google Clicks, a good directory can be worth every penny!

Julianna- I agree with you and am really grateful for  Active Rain as my top Assistant in getting my name on the web and that enhances all the other directories I am in as well.   I do comments on articles in newspapers and magazines that they put on line as well and some of them have picked up a few of my blogs (without asking, but it gets my name out there). I am a RESA pieces girl, too.

Kathleen - I've bookmarked this entry to come back to.  Between your blog post and the comments, this entry is full of information; this is one time I'm not happy I have to run as I'd like to check it all out!  Another Resa pieces here too....

Jackie

Dissapointed --- I sent them an inquiry, and recieved a reciept that they got my email, but they never emailed me back. Maybe I had some questions they did not want to answer?

 

I - e-mailed Nika to get permission for this article and she responded quite quickly - maybe give them another chance - what were you asking?  I would address you by name but you appear to be anonymous. It is hard to respond to anonymous people.