I love hearing the success stories that Staging Diva Graduates send me. But while I hear many positive stories like one I shared about Nora Lakey in a recent post, I also hear from stagers who aren’t so enthusiastic about their new-found career as well as those who still haven’t taken the plunge to start their business months after they’ve taken their training.
One Graduate contacted me after being in business for only four months, ready to quit because there was no demand for staging in her large city. She had no website and didn’t list her business on the Staging Diva Directory of Home Stagers which is a very small monetary investment.
I asked her, “If a home seller in your city wanted to hire a home stager, how could they find you?” She admitted there was no way for anyone to know about her services.
So I then asked, “How do you know there aren’t thousands of potential customers in your area right now struggling to find a home stager with no way to know about you? The problem isn’t lack of demand, the problem is your business is invisible.”
Because part of what motivates me to provide home staging business training is my passion for helping others to follow their dreams, the worst kind of student for me, is one who doesn’t do anything with their knowledge. I received a note from a Staging Diva Graduate recently who had chosen a fabulous name for her company but had yet to get started for reasons she did not disclose.
The advice I gave her was similar to the advice I give all entrepreneurs who seem to be too scared or distracted to move forward with their dream: “There are always reasons not to get started because life happens. The trick of being a successful entrepreneur is to carve out the time to focus on your goals and more importantly to take action on them. Otherwise, life continues to fly by with all its distractions and inconveniences, but the core of it never changes until you change it.”
You wanted to become a home stager for a good reason, otherwise you wouldn’t have invested in training. If you’re a Staging Diva Graduate, check out the Staging Diva Network and Staging Diva Dialog; two programs that can help you stay on track after you complete your training.
Debra Gould, The Staging Diva®
President, Six Elements Inc. Home Staging
Author of three home staging guides, Debra Gould developed the Staging Diva Training Program to create opportunities for others to grow their own profitable home staging businesses. There are currently over 4000 Staging Diva students around the world.
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Home staging would offer many benefits for me including expressing my creativity, meeting people and challenges — all things I’m good at and have proven ability. But living in a small town, how do you compete with a public who keep newcomers at a distance and with an established (and very good) home decorator who now does home staging. Moving to a close small city means my competition will include a HGTV decorator! Hopefully I’ll sort this out!
Mariann,
How many houses are for sale, or just plain ugly, in your small town? Now divide my 3. That leaves 1/3 for the home decorator that has recently started doing home staging to do, 1/3 for the HGTV decorator, and 1/3 for you.
There are so many people in your town and other towns around you that need your help. There is only one person with your ability to decorate, your unique personality, and your skills. There’s plenty for everyone. You really have no competition. Go for it! Warmly,
Kay.
Kay, I love your answer to Mariann! Exactly what I would have said!
Mariann, you’ll also find this special report I wrote helpful. It’s totally free and I address why there’s tons of opportunity for stagers even in a slow real estate market and weak economy. In there you’ll also find a description of how to estimate demand for your services. Check it out here:
http://www.stagingdiva.com/economyreport.html
Best,
Debra