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How Home Stagers Ruin Their Image Without Even Trying

Guest post by: Debra Gould

Article Overview: Staging Diva, Debra Gould, discusses the importance of having a strong logo for a home staging business.

How Home Stagers Ruin Their Image Without Even Trying

Everyone embarking on a journey of self employment faces the same logo dilemma:

“Do I invest money in getting a professional to design it for me, or do I put together some clip art and a fancy font and do it myself?”

I’ve heard complaints from many home stagers over the years about how they have no business and those stagers are without exception the ones with the worst logos and the least compelling portfolios.

Home stagers, as you sit there considering whether you will do it yourself or hire a designer remember…

Your company logo is a professional reflection of your company’s identity and image.

Go ahead and try to “get by” with a logo that looks cheap and badly designed but you will quickly see how it reflects poorly on your reputation as a home stager and your business is going to suffer for it.

Your logo has several jobs. One is to distinguish your company at a glance as part of your brand, but more importantly it has the job of convincing a potential client that you understand the importance of two basic tenets of home staging that “there’s only one chance to make a first impression” and “how something looks is key to whether someone wants to buy.”

If you give that advice to a prospective home staging client, yet don’t appear to take it yourself when it comes to promoting your own company, why would they trust you?

If your home staging logo looks unprofessional and makes no aesthetic sense, why should a homeowner look to you to decorate their single largest financial asset? Simply put, they won’t!

Your logo doesn’t have to include a photo or image. Many of the world’s most effective logos are successful companies that have only “wordmarks.” Think: Google, Coca Cola and IBM.

Your logo should evoke a feeling in your prospective clients. It suggests a tone for your business which might be, for example:

• serious or light-hearted

• subdued or bold

• modern or retro

• feminine or masculine

As a home stager, you have to determine how much your image is worth to you.

You’ll notice stagers with logos that are well-designed come across as being the most professional. I can tell you as someone who has been teaching home stagers for 5 years, that the most successful stagers also happen to be those with the most professional images. This is no coincidence.

If you hire someone to design your home staging logo for you, it can cost anywhere from $20 to $1000. Like anything else, you will get what you pay for in most cases. Be sure to check samples of a designer’s work and stay away from clip art which always looks tacky. You can find someone on elance.com or use a service like Logo Design Guru.

Another source is local graphic design schools. You’ll pay less for a design student because they’re dying to build a portfolio, but you might find an excellent designer who can help you with not only your logo, but other materials down the road.

Remember, the cost of a bad logo in lost revenue could cripple your business especially when you’re in an image business like home staging.

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Article Tags: home stager, home stagers, home staging business



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