It was recently brought to my attention by Steve Dalton, NWI builder and Blogger extraordinaire, that Purdue North Central, Porter county and Main campuses, is now promoting a home staging class. He sent me a link to this article in one of our local newspapers.
Intrigued by a staging class being offered for a fee of $59, lasting 2 hours, I decided to do some research and see what I could find out. Here is all of the information I could come up with:
1. This class is listed under the 'Leisure Learning and Personal Discovery' department (in the Art and Music section), so it is obviously not a business focused course.
2. There is no course description or Instructor listed, so the online search was a dead end.
3. Upon calling the Continuing Ed office, I was told that they do not have a name for the instructor, but they could say that she is an interior decorator. That eliminated my ability to call and speak to the instructor about her experience. (and quite frankly my ability to invite her to AR and get her involved in SIF is she is an active stager.)
4. When I said "Well, staging and decorating are not really the same thing, so can you tell me if she has any experience in the staging field at all?" The response was "All I know is she is an interior decorator." The phone call was also a dead end.
So, based on the article that I read and the lack of information I was given, I have to think that this is a 'hook' class geared toward gaining business for the decorator. You could not possibly teach some one 'how to stage' in a two hour class, or give them specific advice for their particular home in that setting, but you could give them just enough information for them to go home and realize they need help, opening the door for them to call you for a consultation.
Personally, I think the 'instructor' is a genius for getting people to pay her for the class and then be able to farm business from that class. I cannot say whether this person is unqualified to teach this class based on its apparent purpose, though I wonder what type of information she will share.
Am I worried about this class competing with my business? Well, actually, I am excited byt the opportunity it may bring my way. In an area where staging is not yet a hot commodity, a class offered by a local university (especially Purdue) will add some credibility to the concept. Not to mention that after taking the class many will spread the word to their friends a neighbors who may in turn find some interest in having their own houses staged. Should they decide to search for a home stager online, they are more likely to find me than the phantom decorator. ;)
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Hi Kimberly;
I just wanted to share that there are at least two universities in my area that I know of that offer " home staging " courses under the heading of continuing ed. One of them is being taught by a woman who has been a decorator for years and just recently took a staging course herself and the other was being offered by one whom I'm not even certain ever took a staging course, but had her own successful redesign and decorating business. At the one university I was told that the course instructors were not allowed to discuss their own business and use it as a marketing tool...however they could give out their business cards if anyone asked for one. So yes...this is a great way to generate lots of business. You would be surprised ( at least this is the case in my area ) how easy it is to get a class like this started at a local university or community college. You just need to contact that department chair, submit your idea and a course syllabus...they will advertise it for you and if there is enough interest, you have a steady job. Some pay the instructor a percentage from each student...others just pay you a per hour wage.
Cheers!