Becoming a professional home stager can be simple with today’s online training—but how do you get your career in gear? Start by networking and connecting with people in your industry, of course!
If you start your career with a few simple outreach tricks, you’ll have a bigger client base to work with. It will also be easier to find new clients and market yourself as a certified home stager. Find out how you can use these networking tips to get a better home staging business!
Reach out to real estate agents
One of the main industries that home stagers work in is real estate! Since you’re staging homes for sale, you’ll definitely want a big list of local real estate agents who will hire you to decorate their properties. They make money by selling homes—so why wouldn’t they want a professional doing the décor? Reach out to real estate groups and agents and ask to meet them in person. You can schedule an initial meeting to discuss their needs. And don’t forget to take your portfolio! You’ll need proof that you’ve completed your home staging certification online, and some quality photos of your beautiful work. Your photos will be what seals the deal with real estate clients!
Work with your own home
If you need a few projects to boost your portfolio and professional web pages, use your home stager training to revamp your own home! Since your home should reflect your creativity, be sure to use your favorite design trends in your own space. You’ll also want to channel your personality into your space—don’t worry about the depersonalizing process here! If you’d like to photograph your own home designs, that’s when you can remove sentimental pieces to make your home look staged. This is an easy way to build up your professional home design portfolio and show clients what you’re made of!Attend open houses
When you become active in the real estate industry, you’ll see for yourself how important it is to be aware of what’s going on the market (and what already is!). You can do a few things to better your home staging career by checking out open houses, such as:
- Finding out about your competitors
- Creating a benchmark for homes on the local market
- Becoming inspired by décor and layouts
Get social
Even though we say this about every home design career, we’re going to say it again: get involved on social media! This is the number one place where potential clients can access your contact info and view your professional website. You also have a fantastic opportunity to engage and answer questions. More than that, asking your clients to post a review on your Facebook page can help bring more clients in. Seeing a positive review of a business will make people want to work with you, and give you credibility as a professional home stager! Your efforts on social media sites will not be wasted—trust us.