Looking for an Opportunity to Stage the Future of Your Life?

Thinking about starting your own home business? Great decision: you have the chance to make your new venture the most emotionally and financially rewarding thing you’ve ever done. I know – I’m an entrepreneur too. In the early 1970’s I created the concept of Home Staging. At that time I was in real estate in the Bellevue, WA, area and I had become increasingly shocked at how houses looked that came on the market for sale. At that point I realized that design really was not what sellers needed nor would it help them sell their homes at all. I shared with a seller that I believed that we needed to set the ‘scene’, or set the ‘Stage®’ in her home, for the buyers coming through. Years later I developed The Accredited Staging Professional® Course and the ASP® designation for Real Estate Agents and Home Stagers to earn during my 2-day or 3-day ASP® Courses. But, it doesn’t come easy. First of all, you need to set goals. I like to say that a goal is a dream with a date on it. Define short-term, mid-term, and long-term goals, and set the time span for each. Next, develop a business plan. What services will you offer and how will you price them? What’s your target market, and how will you go about reaching the audience that’s most likely need your services? Create a strategic plan where you specify which strategies you’ll need to employ in order to reach your goals, and which tactical activities that can make it happen. These are the top five keys to your success: Attitude: Pick an area of business you love. With enthusiasm, passion and love for the business you’re entering, you’re much more likely to succeed. Marketing: Define your target audience and create a marketing plan with an outline of how you plan to reach it, and which marketing messages you’re going to use in order to best convey the benefits of your product or service. Business expertise: become an expert in your field, and when you can, seek out experts who can help you. You will need to have computer, basic bookkeeping, marketing skills and organization abilities in order to best manage your time. Skills of your Trade: take your craft seriously and become an expert in your field. Learning should never stop – make sure to continue to participate in education programs and training classes. Communication: success lies in the words you use and the way you communicate with those you seek to serve, and the sphere of influence you need to build that can help spread the word about your business.

These and many more tips are available in Barb’s book Building a Successful Home Staging Business. Please click here for more information. I’d like to offer you a business model that works, with thousands of home business owners around the United States and Canada proving it each and every day: become an ASP Professional, with a proven business model you can use to build your success. ASP® graduates have access to invaluable resources for continuing education, filled with marketing, educational, pricing,  legal forms and almost endless valuable materials to use in their businesses. Based upon educational requirements, ethical standards, and guidelines of excellence I founded also ‘The International Association of Home Staging Professionals®’, www.iahsp.com, to represent the Home Staging Industry as The Association where trained professionals can meet, network, and continue their education at the international, national, and local levels. There are currently over 100 IAHSP Chapters across North America serving ASP’s and the communities where they live and work too with our IAHSP Foundation and our ‘World Wide Staging Service Week®’ in September each year. Please visit www.Stagedhomes.com to learn more about how you can become an Accredited Home Staging Professional, ASP. Barb Schwarz, ASPM, ASP, IAHSP President and Founder, Stagedhomes.com®, the ASP/ASPM® Courses & ASP/ASPM® Designations, The Staging University®, the IAHSP® International Association, and the IAHSP Foundation® ASP®, IAHSP®, and Stage® are federally registered trademarks of Stagedhomes.com.