About her business, established home stager Leah Fritz says, “Last year stunk, but quitting was not an option for me.
Walking away from my ‘baby’ would have probably sent me into depression. Everything worth having comes with hard work. That’s why they call child birth ‘labor.’”
While the economy was taking its toll on Leah Fritz’s home staging business, she was working harder than ever, focusing heavily on her marketing despite the storm of uncertainty swirling around her.
Since she wasn’t distracted by ringing phones, she invested time in the development of her marketing plan to make it ring again. Because she wasn’t busy fielding emails she focused instead on building relationships with past customers and potential clients. She used the time she had on her hands to try some different marketing tactics and she even tweaked her branding.
Staging Diva, Debra Gould says, “Besides all of those activities, Leah had her Profile Listing on the Staging Diva Directory of Home Stagers working for her. She didn’t panic, like some stagers do, saying they weren’t getting enough business to keep their listing active. Leah knows that’s the wrong way to think about marketing, because she knew if nothing else, with her presence on the Directory of Home Stagers she was out there where potential clients would be looking for her. In fact, she recently renewed her listing for a fourth year!”
Leah eventually got so busy that she was having trouble keeping up with herself. But just because she was suddenly busy with staging homes, speaking engagements she was being paid for and redesign projects, she kept on marketing her business.
Debra Gould, founder of the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program says, “Leah has also been busy developing her own home staging blog which she has recently launched to help grow her business even more. The word is out about her business, Perfect Place Home Staging.”
Leah was recently contacted by a real estate investor who had his latest flip on the market for months without any offers. The house was small and buyers were having difficulty imagining themselves living in the 960 square foot space. Leah staged the space with appropriate scale rental furniture and accessories.
Less than 24 hours after the home was staged, the owners got a full price offer.
The real estate investor told Leah he would have many properties for her to sell because he would ““hate to see her working for the competition!”
Debra Gould says, “Leah has put everything she learned from the Staging Diva Program (especially Course 4 which focuses on marketing) into effect, ensuring that she’s building her business no matter what the economy is doing and she has the confidence to sell her staging services for what they are worth.”
About Staging Diva
The creator of the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program, Debra Gould has staged millions of dollars worth of real estate, including seven of her own homes. She is the president of home staging firm SixElements.com and has trained over 4000 home stagers to start and grow their own businesses.
Debra has gained international recognition through features in major media in the US and Canada including: This Old House, HGTV, CNN Money, CBC National News, CBS Radio, Global TV, City TV, The Wall Street Journal, Women’s Day, Reader’s Digest and more.
Debra, Thank you for all your kind words and unwavering support.
Reading this post really takes me back to last year. I had good days and bad days, but what was important was that there were always more days ahead to hit the ground running and move forward with a positive mind-set. I know that can be difficult to do when things aren’t going so great, but I have an answer to that… Be stubborn on the days you can’t muster positivity. It may be just what you need to keep on going.
Leah, it’s my absolute pleasure. It has been wonderful watching your staging business grow over the years and all the energy and focus you bring to it. You deserve every success!