Staging Sips

Let's talk about ‌team development through empowerment! It is the first of a series aimed at helping you prepare for and raise the best team to support your staging business success. I have seen firsthand how having a solid team in place not only lets you drop the reins of the driver's seat, but also allows you to focus on higher-level tasks that drive your business forward. However, building a st...

If you've ever found it challenging to say "NO!" to clients, rest assured, you're not alone . I've personally encountered my fair share of difficulties, and I understand how learning to navigate these situations can be one of the hardest skills to acquire in this staging business. Turning down requests can feel uncomfortable, and the accompanying sense of awkwardness and wrongness can make it hard...

Welcome to another episode of the Staging Sips podcast as we enter the fourth quarter of the year! As we wrap up 2023, I am excited to guide you through the world of business planning specifically tailored for your staging business. In this episode, I share an intriguing fact about scheduled planning days at the beginning of a new quarter for my staging business. Surprisingly, these days are not d...

Welcome to an episode that addresses the inevitable: change requests in your business . Whether you've been lucky enough to avoid them so far or not, the reality is that change requests will come knocking on your door sooner or later. And how you handle change requests is key to your success. Join me as I unravel the intricacies of managing change requests within the staging business landscape. Fr...

In this episode, I delve into the vital topic of protecting your staging business by implementing a strong client agreement. This is the first part of our "Cover Your Assets" series, where I'll explore various strategies, policies, and procedures to safeguard your people, profit, and overall business in the long run. Today, I'll specifically focus on how to protect your inventory and assets throug...

Today, let's explore the intriguing concept of slow growth in the staging business and why it shouldn't be seen as a bad thing in a world that often prioritizes rapid growth over sustainable success. Drawing from my own experiences, I share valuable insights on how to navigate the journey of slow growth, highlighting the key strategies and mindset shifts that can make a significant difference. I d...

Heyyyy there, it's great to be back after a much-needed hiatus! In this episode, I share with you the reasons behind my recent break and the exciting changes happening in my business. During a mastermind session with my business coach, we discussed plans to expand and grow my business consulting programs. That meant creating a Staging Business School.  This transition required some serious contemp...

Staging businesses are seasonal. If you offer staging services only, this is reality. We have businesses running 12 months out of the year with services that have big bursts of work and then much quieter times. I call these quieter times "Integration Phases" because we can begin to deep dive into our finances, systems, and service mix.   In today's podcast, I share all of the ways our team has use...

We all experience low value cycles in our businesses:   Those times when we feel depleted and can't give more.   When we don't know what to do.   We don't understand why things aren't working.   We fear that it's all going to fall apart or never get off the ground River of misery   This is normal.   This is running a business.  Nothing has gone wrong.   If you go back to the first 4 episodes, you...

After more than a decade in business, one of my favorite things to hear is that our clients think our home staging consultation is fun! I love hearing this because I specifically designed our home staging consultation (we call our home staging consultation a Styling Evaluation) process to create fun and empowerment. And I did this intentionally. When I first started my home staging business, stagi...

Today I'm going Unstaged on the podcast.  Unscripted and riffing on what I see as a pitfall when newer business owners get advice from those of us who have been running our businesses for longer. We simply forget. We forget what it's like to be where you are. And, while well intended, we can give advice that isn't realistic for a newer business owner. Listen in to find out why. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN F...

Tech alert! This week's podcast is a little tech heavy but...learning how to create this process I'm sharing will save you hours of headaches for the resto of your business. This episode is a deep dive into how we have our clients schedule their home staging consultations. On the face of it, it doesn't seem like scheduling a consultation should be that hard. But, my word, it really can be! I thoug...

08Having a lead magnet is an important part of your marketing strategy. One of the unexpected surprises I had, when I was growing my staging business, is that I actually had to be the Chief Marketing Officer even ahead of being the Lead Stager in my business. And as you grow your business, the scale will be tipped for a period of time in the direction of spending way more time marketing than stagi...

Are the systems in your business not working the way you want them to?   Systems in business are the equivalent of habits in life.     If you think of systems in this way, they automatically begin to make more sense.     The beautiful thing is you can tackle creating and maintaining systems the same way you would in creating and maintaining a habit—start with improving the smallest thing, repeat i...

Have you ever heard business advice that just didn't make sense for you? Or tried a "proven" strategy that just never worked for you? Maybe you've been confused by a lack of results doing something that a fellow business owner reaps tons of results from. Well there may be a very clear and tangible reason why and today's guest, Human Design Expert and Certified Life Coach, Stacy Rowan of Custom Bui...

One of the most exciting things is getting new clients. But with new clients come questions and sometimes some sticky situations. For many of us, we can get frustrated and bothered when questions arise about discounts, refunds, appointment requests out of our typical hours, etc. But...if we can reframe our minds to think about these questions as due diligence and not devaluing us and what we do, w...

You can have a thriving staging business regardless of the real estate market. In the book  Good To Great  by Jim Collins he talks about companies going from good to great. There were several factors that helped companies make that transition but one is super relevant to our staging businesses. They were realistic about market forces impacting their business negatively and they made plans to adjus...

In the Results Triad, we learn that your Results are a combination of Knowledge, Beliefs and Actions. Today's episode totally taps into the Knowledge and Action parts of the formula. And you know me, I like teaching you the little (and big) hacks that have helped me grow our staging business in a way that gets me as the CEO out of the way so that my team can manage the business without me. So, in...

Today I'm geeking out about how you can get soooo much more done in your home staging business even if you are still a team of one. It doesn't seem very sexy or interesting when you call it "Systems" but what systems give you back in time, energy and effort is beyond thrilling! They are also the foundation for a professional business. Inside our mentorship program, RethinkYou we dive deep into sys...

One of the most important tools to improve your home staging business is conducting regular Employee Evaluations. In my corporate life, I experienced a ton of evaluations and the most effective were the ones where it was a two way conversation with a manager who had been great at giving me feedback well before the formal evaluation process. AKA nothing was a surprise. By creating an environment wh...

Loving up on my team is one of my absolute favorite things to do as a business owner. They are making my dream a reality and it's so important to me to show my appreciation. It's also one of our corporate core values. Today I'm sharing why loving up on your team is important to your bottom line business results and how you can begin to plan for showing the love. You know I'm all about systems so y...

One of the very best things you can do for your growing staging business is know how to hire effectively. When you do your marketing right, and I know you will, you will need help to serve all of those clients who are coming in through your pipeline. And we want to make sure you have top notch team members.  Because the wrong hire can really drag down moral and make your life as a CEO not so fun....

I have the best team. I absolutely love them. But before I started the hiring process, I had no clue where to even start. And my first move is always to find someone who has done it before so I don't waste my time or feel confused even for a second. I did that. And what I learned not only helped me establish better business practices but hire a team that runs my entire operation to this day. That'...

Using an email list to grow my staging business has been, what I call, auto-magical. Seriously, it's like having a rainbow unicorn on staff. Here is why. Your biggest job as the CEO of your staging business is filling your pipeline with clients who will buy from you. So you must meet people. In our business that typically starts in person. The next step is staying in front of them on a regular bas...

I don't know about you, but I didn't have a clue how much sales and marketing would be involved in starting and growing my real estate staging business. I honestly thought the minute I told a Realtor that I was a Stager, they would feel like their prayers were answered and they would hire me instantly and often! Wow, was I wrong. And I spent a lot of time feeling frustrated, confused by this. I we...