November 26, 2013

Someone Call A House Doctor

Looking at your home through the eyes of a potential buyer can be more than a little daunting. What we fondly think of as comfortable and lived-in can turn to cluttered and faded before our eyes. But knowing that something needs to be done to make our home someone else's 'desirable residence' and knowing what to do and how to do it, is another matter.

Is There A Doctor In The House?

Enter Placelift, the professional 'house doctors' who specialise in preparing, presenting and styling residential properties for sale or let. Featured on this week's Kickstart Your Business on Newstalk, they have only been in business for seven months, but are already making a name for themselves in the Wicklow, Bray and Greystones areas, helping home-owners to give their place a lift before potential buyers come calling.

Physician Heal Thyself

As Gerard noted during the show, the Placelift website and promotional flyers and brochure are attractive and well-designed but would really benefit from the same 'de-cluttering' that's such a vital remedy in the house-doctor's medicine bag. A jumble of information and promotions vie for the reader's attention, reminding us that whether a space is virtual or physical, less is often more when it comes to that all-important first impression.

Over To You

How do you suggest that Clodagh and the team at Placelift make that great first impression on potential buyers? Listen back to the show on the Newstalk Kickstart Your Business blog and let us know what you think. We'd love to hear from you.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Heard the Placelift interview on George Hook's radio show last night. I love the sound of Placelift and feel I really could have used their service after inheriting my grandmother's house after she passed away. The house was filled with memories and cluttered with memorabilia. Having a professional service available to come in and see through the sentimental clutter would have been great. As a family we found it very difficult to do and left it for ages before addressing the property.
Best of luck with your business.
Audrey

Unknown said...

I know Clodagh well - great at what she does. Writes a property column for my newspaper and really knows her stuff! Thanks, Graham.

Unknown said...

The Placelift interview was really interesting last night on the George Hook 'Kick Start your Business' show.
I imagine I would have loved to use Placelift after inheriting my grandmother's home after she passed away. Filled with memories and cluttered with sentimental memorabilia our family found the process of bringing the property into modern day standards very difficult emotionally. It would have been great to bring in a professional service that could have see the potential without the sentiment. Wishing them all the very best, great idea.
Audrey, Co. Wicklow

Clodagh Doyle said...

Firstly Gerard, thank you, I really enjoyed our interview with George last night. Just to say I really do value your honest and constructive feedback regarding my website and promotional material. Without a doubt, I would have to fully agree - I do need to practice what I preach and carryout a full “de-cluttering” of my website and promotional material content. Having de-cluttered and transformed many tired and drab properties at this stage, this should not be a problem for me. With that in mind and taking all your advice on board, I am going to prioritise this task. In the not too distant future, I hope to showcase a fresh and entising website along with clearer and sharper promotional material. As you well know, you only get once chance to create that all important first impression - so you want it to be a good and lasting one. Thank again for your professional opinion. Clodagh Doyle Placelift

Clodagh Doyle said...

Firstly Gerard, thank you, I really enjoyed our interview with George last night. Just to say I really do value your honest and constructive feedback regarding my website and promotional material. Without a doubt, I would have to fully agree - I do need to practice what I preach and carryout a full “de-cluttering” of my website and promotional material content. Having de-cluttered and transformed many tired and drab properties at this stage, this should not be a problem for me. With that in mind and taking all your advice on board, I am going to prioritise this task. In the not too distant future, I hope to showcase a fresh and entising website along with clearer and sharper promotional material. As you well know, you only get once chance to create that all important first impression - so you want it to be a good and lasting one. Thank again for your professional opinion. Clodagh Doyle Placelift

Inkedup Creative Agency said...

Well done Placelift. Our 2 cents worth - The Colour Scheme, brand and images are all very appealing, explanatory and attractive to the viewer, really well chosen. The layout of information / content needs to follow suit. Information design is quite a specialized area in design, especially when dealing with huge chunks of information. The viewer needs to feel comfortable to navigate their way around the information presented rather than feeling confused or overwhelmed or just put off. The length of this post may already be off-putting to anyone reading! So therefore how can we keep drawing in the viewer and enticing them to read and digest more information? Much the same as breaking up the space in an indoor room using focal point, colour, shapes, it works in essentially the same way in information design... Less can be more, but more can also be lessened. We really enjoyed working with Clodagh and Placelift to deliver their Print Media, and we think that all the hard groundwork they have put into their promotional materials will make for an easy task in restyling and honing their message.