<

What do other Home Staging Companies do that you don't?

Why Do Some Home Stagers Make the Big Bucks, While Others Struggle to Get A Realtor to Return Their Call?

You know you can help sellers sell their listings faster, and sell them for more money. You understand staging. You understand color and placement. You know how to really Set The Stage so Buyers see themselves in the House the moment they take their first peak. And yet, despite a mountain of homes languishing on the marketplace, begging to be properly staged, You aren't getting as many staging jobs as you want.  What should you be doing differently?


Hello, my name is Earl Netwal.  I am not a home stager.  Unlike you, I don't understand color or placement and frankly "clutter" is my middle name.

But like you, I've come to learn that knowing how to do something well is only half the battle. The second half is getting the chance to use your skills in the marketplace.

Like you, I am a very small business person. Actually, I am a micro business.

Unlike other "small businesses," micro businesses like yours and mine don't have an accounting department.  We don't have a purchasing department. We don't have personnel, or data processing, or marketing, or public relations, or legal, or contracts, or facilities management departments.  Well that's not completely true.  We do have those departments, and we look at them every morning in the mirror. For us, it's me, I, or my responsibility. Sound familiar?

Yes, like you I wear a dozen hats. And sometimes that can make me look pretty funny, like a Court Jester with their many pointed hats.  Truth be told, I am better at some things than others. How about you? Are you in charge of everything? As a micro business owner that is often the case, and even when we do have some help, the responsibility always comes back to us.

In my case, my strengths include the ability to use the internet to discover people's needs, and to use my familiarity with internet marketing to help people find the tools they need to blast through the barriers that are holding them back. How do I do that? By Listening.

Yep, It took a number of years, but after a while, I learned to stop and listen to my wife finish talking first without interrupting to try to solve her problems. And in a way that's what I have done with the Home Staging Industry.

Home staging is a relatively new and emerging industry, and it is practiced in widely different ways throughout the country and the world. And yet there are at least two Common elements that apply to virtually all Home Staging businesses.

The first is the end goal of staging. That is to assist homeowners and/or their agents to effect a quicker sale at the best possible price.  The second is the reality that almost all home staging companies are very small.  The entire industry is made up of very small businesses people, most of whom are very good at Home Staging, but less good in other areas, notably marketing, but certainly not limited to that.

Almost all of us need more time to do the things we do.  And whether we admit it or not, we could all use a bit more support.

And so, I set up a survey to be my listening tool.  A way to ask and get information to better understand what you and your counterparts are facing in the day to day world of Home Staging.  And at the same time, to understand what more experienced home stagers do that newer stagers don't.

I want to share with you the results of that survey, because you will benefit from seeing that you are not alone. Others share your problems and issues. And some have found a way to be very successful in spite of these common problems.

My survey didn't ask a single question about how to stage a home, you already know that. Instead the survey focused on understanding your strengths and weakness as micro business people engaged in the business of home staging. What obstacles get in your way with marketing?  What goods or services you are having trouble finding useful information on, and which of those were most important to you? What products or services would make your life as a Home Stager easier. 

The survey had six main parts:

  • Demographics
We looked at the age of home stagers, the size of town they worked in, how long they have been active in the business, and whether they were full time or part time and the average time they spent each week in the business. Kind of dry stuff for the most part, but critical to understanding the results from the other questions.
  • Business Practices
We examined those who weren't full time stagers as well as those who were. We looked at those who specialized in consultations, as well as those who specialized in occupied houses working with existing furniture as well as those who loved the open canvass of vacant homes and handled an inventory of their own or rental furniture, if they were lucky enough to find an affordable source.
  • Scope of Service
We looked at not only what Home Stagers said they did, but also at which things they didn't do. We learned when they used their own subcontractors and for what, as well as, when they relied on the owner or owner's subs to handle projects. We also asked which items were handled at the consultation and which were the focus of a full hands on staging.
  • Strengths and Weakness
Your fellow home stagers told us what they thought were their strongest and weakest areas, and indicated where they felt they could use additional training.  They also discussed the items they had the greatest difficulty in getting useful information and which of these difficult items was most important to them, as well as the biggest personal hurdle they were intent on overcoming.
  • Marketing
They also discussed competition in their markets, and disclosed where they got their leads, who they gave public presentations to, how active they were in calling Realtors in their markets, whether or not they used blogs and newsletters, web pages, and what they saw as their Unique Selling Proposition (USP).
  • Community
They also told us about how frequently they met with fellow stagers in their area and how they kept in touch with other home stagers, what was different about their markets and what one thing they would tell Realtors about Home Staging.

 

One of my strengths in this entire process is the fact that I am not tied to any school or group.  I am an independent observer with no bones to pick.  We did not limit ourselves to any one designation or school to get survey respondents.  Instead we tried to get a broad geographical distribution across the United States and into Canada.

And so, the time has come for me to make you an offer you can't refuse. Consider first what it would take to duplicate the effort I have just completed on your behalf. To design a survey and then to get over 180 home stagers to reply, and then to gather the data and make some sense out of it.  Well, frankly it wasn't that bad. It did take me ten weeks, working almost non stop.  But I do have past experience in surveys, having supervised over 4,000 in person surveys of businesses in my home state. So I know a few things about the process. But that said, you could do it yourself. But I know for a fact that you have better things to do, so I am going to make you a deal. 

I have prepared an executive summary of the survey results that runs just under 30 pages. It doesn't contain all the individual answers I got to the open ended questions. Also I condensed more of the data on some of the questions than exists in the full blown 79 page report. But it should satisfy your needs and interests as a practicing home stager. Now never fear, if you wish to get all the information in the full report, I will be happy to sell it to you once you get your copy of the executive summary. But most of you probably don't need the full blown report, as interesting as the detailed comments are.

So, if you are committed to your career as a home stager, whether you are full or part time in the practice, you owe it to yourself to take a peak at what the other gals (and a few guys) are doing and saying. Learn from and emulate the top dogs in the survey. Consider what areas you need to focus on to improve your financial return. While some home stagers indicated they loved the work and would do it for free, wouldn't it be nice to bring home some more bacon too? Learn from your colleagues and get the executive summary for only $17.

 

Here's what some of the people who read the survey had to say.  These comments were posted the www.Squidoo.com/House-staging  lens on Home Staging.

Ellen Anderson wrote

Dear Earl,
I found the survey extremely beneficial and comforting to know that I am not alone regarding certain aspects of the staging profession. I am the pioneer of staging in my area(2005)and I have found that marketing my business has proved to be more than a challenge. Expensive and frustrating are two words that come to mind. Learning from my mistakes is another big one.
Staging is my passion and I have stuck with it and I feel it is starting to pay off. I have been featured on the news as well as a magazine for my staging. So the word is finally getting out. Thank you HGTV for really helping promote the definition and advantages of staging! Now when I try to explain what staging is at least most people have heard of it.
Sincerely,
Ellen Anderson, HSE
Dressed to Sell, Home Staging
Green Bay, WI
www.dressedtosellhome.com

---

Audra Slinkey wrote

Hi Earl,

I'm still getting through the report but the one thing already that we, (Home Staging Resource) are taking away from it is to have an email capture and "auto drip" set up for our Member's websites. I love the constructive feedback and will be making the appropriate adjustments in our training to combat challenges! Thanks again and I'll be calling you soon:).

Audra Slinkey
President - Home Staging Resource
http://www.homestagingresource.com

---

Amy Powers wrote

Thank you for taking the time to research this growing industry. The information is very useful in helping stream line the industry. RESA (Real Estate Staging Association) is a neutral Trade Association for Home Stagers. I recommend contacting them and sharing your information. Their goal is to provide a network for ALL stagers regardless of designation and stream line the industry as well. Thanks again.

Amy Powers
Metro Atlanta, GA
Accent Home Staging
www.accenthomestaging.biz

---

And here's my Guarantee to you.  If after you download and review the executive summary, you don't believe the information in the report is useful to you and your business, I will refund 100% of your money any time up to 30 days after your purchase, no questions asked.  That should give you more than enough time to review the colorful charts and graphs, read the data and put what you learn into action in your business.  

Now I don't expect many people to ask for a refund.  But if you do, there will be no hard feelings. I want you to be satisfied or I don't want your money. It's as simple as that. So you see, you really have nothing to loose and everything to gain.

Just click on the button below, you can pay via Paypal, which will also allow you to pay with your credit card even if you do not currently have a paypal account.

PS: Remember you have no risk, I offer a full 100% 30 Day Money Back Guarantee. 

PPS: As a buyer of this report, you will be given the opportunity to sell it to others and make a generous commissions on your sales.

 

Check out my blog: www.HomeStagingBusinessTips.com/blog