With the Labor Day weekend behind us and the kids back to school, the next major event if you’re a professional home stager, is the start of the fall real estate market.

But are you ready to meet it head on with a polished and professional business image?

Whether you’re new to house staging, or you’ve had your home staging business for awhile, the change of season is always a good time to take stock of how you’re promoting yourself and see if you need to do anything differently.

Here are 5 things to consider as you gear up for the fall real estate market and your place in it as a professional home stager, house fluffer, real estate merchandiser, or property stylist as we’re sometimes called:

1. Home stagers, what are you wearing?

Does your wardrobe look polished, professional and stylish? As a home stager, you’re in an image business and it’s important to look the part of a successful business person with design sense.

Since a particular client will only see you once or twice you don’t need lots of different outfits, just have a few good ones that you feel comfortable in.

Everything I’m wearing in this photo is washable because I never know how dirty a house will be when I get there.

Sometimes I’m climbing over dusty boxes and fighting cobwebs in someone’s basement or even their living room. You just never know what you’ll meet up with when heading out to a home staging consultation.

Go through your wardrobe and make sure you have some appropriate, fashionable items that are not out of date and that still fit. Invest in a few new pieces or accessories to keep your look current. Treat yourself to a new hair cut. Besides giving yourself a new look for fall, you’ll feel great and get an instant confidence boost.

2. Spend some time on your home staging website.

If you’re like most people who have a website, it’s never going to be finished, and it shouldn’t be! You should constantly be adding new content and updating your photos and testimonials. As your business evolves your home staging website will too.

If you don’t have a website, how are homeowners going to find you?

Graduates of the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program are given the option of adding their profile to an exclusive Directory of Home Stagers. It acts as an instant web presence and allows homeowners and Realtors® to find an expert home stager in their city very easily.

3. How current is your home staging portfolio?

If you’ve been busy and haven’t had time to update your home staging portfolio with all the great before and after shots you’ve taken from last spring or over the summer, don’t put it off any longer.

With fall being such a hot time for homeowners to list their properties you can’t afford not to have a home staging portfolio that shows your best work.

4. Are your marketing materials current and do they look professional?

When did you last give your marketing materials a face lift? Do you think it’s time? Do you feel proud whenever you hand out your business card or brochure, or are you slightly embarrassed?

Your business card is a key part of your image. Just as we tell homeowners that first impressions are everything in real estate, it’s also everything in business.

Ensure the first impression you create is the right one!

If you need help, I’ve written a detailed creative brief that you can give to a graphic designer to have a professional logo and home staging marketing materials developed as part of the “Staging Diva Ultimate Guide: Creating The Perfect Portfolio to Sell Your Home Staging Services.”

5. Do you have a plan to build your business? Do you have specific goals?

You don’t have to invest 40 hours creating a big fancy marketing plan, in fact I’ve found a solid one page plan works best for me and I share how that works in the Simple Marketing Plan Companion.

Spend focused time thinking about your business and make a list of marketing goals along with a list of specific steps you will take to reach those goals. The more specific you are the better, and keep it simple so that you will take action rather than feeling overwhelmed. Fall is the perfect time to do this.

Course 4 of the Staging Diva Program, Staging Diva Sales and Marketing Secrets to Boost Your Home Staging Business includes a handy list of inexpensive marketing tactics you can start using right away.

So, are you ready for the fall real estate market? Don’t make the mistake of staying in your comfort zone. Try something different in your marketing or add something new to your website. Make sure you’re at the top of your game for this season and you will be rewarded for your efforts!

Debra Gould, The Staging Diva®
President, Six Elements  Home Staging

Home Staging expert Debra Gould also known as The Staging Diva knows how to make money as a home stager and has taught thousands of others to do the same. She is president of Six Elements, an internationally recognized home staging company that is frequently profiled in the media in both the US and Canada. Debra Gould developed the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program to create opportunities for others to grow their own profitable home staging, real estate enhancement businesses.