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 Debra Gould's Website.
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Debra Gould
Debra 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. To date, Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start their own 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 http://www.stagingdiva.com. - Visit Debra Gould's Website |
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Debra Gould
(Visit Debra's Website)
Debra 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. To date, Gould has
trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates
worldwide to start their own 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
http://www.stagingdiva.com.
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