Home Staging Training Company Comes Clean About Designations

Home Staging Training Company Comes Clean About Designations

We know you've seen the debates -

designations are important vs they aren't important

hands-on training is vital vs you've either got it or you don't

my designation is better than your designation, etc...

Well, I've been teaching home staging since January 2007 and I've got some serious opinions on this issue.... they may not be what you would think they are however....

1) It's about the education, not the designation!  That's right!  Get a designation, or don't... it's what you learn that's important.  The designation DOES NOT make you a better stager... what DOES make you a better stager is what you learn from those who are teaching you.  I've taken (and taught) some of the best courses out there.... It's not the designation that makes you good - it's the education you receive AND what you do with it!

2) Experience matters - WHO is teaching the course matters every bit as much as the course itself.  Different instructors have different teaching styles.  Find the one that fits best with you!  Also, check to see if they have real life staging experience in the kind of market you are trying to stage in... Find out if they have real life (current) experience, or if their experience is virtual experience - IF that's important to you! 

3) Not everyone needs hands-on training - Yep!  There I've gone and said it... Some people who get in this industry don't actually need any additional hands-on experience.  They've already learned it from another application - moving a million times (my actual initial experience), helping another stager in their business, or they simply have 'the eye'.  Here's the thing though - too much education, including hands-on experience is never a bad thing.... I've always found it's better to err on the side of too much information than not enough!

4) Staging CAN be taught - Sure Sure, you need to have some idea of style, design and what looks good before you get to class, but the difference between staging and design work is less than subtle.  You can in fact teach someone what a buyer thinks and what needs to happen.... I know because I've all but taught my husband.  If you've ever heard my 'brown wall' story you know that's no small feat.  All of this said, you are MORE LIKELY to suceed if you already 'have an eye' for design.

5) Staging Naked is OK - I know, I know.. my training company offers a designation.  I've been teaching and offering one designation or another (either my company or another company I trained with) for years now... the truth is that I don't use the alphabet soup - almost never.  I would prefer to get jobs based on my talent, not my soup.

6) Only stagers usually know what the designations mean - Incredible but true.  Some agents do know the designations - but usually only if they plan on or have taken training themselves.  Then they are sure to have an opinion on that training themselves - good or bad (and believe me it is ALWAYS one or the other if they took a class).  Clients - you know, the ones who usually write the checks, they don't have a clue what it all means.  They just want to know that you know what you are doing.  A good portfolio, local company statistics and reputation are really all they know or care about.

and lastly

7) No designation can make you sucessful! Ouch - you just spent somewhere between $1000 - $5000 on a training class and there are no guarantees you'll ever see any profits.  Still it's true.  If someone tells you that they can guarantee you an income if they take your course - or that you'll instantly start making six figures you better check out the facts here.  I will tell you that during my first full year of business I did in excess of $180,000 in sales.... how much of that was profit?  zip, zero zilch... I reinvested all of it into my business.  I actually sold all of that and went into debt because my business model included buying a full warehouse of inventory - which several years into business (as we do mid six figures in sales and own all our inventory) is paying off big.  Like anything else be wary of anything that sounds too good to be true - it usually is. 

So - why is a Home Staging Training Professional telling you that no designation is necessarily more important than another?  Because I think it's time for a little transparency in our industry.  It's time that new stagers know the truth about what they are paying for and that we who are knowledgable stand up and bring a reality check to the table. 

Staging can be a great career.  You can make a pretty nice pile of profit - but only with hard work, business knowledge, marketing skills and a realistic expectation of income, expenses and profitability.  I've worked hard to re-write my staging course to supply new stagers with this information minus the fluff.  I've hand-picked some of the best and most reputable stagers in the industry - the ones who are the loudest about reform, integrity and honesty.  Together we've decided that what this industry really needs is a little transparency and professionalism.  This topic is undoubtably one of the most heated... so this seemed like a good place to begin....   

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Melissa Marro, a published artist, now turned staging advocate and national speaker speaks her mind about real estate and the home staging industry.  In her 'no holds barred' approach, audience members find real answers to the industries pitfalls and learn how to overcome them with tried and true information and guidance.  With marketing as her passion, she turned a small home based business into one of the nation's largest home staging and training facilities.  She now operates as the CEO of First Impressions Home Staging & Interior ReDesign as well as an instructor for Staging And Resign and regularly speaks at the StagerList Expos and Real Estate Staging Association (RESA)'s trade events.

For more information on having Marro speak at one of your real estate functions, please contact her at 843.822.2622 or email at marro.melissa@gmail.com

If you would like Marro's team to provide information on staging a property in the state of South Carolina, or the Greater Charleston Area, please visit www.WeStageSC.com, email marro.melissa@gmail.com or call 843.822.2622.