Overcoming the Classic Home Staging Catch 22 Clients or References which comes first
Overcoming the Classic Home Staging Catch 22 Clients or References which comes first
Although it might seem like a frustrating and impossible situation, put on your creative thinking cap and figure out how to get around it! Do not let this weaken your resolve to make a success of your business.
Now, before you get inundated with project requests, is the time to start building your home staging portfolio and obtaining references. When someone contacts you for information about your services and asks for references or to see a portfolio, all they want is to see how capable you are and that you have a good reputation.
Start volunteering to redesign the homes of your friends and family members. Take tons of photos. Do the same in your own home; arrange and rearrange some rooms to demonstrate that you have what your potential clients are looking for. Nobody looking at your portfolio will know if the before and after photos were from paying clients or your neighbors, nor will they care. They want to see that you can stage their home to appeal to buyers.
Whatever you do, do not give in to the temptation to purchase stock photos on the Internet to fluff up your portfolio. That’s cheating. Worse than that is to take other stagers’ photos and pass them off as your own.
Some home staging training companies provide their graduates with before and after photos to use as their own. What happens if they see the same picture in more than one place? It will really tarnish your reputation and we don’t want that. Take your own photos!
After you’ve staged your loved ones’ homes, ask them for written recommendations and ask if they would be willing to provide you with a reference for potential clients looking to speak with someone about what you did for them and their homes.
You have to start somewhere. The best thing you can do is remove any element of doubt from your potential clients’ minds right from the get-go. Make sure you have a sharp looking website (or portfolio listing on a home staging directory) and business cards, a professional sounding greeting recorded on your business line, a confident tone in your voice when talking to potential new clients on the phone and a ‘knock-em-dead’ wardrobe so you feel great about yourself when you’re out networking or meeting with a client for the first time. If you look the part, not many people will question your experience.
This ‘Catch-22' isn’t as impossible as it seems. Start gathering some before and after photos and testimonials from those who know you’re capable and forge ahead!
Overcoming the Classic Home Staging Catch 22 Clients or References which comes first - To learn more about this author, visit Staging Diva's Website.
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You need great references and a portfolio full of before and after photos to get clients, but without clients you can’t get references or build a portfolio. It’s a classic 'Catch-22' which exists for every individual that decides to venture out and start a home staging business.
Although it might seem like a frustrating and impossible situation, put on your creative thinking cap and figure out how to get around it! Do not let this weaken your resolve to make a success of your business.
Now, before you get inundated with project requests, is the time to start building your home staging portfolio and obtaining references. When someone contacts you for information about your services and asks for references or to see a portfolio, all they want is to see how capable you are and that you have a good reputation.
Start volunteering to redesign the homes of your friends and family members. Take tons of photos. Do the same in your own home; arrange and rearrange some rooms to demonstrate that you have what your potential clients are looking for. Nobody looking at your portfolio will know if the before and after photos were from paying clients or your neighbors, nor will they care. They want to see that you can stage their home to appeal to buyers.
Whatever you do, do not give in to the temptation to purchase stock photos on the Internet to fluff up your portfolio. That’s cheating. Worse than that is to take other stagers’ photos and pass them off as your own.
Some home staging training companies provide their graduates with before and after photos to use as their own. What happens if they see the same picture in more than one place? It will really tarnish your reputation and we don’t want that. Take your own photos!
After you’ve staged your loved ones’ homes, ask them for written recommendations and ask if they would be willing to provide you with a reference for potential clients looking to speak with someone about what you did for them and their homes.
You have to start somewhere. The best thing you can do is remove any element of doubt from your potential clients’ minds right from the get-go. Make sure you have a sharp looking website (or portfolio listing on a home staging directory) and business cards, a professional sounding greeting recorded on your business line, a confident tone in your voice when talking to potential new clients on the phone and a ‘knock-em-dead’ wardrobe so you feel great about yourself when you’re out networking or meeting with a client for the first time. If you look the part, not many people will question your experience.
This ‘Catch-22' isn’t as impossible as it seems. Start gathering some before and after photos and testimonials from those who know you’re capable and forge ahead!
Overcoming the Classic Home Staging Catch 22 Clients or References which comes first - To learn more about this author, visit Staging Diva's Website.
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Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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