Staging Diva Mini Lesson

What would you do?

You get a call from a potential client. They listen to you talk about how you're going to help them. You have a friendly conversation going back and forth and at some point they ask, "so where will you get my furniture?"

What do you do?

I'll be posting my response to that question on February 1 in the new Staging Diva Network

Great Book!

 

This Time I Dance!
Trusting the Journey of Creating the Work You Love

By Tama J. Kieves

This Harvard Law School grad left her practice with one of Denver's largest law firms to follow her dream of being a writer. She's candid about her journey and I found her writing very authentic and inspiring. I REALLY love her style!

Order here

Still struggling to build your own web site?

You get a call from a potential client or a real estate agent. They want to see your portfolio, but you don't have a web site yet.

Do you meet them for free to show it to them? This is very time consuming and can look unprofessional.

Or, have you already registered your own domain name and when people go there, they see "under construction" or "domain is parked?"

Again, not a great image for your new business!

I've created the Staging Diva Directory of Home Stagers to give you an easy way to have an Internet presence right away. Not to mention how being part of StagingDiva.com will boost your credibility.

If you have your own domain name and have not yet built your site, you can easily have your domain "point" to your page on the Staging Diva site. Visitors end up directly at your web page on stagingdiva.com without ever seeing that your site is not yet built.

If you already have a web site, you can use your listing in the Staging Diva Directory of Home Stagers, to send more traffic to your own site.

Learn more!

Quote of the Month!

"It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things."

Hi

Welcome to the first issue of Staging Diva Dispatch. You are receiving this monthly newsletter because you expressed interest in learning about Home Staging.

If you ever decide that you don't want to continue, you can use the Unsubscribe link at the very bottom of this email.

I hope you enjoy the content and find it helpful. By the way, I welcome any feedback!

Debra Gould, President Six Elements Inc.
Creator of The Staging Diva™ Program

In this issue:

My First Home Staging Story

This was the house I owned for 6 weeks, staged and sold for $30,000 more. I used this story on http://www.sixelements.com/ and my first client hired me for a $5,000 project! Of course they had no idea it was my first project and I certainly wasn't going to mention it, seeing as I was standing in the living room of a $1.5 million home!

There is simply no better way to get your portfolio into a potential client's hands than with a web site!

If you've already attending the Staging Diva Training Program, you know that I tell you not to agree to go to people's homes to give them a free estimate. My clients have already agreed to pay me a significant fee before I've ever met them in person. How do I do this? With my web site and by speaking with them on the phone. How much do they pay me, a total stranger? Over $700 for just two hours of my time!

In course 2, The Business of Home Staging, you learned how to establish your pricing strategy and in course 3, Taking the Mystery out of a Home Staging Consultation you learned how to turn a potential client into a paying customer on the phone.

If you've been having trouble with this, refer to your notes for those two very important classes! Was I terrified taking on my first project, especially in such an expensive home? You bet! But, I did it anyway!

I took action and got my first paying client under my belt. Greater confidence comes with each new project. By the way, that first project was January 23, 2003— not all that long ago!

I can tell you how to do what I did, but then it's up to you to take that knowledge and put it into action. Without that last part of the equation, nothing will happen!

Student/Graduate Success Corner

Before	After
Congratulations to Jenny Kennedy-Olsen on a fabulous new logo and launch for her home staging company, Urban Lane Designs. These are two of her portfolio shots from her new listing in the Staging Diva Directory of Home Stagers.

Congratulations also to Linda Schleihauf, a Graduate from the December class. Within days of listing The Detailed Home in the Directory of Home Stagers, she had her first project that more than paid for her entire training program and a full year's listing in the Directory of Home Stagers! Her client's house sold in 6 days at 99% of asking despite backing onto a highway and hydro wires, and an awkward floor plan. Way to go Linda, and what a "Success Story" to tell future prospects!

Congratulations to Lucie Quigley of HOLTModern for getting four projects just by doing the homework assignment for her second class, The Business of Home Staging. By the time she graduates next week, she'll have quite the portfolio!

Congratulations to Ivana Starcevic, Revive Design, who graduated from The Staging Diva Training Program last spring and had an article and two huge photos in last Saturday's Toronto Star!

Staging Diva Students and Graduates, send me your successes so we can help you celebrate your triumphs and inspire others to follow your example!

What's New For You!

The Staging Diva Network is a new OnLine Discussion Group launching February 1! Any Graduate of The Staging Diva Training Program can become a member. All you need is Internet access and email to participate, nothing high tech about it!

This is a supportive community where information is shared within the group for the benefit of all members. It can be isolating working alone from home, questions come up as you grown your business. Now you'll have the perfect environment to connect with others.

Learn more!

Staging Diva In the Media

Media attention so far for 2006 proves that Home Staging is an extremely newsworthy topic! We talked about the benefits of that in Course 4 Staging Diva Sales & Marketing Secrets.

 

CNNMoney is already noting the slowing real estate trend and recommended Home Staging as one of the 5 strategies a homeowner can use in this market.

Read my interview with CNNMoney.

I'm still waiting to find out when the interview I did with the Wall Street Journal will run.

Today, I was interviewed by "Center of The City" Magazine, will let you know when I have more information on that one too.

Did you know that The Staging Diva Program is the ONLY Home Staging business opportunity featured in Entrepreneur Magazine's 2006 Guide? Read more media info

So, what does this Staging Diva media attention mean for you?

The more attention Home Staging gets, the easy it is for you to explain and sell what you do.

The more Internet traffic that goes to http://www.sixelements.com/ and http://www.stagingdiva.com/, the more the general public is educated about what staging can do for them; which benefits you when you try to sell your services

Saying an internationally recognized Home Staging expert trained you, will boost your credibility

Being part of The Staging Diva Directory of Home Stagers will become increasingly valuable to you.

With every media appearance, I get calls from people looking for a home stager in their market. Just this week, my graduates have taken on projects I referred to them in Newmarket, Virginia and Mississauga.