How to grow a real estate staging business

In a slow real estate market, home sellers are desperate for a way to make their home stand out from the competition. That's why real estate staging works so well and why this is a great time to have a home staging business.

I write 3 blog posts a week on this subject in Home Staging Business Report. Please pop by for a visit, there are lots of great discussions going on!

Are you ready to reinvent your life?

It's not very common for anyone today to keep one career for their lifetime. Also, we're all living much longer than our parents' generation and many people approaching retirement age realize they still have a lot of years left to be productive members of society!

In a recent article on the Home Staging Business Report, I shared several stories from people who have reinvented their careers to become home stagers. Read those inspiring stories by clicking here.

Mother of 4 and Registered Nurse Finds Success in Home Staging

Staging Diva Graduate, Holly Battaglia, is the mother of four children aged 7-14 and works part-time as a Registered Nurse while operating her creatively fulfilling home staging business on a full-time basis.

Read more about Holly's story here, in an article on the Home Staging Business Report.

Graduate of Staging Diva Program Named Entrepreneur of the Year

Staging Diva Graduate, Heather Stewart, operates her home staging business, HS Home Staging, from Langley, British Columbia. I recently learned that Heather has been named New Entrepreneur of the Year by her local Chamber of Commerce. Read all about Heather's success story here in a post on the Home Staging Business Report.

Merchant account alternative for home stagers

As you start your home staging business, you might be wondering how you're actually going to get paid for your services. This is one of the important steps in setting up a business – determining your method of payment - whether you’ll take checks, cash and/or credit cards.

The ability to accept credit card payments is appealing to home stagers, especially since the amounts you’re getting paid are usually quite high. But it's expensive to set up a merchant account. Besides having to pay a large sum to the bank just to apply for and then set up the account, you also have to pay a certain amount each month regardless of whether or not you have any transactions.

Click here to read about my recommendation for a less costly alternative to setting up a merchant account for your home staging business.

Don't waste your time trying to job shadow home stagers!

I have yet to say yes to any of the aspiring home stagers who contact me hoping to job shadow me for a day to see how I work. And if you’re trying to find a successful home stager to shadow before you start your own staging business, I don't believe you're making good use of your time.

To read about the many reasons why I’m not interested in having someone shadow me, check out this article at the Home Staging Business Report.

No assistant needed for home staging consultations

I've been asked by aspiring home stagers whether or not I bring an assistant along with me to home staging consultations.

The answer is no. When I arrive at an initial consultation, I’m not actually doing any staging yet. As we walk through the house, I’m mostly taking everything in and making suggestions for improvements. For example, I might suggest that a large wall unit would look better on a different wall, or that the current living room furniture would work better in the family room. But at this initial consultation session, it’s not going to be moved. These recommendations will go on a to-do list for later.

You can read more about my reasons for not hiring an assistant for home staging consultations in a recent post at the Home Staging Business Report.