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When Investing in Home Staging Training Keep Both Eyes Open

Written by: Debra Gould

Article Overview: With the uncertainty of today’s economy, each investment you make must be carefully considered. For those considering enrolling in home staging training, The Staging Diva® offers some advice to consider when selecting a program.

When Investing in Home Staging Training Keep Both Eyes Open

As a society, we are a skeptical bunch. Today's consumer almost instinctively sees sales pitches as scams and are afraid those products that do sound worthwhile must be too good to be true. There are thousands of valuable and reputable products available to us thanks to the power of the Internet. Yes, there are bad products out there, and those that overpromise, but there are also genuine resources which end up being even better than you had hoped for. The best way to avoid purchasing something that will end up disappointing, is to simply do your homework before you buy. Google is a powerful tool to research your options – use it!

Many students who enroll in the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program come directly from other programs to get the business skills they still desperately need.

I’m surprised people aren’t more careful when investing in training. When I hear people tell me they have completed home staging programs but still don’t know how to start a business using those skills, I always wonder if they thoroughly researched what they were getting into before pulling out their credit cards.

What differentiates the Staging Diva Program is the emphasis on building a profitable business. It’s the only home staging training program taught by someone with an MBA in marketing who has built their own home staging business into a success.

Given that home staging is a completely unregulated field, where anyone can offer training, I advise anyone planning to enroll in a home staging course to do their homework before handing over their hard-earned money.

Before enrolling in a home staging training program, be sure to look into the following details before committing to anything: 

Who’s the teacher? Is the program you’re considering being taught by someone who has built a successful home staging business? If not, how will they teach you to build one? Are they quoted anywhere in the media as home staging experts? What happens if you pick up the phone and call them, will you actually get the trainer?

Home staging credentials don’t exist. If you’re trying to decide which program to take depending on the weight their credentials hold, you’re wasting your time. The home staging industry is not regulated and there are no official home staging credentials. Any home staging training company, or private individual for that matter, can offer you their own set of initials to put after your name. You also want to find out if you'll be charged an ongoing licensing fee to say that you have these so called "credentials." 

What are people saying? Spend lots of time going over testimonials from graduates of the program and contact some of them directly to make sure they really exist. Do a Google search to see what people are saying about the program in discussion groups and elsewhere on the Internet.

What is the quality of the information the company or trainer gives out for free? Are there ways for you to sample the program? Are there any resources for you to read or audio clips to listen to before signing up? If what you can get for free doesn't seem very informative, how do you know the quality of the paid material will be any better? If what you can access for free is of high quality, it's reasonable to assume what you pay for will be even more informative. 

Is there a refund policy? Find out what happens if you aren't happy with your purchase. Do you get any or all of your money back? 

What happens after you complete the training program? Is there any ongoing support available to you or does the company just offer one product and once you've got that you're on your own? If job guarantees are being made, be careful to read the "fine print" and find out how it all works. 

If the state of the economy has you ready to take control of your own employment destiny by starting a home staging business, you’re making a great move. There is already lots of demand for real estate staging services and it will continue to grow as more homesellers realize the profit they can make by hiring a home stager. But be sure to find out if the training program you’re considering will provide you with the tools you need to grow a successful business. In this, as in any unregulated industry, buyer beware applies.

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Article Tags: business skills, credit cards, diva, genuine resources, google, hard earned money, home staging business, home staging business training, home staging training, homework, how to start a business, marketing, mba, profitable business, reputable products, sales pitches, scams



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7 words or less for Structogram - Some "7 words or less" (more or less) for Structogram for your comments: Training to get your message across(6) Secrets to get your message across (6) Training so people will listen to you (7) Helping you get your message across (6) Training to learn to get your message across (8) Communications training for yourself and your team (7)
Re: Trade Shows - Are They Worth It? - HI, I have used trade shows (not participated) to collect potential clients. For example, the Home & Garden Industry is extremely behind the time in regards to their websites. I attended an Home & Garden Expo in Denver and collected all the companies contact information. I plan on cold calling & mailing information to each business. It also gave me time to research the industry more, talk directly to the owners in many cases, and learn more about what they need. Jeff
Re: Invest in Real Estate or Stocks? - I want to reiterate what Barb said, be prepared for the long run. Investing in stocks and real estate myself, I highly recommend learning as much as you can about both. Find a great mentor in both areas as well if you can. But always, always, remember that you buy both and WAIT. There's no flipping around or you can lose alot! Jude
Budget. - I believe the biggest barrier is related to budget. Training tends to be a normal practice for a big company. But I have to consider it seriously as an entrepreneur.
Re: High price of entertainment - [quote="TheAnonymousMan":dadh8m1p]Kevin, I went to a Justin Timberlake concert recently where the bottled water was selling for $4 a bottle! I'm talking about the average 600ml bottle that sells for about $1.20 in the supermarket, now that's a rip off but people were buying it because they needed water.[/quote:dadh8m1p] Hi TheAnonymousMan, Can I ask how much you paid for the concert tickets? And more importantly, was the show worth the price? At the Tennis US Open, I had to pay $3.25 for a 500ml bottled water, $8.00 for a "travel size" Hawaiian Tropic bottle of sunscreen, and $13.00 for a Carnegie Deli pastrami sandwich, $4.25 for fries and $2.77 for a Sharpie pen (for autographs), etc... And to make things worse, they don't allow you to carry a backpack for security reasons, so it's very inconvenient to bring your own things to the event (keep in mind I was at the US Open for 7 hours). I mean who wants to carry around 10 lbs worth of stuff (if I were to bring my own necessities like food/water/sunscreen/etc. and have to carry a bunch of souvenirs) in a plastic transparent bag for the whole day?! It's an obvious scam for more profit.


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