Home staging is a powerful part of the real estate industry. In fact as much as a decade ago, Forbes Magazine called home stagers the “dream weavers of the real estate world.” I quite loved that label and quoted it in my very first website for Six Elements Inc., the home staging business I started in 2002, after profitably buying, decorating and selling 6 of my own homes.

Despite the fact that this is not a totally new industry, and it’s not hard to argue that savvy home sellers have been decorating their houses to sell faster and for more money for at least the past 25 years (I know I have!), there are still people who don’t properly understand the role of a home stager.

There are others who misrepresent that role for their own marketing reasons as happened this month on mega real estate site, Trulia.com.

Before going into the truly bizarre claims made by San Francisco real estate broker Tara-Nicholle Nelson, I’d like you to consider her marketing motives! One of the best ways to get lots of comments on a blog post (ie: attention) is to stir up controversy.

If you make crazy or misleading claims while doing it, people will flock to their own defense. If you make wild statements masquerading as education, people who know better will comment in an effort to set the record straight. They’ll also share your content with others and encourage them to visit and make comments too (as I did when I shared a link to the original post on my Staging Diva Facbook page).

In case you didn’t see the original post, the real estate broker was apparently trying to warn gullible home buyers not to fall for the 5 “hypnotic” techniques home stagers use and position herself (and by extension all buyer’s agents) as the buyer’s savior in any real estate transaction.

Let’s face it, with so much real estate information on the Internet and an increasing number of buyers going the FSBO route, the real estate community has to keep reinforcing how essential their services are lest they follow the path of travel agents (another industry completely transformed by the Internet).

As a marketer I take my hat off to the broker, she did a great job of using two important and dare I say “hypnotic” triggers— Generating Controversy and Creating a Common Enemy.

As a home stager, her article was totally offensive. But it was designed to be controversial, so that lots of comments would follow! It’s no coincidence by the way that you have to set up a profile on Trulia to be able to comment, and they make their money by selling contact info.

According to this real estate broker in her post “5 Hypnotic Home Staging Techniques and How to See Through Them”, home stagers employ these tactics to negatively manipulate buyers:

• Tiny furniture
• Camouflage and cover-ups
• Activity props you’ll never use
• Items used strictly for appearances

And my personal favorite:

• Neighborhood staging!

Yes home stagers, it seems we even have the power to get everyone on the street to collude with us to hide the fact that there are normally “cars on the lawn and screaming schoolkids” up and down the street! Wow, sometimes I can’t even get my own client to repaint a bathroom, I must be doing something wrong!

I really enjoyed one of the hysterically sarcastic comments left on Facebook by home stager, Susan Pfeuffer-Powell in reaction to the claim that we use tiny furniture, “I’ve been using my daughter’s American Girl doll furniture for years! Not only is it perfect in size to make those small rooms look huge, it also comes in dozen of period styles to fit the house style and target audience.”

There’s nothing wrong with a home stager’s goal being to have the home sell for as much as possible, as long as we’re not deliberately hiding real flaws. After all, isn’t that the goal of the listing agent too? In ANY transaction, real estate or otherwise, the seller wants to sell high and the buyer wants to buy low. It doesn’t mean unethical tactics need to be involved.

So while you may get all riled up reading the Trulia.com story, remember there is a marketing agenda at work, at least that’s how I see it. How about you?

Please share your thoughts below!

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

Debra Gould knows how to make money as a home stager and she developed the Staging Diva Training Program to teach others how to earn a living doing something they love.

Staging Diva Graduate Leah Fritz of Perfect Place Home Staging has this staging business dilemma and wonders what she should do. See what you think and add your comments below.

“A homeowner I did a home staging consultation for took such excellent detailed notes during our meeting that she was able to execute my whole staging vision herself! After the recommended painting, updates, and editing were all done, this client arranged and styled all the rooms herself, just the way I suggested. I thought she wanted me to come back for a work day, but the home is completely staged and now on the market.

I saw the photos of her house on MLS and it looks lovely. I’m not upset because I’m glad she found my home staging consultation helpful. Obviously she was able to move forward confidently with a clear executable plan.

My question is: Can I use before and after photos of this house in my home staging portfolio? Do you think its OK to consider this staging as an example of my work? I really want to go back to this house and take some photos for myself since I already have the before shots. Look at it like this… I didn’t shoot the gun, but I gave this client the bullets. What would you do?”

How would you answer this dilemma as a home stager? I’ll share my thoughts later but first, I’d like to hear what you would do in the same situation. Have you ever faced this before in your own staging business? Please share your comments below!

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

Debra Gould knows how to make money as a home stager and she developed the Staging Diva Training Program to teach others how to earn a living doing something they love. She offers a FREE Staging Consultation Checklist with Room-by-Room Planning Forms as part of course 3, Taking the Mystery Out of Home Staging Consultations.

Staging Diva Graduate Lavonne Clifford spent years focused on others as a dedicated mother and full-time volunteer. Now that her children are in high school, though, Lavonne is focusing on her career as owner of Atlanta-based Big Dog Staging.

Lavonne wrote to tell me about one of her most impressive home staging success stories which actually took place before she knew staging existed – while selling her own home. (This probably sounds familiar to many of you!)

When Lavonne was speaking to real estate agents to price her home in Kennesaw, Georgia, they all told her she couldn’t expect to get more than $330,000 for it. After she staged her house, it was listed for $350,000 and it sold in less than 10 days in a multiple offer situation, eventually selling for $365,000.

Lavonne says, “Our real estate market is horrendous. A local real estate agent called me last week thanking me for the best neighborhood comp in over a year. As one agent put it, ‘I see 100′s of houses but every year there are one or two that take your breath away.’ I always strive for that ‘take your breath away’ feel. It sells houses!”

About the home staging training Lavonne received from Staging Diva, she says, “The program helped me set some goals which is the first step towards achieving them. Baby steps!”

Like Lavonne, have you been staging homes since before you knew what home staging even was? If so, please leave a comment and tell us about your experiences!

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

Debra Gould has been building her own websites since 1999. She knows how to make money as a home stager and she developed the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program to teach others how to earn a living doing something they love. There are more than 4000 Staging Diva Students in the U.S., Canada and 20 other countries. Debra is frequently profiled in the media for her home staging expertise and is the author of 5 guides for home stagers.

I’ve written about Staging Diva Graduate Holly Battaglia before. She has a very inspiring story as she manages to work over 20 hours a week as an Oncology RN on top of running her successful Maryland home staging business, Holly’s Home Matters. She’s also a busy mother of four children aged 9-15! She recently wrote to share the impressive results of one of her latest home staging projects.

Holly was called to do a home staging consultation on a house that had sat on the market for 7 months with 65 showings and no offers despite a $40k price drop.

The home was vacant and in poor condition with old, outdated paint colors, beat up molding and mismatched carpets.

The home was way beyond being tarted up with some new furniture and accessories. Holly recommended some fresh new paint colors, upgraded carpets and hardware and lighting updates throughout the entire home.

Holly selected everything that would be brought into the home except for the granite which was chosen before she arrived on the scene.

She recommended painting the kitchen cabinetry a dark brown color with brushed nickel accents. The clients didn’t want to do that so they elected to spray paint the door hinges, knobs and handles. Holly notes, “I DO NOT recommend doing this – it’s very labor intensive!”

On the final day of staging, the new carpet was being installed while a buyer’s agent came through early in the day to preview the home for his clients. Before he left, he said, “this home is going to sell quickly.”

He was right. That evening while Holly was at the house helping to install new exterior lighting, he returned with his clients who bought the home the next day. There wasn’t even any time to post updated photos online!

Holly’s clients were very grateful as they’d been paying two mortgages for 7 months while waiting for the home to sell. Imagine if they had contacted her before dropping their asking price by $40,000!

About the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program, Holly says, “The business aspect of the program has helped me achieve my goals by simplifying how I do business. There are tons of resources available! I feel like Debra is a master marketer and hope to learn more from her.”

If you’re a Staging Diva Graduate I would love to write about you too! Simply click here to submit your story idea.

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

Debra Gould knows how to make money as a home stager and she developed the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program to teach others how to earn a living doing something they love. There are more than 4000 Staging Diva Students in the U.S., Canada and over 18 other countries. Debra is frequently profiled in the media for her home staging expertise and is the author of 5 guides for home stagers.

Before becoming a home stager, Staging Diva Graduate Jodi Whalen of New Jersey-based Pear Tree Home Designs had an exciting career as a Marketing Director at the Food Network. As a home stager, though, this mother of a very active toddler has much more flexibility over her schedule.

Despite working part-time as a  home stager, Jodi has been able to triple her staging income every year since she started. And, she’s helping her clients achieve pretty amazing results as the following story demonstrates.

A friend and ex-coworker of Jodi’s called her in December to see if she could help sell her one bedroom Brooklyn apartment after it had sat on the market (vacant and furnished) for nine months without a single offer.

Her friend took the apartment off the market over the holidays for one month. During that time Jodi staged it by taming down the shade and the gloss of the loud paint color, bringing in new furniture on a better scale for the size of the apartment and giving it a sense of style to match the trendy city it was located in.

Website traffic on the listing tripled due to the great new photos and within 7 days of the first open house after staging, the apartment sold for 94% of its asking price.

Jodi writes, “The Staging Diva program was worth every single penny! I made it all back in my very first staging job. And, I would have never had the confidence to charge what I do to make the profit that I’ve been making on my current jobs. I’m now staging homes that are in the $1-2 million range and trust me they still need our help.”

New and aspiring stagers, if you enjoyed this story, you’d probably love my free collection of home stager success stories. Click here to download your copy.

Debra Gould, The Staging Diva®

President, Six Elements Inc. Home Staging

Debra Gould knows how to make money as a home stager and she developed the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program to teach others how to earn a living doing something they love. There are more than 4000 Staging Diva Students in the U.S., Canada and over 18 other countries. Debra is frequently profiled in the media for her home staging expertise and is the author of 5 guides for home stagers.

Six hundred real estate agents in the US were recently polled by HomeGain in the annual Home Sale Maximer survey. The survey asked agents to list their top picks for home improvements that help sellers get the best return on investment (ROI).

Staging made it to number 3 on the list behind lightening and brightening and cleaning and decluttering (which interestingly enough are all important components of staging!).

Thousands of sellers each year use the Home Sale Maximer survey as a guide when getting their homes ready to sell.

The spring real estate market starts at the end of February in most places. How are you marketing your home staging business so these motivated home sellers will be able to find you?

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

Debra Gould knows how to make money as a home stager and she developed the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program to teach others how to earn a living doing something they love. She is frequently profiled in the media for her home staging expertise and is the author of 5 guides for home stagers.

Photo credit: Phil Maurion - My Visual Listings Inc.

Staging Diva Graduates Heather Cook and Alana Merritt, owners of Rooms in Bloom Home Staging & Design Inc., haven’t always been home stagers. Both women had their own home interiors businesses before taking their home staging training. They now make more money and have more control over their schedules which is very important for anyone raising a family as both Heather and Alana are doing. This project really proves home staging works.

They were hired in August by a home owner who had been trying to sell for almost a year with no offers or any interest at all. The house was basically empty which is not a good way to sell a house. There were also some very personal color choices on the walls and some repair issues that had to be dealt with in addition to the actual staging.

Photo credit: Phil Maurion - My Visual Listings Inc.

The partners arranged to have the repairs done, they painted the walls, freshened up the trim and had the wood floors sanded and stained a dark walnut. They staged the main floor and master bedroom with new contemporary furnishings.

As a result, the house sold with a firm offer received four days after it went back on the market.

About their training, Heather wrote to say, “Staging Diva gave us the business resources to effectively run and manage our growing business!”

Is there someone you’d like to start a home staging business with? If so, did you know when you order the full program that you’ll receive $300 off your second registration?

>Click here for full details about the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program including the difference between the downloadable and mail order versions.

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

Entrepreneur and Home Staging expert Debra Gould, The Staging Diva, knows how to make money as a home stager. Discover her secrets to business success in the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Besides the Staging Diva Ultimate Design Guide, Gould has also authored a Color Guide, Twitter Guide and Portfolio Guide specifically for Home Stagers.

Even though Staging Diva Graduate Lisa Liberatore is no longer a teacher in the public elementary school system she’s still teaching in her new full-time career as a home stager.

Her staging business Brown Butterfly Interiors is based in Bay Head, New Jersey where Lisa is really leaving a mark as she proves the value of staging. In fact, she has recently been asked to put together a proposal for the public library system to educate people about what home staging is and how important it is when selling a home.

She’s also teaching the market about the power of decorating a home to sell through her own projects like a 3 bedroom townhouse she recently staged that had sat on the market for 6 months before she got involved.

It was a bit of a mystery to everyone involved as to why the home wasn’t selling. It was priced properly for the area and was being viewed on a regular basis through several open houses.

The homeowners called Lisa after visiting her website. They told her they were stumped. They had done some staging on their own and they actually had done quite a good job, according to Lisa. She writes, “They followed the basic rules: the home was clean, depersonalized and decluttered. Except for one spare bedroom.”

That spare bedroom had become a mess.

It had a bed in it but it was covered with clothes. The opposite end of the room had a small cluttered desk that was serving as a make-shift home office. The room was being used as a catch-all while the owners were packing.

Lisa’s clients didn’t have any children but they were living in a home suitable for a family. Using what she learned from her home staging training, Lisa staged the room for a little girl.

“I told the couple to trust me,” writes Lisa. “Everything was purchased at Target for under $100 and could be returned since no one was going to be using it. We put a gallon of paint on the walls and used furniture they already had.”

As a result, the homeowners received two offers at the next open house; both families with little girls. Lisa was able to prove that not only staging, but staging every room of a house is imperative to sell quickly.

I talk a lot about the importance of staging kids’ rooms in the Ultimate Design Guide and here is a living example of why it works. Many people look for a house to buy with their kids in tow. Imagine the emotional power of having your child run into a room in a house you’re thinking of buying saying, “Mommy, can this be my room?”

I’m really pleased that Lisa shared this story and proof that home staging works so that I could share it with you. It’s been a pleasure contributing to her transformation from elementary school teacher to Jersey Shore home stager. She writes, “The Staging Diva Program has given me the tools needed to run a home staging business as well as support, and encouragement through newsletters, phone conferences, one-on-one mentoring and materials available through the Staging Diva Store.”

Staging Diva students and Graduates, if you’d like me to write a story about your home staging business, all you have to do is share the details with me at this link.

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

Entrepreneur and Home Staging expert Debra Gould, The Staging Diva, knows how to make money as a home stager. Discover her secrets to business success in the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program.

If there’s one thing most home stagers can agree on it’s that there’s never a dull moment in this career. You’re constantly being challenged and forced to think on your feet, it really is an exciting career. It’s only made better when you hear back from a client about the results your staging brought about and realize there’s more to this career than making rooms look nicer!

Staging Diva Graduate, Patricia Adamic of Ma Maison Home Staging in Oakville, Ontario wrote me recently to share an interesting home staging success story that really proves home staging works.

Patricia received a call from a lawyer who wanted help staging one of his clients’ homes. Sadly, however, it was a client who had passed and there were no surviving family members who would do anything in regards to selling the house.

This compassionate lawyer arranged to meet Patricia and the real estate agent at the home and there she learned this situation was about to get more difficult. The agent did not believe in staging and the home was in terrible shape. It was dated with decades-old wallpaper and Patricia was given a very small budget to work with.

Instead of turning and running from the challenge, Patricia faced it head on wanting to impress the realtor 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! I was thrilled to be able to prove 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 Staging’s 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. ”

About the Staging Diva home staging courses, Patricia writes, “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!”

Home stagers, this story does more than prove that staging works, but it’s 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 who had no family wishing to do so.

Stagers, do you have an interesting story about an unlikely source of business? Please share by leaving a comment below.

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

Debra Gould knows how to make money as a home stager and she developed the Staging Diva Training Program to teach others how to earn a living doing something they love.

Technorati Tags: staging, home stagers, home staging, home staging course, home staging program, proof home staging works, prove home staging works, staging diva

While the economy was taking its toll on established home stager, Leah Fritz’s business, Leah was hunkered down, working on her marketing despite the storm of uncertainty swirling around her.

• She wasn’t distracted by a constantly ringing phone so she invested time in the development of her marketing plan.

• Her email wasn’t full of client inquiries so she focused instead on building relationships with past customers and potential clients.

• She wasn’t running around from appointment to appointment so she used that downtime to tweak her branding and try some different marketing tactics.

Besides all of those activities, Leah had her Profile Listing on the Staging Diva Directory of Home Stagers working for her. She didn’t panic, like some stagers do, saying they weren’t getting enough business to keep their listing active. Leah knows that’s the wrong way to think about marketing, because she knew if nothing else, with her presence on the Directory of Home Stagers she was out there where potential clients would be looking for her. In fact, she recently renewed her listing for a fourth year!

Do you know what happened? Leah eventually got so busy that she could hardly keep up with herself but even though she was busy with staging projects, paid speaking engagements and redesign projects, she kept on marketing. In fact, Leah has been busy developing her own home staging blog which she has recently launched to help grow her business even more.

The word is out about her business, Perfect Place Home Staging. Leah was recently contacted by a local property flipper who had his latest flip on the market for a couple of months with no offers. It was a small house at 960 square feet and buyers were having difficulty imagining themselves living in a 17×11 living room. Leah staged the space with appropriate scale rental furniture and accessories.

As a result, the homeowners received a full price offer less than 24 hours after staging.

Leah’s client said he would have many houses for her to stage because he would “hate to see her working for the competition!”

Leah has put everything she learned from the Staging Diva Program (especially Course 4 which focuses on marketing) into effect, ensuring that she’s building her business no matter what the economy is doing and she has the confidence to sell her staging services for what they are worth.

She writes, “Yes last year stunk, but quitting was not an option for me. Walking away from my ‘baby’ would have probably sent me into depression. Everything worth having comes with hard work. That’s why they call child birth ‘labor.’”

Well done Leah!

You can get the same Staging Diva tools Leah has been using to build her business, in the Staging Diva Store.

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

Debra Gould has taught thousands of people around the globe how to make money using their natural creative talent as home stagers through the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program.