You might have the idea that home staging is a great career, but chances are you’ll hear that negative voice in your head, or the voice of someone else in your life that says, “That’s a dumb idea.”
What a dream killer negativity is!
I recently read an interesting article by Dave Balter, a published author and serial entrepreneur. He was writing about when “dumb” ideas are actually “smart” and how to tell the difference.
Examples he includes are “putting a college year book online.” That sounded dumb at the beginning but guess what, that’s Facebook. Or here’s another one, “limiting updates to just 140 characters.” Sounded dumb but that’s Twitter! To that I would add “charging 500% more for a cup of coffee and making it really complicated to order,” which would be Starbucks back when they started. Or how about, “putting tap water in a small plastic bottle and charging a couple of bucks for it”?
In other words, something that many people think looks dumb today is actually tomorrow’s huge breakthrough
Balter points out that “good dumb ideas create polarization. Some people will get it immediately and shower it with praise and affection. Others will say it’s ignorant and impossible and run for the hills. The fiercer the polarization, the smarter your dumb idea.”
I thought this was a great way to look at home staging, because the idea of decorating a home to sell is a concept that many people love and others hate (especially if they haven’t seen first-hand the difference it makes).
Negative opinions from others can certainly add to our fear of standing up and saying “I’m going to be a home stager because it’s important, I have creative talent and I can make a difference in people’s lives!”
Staging Diva Graduate Patricia Adamic of Ma Maison Home Staging (ON) ran up against this polarization around home staging for a recent project. The real estate agent did not believe in staging at all, even though she was stuck with a new listing that was in terrible shape and she believed it would take a long time to sell.
As often happens, there was someone else in the picture who didn’t agree with the agent and brought Patricia into the situation. You might be guessing it was the homeowner, but this story has a special twist because the home belonged to an older person who had died and the surviving relatives also had no interest in improving the property.
Sounds hopeless, except that the lawyer in charge of settling the estate knew a good idea when he saw one and gave Patricia a small budget to work her magic and decorate the house to sell faster and for more money.
Instead of turning and running from the challenge, Patricia faced it head on wanting to impress the agent and the lawyer (who would both be wonderful sources of future referrals), and prove to them that home staging works.
Patricia writes, “With my talent and all the knowledge that I got from the Staging Diva Training Program, I staged the property and it sold in 5 days with multiple offers above asking! The training has helped me to have confidence, to know how to approach different situations with clients, to organize my business and to present a professional image, while helping me do something that I love! I was thrilled to be able to prove to this agent and the family that home staging really works!”
The Realtor® provided Patricia with the following testimonial, “When I first saw the property, I knew I had my work cut out for me and that this house would take a long time to sell. With Ma Maison Home Staging expertise, enthusiasm and skill, the home was transformed into a very sellable property in no time and she did a fantastic job of staging it.Patricia made my job easy. The house sold in 5 days and with competing offers! I would definitely recommend Patricia’s services to agents and homeowners who want to get their property sold quickly and for top dollar.”
Home stagers, this story does more than prove that staging works. It is also a good reminder that we never know where our next project might come from. Don’t be afraid to leave your business cards with everyone you meet and to talk about what you do!
It also demonstrates how much good we can do as stagers, in this case, helping to settle the estate of a man whose family didn’t wish to get involved. And in the process, Patricia was able to convince so many people that the “dumb” idea of home staging isn’t so dumb after all!
This is happening in neighborhoods all over the world!
By the time everyone wakes up to how smart home staging really is, demand for our services will be huge! This is the time to establish yourself as the local home staging expert because the opportunity will only get bigger as the industry grows and matures.
> Check out this list of free articles which prove home staging works