Home Staging Pennsylvania- Hart & Associates Servicing the Main Line, Philadelphia, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery Counties.

It is with great pride that I announce Hart & Associates Staging and Design's newest venture for 2008:

Staging Success Seminars^TM

Those of you who know me personally know the passion and dedication I have for the staging industry and know how much I have enjoyed mentoring and training other stagers in their business ventures. I spent the past year developing my business and staging network and I realized that I wanted to focus on helping raise the bar for others in the staging industry in 2008.  

I have written many blogs commenting on the lack of standards in the industry and have looked to training companies to help establish these standards. I realized that one way to achieve more for our emerging industry is to help others learn to stage better whether it is through sharing at local round-tables or through coaching services.

I invite you to read about our program below and to visit our website to learn more.

Kate Hart and Ask the Staging Coach.com are excited to announce our first ever Staging Success Seminar^TM for Staging Business owners!

Are you a staging business owner, an interior redesigner , or an interior stylist? Are you looking for new ways to grow your business? Our staging success seminars will give you the experience you need to enhance your business and add new revenue opportunities.

Our trainer Kate Hart has over 7 years of experience in the staging and design industry and has personally trained, coached and mentored thousands of Stagers and Realtors on how to market and build their businesses. Kate's work has been featured in national publications, television and radio including design shows on HGTV, The Fine Living Network and CNN Headline News. Her staging work has been included in various staging books and her articles on the staging industry have been featured in newspapers, magazines and blogs nationally and internationally.

Our Staging Success Seminars^TM are open to staging professionals regardless of their staging education, affiliation and previous training program. Unlike other training programs we do not certify home stagers or accredit them. Instead our goal is to provide existing staging professionals with the guidance to make their businesses more successful. For more information read about our program offerings below.

Staging Success Seminar^TM for Vacant Homes

This class is the first and only staging class that gives you actual hands-on training in a vacant home. During this 3 day seminar you will learn techniques for working with clients in vacant resale and new construction homes. This class is ideal for home staging professionals that want to add vacant staging to their menu of services or for home stagers offering this service now and wanting to learn how to fine tune and enhance their current services.

Each day of the class you will experience in the field work and leave the class having completed a vacant home project including the bid and proposal process, the contracting and billing of a job, the planning and selection of furnishings and accessories, the planning and management of the job, and installation and complete staging of the home.

After the class you will have gained the knowledge to successfully and more efficiently manage and stage vacant properties. You will have also received proposal outlines for creating staging bids, sample contracts for your services and rental of your inventory and a guide on how to grow and manage a staging team.

After the program you will also be eligible to become a Select Home Stager^TM. Membership in this network of highly qualified staging professionals will enable you to grow your business through our relationships with Real Estate Companies, Relocation Firms and our nation wide marketing opportunities. To learn more about becoming a Select Home Stager^TM click here.

Day 1: Defining Vacant Home Staging Services
Discover:

• How the needs of vacant homes differ from furnished homes.
• How to work with resale vacant homes.
• How to work with new construction vacant homes.
• How to prepare and present a proposal for a vacant home.
• Includes field trip to staging project
• How to plan a vacant room layout
• Simple, Standard and Select methods of staging
• Renting vs. Owning furniture and accessories
• How to contract and schedule staging job
• Making connections with home builders and Realtors specializing in new construction or vacant properties.

Day 2: Planning and Preparing for a Vacant Home Staging
Discover:

• How to implement your staging design plan- steps to staging success
• How to select the proper scale, amount and style of furniture and accessories
• Planning and designing of the staged home
• Includes field trip to prop warehouse
• Inventory management and control
• Investing and purchasing inventory for your staging business
• Physical hands-on planning of rooms for staging project
• Packing and loading inventory for transportation
• Creating a staging team- hiring and managing your resources

Day 3: Installation and Staging of Vacant Property
Discover:

• Field Trip to Vacant Staging Project
• Step by step process for installing staged homes
• Arrangement and installation of accessories and furniture
• Fine tuning of staged property
• Proper photography techniques
• Follow up procedures with client
• Creating marketing opportunities for future staging work
• Class discussion of project
• Class dinner and celebration

In order to make the most of your Staging Success Seminar^TM we recommend that you bring the following items with you for the staging project:

• Digital Camera for taking photos for your portfolio
• Measuring Tape
• Warm, layered clothing and comfortable foot ware for days 2 and 3.

Our Staging for Success Seminar^TM for Vacant Homes will be held on the following dates in the Philadelphia region.

• March 3rd-5th 2008 in Wayne, Pennsylvania- Staging location to be determined.
• April 21st-23rd 2008 in Wayne, Pennsylvania- Staging location to be determined.

Our class size is limited to maintain effective teaching and one-on-one attention. If you are interested in attending this Staging Success Seminar^TM please print and fill out the application, print it and fax it back to us with a $750.00 deposit to secure your spot in the class.

The fee for attending this seminar is $2100.00 and the final balance must be received one week prior to class.

PLEASE NOTE: If you apply for and are accepted into the Select Home Stagers Network you first annual dues will be waived as a courtesy for attending the class.

I know a lot of people have written similar posts this week but I also have taken some time lately to reflect on where our business has been over the past year, 2 years and 3 years and where it is headed going into our 4th year.

It surprises me how some things have changed dramatically since when we started and some of the challenges have remained the same (like how to stage in 13 degree weather?)

Looking back I think the biggest lesson I learned this year is how to say "No" to clients. (thank you Margaret Innis for your post on this) Recently I fired my first client. I had contracted with her to provide staging services and from the moment I began her project we ran into problem after problem. The client was late getting her contract to me, the home was not vacant or clean when we arrived to stage. She lied to me, was not prepared for the staging and then accused me of not providing the services she paid me for. Of course I did the best job I was able to do under the circumstances but it was not my job to be her therapist, her house cleaner and her cat sitter. I finally found the courage to tell her to work with someone else. Was I afraid that she would bad mouth me? Sure. But I was also proud of myself for finally sticking to my business policies.

This year we faced a lot of challenges. We have three clients that we have had to repossess or sue. Sometimes it is not worth the Attorney fee to chase someone down for $300 but it still burns me and I still want to look them in the eye and tell them that they should know better (what would their mom say?)  I thought we invested a lot in inventory last year but this year we purchased twice the inventory than the year before. We still do not own furniture! We only use the best quality art, area rug and accents for staging and this was a huge investment. Once this inventory came back we then had to warehouse it and found ourselves renting 2 spaces which cost us nearly the same as our mortgage. In 2008 I am looking to purchase a space or a rental property so I can at least earn some equity!

This year we also accomplished a lot. We were featured in 7 magazines, a tv show and 2 radio shows!  I was also able to delegate responsibility and find an installation team that is professional, reliable and wonderful to work with. I thank God everyday for them since I have had to fire 5 other people this year that either lied, stole or simply did not show up to work.

My goals for 2008 are to continue to provide top tier staging services in our local area and to support other stagers through continuing education seminars on growing successful businesses in their local area. One thing I learned from the round-tables is that we as stagers need to find a way to not only educate Realtors better but also to reach the consumer as well. I still believe that the future of the staging industry will come from its members and I am working on ways that consumers can find superior stagers regardless of the lack of national standards.

Needless to say it will be an interesting Real Estate Market this year. I am hopeful that home sellers and Realtors will realize the importance of staging and utilize our services even more in 2008.

What are your reflections on the past year and what are your business goals for 2008?

Last Friday home staging professionals in Eastern Pennsylvania, Southern and Central Jersey and Delaware got together for our first ever SIF Roundtable event.  The meeting was generously sponsored by Cort Furniture Rental at their Maple Shade New Jersey location

The turnout was great! We had 14 staging companies in attendance. Some were members of Stage-it-Forward and some had learned about the event and came to find out more about what we are doing to propel this industry into the future.

One of the most interesting parts was that there were stagers from all levels of experience and training backgrounds. Some stagers had a few months of experience, others a year or two and some almost 7 years in the business!

The atmosphere was very relaxed and stagers openly shared their thoughts on the industry and how they run their businesses. Although not everyone agreed on every issue, one thing remained clear: Stagers in our region feel that the quality of their work is the best marketing tool they have and we cannot rely on Realtors alone to sell our services. As a group we need to determine how we can target consumers and show them the value of our services.  At the end of the meeting everyone agreed that we need future meetings so that we can talk more about our industry.

Thank you to all the local stagers that attended. It was wonderful meeting new stagers, seeing past students and meeting some SIF members in person.  I look forward to the next event in early Spring.