Home Staging Blog by Jennie Norris

Bette Davis once famously said, "Old Age is no place for Sissies."

Well I think we can rephrase that statement to say,

"Home Staging is no place for Sissies."  

Sissy:  A person defined as timid, weak or cowardly.

Professional home stagers know that in order to be successful you have to really work hard, and work smart.   Being timid, weak or cowardly is a sure recipe for failure as a Home Stager.

We have to be bold, strong, and brave - especially in a market that is changing.

This does not mean we don't have fear about rejection or discomfort in approaching people about our business.  Fear is a natural part of any human - fear is normal, however we have to get past our fear and overcome it in order to have the success we want.  We cannot let our fear paralyze us to the point of inaction.

We have to bold to get our message out to our audience.  We have to, as the title of one of my favorite books says, "Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway." 

We have to be bold in our Staging as well - and make sure that our Staging really is Staging, not decorating or design, and not something done to appease a pushy client.  We have to be bold and educate our clients about what home staging is - and what it is not, and begin to counter the things we see on television that are really harming us as Stagers.  I have yet to see one show that truly depicts what we do as Stagers, that has not crossed the line into decorating, design, remodeling, and criticism.

Being bold in Staging also means reinventing our look from time to time so that our Staging does not get stale or predictable.  It means having fun with what we do and use our creativity in situations where others would give up - and go shopping.  I love that part of being a home stager - that I was taught to use creativity first, and then the dollar, to help clients.  It is a challenge we rise to time and time again, to the delight of our clients and Realtors who never thought the house could look so great, and never thought of using items in the way we used them in the staging process.

We have to be strong - physically and mentally. 

Physical strength is needed.  I did not realize how much physical activity it would take to be successful in Staging.  I am a strong woman - I always have been.  I was a dancer in my younger years and played all sorts of sports and have an arm that would rival good quarterbacks.  With a team partner I have moved whole houses of furniture in to vacant staging projects, and have loaded and unloaded trucks, and warehouses.   It is a prerequisite of our job to be strong physically, and the good news is for those that do not have the physical strength, we can hire help!

I got smarter as I grew my business, and we do hire labor for moving things - heck, I only have one back, and I don't want to tweak it out because of Staging (and I have J).  I have suffered sore back, tennis elbow, broken toes, scrapes, bruises, and the near loss of an eye from a flying bungee (hit my lip instead and split it open).  Once those things happen, you tend to reassess the wisdom of "doing it all alone" to save money, and begin to stage smarter.

Hiring help actually helped us stage faster, smarter and kept us from getting overly tired and injured.  So we actually are able to accomplish more in one day than in the past.  I have always said, as long as have our minds and can envision the plan for Staging, we can stage.

Mental strength to me is more important than physical strength.  With so many people jumping in to the Staging market, it is now about mental sharpness, and being able to deliver a message of WHY a person needs to work with my company or me as a Stager, versus someone else.  Positioning. 

It requires staying on top of the real estate market and trends, and responding in kind to keep business flowing.  It also requires a constant positive attitude adjustment so that I don't end up locking myself up in fear, or analysis paralysis - both also the kiss of death for Stagers.  I don't bury my head in the sand and ignore what is obviously happening with our economy, I ask, "How will this affect our business, and what can I do to help stimulate production?"

It always boils down to marketing - and so I find ways to entice clients to use our services and remind them of the benefits of Staging versus sitting on the market.

And we have to be brave - of course, our Staging does not take the bravery of our armed forces, but we do have to have a sense or courage and bravery when we go out to promote our business.  We have to have courage in the face of economic times where financial disaster seems to be looming around every corner.  We have to be brave and delve in to new market niches - and be willing to reinvent ourselves to respond to the market and the needs of customers. We have to have the courage to keep a positive attitude when everything and everyone around us might be telling us doom and gloom information.

The natural tendency for most humans is to hunker down and wait it out - but waiting in our business, means not doing face time, and not getting out there to go after business, and this is too risky for us as Stagers.  In tough times, we have to be out there even MORE than in the past- because our business is built on relationships, and when we are out of sight, we are out of mind.  That then leaves potential opportunities for Staging up for grabs for the person that is out there, a presence in person, and actively asking for business.

So sissy stagers will fall away in these tough times, and the strong will survive.  This is the way it with all species - it's called, Survival of the Fittest.

The question is, how fit are you and will you overcome the fear and get out there anyway?  My hope is that you will - and when this economy turns around (and it will), we will find ourselves with even more ways to serve our clients, the ability to earn even more than we ever thought possible, and the strength to keep Staging day by day.

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We Stage Sacramento is a full-service Home Staging company serving the Greater Sacramento market.  For over six years we have been helping sellers, builders and Realtors prepare houses for sale, successfully staging over 2,500 properties.  Our Services also include services for redesign, holiday staging, and workplace staging.   We are members of the International Association of Home Staging Professionals (IAHSP) and accredited as ASP Home Stagers.  Call us at  888-WE-STAGE or www.WeStageSacramento.com