“Debra Gould, founder of Staging Diva has helped scores of homewoners clean up, rearrange, and style their homes to command top price,” says CNNMoney. Their 21 page feature article includes a description of what home staging is, my tips for how to sell more quickly in a slow market, and before and after shots of my home staging projects.

You can check out the full story of my home staging secrets at CNNMoney.com.

I’m especially please that they linked to not only StagingDiva.com but also the Staging Diva Directory of Home Stagers which will be a big home staging business boost to the Staging Diva Graduates who have chosen to participate.

I was last featured in CNNMoney in January 2006 in a story about selling strategies in a slow real estate market. Home staging was number one and I was the only stager Les Christie interviewed.

Debra Gould, The Staging Diva®
President, Six Elements Inc. Home Staging

Internationally recognized home staging expert Debra Gould is president of Six Elements and creator of The Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program with 900+ Graduates worldwide. Debra is the author of two home staging guides and offers a Directory of Home Stagers to help homeowners and real estate agents locate home stagers who will decorate homes to sell quickly and for top dollar.

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When a real estate investor sinks tens of thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours of labor into renovating a home, it’s puzzling when the renos are complete and they decide to list the house before the paint has had a chance to dry!

The house will often go to market without furniture or accessories of any kind, drastically lowering it’s full profit potential.

Thanks to popular television programs such as “Flip This House” and the multitude of similar shows a lot of people are tempted to try their own hand at house flipping. It’s a great way to make some money, if you have the right home in the right neighborhood at the right time. However, many of these real estate investors miss the mark when the time comes to list the house for sale.

While much care is taken to choose the perfect new kitchen cabinets and counter tops, tile for the bathrooms and gorgeous flooring for the living room, when these homes go on the market empty, money is being left on the non-existent dining room table.

It’s not just real estate investors that make this mistake.

Real estate agents and home sellers who decide to list a vacant property are also missing out on the greater profit potential they could enjoy if the empty rooms were decorated by a home stager.

Here are 5 key reasons why it’s a very bad idea to put an empty home on the real estate market:

1. People buy homes, not houses. When someone walks into a big empty house, it’s difficult for them to picture their lives there. An empty home can feel depressing and make prospective buyers feel melancholy rather than excited about the possibility of moving in.

2. If there isn’t a point of reference such as a dining table or a sofa in a room, it’s difficult for a buyer to judge the size of the space. Contrary to popular belief an empty room looks much smaller than a properly furnished one.

3. If there isn’t any furniture in a space, people have trouble visualizing how their own will fit. If they aren’t sure, chances are, they aren’t buying. That’s even more true in a slow real estate market where buyers feel no urgency to buy and there are lots of homes to look at in their price range.

4. When walking into an empty room, the potential buyers’ focus goes from falling in love with the overall space to all of the small negative details that might otherwise not factor into their buying decision. A small stain on the carpet, a missing outlet cover, uneven drywall or a poorly fit molding will be magnified in the eyes of the buyer when there’s nothing else to look at.

5. When a buyer is touring an empty house, or even a home with a handful of empty rooms, they become distracted. They start to wonder why the house is vacant. When they begin asking themselves whether this is a divorce situation, or a case where the vendor was forced to move quickly, they are going to jump on the idea that the seller is desperate enough to entertain a low-ball offer. Who wants that?

So after investing a significant amount of time and money into a house you plan to flip, why not spend a bit more money before listing on a home stager so your flip will sell faster for more money?

To find a home stager in your area, check out the Staging Diva Directory of Home Stagers.

Debra Gould, The Staging Diva®
President, Six Elements Inc. Home Staging

Internationally recognized home staging expert Debra Gould is president of Six Elements and creator of The Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program with 900+ Graduates worldwide. Debra is the author of two home staging guides and offers a Directory of Home Stagers to help homeowners and real estate agents locate home stagers who will decorate homes to sell quickly and for top dollar.

Technorati Tags: Flip This House, Flip This House TV, real estate, home staging, home stager, house stager, house staging, selling empty home, house flipping, house flippers, decorate to sell, Staging Diva

Home staging expert Debra Gould in Center of the City Magazine, which contacted her based on her portfolio and website.

In part one of “Stage yourself to sell: Image is everything,” I focussed on wardrobe and looking and acting the part of a successful home stager even if you aren’t totally there yet in reality.

Today, I’d like to focus on business image.

An important piece of this is what happens when a prospective client phones you. If you answer, would they hear screaming kids in the background? Worse, does one of your children answer?

If you have children at home, either let your calls to go voice mail or hire a sitter to help you.

Many women start a home staging business to have more time at home with your children, and that is one of the many benefits of a real estate staging career.

But you need to consider investing in childcare for blocks of time throughout the week so you have a few windows of opportunity to focus on your clients and your business.

After all, what would you do if someone called and wanted to book a home staging consultation with you? It’s difficult to grow a business when you have small children at home and no childcare.

When your clients do get your voice mail, what sort of greeting do you have?

Is it a hokey family sing-along-song or a professional message detailing the benefits of what you do and providing alternate contact information? You must inspire confidence in those potential clients that call you, and if they’re turned off from your phone image, you won’t hear from them again. In course 2 of the Staging Diva Training Program, “The Business of Home Staging: What you need to start and how to grow,” I provide a very specific script for a professional outgoing voice mail message that is sure to win you business

How about your marketing materials?

Do they present a professional image of yourself and your business? Do you have nice heavy business cards or a poorly designed homemade perforated-edged business cards with faded ink?

Your marketing materials represent your business when you’re not in front of your prospective clients. Make no mistake, your business card, including what your logo looks like will create a lasting impression in people’s minds.

Do your business cards look like they belong to a successful home stager? If not, it’s time for a re-do. How can you convince a homeowner to invest in staging his house to sell when you’re not investing in staging yourself to sell?

When it costs about $75 to professionally print all the cards you’ll need for a year, there’s no excuse to print them on a home computer. If you can’t afford to print cards, then you can’t afford to be in your own business either.

I see too many beginner home stagers cut corners on this while wasting more money buying gadgets they don’t need, or a new toy for their children or pets who already have plenty. It’s all about your priorities and if you’re serious about building a business, that should be pretty near the top of your list.

Make sure homeowners and real estate agents can find you when they need to

Your website is also a very important piece of your marketing kit. You must have one or at least a profile page on the Staging Diva Directory of Home Stagers. A potential client needs to be able to look at some before and after photos of projects you’ve done and learn more about you. The Internet is the easiest way to do this because it doesn’t require you to visit people in person to show them your work, and it ensures the most number of people as possible can find you when they’re looking.

Invest in either your own website, or to save money, join the Staging Diva Directory of Home Stagers. Your first home staging project should cover the costs of this, and if you’re not online you’re not going to be found very easily.

While email is more casual than a formal letter, don’t forget it’s still a marketing tool

When you communicate with clients via email, you really shouldn’t use a “hotmail” or “yahoo” account. Gmail seems to be more acceptable than the others, but it’s still not as professional as yourname@yourdomainname.com. Even if your website isn’t ready yet, when you purchase your domain name you can still set up an email account. This is discussed in more detail in course 2 of the Staging Diva Training Program.

When you send an email, make sure you write a descriptive subject line and have set up a proper signature line. Your signature should include your name, business name, email address, phone number and link to your portfolio. Make it easy for people to find out more – they don’t really want to call you. In the event that your email is forwarded to someone else, you really want them to have all your contact details.

Portfolio showcases what you can do

Your home staging portfolio should be professional, polished, and impressive . Even if you’re new to this, you should have lots of photos from staging your own and your family and friends’ homes. DO NOT use stock photography. This is cheating and it’s just not a good idea. Some new stagers think this is a good way to fluff up a portfolio, but it’s not only tacky, it falls into the category of deceptive advertising. Once you get caught passing other’s work off as your own, you’ll lose all credibility.

So when you consider all of these items, are you staged to sell? Would you hire yourself based on the image you’re projecting?

Debra Gould, The Staging Diva®
President, Six Elements Inc. Home Staging

Internationally recognized home staging expert Debra Gould is president of Six Elements and creator of The Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program with 900+ Graduates worldwide. She is the author of “Staging Diva Ultimate Color Guide: The Easy Way to Pick colors for Home Staging Projects”, and “Staging Diva Ultimate Guide: Creating The Perfect Portfolio to Sell Your Home Staging Services”. Debra also offers a Directory of Home Stagers to help homeowners and real estate agents locate home stagers who will decorate homes to sell quickly and for top dollar.

More about Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training

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Home staging expert Debra Gould hanging art for a TV news show.

When you’re in the business of turning drab and cluttered interiors into beautifully polished spaces, it’s important you look the part of someone that can successfully do that.

In other words, when you’re staging homes to sell, you should stage yourself to sell.

One of the easiest ways to catapult your business to success is to act as though you are already successful.

• Do you play the part of a very successful home stager

• Are you portraying the image of a professional expert home stager, or a rookie?

Everyone starts somewhere, but nobody has to know you’re brand new at staging homes professionally. In fact, it’s a bad idea to tell a homeowner they’re your first home staging project. Don’t lie about it if you’re asked, but your demeanor, wardrobe, marketing materials and portfolio shouldn’t leave any room for the homeowner to guess you haven’t been doing this for years.

Dedicate some of your downtime to polishing your image for the months when real estate agents will be hunting for home stagers! This is the perfect time of year to work on this - in the summer before the real estate market really picks up again right after Labor Day.

In everything you do that’s business-related, ask yourself if it’s something a successful home stager would be doing.

Pick a couple of the home stagers you look up to and keep an image of them in your mind. When you’re getting ready for a home staging consultation and wondering what to wear, visualize your model home stager and ask yourself what she or he might wear to a client meeting.

What do you wear to your home staging consultation appointments? Are you dressing like that successful home stager in your mind? Or are you wearing an old outfit that went out of style five years ago?

The way you look can not only change the way you feel about yourself, but it can change the way people perceive you. Especially since looking put-together makes you feel more confident in what you’re doing.

It’s important to carry yourself well – don’t act like your life depends on your next home staging project.

Even if you are desperate don’t let that come across to your client. Do you think someone who has been staging homes for years giggles with excitement when they get awarded a job? Probably not in front of the client!

Consider your current personal image.

What are you wearing right now? Is the image you’re putting out there in the world that of a wildly successful home stager? Are you kicking around the house in your pajamas all day when you don’t have a client appointment? If you dress the part of that successful home stager you’ll find it easier to remain in professional mode and you’ll almost certainly be more productive.

Stay tuned Friday for Part 2 of “Stage yourself to sell: Image is everything” when I’ll focus on business image.

Debra Gould, The Staging Diva®
President, Six Elements Inc. Home Staging

Discover the ONLY Home Staging Business Training Program taught by a seasoned entrepreneur who has successfully grown her own home staging business (not as a side-line to selling real estate) — The Staging Diva Training Program. With an MBA in marketing and hundreds of home staging clients, internationally recognized home staging expert Debra Gould, The Staging Diva, is uniquely qualified to train others how to start and grow a profitable home staging business.

You can become a Staging Diva Graduate with 10 hours of home staging course recordings with Debra Gould, which are emailed to you along with detailed course study notes immediately after you register.

More about Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training

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I have a client who has a home in West Springfield MA area who needs a home stager soon. The home is 1800 square feet, furnished and will be listed between $290,000 and $340,000.

We’ve made it really easy for you to apply for this home staging project. Simply complete the form at the Staging Diva Home Staging Project Referral Service.

Be sure to include “West Springfield Staging Project” for the project location in the first line of the form.

If you don’t already have a website or a page on the Staging Diva Directory of Home Stagers, it will be more difficult to win this project. It’s hard to convince a client to hire you over the phone if they can’t see your portfolio.

There is a $250 referral fee but ONLY if you get any paid work through this referral.

Because of all the traffic I get to my two sites, SixElements.com and StagingDiva.com, I get lots of leads on projects from all over the United States and Canada, and as far away as England, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Israel! I will only refer them to Staging Diva Graduates.

I generate tons of traffic for anyone listed on the Staging Diva site. Only one good project would more than pay for your entire Staging Diva Training Program plus building and hosting your web page on the high traffic Staging Diva Directory of Home Stagers for an entire year! When clients find you on their own from your listing in the Staging Diva Directory, I do not charge you a referral fee.

Debra Gould, The Staging Diva®
President, Six Elements Inc. Home Staging

Home Staging expert Debra Gould also known as The Staging Diva is president of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company that is frequently profiled in the media in both the US and Canada. Debra Gould developed The Staging Diva Program to create opportunities for others to grow their own profitable home staging, real estate enhancement businesses.

Learn more about the Staging Diva Home Staging Training Program.

You can get your company listed in the Staging Diva Directory of Home Stagers. We build your page and all the code to help search engines find you!
Learn more about the Staging Diva Directory of Home Stagers

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Finding secure and steady employment when you’re an army spouse can be a challenge when you’re faced with frequent and sometimes unpredictable moves. A home-based business is a great option, but a home-based career that is portable is even better.

There aren’t very many easily portable careers to choose from but if you have the ability to transform a room by moving around its furniture or get frequent requests from people to help pick out paint colors, a career in home staging could be perfect for you.

If you already have some decorating talent, once you learn the business of home staging (which can take around ten hours or so depending on your schedule) you are well on your way to being your own boss. You don’t need a storefront or inventory, which makes real estate staging (as it’s also called) highly portable.

Home staging projects are typically very short in duration; most take a few hours or a few days to complete. You won’t have to worry about being tied down to a huge project if you learn you have to make a quick move.

As a military spouse you’re part of a community where most members move frequently. In other words you’re surrounded by a built in market for your services.

This makes your marketing efforts much simpler. When USAA Magazine interviewed me for a home staging story last year, they were particularly interested in how house staging could help their members make more money when they sell their homes. Part of the difficulty for home sellers is finding a home stager when you need one. With the right marketing, a military spouse would have a long line of clients waiting for real estate staging help.

With your natural talent and the knowledge of how to start a successful home staging business, all you will need is a business card and a web presence. With the right home staging training program you will learn everything you need to know to start your staging business including how to price your services, how to market yourself at very little to no cost and how to conduct a home staging consultation.

Because of your frequent moves, you can constantly be adding before and after photos of your own homes to add to your portfolio.

Your portfolio will be one of your largest assets followed by your URL or domain name (website address). Both items are quite portable and can move with you anywhere in the world. Technically, your website doesn’t move at all, all you do is update it with your new contact information. This is something we often do for members of the