Staging Diva Dispatch

Home stager success stories

2010-11-25T10:41:00.003-05:00

I've been teaching home stagers how to make money doing what they love since 2005. There are thousands of Staging Diva students all over the world and I've written a FREE report about some of their home stager success stories.

Inside "Ask Staging Diva: Can a regular person like me become a successful home stager" you'll find 10 real-life examples of people whose lives have been changed by their home staging careers.

You'll get a behind-the-scenes peek at inspiring home stagers and learn about how they took a leap of faith into their own staging business, how they've used their natural decorating talents to help specific clients who have had trouble selling their homes and more.

Whether you're an aspiring home stager or an established pro, you'll love this FREE report. Click here to get your Stager Success Stories report right now!

By the way, if you'd like to read more free articles about how to make money as a home stager, I do most of my blogging at Home Staging Business Report, so that's where you'll find all my current posts.

Please pop by for a visit. There are some great discussions going on right now in the various post comments from both new and established home stagers.

Learn how to use Twitter to grow your staging business

2009-12-14T10:27:00.004-05:00

If you aren’t already using Twitter to market your home staging business, it's probably one of these two reasons that's keeping you from getting started:

* you don’t see how "tweeting" could possibly benefit you as a home stager
* you’re much too nervous and intimidated by the technology to sign up

Having a Twitter account should be a requisite for operating a business today and if you don’t have one due to one of the above reasons, you need to order my newest book: Home Stager’s Guide to Twitter.

Click here for full details and to see the full table of contents of this essential guide for home stagers.

What if fear stopped Oprah from moving forward?

2009-11-30T19:01:00.003-05:00

Oprah announced on her show last week that after 25 years, she'll be ending The Oprah Winfrey Show in September 2011. Of course, she won't really be retiring. Aside from her current media empire, she’s working on launching her own cable TV channel and will most likely have her own show on there.

Last week I watched a television interview taped with Oprah 24 years ago and in it she was asked “what if your new show fails?” Without missing a beat she replied, “I’ll be OK. I’m not defined by my TV show.”

Imagine if she had let the “what if I fail” question stand in her way back then! Read more about this topic in a recent post on the Home Staging Business Report.

Keep on marketing your home staging business

2009-11-16T09:01:00.003-05:00

No matter how busy you are, or how busy you're worried you might become with the growing popularity of your home staging business, you must never stop marketing it!

I go into more detail about why in a recent post on the Home Staging Business Report. You can read that article here.

Getting a professional email address for your staging business

2009-11-01T08:14:00.004-05:00

When you have a domain name for your home staging business the first thing you should do is set up a matching email address. This is especially important if you’re using a cutesy email address such as, pookiebear@hotmail.com or something similar. You absolutely can’t use something like that for your business, you need a professional sounding email address.

To learn how you can go about setting up a professional email address for your home staging business, click here to read a recent post at the Home Staging Business Report that covered this topic in detail.

Aspiring home stager ignores friends' advice about "credentials"

2009-10-15T11:08:00.006-05:00

I received a comment on one of my blog posts last year from aspiring home stager, Katie Mines. She mentioned that she was finding the decision of where to get her home staging training an overwhelming one. She was learning a lot from my newsletters and blog posts, but someone was advising that she take a course that would give her some real "credentials" instead.

Read about how Katie decided to heed my advice instead of her friends' and learn more about her success as a home stager in this article on the Home Staging Business Report.

Marketing a home staging business goes beyond price

2009-09-28T08:26:00.003-05:00

I’ve never made any apologies for being one of the most expensive home stagers in my city - and I have been since I started my business. Just because everyone else seemed to be fine with giving their time away for almost nothing didn't mean I had to do the same.

Instead of trying to compete on price I focused on marketing so I would be perceived as the expert home stager in my market. My goal was for people to come to me when they wanted the best.

If you promote your services as being cheap, you're going to attract penny-pinching clients who don’t value what you have to offer.

Read more about how marketing is more than just about price, in an article on the Home Staging Business Report.

Did your vacation make it harder to go back to a job you hate?

2009-09-02T10:47:00.005-05:00

For many people, a vacation is a wonderful thing; rest, relaxation and an escape from the everyday. But for those working in jobs they hate, a brief break forces them to face what life can be like when they actually enjoy their days instead of dreading them. Long before the holiday is over, stress levels rise as they recognize that returning to that job actually sucks the life out of them.

If you’re feeling jealous of your children getting excited to go back to school while all you have to look forward to is another long stretch of doing work that doesn’t fulfill you, this is the perfect time to consider your options.

Click here to read more on this topic at the Home Staging Business Report.

Home Stager Helps Ailing Home Owners Sell Fast

2009-08-21T11:52:00.005-05:00

When Staging Diva Graduate, Susan Atwell, was contacted by a couple desperate for a fast sale, she didn't waste any time springing into action.

This couple was being forced to downsize to a one level home because of a deteriorating illness. After 14 months on the market, they were starting to lose hope of ever selling with each passing day. The real estate market in their area was deteriorating and this couple simply could not lower their price yet again.

Find out what happened when home stager Susan Atwell appeared on the scene here at the Home Staging Business Report.

Home Stagers should not work for free

2009-08-07T09:53:00.003-05:00

I have written many articles on the topic of home stagers giving their services away for free and I strongly object to working for free in the Staging Diva courses, but this issue continues to come up.

I don't like to hear about home stagers working for free. However, most of the aspiring stagers I speak to seem to think they have no choice but to do their first projects for free in order to rack up experience.

The thing is, it's often those stagers offering to do home staging projects for free who will always struggle to get business. Much of this comes down to perception.

After all, if you’re giving away your services for free, how good can you be?

I recently wrote about home stagers working for free on the Home Staging Business Report. You can read the entire article here.

A home staging business can't grow itself

2009-07-14T07:13:00.003-05:00

Over the years I’ve trained thousands of people to take their decorating talent and turn it into a profitable home staging business. Unfortunately, after that training is finished, I don't have any control over what people do with their new knowledge.

The best case scenario sees a new home stager take what they’ve learned about building a successful business and forge on; setting up alliances, marketing their company and getting lots of clients. However, this is not always what happens. Read more about what often happens after someone completes their home staging training at the Home Staging Business Report.

Australian Staging Diva Graduate featured on TV

2009-07-03T09:08:00.004-05:00

Staging Diva Graduate, Anne Gunson of Home Staging by Anne, is being featured on an upcoming segment of Australian TV show A Current Affair.

The show follows Anne from an initial home staging consultation right through to the final completion of staging a property before it was listed. When the sellers were interviewed for the segment, they noted “the house wouldn’t have sold without staging.”

Read this entire home staging success story on the Home Staging Business Report.

Home Staging Success Story - Gary Baugher

2009-05-19T12:27:00.003-05:00

Staging Diva Graduate Gary Baugher of An Eye 4 Change (TN) keeps proving that home staging works. He has written to tell me that despite the economy, business is great in Nashville. In one weekend Gary staged three homes and two of them sold within two weeks in his slow real estate market.

Read more about Gary's story and successes of other Staging Diva Graduates here.

Earn extra cash doing weekend home staging consultations

2009-04-24T09:26:00.004-05:00

Building up an emergency fund is always a good idea, whether you have a paying job, work part time or are planning to start a business. If nothing else, you'll feel better just knowing you have some savings "just in case".

If you're considering starting a home staging business, but are currently working, you can earn extra money by doing home staging consultations on the weekends.

You can find a more detailed article on this topic here at the Home Staging Business Report.

Home Stagers have high earning potential in poor economy

2009-04-14T11:05:00.003-05:00

If you're interested in starting a home staging business, you have most likely heard of a training program guaranteeing home staging employment at $24-$30 per hour. This might sound like a lot to you, but it's really a low income for a professional home stager.

In this economy, home staging is a needed service and you can actually earn closer to six-figures a year if you're seriously commited to building your business.

I recently posted an article to the Home Staging Business Report about this topic in greater detail. You can read it in detail here.

Home Staging excellent career option for moms

2009-04-02T11:15:00.003-05:00

If you're like many busy mothers searching for a business start up that offers maximum flexibility to fit your lifestyle, a home staging career would be ideal for you.

Even if you have very young children you can make a home staging career work for you because of the ability to build your business working whatever hours your schedule permits.

In a post on the Home Staging Business Report, I went into this topic in great detail. You can read that story here.

Home Stagers don't have to worry about job security

2009-03-18T19:53:00.005-05:00

It's hard to avoid recent news headlines about the massive numbers of job losses in the US. In a post on the Home Staging Business Report I talked about why a career in home staging can offer more job security than your day job.

You can read that story here.

2009-03-12T12:02:00.001-05:00

Over 250 aspiring stagers meeting me live tonight at Ask Staging Diva Event. I'm pumped for their questions!

2009-03-12T08:38:00.001-05:00

Time to get the Staging Diva Team to vote on their fave choice from the 3 new cover designs I have. Really excited about my next book!

2009-03-12T08:33:00.001-05:00

Why are people so ready to buy "stuff" they don't need, yet they won't invest in education that will actually change their lives?

2009-03-12T08:20:00.001-05:00

Excited abt answering questions frm aspiring home stagers tonite in Ask Staging Diva Live event. Tons of opportunity with slow Real Estate.

Home Stagers should not be defeated by negative economic news

2009-03-09T14:45:00.004-05:00

If negative news headlines about the economy are interfering with your plans to start a home staging business, or grow the one you have, please take a step back.

The media feeding us this negative news are profit-based corporations. When we're glued to the all the latest news of economic "crisis" they're making money.

This distorts the bigger picture and it's almost impossible to see the opportunities that exist with all the news of doom and gloom.

I recently posted an article to another Staging Diva blog which goes into detail about why you shouldn't let this negative news defeat you. You can read it in its entirety here.

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Debra Gould’s mission is to inspire others to follow their dreams and use their innate talents to also earn a living. She has trained over 1000 women and men on five continents how to take their talent for decorating and turn it into a successful home staging business.

Staging nets fast sale in Brisbane's slow market

2009-03-03T08:03:00.003-05:00

Staging Diva Graduate Hayley Harris of Essential Key Home Staging & Property Styling is making a difference in Queensland, Australia. She recently staged a home which sold within a week for just under the asking price of $399,000.

This is a part of the world where the real estate market is quite slow, making home staging vital.

Visit the Home Staging Business Report to read more (and view before and after photos) about Hayley's home staging success story.

Steps you can take today towards starting a home staging business

2009-02-23T09:28:00.003-05:00

If you've decided to start a home staging business but aren't quite ready to dive headlong into it yet, there are a few initial steps you can be working on now to support your ultimate goal.

The most obvious thing you must do is determine whether or not home staging is the right career for you. There's a free quiz available at the Home Staging Business Report that will help you decide. Here's the link to follow to sign up for the quiz and to read about the other four steps you can take now to start your home staging business.

Free course helps aspiring home stagers grow their businesses

2009-02-16T12:05:00.003-05:00

A new free course from The Staging Diva is now available for new and aspiring home stagers looking for sound advice to apply to their growing businesses.

12 Tips for a Successful Home Staging Business is delivered in a series of a dozen email messages, each containing a tip you can apply to your staging business.

Topics in this free home staging course include:

* Deciding whether or not Home Staging is the right career for you
* The truth about home staging accreditation
* How much money a home stager can make
* Why you shouldn’t give away free estimates
* How to prepare for your first home staging consultation
* and much more!

Learn more and sign up by clicking here.

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Home Staging expert Debra Gould also known as The Staging Diva knows how to make money as a home stager and is determined to inspire and teach others to do the same. There are over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates who have learned to use their decorating talents and run their own home staging business in the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program.

Is living your dream worth taking a risk?

2009-02-06T11:13:00.004-05:00

I think Cuban-French author, Anais Nin, had love in mind when she said:

"And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight inside the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."

But as an entrepreneur, this quote speaks loudly to me. I recently wrote a post on the Home Staging Business Report sharing my own personal story and why it was worth the risks I took to make my dream of living a creatively fulfilling life come to fruition by starting my own home staging business. You can read that story here.

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A Fortune 500 company veteran, Debra Gould has been a business writer since the 1980s and wrote a chapter of the book “Marketing Masters” published in 1998. She is also known as The Staging Diva and is president of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company that is frequently profiled in the media in both the US and Canada. Debra Gould developed the Staging Diva Training Program to create opportunities for others to grow their own profitable home staging businesses. There are currently over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates around the world.

Home Staging Directory matches Chicago stager with Aussie client

2009-01-29T05:13:00.008-05:00

Last month, I was contacted by someone in Australia who had a home to sell in Chicago. Because of my visibility on the Internet and other media, she got in touch with me hoping I could recommend a home stager there.

Naturally, I led her to the Staging Diva Directory of Home Stagers where she found Renee D. Strawn's Distinctive Design listing complete with before and after photos, a profile of herself and all of her contact information.

To read more about how someone in Australia contacted me in Toronto to find them a home stager in Chicago, click here!

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Home Staging expert Debra Gould also known as The Staging Diva knows how to make money as a home stager and has taught over 1000 others to use their decorating talents and run their own home staging business in the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program.

One page marketing plan can remove intimidation factor

2009-01-21T05:59:00.005-05:00

To follow up on my last post, I would like to share one of my favorite tips with you. When it comes to developing a marketing plan for your business, many people envision a formal, inch thick document. The thought of coming up with such a thing can be daunting enough to prevent some entrepreneurs from ever coming up with a marketing plan.

When it comes to my own marketing, I like to do things a little differently by using a one page marketing plan. It's true! Read more at the Home Staging Business Report.

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A Fortune 500 company veteran, Debra Gould has been a business writer since the 1980s and wrote a chapter of the book "Marketing Masters" published in 1998. She is also known as The Staging Diva and is president of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company that is frequently profiled in the media in both the US and Canada. Debra Gould developed the Staging Diva Training Program to create opportunities for others to grow their own profitable home staging businesses. There are currently over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates around the world.

Reach the goals you set for 2009

2009-01-16T15:02:00.002-05:00

One of the most important things a business owner can do is set goals to ensure steady movement in the right direction. In a two-part story I recently posted on the Home Staging Business Report I shared my favorite advice for goal setting.

Check out the posts and this year, make the goals you set for yourself stick!

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Intrepid entrepreneur and home staging expert Debra Gould, also known as The Staging Diva, has been running her own business since 1989. She knows how to make money as a home stager and has taught over 1000 others to use their decorating talents and run their own home staging business in the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program.

Staging Diva Graduate Makes it to HGTV

2009-01-08T14:03:00.005-05:00

Two months after completing the Staging Diva Home Staging Training Program, Susan Manlove had landed a home staging project that more than paid for her course. That alone would be reason to celebrate, but within her first year in business, Susan was contacted to stage a home for popular HGTV program, My House is Worth What?.

Visit the Home Staging Business Report to read Susan's story.

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Home Staging expert Debra Gould also known as The Staging Diva knows how to make money as a home stager and is determined to inspire and teach others to do the same. There are over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates who have learned to use their decorating talents and run their own home staging business in the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program.

Home Staging business gives mother of three flexibility and success!

2008-12-03T14:09:00.009-05:00

Recently, on the Home Staging Business Report , I published a story about Staging Diva Graduate, Laura Kakoschke of Hunter Lake Home Staging and Design.

Laura is an inspiration to anyone dreaming of starting a home staging business, but especially those who are mothers wishing to have more time with their children.

In her first ten months as a home stager, Laura staged twelve properties and made more money than she used to earn in a full year at her government job! She did all this while enjoying enough flexibility to home school her three children! Read more about this successful home stager here.

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Intrepid entrepreneur and home staging expert Debra Gould, also known as The Staging Diva, has been running her own business since 1989. She knows how to make money as a home stager and has taught over 1000 others to use their decorating talents and run their own home staging business in the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program.

Business Lessons from Obama

2008-11-27T14:28:00.005-05:00

I'm a huge fan of President-elect Barack Obama and like most people am very inspired by his message.

I started thinking after all the election coverage was over, how unfair it was hearing political pundits talking about whether or not Obama seems presidential. Here is a man being expected to act and sound "presidential" without ever having been the President before!

Surely he has moments where he doesn't feel presidential, but he has to portray that confidence so that the rest of the world can have confidence in him and his abilities as a World leader.

I thought that was a great lesson for entrepreneurs about the importance of portraying a confident image to their clients and potential clients. I wrote a post about it on another of my blogs. You can read it in its entirety here.

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Home Staging expert Debra Gould also known as The Staging Diva is president of Six Elements Inc., a leading home staging company that provides free information to raise the standards in the industry and build awareness amongst homeowners and their real estate agents about the benefits of decorating a house to sell. Debra Gould developed The Staging Diva Program to create opportunities for others to grow their own profitable home staging, real estate enhancement businesses.

You're Invited to the Staging Diva Birthday Blow Out Bash!

2008-10-27T12:25:00.004-05:00

Today is my 49th birthday. There, I said it! For some reason, I'm having a hard time with this one. Come to think of it, turning 39 for me was harder than turning 40 was too.

In any case, to shake off my "I'm getting older" blues, I've decided to host a sale like never seen before at www.stagingdiva.com.

From today (October 27) until midnight on October 31, all Staging Diva home staging products will be discounted by 10% - 30%.

To learn more about all of the Staging Diva home staging resources available, and for more information about this blow out sale, visit the Staging Diva Store.

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Home Staging expert Debra Gould also known as The Staging Diva is president of Six Elements Inc., a leading home staging company that provides free information to raise the standards in the industry and build awareness amongst homeowners and their real estate agents about the benefits of decorating a house to sell. Debra Gould developed The Staging Diva Program to create opportunities for others to grow their own profitable home staging, real estate enhancement businesses.

Avoid the free estimate trap!

2008-10-12T23:11:00.005-05:00

I have heard countless stories of home stagers' dreams crashing down because they have ended up burnt out and broke after giving their advice away for free.

When you're running from one free consultation to the next, you are spreading your knowledge and expertise with the possibility of never getting paid work from the effort.

I developed the "Staging Diva Sales Script: How to Avoid the Free Estimate Trap and Turn Homeowners into Home Staging Customers in One Phone Conversation" to help home stagers avoid that trap. Read more about this invaluable home staging resource on the Business of Home Staging blog.

Home Stagers are Hot!

2006-10-09T15:44:00.000-05:00

Home staging combines the popular topic of decorating/design, with the even sexier topic of making money in real estate. In other words, home staging is HOT!

Don’t just take my word for it, Entrepreneur Magazine identified home staging as one of the hottest growth businesses, and the Staging Diva Home Staging Training Program is the only home staging business opportunity they’ve recognized in their two 2006 guides to business startups.

How do you use being in a hot business to your advantage?

If you’re a new (or even established) home stager, you can use being in a hot profession to grab the limelight and stand out from the crowd at your next networking event (or almost any other gathering you happen to find yourself at.

Read more about how to leverage being in a hot field if you're a home stager.

Discover the ONLY Home Staging Business Training Program taught by a seasoned entrepreneur who has successfully grown her own home staging business (not as a side-line to selling real estate) — The Staging Diva Training Program. With an MBA in marketing and hundreds of home staging clients, internationally recognized home staging expert Debra Gould, The Staging Diva, is uniquely qualified to train others how to start and grow a profitable home staging business.

Feeling isolated in your home staging business?

2006-07-07T21:34:00.000-05:00

The Staging Diva Network is an online discussion group for Graduates of the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program.

It's a supportive community where you can share the joys and challenges of building your business.

I answer home staging business building questions within this forum and you also get advice from others in the group.

You'll learn lots and feel inspired by the discussions with your fellow Staging Diva Graduates. They come from all over the US and Canada, from major urban centers and smaller cities. All have knowledge and encouragement to share.

Right now we're discussing things like negotiating commissions, speaking at events, challenges on first projects, helpful resources and more.

Learn more about the Staging Diva Network Online Discussion Group!
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Home Staging expert Debra Gould also known as The Staging Diva is president of Six Elements Inc., a leading home staging company that provides free information to raise the standards in the industry and build awareness amongst homeowners and their real estate agents about the benefits of decorating a house to sell. Debra Gould developed The Staging Diva Program to create opportunities for others to grow their own profitable home staging, real estate enhancement businesses.

Debra Gould stages home to sell $71,000 over asking

2006-03-03T10:30:00.000-05:00

This home sold in days for $71,000 over the asking price. The owner credits my home staging advice for getting them so much money, but I didn't even have to personally decorate the house to sell!

They called me for a home staging consultation many months before they were going on the market. The husband and wife followed me around for 3 hours as I went through each room with them in detail. The goal was turning their house into a home that would appeal to the greatest number of potential buyers.

I measured most of their furniture and told them how to rearrange it to create an inviting sense of space. I recommended a new floor and vanity for the powder room, and new lighting for many of the others. I picked new paint colors for the whole house, told them where to get new cabinet hardware for their kitchen and told them what clutter to put in storage. Just like a critical buyer would, I opened every closet and cupboard and told them how to rearrange things to look like they had more than enough room for everything.

They had quite a "To Do" list by the end of my visit, but following through on it really paid off for them! Many homeowners won't have the energy to do all the things I suggest so they get my team to handle it for them. But these folks wanted to save money. Yet, they were smart enough to realize that investing in three hours of a home staging expert's time was a worthwhile investment. In fact I was able to dissuade them from a costly renovation they were contemplating before the sale. That piece of advice alone saved them thousands of dollars!

Bottom line, they invested $900 in my advice, spent about $5,000 on the changes I recommended and sold for an extra $71,000. How many other legal investments do you know of, that produce such a significant return so quickly?

I teach my Staging Diva students the techniques I use during a home staging consultation in my course "Taking the Mystery Out of a Home Staging Consultation." It also includes a critical discussion of how I turn a prospect into a paying client!

You can order a recording of the Staging Diva course and complete course notes along with The Staging Diva Checklist for only $179. An amount you'll make back with your first client!

This course will help get you ready to really build your business for the spring 2006 real estate market! Here's what one of my students had to say about it:

"I enjoyed every minute of the class. Your notes have me totally pumped."

Lori Mofford, Lorinda Moffard Interiors

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Home Staging expert Debra Gould also known as The Staging Diva is president of Six Elements Inc., a leading home staging company that provides free information to raise the standards in the industry and build awareness amongst homeowners and their real estate agents about the benefits of decorating a house to sell. Debra Gould developed The Staging Diva Program to create opportunities for others to grow their own profitable home staging, real estate enhancement businesses.

Home Stager Debra Gould shares her money making secrets with The Wall Street Journal

2006-02-20T14:05:00.000-05:00

Home Staging expert Debra Gould of Six Elements Inc. shares her money making secrets with The Wall Street Journal in Tricks of the Trade "Setting up a Home for Sale".

Gould started decorating client's homes to sell after staging 5 of her own over an 8 year period. Her number one trick to making money in real estate is buying the ugliest house in the best location.

Then she turns her home staging talents to restyling the ugly bits to appeal to the greatest number of buyers when it's time to sell. She has done the same for hundreds of clients over the past 3 years. Most earn somewhere between $10,000 and $50,000 profit on Debra Gould's Home Staging services.

Read Debra Gould's interview with Hannah Kate Kinnersely of The Wall Street Journal.

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Home Staging expert Debra Gould also known as The Staging Diva is president of Six Elements Inc., a leading home staging company that provides free information to raise home staging industry standards and build awareness amongst homeowners and their real estate agents about the benefits of decorating a house to sell.

Debra Gould developed The Staging Diva Program to create opportunities for others to grow their own profitable home staging, real estate enhancement businesses.

10 reasons to look at home staging as a great new business opportunity

2006-02-12T13:55:00.000-05:00

If you have a flair for decorating and you're interested in real estate, Home Staging could be the right business for you.

Home Staging is also called House Fluffing, Real Estate Enhancement, Home Styling. This service business is based on the art of decorating a home to sell quickly and for top dollar.

And Home Staging is a great service business to run from a home office for these 10 reasons:

1. Home Staging is a low cost business to start.

You don't need to invest in any inventory (unless you want to). You also don't need a store front or expensive advertising to grow your home staging or house fluffing business successfully.

2. It does not require specialized training or official credentials because there are none for the Home Staging industry.

Despite what some organizations claim for their own marketing reasons, there are no official credentials to be a Home Stager. You can call yourself a Professional Home Stager today and no one can say anything about it. Of course calling yourself a Home Stager doesn't mean you'll automatically know how to price your services, build your business and get clients.

These are important skills to acquire if you want to be financially successful. The relevant point here is that you don't have to undergo years or even months of training to get into this business.

In fact, The Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program will teach you how to grow a profitable and creatively satisfying business in only 10 hours! But you need to already have a basic talent for how to arrange furniture in a room because this is not a hands-on decorating course.

3. There is no need to invest in inventory or recruit others into the business. Home Staging is not a multi-level marketing scheme.

If you've researched the subject of home-based business, you've probably encountered lots of schemes that want you to buy inventory and recruit others into the business too.

These are multi-level marketing businesses. Home Staging is not a multi-level marketing business. You don't have to buy anything and you don't have to recruit anyone else to join the business. This is something you can do on your own without any recruiting pressures. You aren't expected to pester every friend and casual acquaintance you've ever had to invest in your "unique opportunity."

4. The financial rewards are there if you work hard to build your Home Staging, House Styling business.

Home Stagers create real wealth for their clients by effectively decorating their homes to sell quickly and for top dollar. Once clients realize the significant return they can make on their investment in a home stager's services, they don't feel it's unreasonable to spend hundreds of dollars for even two hours of stager's time.

With real estate markets slowing in many parts of the US and Canada, demand for (and interest in) home staging services will grow.

Les Christie of CNNMoney.com interviewed Home Staging expert Debra Gould on how home staging could give homeowners an edge as real estate markets slow down.

5. You can still have time for your family or other demands while running a Home Staging or Real Estate Enhancement or Styling business.

You control when you meet clients. If you only want to work during the day when your children are at school you can arrange it that way. "I have an opening for you on Wednesday morning at 9:00 AM" works well!

Or, if you want to start this business on the side while you already have a full time job, then you can meet your clients on evenings and weekends. Many of them will really appreciate it as they work themselves.

6. As a Home Stager, you will have daily opportunities to be creative and meet interesting people.

Home Staging projects very much depend on the creative solutions you develop for your clients. You get to see the end result very quickly and meet lots of different people as you deal with real estate agents and homeowners.

7. You will enjoy variety and a sense of adventure in a Home Staging or House Fluffing business.

Home Staging projects are very short term in nature, lasting days or a couple of weeks. Each house is different and you'll be visiting streets and neighborhoods you didn't know existed as you build your home staging client base.

8. You can control how fast you want to grow your Home Staging business.

Being your own boss, you are in control of how fast you want to grow your home staging business. There are no outside income pressures because this is not a multi-level marketing scheme.

9. You decide who you want to work with and what kind of Home Staging projects you want to take on.

Since a Home Staging project is short term in nature, if you find yourself with a "client from hell," you know they won't be in your life very long. If you find there are certain real estate agents that don't share your approach to business, or treat you with less respect than you deserve, don't work with them again! There are thousands of real estate agents to choose from in most markets. Did you know that in California alone there are 200,000 agents? Clearly not all of them are equally good or equally pleasant to be around!

10. Since you visit clients in their homes, you do not need to worry about what your own home looks like to run a successful home-based business in Home Staging.

Nobody needs to know where your home office is and they certainly don't need to visit your home. So, don't worry if your house isn't a reflection of what you want to present to Home Staging clients. As long as you always present yourself in a professional way, that's the important thing.

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Home Staging expert Debra Gould also known as The Staging Diva is president of Six Elements Inc., a leading home staging company that provides free information to raise home staging industry standards and build awareness amongst homeowners and their real estate agents about the benefits of decorating a house to sell.

Debra Gould developed The Staging Diva Program to create opportunities for others to grow their own profitable home staging, real estate enhancement businesses.

CNN Money interviews Debra Gould, The Staging Diva

2006-01-16T01:52:00.000-05:00

Les Christie wrote a story January 13, 2006 on selling a home when the market turns south, entitled "5 slow-market strategies: It takes a little effort to move a home when the market has turned."

Basically, he identifies 5 effective, yet inexpensive, measures a homeowner can take to make their property more desirable and valuable.

Any guess what number one was? Yes, Home Staging and he interviewed home staging expert Debra Gould of Six Elements about what a homeowner can do on their own and how a professional home stager can help.

You can read the full article here.

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Home Staging expert Debra Gould, also known as The Staging Diva, is president of Six Elements Inc., a leading home staging company that provides free information to raise the standards in the industry and build awareness amongst homeowners and their real estate agents about the benefits of decorating a house to sell.

Debra Gould developed The Staging Diva Program to create opportunities for others to grow their own profitable home staging, real estate enhancement businesses.

Should I go to Interior Design School or become a Home Stager?

2006-01-08T00:29:00.000-05:00

Many women approaching their 40s write to me wondering whether they should go to Interior Design School or take a home staging business training program instead. I love that question because I struggled with the idea of leaving a successful career and going back to school to study interior design myself many times over a 20 year period.

I interviewed a number of schools at various points but never followed through on actually applying. I already had a BA and an MBA and years of experience behind me too. The thought of being a full time student for 2 to 4 years, with a bunch of kids 20 years younger than myself was not that appealing. And the cost was huge considering the significant income I'd be giving up over that long a time.

Now that I've staged hundreds of homes in less than 3 years I'm so happy I went with my instincts! By the way, you wouldn't believe the number of interior design graduates that have approached me during that time to hire them for Six Elements Inc., my home staging company! Most seem to be working as sales people in furniture stores and looking for a way out.

In a nutshell here's what I learned being a Professional Home Stager instead of being an "interior designer":

• Being a home stager you get lots more projects to work on because they are shorter term in nature. So, lots more variety.

• Being a home stager your clients give you creative control because they know they don't really have to live with what you do to their homes. So, you get to be creative and make the decisions.

• Being a home stager you get interior redesign and color projects because your staging clients love what you do with the house they're selling and ask you to work on the one they're moving into.

• Being a home stager you get to work with the kinds of people who wouldn't normally hire an interior designer or decorator, in other words a much larger target market.

• The other important thing I learned, is that I would have hated being an interior designer! It's really frustrating doing a beautiful room only to see your client later clutter it up with additions that clash with everything you've done. Or, having to sit there for hours while they can't decide which fabric they want to pick.

I love having the creative control I get from staging houses. I get to execute my vision because clients realize I'm decorating their house to sell, not for them to live in it. I know there is no way I could have done hundreds of homes in so short a period with an interior design degree fresh out of school.

A graphic designer in New York, was considering going to the New York School of Interior Design in January. She decided to go through the Staging Diva Program in December. Here's what she wrote me after completing the courses:

Debra, you are a force of nature and a formidable combination of smarts from education and excellent marketing experience, business savvy, practicality, self-and-sanity preservation and super-focused energy. You do what you do with generosity, high ethical standards, common sense and a can-do spirit that is irresistible. My background is that of a designer, still, you provided information about applying that knowledge to this business, without which, my talents would be hardly useful at all. If you were a publicly traded company, I'd invest in your stock. You are a winner.

With highest regards,
Kathleen F.

Granted because I've never gone through an Interior Design program, (or ever taken an interior design or color course!), I can't tell you if a chair is Louis the XV, or draw plans to build an addition off the back of a house, but I don't miss having those skills!

The kind of people that hire me (upper middle class, usually professionals) don't really care! They hire me because they know I'm an expert in decorating a house to sell because they've visited my three website, they've heard about me from their neighbors or real estate agents or they've read about Six Elements in the media.

For the things I don't know, I'd happily refer them to a trained interior designer! I know they have many skills that I don't. But like I said, I learned I wouldn't want to be an interior designer so that's OK by me. And, it was a relief to finally let go of all the wondering about it!

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Debra Gould is President of Six Elements Inc. an internationally recognized Home Staging company. She is also the creator of The Staging Diva Program which includes training, licensing and many other services to support women who have always dreamed of turning their passion for decorating into a home-based business.

The Staging Diva Program is the only Home Staging Business opportunity recommended in Entrepreneur Magazine's 2006 Be Your Own Boss Guide to the best businesses to start-- the same magazine that called Home Staging one of the hottest new businesses!

Get the Recording of Debra Gould, The Staging Diva

2005-12-19T11:09:00.000-05:00

What a hectic time of year! Amazingly 70% of the people who signed up for my Free Staging Diva Preview Session on December 16 made it!

"Great Staging Diva Preview Session last night! Thanks again for your generosity of spirit." (Jenni Walker, NM)

It's not too late to get the recording of the call. You'll hear my story of how I left a successful career to reinvent myself as a Home Stager and how quickly the business has grown in less than 3 years. I answer lots of questions from the audience about what it's like to be in the business and how The Staging Diva Training Program works.

Order your Free Recording of the Staging Diva Preview Call today by emailing me and put "Preview Recording" in the subject line. No obligation to buy anything, it's my Christmas gift to you.

Free Staging Diva Preview Call

2005-12-15T10:56:00.000-05:00

If you'd like to attend a Free Staging Diva Preview Call to meet Debra Gould, The Staging Diva, there's still space in our last session for 2005 on Friday December 16 at 8PM (eastern), 7PM (central), 6PM (mountain), 5PM (pacific).

You'll hear Debra's personal story of how she took a huge leap of faith and left a successful career and reinvented herself as a home staging expert.

Less than three years later she was able to earn over $10,000 in a single month in home staging consulting fees! In the Staging Diva Home Staging Training Program, you'll learn how!

To join the Free Staging Diva Preview Call, email sales@sixelements.com and put "Dec. 16" in the subject line. We'll immediately send you the call-in details to join us!

Check out the new 2006 course schedule, registrations are underway for Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training for January and February.

Last chance to sign up for Staging Diva Training at this low price

2005-12-04T22:39:00.000-05:00

Staging Diva Training Program pricing is going up January 1, 2006. I know it's hard to think of investing in yet another thing with Christmas around the corner.

Consider this, are the other things you are buying (or what others will buy you), more important than investing in your dream of a new and more creative life?

If you won't or can't buy it yourself, perhaps you can get your loved ones to chip in and buy you the amazing gift of the knowledge you need to start your own home staging (house fluffing) business in the new year.

"Your course showed up like a miracle for me yesterday!"
Jan Baker, San Diego, CA

The Staging Diva Training Program consists of 5 courses; each one accompanied by detailed notes. The course dates for December are booked, but if you order the Training Program now you can get access to recordings of all the classes plus the notes at the current price.

Live classes will be offered again in January, but the price will be higher than it is today.

Visit http://www.sixelements.com/stagingdivafiveregistration.html for full course details and registration.

Entrepreneur Magazine recognizes Staging Diva Business Opportunity

2005-11-20T22:53:00.000-05:00

The Staging Diva Training Program is the only Home Staging Business opportunity listed in the 2006 Entrepreneur's Be Your Own Boss Magazine!

Home staging, also known as house fluffing or real estate staging, is an extremely low cost business to get into. The trick to staying in it is knowing how to price yourself properly and how to market your services. That's why that is the foundation of the Staging Diva Training Program.

I've got an MBA and over 20 years experience in marketing. I've started more than one business which has generated a six figure income since becoming an entrepreneur in 1989. I bring all this knowledge plus what I've learned growing a home staging business from nothing to international recognition in only two years to my Staging Diva students.

Check out what some students have to say about their own experience with the Staging Diva Training Program:

"I just hung up from our first Staging Diva TeleClass and I loved it! I can't wait for our next session! Thank you for helping me achieve my dreams." Leah Fritz, Kenosha, WI

"Thank you so much for your generosity and being a God Send."
Cynthia Savoie, Houston, TX

"I can't thank you enough for your support, encouragement and commitment to the serious growth of others." Derrian Smith, Dressed to Sell Inc., Morrisdale, NB

"I was so inspired and strengthened by our coaching call today. I have learned volumes from your Staging Diva TeleClasses, but today I had the pleasure and privilege of learning more about your character, which I must say is FIRST CLASS. I tip my hat to you Debra and look forward to our next coaching session."
Janet Ravka, HomeSensational.com (Staging Diva Business Accelerator Program participant)

Read what more students say about the program. Will 2006 be the year you finally take action on your dreams? If you're leaning in that direction you can save money by signing up for Staging Diva Training before the 2006 price increase!

Staged in a day and sold in three!

2005-11-16T22:29:00.000-05:00

In my last post I told you about the house I staged (from empty to fully furnished) in 24 hours for a woman who had suffered a terrible stroke. Well I just heard from her today! Not only did she get 99% of her asking price, her house sold in only three days!

I'm especially pleased because she really needed to get her money out fast. November has not been a kind month for people selling homes. Although I live in a city with a hot real estate market, things really cooled off in November. So I'm relieved that this client did the right thing and got me in immediately before her house hit the market (though more than 24 hours notice would have been nice!).

I continue to get calls from frantic homeowners with properties that haven't sold who want me to come and stage their homes before they put them back on the market for the spring. It's a pity more don't realize that staging will cost less than their first price reduction... not to mention the stress of trying to live in a show home week after week, or month after month, without an offer!

Adventures of a Staging Diva

2005-11-12T23:38:00.000-05:00

This week was quite the adventure in Home Staging. Imagine furnishing a house you've never been in with furniture you have to order by phone, all to complete a project in 24 hours!

About a month ago I volunteered to stage a house for a woman who had suffered a terrible stroke. I felt it was the least I could do considering her situation.

This past Tuesday I learned that the house was going to be photographed and put on the market within two days.

There was no way for me to go see the house that day and I knew I had to figure out a way to deliver on my promise. I called the painter to get rough room dimensions, the shipping department to see how they could manage to deliver furniture within 24 hours and my account person at the rental company to order everything from what was immediately available in furniture and accessories.

Everyone really pulled together for this good cause. By the next morning the furniture was on the truck and despite an awful rain storm, thunder and lightening and a tornado that touched down only miles away, we managed to get everything into the house by about 1 PM. When I left a few hours later, the furniture and accessories were all in place and the art was hung.

Cleaning and final repairs were completed later that day and well into the night.

By Thursday the house was ready for photography and went on the market as planned. Honestly I felt like we were doing one of those TV shows where they have to transform a house over the weekend, only we had only one day!

I always tell Staging Diva students that you need to be able to work well under pressure and be very decisive in this business. This project was certainly a test of my own abilities to do just that.

In my course "The Business of Home Staging" I discuss pricing strategies and caution my students against working for free. However, I do believe there's a place for worthwhile projects that help others who may desperately need our services but who aren't in a position to pay for them.

I got more satisfaction out of staging this house than many of my paying client projects because I knew it could make a significant difference in the quality of life for the homeowner. She can't work the way she used to and she needs ongoing medical care. Knowing my efforts can add $10,000 to $30,000 to the selling price of her house is very gratifying.

I'm especially thankful to my suppliers who helped turn an empty house into a showing ready home within a day!

Learning the Home Staging Business

2005-11-06T15:52:00.000-05:00

There are really expensive home staging and interior redesign courses out there. On top of the course fee you have to be able to check out of your life for three to five days, possibly paying also for travel and accomodations.

But it's not just about cost and time! You also need to make sure you are REALLY going to learn to start and grow your home staging business.

That's the basis of the Staging Diva Training Program and why I offer it in a "teleclass" format which means my students don't have to leave home to learn. It's just like being on a telephone conference call, with me and 11 other students from all over North America.

Staging Diva students already have a knack for decorating. What they're really missing is practical "how to" business advice to help them grow a profitable home staging business.

With 5 courses in the Staging Diva Training Program, students learn everything they need to get started, how to price their services, market to four key target audiences, etc.

I'm especially proud that The Staging Diva Training Program is the only home staging program recognized by Entrepreneur Magazine in their Business Opportunities listings!

If you're wondering what it's like to attend a Staging Diva TeleClass, here's your chance to try an Introductory Session FREE on November 22!

Ask me questions about the home staging / house fluffing business and learn more about the Staging Diva Training Program. It's a great opportunity to experience what learning by phone with me is like. I also share my personal story of how I left a lucrative career to take a huge leap of faith and follow my dreams. In under three years I became an internationally known home stager, featured in numerous magazine and newspaper articles. I've even been on HGTV twice!

Your only cost for this FREE Staging Diva Introductory Session is your time and the long distance charges for a call to Portland OR (probably under $2 depending on your long distance plan). Here's what one past attendee had to say:

"The call last night was fantastic. You really answered our questions and I was relieved to hear that you run your own home staging business during business hours only, not on evenings and weekends! With a growing and busy family, I was concerned about whether I would be able to build my home staging business around their needs. I'm really looking forward to joining your Staging Diva Program." (Cathy Schneider)

The Free Staging Diva Introductory Session November 22, 2005 is limited to 20 participants (actual courses are smaller with only 12 allowed). The Staging Diva Free Introductory Session lasts about 45 minutes and starts at: 8 PM (eastern), 7 PM (central), 6 PM (mountain) and 5Pm (pacific).

If you want to attend, send an email with "Nov. 22" in the subject line. You will receive confirmation and your special password to join the free call.

Sign up as soon as possible as there are only 20 spots and there's always a waiting list!

Beginner Home Stagers worry they'll have nothing to recommend

2005-10-16T18:21:00.000-05:00

One of the concerns or questions that always comes up with my new Staging Diva students is

What do I do if the house looks so great there is nothing for me to recommend?

Trust me, that won't happen! Every house has something that needs to be moved around, removed or added before it goes on the market.

Decorating to sell is not the same as decorating to live which is why there is always something to do. Take this living room at right. All the contents were already in the house when I arrived. But not in the same places as you see here!

At the start of my Home Staging by Design client consultation, it was difficult to walk through the living room because of the placement of the chairs. The corner to the left of the fireplace was empty and the plant that currently occupies that space was in an awkward spot in the crowded dining room. The fireplace mantle was covered in family photos and figurines and the hearth was covered in small plants. There was no lamp beside the couch, I found this beautiful one in a basement guest room!

While what we do may seem obvious to us at times, it isn't obvious to the clients we serve. They don't bring the same eye to their home that we do for two key reasons:

very few home staging clients can look at their own homes as objectively as they should before putting them on the market

the general population doesn't have the same design and color sense we do

If you would like more direction about what to do in a home staging client consultation, you might be interested in "Taking the Mystery out of Home Staging Client Consultations." You can take this course live with The Staging Diva in one evening by phone from the comfort of your own home.

Real estate markets beginning to cool

2005-10-12T07:26:00.000-05:00

It's so interesting how the media continue to report outstanding real estate results. Meanwhile in the real world the market is beginning to cool in many areas.

I've seen Toronto slow visibly in the last two weeks with many properties advertising new lower prices. Many agents had almost no one show up for their open houses this past weekend. Granted it was Thanksgiving in Canada, but in a very brisk Toronto market that doesn't usually slow things down too much.

In tandem with this slow down in home sales my phone is starting to ring off the hook with new clients who didn't feel they'd need a stager because the market was so hot and now weeks later, want me to come in and help them.

I heard from two of my Staging Diva students last night. One in Nevada and the other in San Diego. Both report the market is slowing down there as well. And they should know, they are real estate agents as well as home stagers.

Frankly, it's not a surprise. There is so much uncertainty right now with all these natural disasters, threats of terrorism, the war, high oil prices, talk of increasing interest rates and lower than expected job figures. Is it any wonder many people are taking a pause before jumping into purchasing the next bigger house?

All this bodes well for growth in the home staging business. You can read more about why home staging works in both "buyers" and "sellers" real estate markets at http://www.sixelements.com/housefluffing.html.

By the way, I wasn't REALLY suggesting the real estate market was going down the toilet with my choice of image for this story! I've staged many powder rooms but I really love how this one immediately screams "quality home" with very few props.

Did anyone tape the story on home staging on 20/20 October 7? I'd love to see a copy of it.

Free Staging Diva Introductory Session

2005-09-24T17:26:00.000-05:00

If you're wondering what it's like to attend a Staging Diva TeleClass with Debra Gould, here's your chance to try an Introductory Session FREE!

Ask questions about the home staging / house fluffing business and learn more about the Staging Diva Training Program. It's a great opportunity to experience what learning by phone with Debra is like.

Your only cost is your time and the long distance charges (probably under $2 depending on your long distance plan).

Here's what other attendees have to say:

"Thank you for the introductory session. You made the call "feel" as if you would take all time we needed to answer our questions." Helen Higgins (Michigan)

"Your confidence and passion really came through in the introductory session. I felt empowered to do this and not quite as scared. I decided to sign up for the Staging Diva Program because I'll never know if I can build a home staging business if I don't make this investment in ME and my future. Now that I've completed the first two courses I must tell you how polished and professional I have found it so far! " Nancy W. (Newmarket)

The FREE Staging Diva Introductory Session is limited to 20 participants (actual courses are smaller with only 12 allowed). The Staging Diva Free Introductory Session lasts about 45 minutes and starts at:

8 pm (eastern)
7 pm (central)
6 pm (mountain)
5 pm (pacific)

Monday - Oct. 17, 2005. FULL!!!

Thursday - Nov. 17, 2005. NEW DATE!!!

If you want to attend, send an email with your preferred date in the subject line. You will receive confirmation and your special password to call in and join the free session.

Sign up as soon as possible to reserve your space as there are only 20 per session so that everyone has a chance to ask a question.

What is a Staging Diva Home Staging TeleClass?

2005-09-17T16:00:00.000-05:00

The Staging Diva Home Staging / House Fluffing Business Training Program is designed to get you quickly up and running in your own profitable home staging / house fluffing business.

Debra Gould "The Staging Diva" will teach you how to turn your passion for color, decorating and real estate into a career you can run at low cost from your own home office. And you can run your business around the needs of your family or even another job because she'll tell you how!

All courses are offered in a "TeleClass" format to enable students to participate from anywhere in the world— though most come from the United States and Canada.

Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training - Quick Facts

5 courses in total, register one-by-one or save $100 signing up for the whole program
All courses are taught live by Debra Gould by phone, called a "TeleClass"
A TeleClass is just like a conference call
No special equipment needed, just a phone!
You will call a Portland phone number and be given a password to join the class
You get detailed Staging Diva course notes by email in advance of each class
Each class takes place over one evening (90 - 120 minutes depending on the number of questions students ask)
No travel or room bookings = less time and lower cost
Learn from the comfort of home
Speak directly with The Staging Diva, Debra Gould and learn from her client experiences
Ask your own questions or just listen if you don't want to speak
Learn from the questions and observations of other students too
Class size limited to 12 so you can get personal attention
Participate from anywhere in the world!

"I thought the class was wonderful, informative and included a great group of women asking all of the questions that I wanted to ask." Valerie Q. (San Diego)

Check out the latest Staging Diva Training course schedule and see how you can join in on home staging / house fluffing business training. You can get your own business up and running in no time because The Staging Diva Debra Gould will show you how!

Sign up today as class sizes are very limited to ensure everyone gets personal attention.

New Staging Diva Course Dates for October/November

2005-09-15T13:23:00.000-05:00

Yes, this is the same room shown in the "before" shot below in the posting "Taking the Mystery out of Home Staging Consultations."

Isn't it amazing what can be accomplished with new paint, lighting and furnishings! Everything in the photo at right was provided by the Staging Diva Debra Gould, for Six Elements Inc. as part of a total Home Staging project.

If you've been wondering how to get into the home staging / house fluffing business, why not learn from someone who has built an incredibly successful home staging business from scratch?

"Your Staging Diva program totally exceeded my expectations. I almost went to Florida for a three day program and I'm so glad I stayed home and learned from you in the TeleClass format instead— especially when I realized others in your course had already done the other program and were studying with you to really learn how to build their business," says Lori Sullivan, Inspired Staging LLC (Chester, MD)

The Staging Diva Home Staging / House Fluffing business training courses were sold out in July, August and September. New dates for October and November have just been added to the schedule. Either series will have you ready to start your own home staging / house fluffing business in a matter of weeks.

And, the best part is you can learn from internationally recognized home staging expert Debra Gould personally from the comfort of your own home— which significantly reduces your cost. There's nothing high tech about it. All you need is a phone and email to attend Staging diva TeleClasses which are really just like a conference call.

Taking the Mystery out of Home Staging Consultations

2005-09-10T21:42:00.000-05:00

Yes, sometimes this is what you have to work with! Honestly, some rooms just make me want to run screaming from the house. But, I never let it show! At some point, I manage to see past the filth, the clutter, the broken furniture and ugly paint and imagine the room's potential.

To help my Staging Diva students understand what to do when they're faced with rooms like these, and the many other challenges we face as home stagers or house fluffers, I've created a new course called:

"Taking the Mystery Out of Home Staging Consultations" and it covers:

How to turn a potential buyer into a paying client
How to avoid the "free estimate" trap
How to dress for a home staging / house fluffing consultation
What to bring to a home staging / house fluffing consultation
How to start the home staging / house fluffing consultation
"Who" moves "what" and "when"
What to look for during a home staging / house fluffing consultation
How to provide house showing survival tips
How to end your consultation and pave the way for future sales
Don't chase your money - How to get paid immediately
The 2nd visit - Essential ingredients for your home staging "tool kit"

"The most common sense approach I've seen on the subject of Home Staging client consultations," says Deidra Murphy, We Design Dreams (ON).

All Staging Diva Home Staging / House Fluffing Business Training courses are taught in a TeleClasses format, which is really just like a conference call. It allows me to teach all my students personally, no matter where they live. Courses include detailed notes, which you get by email in advance so that you can refer to them while I'm teaching and not feel like you have to write down everything I say. They are also a great resource for later as you get more involved in client projects.

For this new course, I'm also including the Staging Diva Home Staging Checklist in the course price of only $139. The Checklist alone normally sells for $70. You can also take the course for only $119 if you sign up for all 5 courses in the Staging Diva Program.

Home staging for out of town clients

2005-08-20T18:06:00.000-05:00

The fall home staging / house fluffing market is really heating up. I'm fully booked for the next 4 weeks with client projects.

An interesting development, I've got three overseas clients. One in Hong Kong, Thailand and another in England. After years of having tenants living in their Toronto homes, they've decided to sell. This makes my job especially interesting since tenants don't always take the best care of a place. Repairs and painting are always the first steps, once they move out, followed by a specialized cleaning team.

I love doing empty houses, and when the owner is away I really have complete creative control. I'm starting with an empty shell just waiting for my vision of what the home can be.

I usually stick to a neutral color palette— but not always, as you can see in this bathroom. Here the 1920s tiles and fixtures are set off with a colorful shower curtain, bold towels and a rich gold on the walls. It creates a "look" instead of saying "this old bathroom has got to go!" As it happens, this bathroom was in a house I did that sold for $100,000 more than the client thought they would get! But I digress. Back to my three overseas clients...

Once I've created the color palette for the home and the whole place is repainted, I have the window coverings added. Then I move in rental furniture and accessories to create the dream home potential buyers can fall in love with. Every detail must be attended to and so much has to be planned. After all, once you've got the truck there full of furniture is not the time to realize you forgot a chair or a lamp you needed for the corner.

It can be intimidating furnishing an entire house from scratch when you've never done it before. It takes me about 3 hours to choose furniture and accessories for a 4 bedroom house. I take lots of measurements ahead of time and draw rough floor plans. I really pay attention to where walls jut out and exactly how many inches I have to work with in smaller areas. Imagine bringing in a dresser and realizing it doesn't fit where you thought it would. Or worse, they can't even get it up the stairs because you forgot to consider that!

I also bring my digital photos of the home for reference. Sometimes I'm choosing furniture for three houses at once and I need to keep them straight. Photos really help bring life to my floor plans and measurements. It reminds me of the mood of the particular house; I believe you really have to work with that. If you're staging houses of different architectural styles and ages, you can't finish them all the same. It won't work.

You know how when you go shopping for clothes, you try on a bunch of items and then convince yourself that they'll be more comfortable later. If the cut or color is wrong or for some indefinable reason the item just isn't "you" it sits in the closet for years until you have the heart to finally accept that it was a mistake and give it away. But sometimes you try on that special item that immediately feels like you've always worn it. It looks like yours even though it still has all the tags attached.

That's how I feel about home staging. Our job is to find the things that really fit the house, that feel like they belong there. It's what creates that indefinable feeling of rightness and homebuyers respond to it. They "try the house on" as it were, and feel like it's already theirs. That's when the emotional connection is made and thoughts turn to offers!

So whether I'm working with a local client or one that is overseas, my first priority is to really understand the house itself. To really get a feeling for it so that I can furnish it in a way that fits.

Working with a client that is out of town requires additional project management time so it's important to prepare your client for that cost of your time. You need to keep them in the loop as the project progresses as it requires a huge leap of faith on their part to turn their home over to someone else to decorate to sell in their absence.

I admire their courage and feel a profound obligation to do their home justice while they're away. It's not all about measurements, floor plans and scheduling (those these are critical) it's also about hanging out in the space and understanding and seeing its potential. At the risk of taking an analogy too far, how would the house look if dressed itself? What mood fits and feels natural?

Yes, I do stage homes for specific target markets but this is still part of the same equation. The house and all of its contents have to feel right for potential buyers to really respond the way you want them too. I avoid anything that looks overly contrived (like a tray with a tea pot on the edge of a bed), it just ruins the magic! Perhaps that will be the subject of another post... my top ten most hated staging tactics! Send me yours and I'll compile a master list!

Keep your Home Staging business moving forward

2005-07-17T17:40:00.000-05:00

If you've already started your own home staging, house fluffing, real estate staging business, or you're just in the early planning stages, you know how hard it can be to stay focused on your goals.

You've probably experienced how one day you can be completely inspired and the next you're not sure why you are doing this.

That's why I just created the Staging Diva Weekly Biz Booster Series. It's a weekly series of messages from me that you get by email. Each one has ideas and inspiration to keep you moving forward and growing your own Home Staging House Fluffing business.

It's not easy being an entrepreneur. I know because I've been supporting my family as an entrepreneur since 1989. I've started lots of businesses (home staging is my favorite by the way!) and in the Staging Diva Weekly Biz Booster I share some of the techniques I used to grow from nothing into international recognition as a professional Home Stager in only two years.

When you order the Staging Diva Weekly Biz Booster Series, you get a total of 21 personal emails from me. Each one has a business building idea but I don't throw them at you all at once! You get one installment in the series every 7 days. That gives you time to think about the ideas I'm sharing with you and even time to try them out.

I love your Staging Diva Biz Boosters! They are very uplifting and make me want to follow your suggestions and continue on with new ideas each week. Thanks for sharing all of your knowledge! I'm really excited about growing my Home Staging Business! Danielle Oliver, Destination Sold (Evansville, IN)

You can order the Staging Diva Weekly Biz Booster Series from www.sixelements.com, at the introductory price of only $25. Imagine, $25 for 21 ways to grow your business and stay motivated to reach your home staging business goals!

"I don't need a home stager, I can do it myself"

2005-07-10T16:32:00.000-05:00

As a professional Home Stager, you will run into potential clients who tell you they don't need help. "After all," the homeowner says, "how hard can it be to get rid of clutter, clean the house and buy some flowers?"

Of course, that's not all a Home Stager or House Fluffer does. Plus, a professional Home Stager brings an objective eye that few homeowners have when contemplating their own beloved possessions!

I'd been getting various emails from Sandy who was trying to decide whether she needed my help. She told me she had already visited my site, www.sixelements.com and used my Free House Fluffing Tips to help prepare her own home for sale.

She proudly reported that she had used my tips and put extra furniture and clutter into storage, and that the house really looked great. She wasn't sure whether she should spend money having me come over for a Home Staging Consultation just to make sure everything looked as good as it could.

I should mention at this point that Sandy was about to put a $789,000 house on the market, so a few hundred dollars for a consultation was not beyond her financial reach!

I explained that my Home Staging By Design clients earn a minimum of $10,000 more when they sell their homes, some as high as $70,000 and $100,000 more. So, she could look at my fee as an investment with a potentially significant return. I also said that I had yet to see a house where I didn't have several ideas for how it could be transformed. And this is equally true of homes that others with less experience would say "showed well."

I don't believe in begging a potential client to hire me or giving them a "hard sell." I know what I do can literally change their life by giving them a cash windfall they never would have anticipated and I explain why. When you are selling a service, it's critical that you know the value of your time, otherwise you will never earn what you are worth. I talk a lot about pricing strategies in the Staging Diva course "The Business of Home Staging: What you need to start and how to grow."

Sandy called me back after a two weeks of doing her best to get her own house ready for sale. She decided to invest in two hours of my time to make sure she had done everything needed before putting her house on the market. Boy, was she in for a shock after I walked through her house!

I believe in being candid with a client, after all they are paying me for my honest opinion. I said, "from what you've told me you have obviously been busy and put much effort into getting your home ready. But, if you really want your house to sell for over three quarters of a million dollars, it has to look the part. Right now it doesn't look anywhere near the price range you're hoping for. Let me show you what I mean..."

From there I went through every room in detail and pointed out all the places she had obviously tried to save money. For example, her husband had painted the entire house stark white, dripping paint all over the wood trim, and skipping the second coat where clearly it was needed. Clearly it was an amateur paint job which might be fine in a $150,000 house but not when you're hoping for $789,000!

My recommendations included:

fixing up the sloppy paint (I wanted to get away from stark white and select a warm but neutral color palette for their entire home, but they didn't consider this an option)
minor repairs
replacing bargain basement light fixtures
eliminating at least 50% more of the contents (imagine how much stuff they must have had when they started!)
rearranging the remaining furnishings
purchasing some accessories
adding flowers
new paint color for the front door and porch and adding planted urns for curb appeal

Often I do all this work for my clients but there are always those who want to pay for my advice and then do the work themselves. This usually costs them more money in the long run, but they don't realize this until it's too late and they don't get the selling price they had hoped for!

If you're at all nervous about how to do a home staging consultation, I outline the whole process in detail in the Staging Diva Home Staging Checklist. It's the guide I follow with hundreds of clients for Six Elements Inc.

Here's what Sandy told me two weeks after my visit:

Thanks so much for your advice and honesty during our meeting. Your recommendations were a tremendous help, I only wish I had called you in a month sooner. I wasted so much time and made many wrong decisions because I couldn't be objective and I've never sold a house before. Who knows, my house might have already been sold by now and here I am not even on the market yet!

So, the next time a potential client says, "I can do it myself," point out the potential pitfalls and how you can help them get the most money for their home quickly.

Selling an empty house is a bad idea

2005-07-05T08:14:00.000-05:00

Selling an empty house, or one with lots of empty rooms is almost always a bad idea— especially if you want to get the highest selling price possible!

If you're a home stager or house fluffer you probably already know that empty rooms turn buyers off. The challenge is educating your potential clients and helping them realize that investing in your services can really pay off for them.

Let's say you have potential clients who fall into one of these categories:

they've already moved to a new home and their old house is empty
they bought a home to renovate and flip (so there's no one living there)
they live in their home but there are key rooms that have no furniture
builders trying to sell a new or just renovated vacant home

In any of these categories, you're likely to find an entirely empty home or one that has many rooms without furniture.

These houses need to be staged if the vendor is going to get the highest selling price possible.

It's relatively inexpensive to rent anything needed, and these finishing touches help ensure the vendor maximizes his return on investment (ROI) for all those costly renovations.

Home staging is about packaging a home to show off its best features and downplay the flaws. Home staging is about romancing the buyer, putting them in the mood to make an emotional connection with a house!

These are also great projects for you as a home stager (house stager, real estate stager or house fluffer).

Imagine having a virtual clean slate in which to create! I love these kinds of projects because I can really take creative control. I don't need to work with existing furnishings so I'm free to bring in what I think will best suit that particular property and the likely buyer profile.

These are also great projects because they come with higher home staging fees than a simple consultation.

To help you convince your prospective buyer that it is in their interest not to leave their rooms empty, I've prepared this list of the...

5 REASONS WHY IT'S A BAD IDEA TO LEAVE ROOMS EMPTY:

1. People don't buy houses, they buy homes.

2. It's hard to understand how large a room is when there's nothing in it as a reference point.

3. People can't visualize how furniture will fit in an empty space and if they're unsure, they don't buy.

4. When a room is empty prospective buyers focus on negative details instead of falling in love with the overall space. Instead of looking at the flow of one room to another, they get bogged down in questions like: Is the drywall smooth? Will those bumps in the carpet come out? How come the closet doesn't have a hanging bar yet? Why doesn't that molding fit perfectly? How come the light switch is in the middle of the wall?

5. When a house or even a few rooms are empty prospective buyers can get distracted from looking at the house. Instead of focusing on whether this is the home for them, they may be busy wondering: Is this a divorce? Have they left town? Are they selling because they have money problems? This train of thought will take them where the vendor, won't want them to go! They'll start thinking, "maybe I can put in a low ball offer since the seller might be desperate."

You can read more about this and other home staging topics at www.sixelements.com, my official home staging house fluffing website!

10 Reasons Home Staging is a great home based business

2005-07-03T23:06:00.000-05:00

Independence Day got me thinking about the whole concept of "independence" and reminded me why I became an entrepreneur in 1989.

I had a lucrative job at the time but hated the office politics and feeling dependent on the company I worked for. I wanted to feel more in control of my future and have the flexibility to take on projects that I was interested in.

I started my first company before I turned 30 and I've never regretted the life of an entrepreneur.

Here are my top 10 reasons why Home Staging (or House Fluffing) is a great home-based business:

Home Staging is a low cost business to start.

It doesn't require official credentials because there are none for this industry (despite what some organizations claim for their own marketing reasons).

There is no need to invest in inventory or recruit others into the business. This is not a multi-level marketing scheme.

The financial rewards are there if you work hard to build your home staging business.

You can still have time for your family or other demands while running this business.

Since you visit clients in their homes, you don't need to worry about what your own home looks like or where you live.

You'll have daily opportunities to be creative, meet interesting people and make a real difference in their lives by helping them make a significant profit on your services.

You'll enjoy variety and a sense of adventure.

You can control how fast you want to grow your home staging business.

You decide who you want to work with and what kind of projects you want to take on.

If you want to learn more about starting your own Home Staging business, why not join our TeleClass, "Decorate to sell: Cashing in on the latest real estate craze"?

Cashing in on Home Staging Business Growth

2005-07-03T14:43:00.000-05:00

Product and services go through a life cycle, from introduction to growth, then to maturity and decline. Decorating homes to sell fast and for top dollar— also called Home Staging, House Staging, House Fluffing and Real Estate Staging— is certainly past the introductory phase and is growing strong.

This creates tremendous opportunities for anyone considering getting into the Home Staging business. It's a growing industry which is why it's getting so much attention from the media. It's also new enough that not everyone has heard of it and most people are still interested in learning more about how and why Home Staging works.

In June I had a whole page in Reader's Digest (Canada) opening the RD Living section, but I've also been written up in major newspapers and appeared on four television networks (HGTV, LIFE Network, CBC and Toronto1).

Here's why you want to go into a business that's in the growth phase:

The growth stage is when a growing number of people become interested in using a new product or service. In other words, a growing number of people will be interested in what you have to offer and they'll remember you because what you do is different.

When I go to a networking event, I'm generally the only Home Stager or House Fluffer in a room filled with coaches, accountants, financial planners, real estate agents, multi level marketers, etc. Who do you think people want to learn more about? And guess what, all of them are homeowners or know people that are! And, even better, if it's around the spring or fall a good percentage of them will be selling their homes in the near future!

BUSINESS BUILDING TIP: Get yourself out to networking events and talk about your Home Staging business!! You can learn more about this and other low cost business building tips in Decorate to Sell: Cashing in on the latest Real Estate Craze.

You have a better chance of becoming one of the local Home Staging experts if fewer people are already established in your area (imagine trying to open your own little coffee shop on a street that already has a Starbucks at both ends of it).

Most of your potential clients haven't used a Home Stager before, so they have no loyalties to someone else. This makes it easier for you to get established (compare this with being a new real estate agent and most of the people you meet have already used someone else they are happy with; tough to break in and convince them to switch, right?).

Accepted pricing standards have yet to be established so you can blaze your own trail (I talk a lot about how to establish your pricing in a course called The Business of Home Staging/House Fluffing: What you Need to Start and How to Grow.

In the growth stage, there are fewer competitors. Once a product or service reaches maturity, there are many competitors and many of them compete on price. Eventually there are too many competitors and the weaker ones are pushed out of the market.

If you get in now and establish yourself, it will be harder for others to catch up and you won't have to play the same pricing game when you have a strong track record of success. I have a growing number of competitors. Some charge half what I do. But, when one of my clients decides to sell their next house, who are they going to call? If I've already helped them make a $50,000 profit on my Home Staging services, why would they risk trying someone else just to save a few hundred dollars? Since they've already hired me before, they know that if a new person didn't do as good a job staging their home, they could lose thousands when they sell their property.

You can learn more about how to position yourself as a home staging expert in The Staging Diva's Sales and Marketing Secrets to Boosting your Home Staging Business.

Fall real estate market creates tons of opportunities for new Home Stagers

2005-07-02T18:29:00.000-05:00

We’ve just come off an extremely hot spring real estate market in many cities across the US and Canada, which means that Home Stagers (also called House Fluffers) were extremely busy with new clients— if they did a good job of marketing their services to the right audiences!

July is the slowest month for Home Staging (well, it’s probably tied with December) but that creates the ideal opportunity to lay a foundation for business growth in the fall. New real estate listings will start hitting the market right after Labor Day and build throughout September, October and early November.

Now is the time to start planning your marketing of your home staging business to the four key target audiences: homeowners, real estate agents, builders and the media. Each has different needs and therefore requires a different marketing message.

Start planning now, get your message out there in late August through mid-September and you’ll be in good shape to take advantage of the fall real estate market.

If you miss the fall, home staging sales don’t get busy again until February or March! It’s part of the natural cycle of this business— we follow the seasonality patterns in real estate only we’re ahead by a couple of weeks. Why? Because most people only call a home stager one to two weeks before they put their homes on the market! When they do call, they’re highly motivated and usually desperate to have someone come in as soon as possible to decorate their homes to sell.

If you’re just starting a home staging business, or you need help with marketing and pricing to get you ready for the fall real estate market, you can join the Staging Diva Training Program.

You can take all five classes or choose the ones that are right for your situation. Each course is offered over one evening, by phone, and takes 90 to 100 minutes depending on how much discussion there is. All you need is email (so you can receive all the course notes in advance) and a phone to participate in the course, which is very much like a conference call. I lead all the “TeleClasses” taking you through the course notes, and answering tons of questions from my students. You really get a sense of how I run my business. I share what’s worked for me, and what I’ve tried that hasn’t worked so well.

Staging Diva students even learn what different Home Stagers in selected cities across Canada and the US charge for their services. This alone is a real eye opener for many! There’s an art to successful pricing strategies. Without them, you can’t earn enough to reach your goals. That’s why so many Home Stagers don’t stay in the business— they can’t figure out how to price correctly and how to market their services to the right audiences to get the fees they need.

In three to five weeks, you can do the whole Staging Diva program and be ready to launch and grow your own Home Staging business. There is room in the July and August course dates.

The program wraps up on time for you to get your marketing message out there and take advantage of the fall real estate market, which is predicted to be as brisk as the spring was.

Remember, since all the courses are in a TeleClass format, all you need is a phone. Some Staging Diva students have called in while they were on vacation since you can call from anywhere. Here’s some more information about the Staging Diva Program from www.sixelements.com.

Do you love decorating and real estate?

2005-07-01T20:42:00.000-05:00

I've loved decorating for as long as I can remember. From choosing my wall color at the age of seven (royal blue to set off my white furniture) to painting a mural in my bedroom several years later. Thankfully, my mother indulged my early experiments. At least I wasn't painting the room black and covering the ceiling with tin foil like some teenagers!

I was in heaven when HGTV hit the air, finally something to watch on TV at almost any hour. It's hard to believe it wasn't all that long ago that none of these decorating shows even existed (being on HGTV twice in the last 2 years were real high points of my life).

Based on the growing awareness of Home Staging or House Fluffing as a concept, within the last two years, Home Staging shows have also made their debut on HGTV, A&E and other specialty channels with shows like: "House Doctor," "Designed to Sell," and "Sell this House."

These shows are fun, but not that realistic. After all, who has a crew of 10 or more trained people show up to transform their home over two days. And, if they did, what would it cost?

In the real world, Home Stagers do client consultations in which they identify all the steps that are necessary to prepare a home for sale. Often they do a lot of the work themselves, or involve others in the process. It doesn't generally happen over two days, so if you've let those new TV shows scare you out of trying Home Staging as a business, don't!

I started my own Home Staging business after buying, decorating and selling 6 of my own homes in about 8 years. When the last one sold for $30,000 more than it should have (after I owned it for only 7 weeks), I knew I was really onto something! It wasn't the market that changed, it was what I had done to the house that made all the difference in the new selling price!

Since that time, I've staged hundreds of homes in the $190,000 to $1,600,000 price range. I've also taught others from all over North America to start their own home staging businesses. If you think this might be the business for you, but have many doubts, here's a FREE quiz you can take.

I just heard from my client Jean

2005-06-30T21:32:00.000-05:00

One of the reasons I love being a home stager is that it makes such a tremendous difference in people's lives, and they take the time to tell you!

One client called to say she felt like she won the lottery thanks to me (she got an extra $100,000 when she sold her home). After putting three kids through college, she and her husband just bought a condo for their retirement. With what they made selling their family home, they'll be mortgage free for the first time in their lives!

By the way, if you're new to the Home Staging business and want to learn what to do in a Home Staging Consultation, I've put all the steps in the Staging Diva Home Staging Checklist. I even tell you what to do before you get to a client's home, what to bring, how to make sure you get paid and more. One of my Staging Diva students bought it and said, "it's like having Debra hold your hand throughout your appointment!"

I followed all the steps in the Staging Diva Home Staging Checklist for this client who called to say that her mother's condo sold to the first person that saw it after I spent two hours there rearranging all the furniture and accessories.

This was especially meaningful because I knew how hard the past year had been for her. When I met my client at her mother's condo for the Home Staging appointment, it was filled with her mother's possessions. She had lived there for 30 years before dying in a nursing home. Her daughter had to face all these memories every time she went to the condo to check on the place for 9 long months while it sat on the market without a single offer. It was a terrible burden financially and emotionally. Imagine how it felt to hear the relief and gratitude in this client's voice when she called to say that the condo sold only days after I was there.

Before launching my Home Staging company Six Elements, I spent almost 18 years consulting for Fortune 500 companies. Let me tell you, helping a corporation increase their profits by millions of dollars is not nearly as satisfying as helping an individual directly and making a difference in their lives.

I was away for a couple of days and look what was waiting in my email when I got back!

It is a while since you came to my home to help me "fluff" (stage) my townhouse for sale. You spent a few hours with me removing my knick knacks and clutter and moving various pieces of furniture around. I painted the 2 bedrooms the colors you chose and added fresh flowers as you suggested. I removed the final clutter from closets, basement, and removed one couch and chair as you recommended before calling my real estate agent who brought an associate with her to assist in determining the listing price.

The real estate agents brought all the sales histories in the complex from 2004 and 2005 to date. We compared numbers, then they did the customary 'walk about'. They were very impressed and said that the house "showed extremely well." They advised listing my townhouse for $11,000 more than the identical one on the other side of the complex even though I had an unfinished basement and theirs was finished and included an extra bathroom! I was skeptical about the price but agreed to give it a try. I truly expected my house to sit on the market for a few months.

Well Debra, I am happy to tell you I received an offer from the very first person that viewed my home. After first seeing my townhouse unit, she was shown several others and asked to see mine again. She submitted her offer just a little more than 24 hours after I had listed my home for sale. The closing date was yesterday.

The Real Estate Agent said we set a new precedent for prices in the complex. I received $7,000 more than the list price of the identical townhouse with the finished basement. After their sale (made just a few days later), I ended up $25,000 or approximately 10% ahead of the competing sale (if you assume their finished basement and bathroom only cost them $15,000 to build). AMAZING!

Debra, just as you said, HOME STAGING WORKS! Again, thank you so much, I am so incredibly impressed that I am telling everyone my great success story. Jean B. (Mississauga)

Imagine what Jean can do with the extra $25,000 she made on my home staging services? Maybe she'll get to start the new business she's always dreamed of, or take a trip of a lifetime, or take a year off to write a book... the possibilities are endless! I've put all the steps I took with Jean in the Staging Diva Home Staging Checklist. You can use it as a guide to help your own Home Staging clients.

If you want a better sense of what it's like to hear from your own Home Staging clients and know the difference you're making for them, you can read more testimonials from Six Elements Home Staging clients here.

What is Home Staging, House Fluffing or Real Estate Staging?

2005-06-26T20:10:00.000-05:00

Home Staging, House Fluffing and Real Estate Staging are used to describe the art of decorating a home to sell. Encompassing anything from de-cluttering, rearranging and accessorizing rooms right through to furnishing an entire home from top to bottom, the Professional Home Stager should be knowledgeable in whatever it takes to turn a house into a hot property before it hits the market.

Home buyers shop with logic but they buy on emotion! Anyone who has ever shopped for a home knows that while you start house hunting with a logical list of criteria, the house you buy is the one you walk into and immediately feel “this is home!” Sometimes you even forget to check for the things on your “must have” list.

Home Stagers or House Fluffers create an environment where the greatest number of potential buyers will make that emotional connection and fall in love with a home.

A proper home staging consultation will look at everything from overall curb appeal (what the house and property looks like from the street) right through to the tiniest details in each room (and every closet).

How you live in a home and how you decorate to sell are two entirely different things as shown in the example below of a master bedroom.

BEFORE - HOW A CLIENT LIVES

AFTER - STAGED TO SELL BY SIX ELEMENTS

BEFORE - HOW A CLIENT LIVES

AFTER - STAGED TO SELL BY SIX ELEMENTS

All furniture and accessories shown in the "after" photos were provided by Home Staging expert Debra Gould, a.k.a. The Staging Diva, and Six Elements Inc. You can find additional before and after photos of room makeovers here.

Welcome to Debra Gould's Staging Diva Dispatch

2005-06-24T18:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Staging Diva Dispatch, the source for inspiring stories, business advice and support for anyone trying to build their own Home Staging Business.

I'm Debra Gould, a.k.a. The Staging Diva, and I've staged hundreds of homes in the $190,000 to $1.5 million price range in addition to teaching Staging Diva students all over North America to start their own home staging, or house fluffing, businesses.

You can find more information on Staging Diva Training Programs, coaching and other tools at my website, www.sixelements.com. The purpose of this blog is to have an informal place to add new information and insights about how to build a successful home staging business.

Staging Diva Dispatch is also a place where Staging Diva Students can share some of their experiences so that we can all learn from them too.

If you have something you want to post pertaining to this topic, or questions you want answered in future posts, add your comments here, or email them to me directly.