Quote of the Month!
"Opportunity is
missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks
like hard work." Thomas Edison
Staging Diva Biz Tip
Set up an easy way to track your
expenses, otherwise you'll lose.
If
you're into home staging, you're a creative person and unlikely to
enjoy keeping track of your expenses. But, if you don't develop an
easy system, you'll end up paying more in taxes and buying
unintended "gifts" for your clients!
Let's say you're out buying bedding and other accessories for
a client; before you leave the check out, write the client's name at
the top of your receipt. Then it's easy to sort by client later.
Don't forget to identify your own business expenses, which you'll
want to claim to reduce your taxes. Things like gas, office
supplies, flowers and parking fall into that category.
If you purchase items for a client and you are giving them
the receipts, make sure you keep a copy too. You will need these
photocopies to account for your purchases as a business expense,
which will offset the income you report from charging your clients
for these items. If you fail to deduct the expense, you'll be paying
more than you should in income tax.
This is an
excerpt from one of the 21 lessons in the Staging Diva Biz
Booster eCourse
We also discuss this and related topics
in the Staging Diva Training Program, course 2, The Business of
Home Staging: What you need to start and how to
grow"
Calling all California Stagers!
A real estate agent team in Fullerton CA wants to create and
promote a home staging service in partnership with Staging
Diva.
Read
More
A Concord
CA-based agent wants to create a master list of home stagers
covering Contra Costa County.
Read
More
Great Book
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of
Everything
This fascinating book explores, among other
things, how and why real estate agents and brokers are losing their
power. It also supports my argument for why many agents believe they
have a vested interest in NOT recommending home stagers.
Read my review and learn why this
bodes well for home stagers
Build your company image
If you're serious about building your company image, don't
neglect your logo.
Does your logo project the professional, design-oriented
company you are trying to build?
Do you feel a tinge of embarrassment when you hand out one of
your cards?
Here are three logos from listings in the Staging Diva
Directory. All enhance the stager's credibility. They are linked to
their directory listing if you want to learn more about these
Staging Diva Graduates.
Stay connected to fellow Staging Diva
Graduates
The Staging Diva Network (online
discussion group) is a supportive community where you can share the
joys and challenges of building your
business.
I answer questions within this forum and
you also get advice from others in the group.
You'll learn lots and feel inspired by
the discussions with your fellow Staging Diva
Graduates.
Current discussion topics
include: - Where to get rental furniture and other
resources -"Accreditation" - Meeting in NY to attend a taping of the
Martha Stewart Show - How to run a staging
seminar - Dealing with challenges,
marketing and more!
Learn more! |
Issue 7:
October 2006
Hi ,
You are receiving this newsletter because you expressed
interest in learning about the business of Home Staging.
If you don't want to continue, use the "Unsubscribe" link at the very
bottom of this email.
September and October have been busy with lots of homes to
stage and a move to a new system so that when you purchase from
stagingdiva.com, you get your materials immediately. When I'm out
staging a house, you won't have to wait until I get home to send
your course materials or ebooks, you'll get them as soon as you
order. Automation is great, but it's been quite the challenge to
implement!
In last month's issue I incorrectly said you'd be getting an
email that you'd need to reply to if you wanted to continue to
receive this newsletter. I've worked around the problem, so don't
worry. You'll continue to receive this newsletter until YOU choose
to unsubscribe.
Thanks to all of you who wrote expressing concern about being
dropped from this list. I'm pleased to know that my content is
meeting your needs! I hope you find the content of this month's
issue of Staging Diva Dispatch helpful; and I welcome any
feedback!
Debra Gould, President Six Elements Inc. Creator of The Staging Diva Program
In this
issue:
Main Section
Projects
with no stagers!
Avoid this
Pricing Pitfall
Important Service Announcement
Student/Graduate Success Corner
The Business of Home Staging
Staging Diva in the Media |
Left column
Quote of the Month
Staging Diva Biz Tip
Calling
all California Stagers
Great
Book
Build Your
Company Image
Stay Connected to Fellow Staging Diva
Graduates |
Projects With No
Stagers!
I've
had many home staging projects recently with no graduates to refer
the clients to. Reasons I don't have someone to recommend
include:
- Not
having a local Graduate
- Not
knowing if the Graduate has actually set up their business because
they haven't kept me advised
- Not
having a Graduate with their own website or a page on the Staging
Diva Directory so that the client can see samples of their
work
- Not
hearing back from a Graduate quickly enough when I send them a
lead
These are
examples of the project locations I've had over the last few weeks
without recommending someone: Bend (OR), Montreal (QC), Houston
(TX), Yorba Linda (CA), San Fernando Valley (CA), Kelowna (BC),
Toronto (ON)- many projects!
If
you're in any of these areas, consider that any one of these
projects would likely have more than paid for all your Staging Diva
Training plus a listing
in the Directory of
Home Stagers
It's
incredibly time-consuming playing matchmaker for hundreds of leads
and then finding out who's in that market, contacting them, etc. If
I don't immediately know who to send a lead to and that they'll be
ready to handle it, most project leads are now being posted at my
blog. You can read about new home staging projects anytime under
the category Staging Help
Wanted, and contact me directly if you're interested.
Avoid this Pricing
Pitfall
Many
home stagers, price their services by the room or square foot. This
is a huge pitfall that can mean the death of your home staging
business, because you'll burn out long before you make a
living.
Many
factors that are beyond your control will influence how long a home
staging project takes, and you won't know about them until you're
actually into the project.
I've
had 2,500 square foot homes that took less time than 1,000 square
foot condos, but it didn't matter because I don't price by the room
or by the square foot!
Here
are just 3 of the dozens of time-sucking, yet uncontrollable factors
that can influence the time it takes to complete a staging
project:
- how
much the client likes to talk (some will tell you the history of
every piece of furniture and why they love it)
- the
client is busy attending to ringing phones and screaming toddlers
while you're trying to meet with them
- the
house is so filled with clutter it looks like it belongs on one of
those Oprah episodes about obsessive hoarders
My goal
isn't to sound negative, I believe home staging is one of the best
careers out there for creative people who enjoy decorating and have
an interest in real estate. I want you to think about the many
things that can happen in the real world so you can avoid boxing
yourself into a corner by quoting a rate upfront of $X dollars per
room or per house.
Staging
Diva Graduates are covered for all these eventualities if they
follow the pricing strategies I recommend. In fact, any of the above
time-sucking factors just mean more income for the home
stager.
"The
Staging Diva Program totally exceeded my expectations. The
sections on how to price for your services, how to make sure you
get paid, marketing techniques and what to do when you're at a
Home Staging Client Consultation were especially invaluable!"
(Maureen Scherrer, CA)
To learn more about how to avoid these pricing pitfalls and how
to earn what you should as a home stager, check out Course 2 of the
Staging Diva Training Program "The Business of Home Staging: What
you Need to Start and How to Grow".
Important Service
Announcement
If you've been trying to decide when to take
your home staging training, or you still have a course or two to
complete, please note the price for all courses
is going up on Wednesday, November 1.
Even at
the new prices you'll be able to make back all the cost of your
training with one good project, but I just wanted to give you
advance warning of this change.
"The Staging Diva Training Program was worth
every penny. My first project was worth $5000." (Erin Rhindress,
MA)
"I felt like I got twice the education for
half the price." (Pamela Parker, TX)
"The Staging Diva Training Program is one of
the best investments I've ever made." (Jeanette Cataldo,
MA)
"The Staging Diva Program is so much more
convenient than those hand's on programs and I can use the money I
saved to build my business." (Grace Herman, FL)
"I took what I learned in the Staging Diva
Program and made over $4,000 on my first project." (Kathleen
Fischbein, NY)
As of November 1,
the Staging Diva
Home Staging Training Program including ten
hours of live classes with me (or recordings), plus over 50 pages of
notes and the Staging Diva Home Staging Checklist will be $895.
Single course recordings with notes will be $199.
You'll still s.a.v.e $100
when you purchase all 5 courses in one transaction, but you'll
s.a.v.e an additional $100 if you order
before November 1.
Student/Graduate Success
Corner
|
The
Staging Diva Directory welcomes Laurie Mahoney of Designed
Staged and Sold, Inc. of New York. As the Ethan Allen
Designer/Stylist she worked on the coffee table book, "Ethan
Allen's New American Style: Stage-by-Stage Decorating for your
Home."
Read full article
here |
Congratulations to Joy Nan of Decorating Studio NJ who took
what she learned after one Staging Diva course and presented
to 50 real estate agents. She immediately got two projects
for homes that had sat on the market for over a year.
|
Congratulations to Carolyn Carter, Done In
Day Inc. who
booked more business in her first six months
after taking the Staging Diva Program than she had the whole
previous year.
And she just completed taping of a segment on staging
for a TV show called
HouseSmarts. |
Staging Diva
Students and Graduates, send
me your successes so we can celebrate your triumphs and inspire
others!
The Business of Home Staging
There
are over 50 articles available for you to read about The Business of
Home Staging, organized into these categories:
- Celebrating Entrepreneurs
- Home
Staging Business Tips and Training
- Home
Staging Help Wanted
- Home
Staging in the News
- How
to Stage a House
- Proof Home Staging Works/Staging Statistics
- Real
Estate Trends
- Staging Diva Announcements
- Staging Diva Bookshelf
- Staging Diva Graduate Success
- The
Staging Diva Diary
Aside from
being an educational resource, I've created an opportunity to build
your own Internet presence by adding comments to the stories. It's
easy. If you read something that you want to comment on, just click
the comment link at the bottom of the story.
Read The
Business of Home Staging
Staging Diva In the Media
|
The October issue
of Canada's largest decorating magazine, Canadian House &
Home features my "how to hire a home stager" tips for
homeowners and includes the fact that there are no real
credentials so clients should be wary of anyone claiming to be
"accredited". The article also invites readers to visit
the Staging Diva
Directory to find a stager
in their area. Many of the Canadian graduates have already
picked up new projects from this
publicity. |
I'm the
featured expert in "The Art of Seduction in Real Estate,"
episode 5 in a series promoted by Bravo TV in Canada and Sundance
Channel in the US. I haven't heard it yet, but it should be a 20 to
30 minute feature, launched later this month. Episode 3 featured
Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Peter MacKay, in "The Art of
Seduction in Politics."
My goal
in participating in "The Art of Seduction in Real Estate" was to
build understanding and awareness for home staging and build traffic
to StagingDiva.com. This will enhance the value of membership in
the Staging Diva
Directory as more
homeowners and agents go there looking for a stager.
|
I wrote an
article for the Century 21 Heritage newsletter going out to
3,500 homeowners throughout Ontario promoting the idea of home
staging in general, and the Staging Diva Directory in
particular. This is one of the many marketing ideas discussed
in course 4 of The
Staging Diva Training Program and it's sure to generate
project leads for local
graduates. |
|
The Staging Diva Directory of Home Stagers, created 9 months ago,
has generated at least $30,000 in home staging projects for
Graduates. As media exposure and search engine ranking
grows that figure will rise exponentially, especially with new
Graduates joining.
|
Learn how you can get staging projects from your
directory
listing.
|