Part-Time Home Stagers Moonlighting Can Still Appear Professional
Debra Gould
October 25, 2009
One concern of moonlighting home stagers is that they´re not going to be seen as professional since they´re "only" working in their home staging business part-time.
When aspiring stagers raise this concern to The Staging DivaŽ, Debra Gould, she always asks them the same thing:
Why does anyone need to know you´re doing this part-time?
"If I had a full-time job and was doing home staging on the side," says Gould, "I would still set up my business. I would have my business phone number, business cards, a home staging website and a page on the Staging Diva Directory of Home Stagers. If someone were to call me, they would get a professional sounding greeting. It´s not going to say, ´Hi you´ve reached Debra and by the way, I´m a part-time home stager and I only work on weekends.´"
The Staging DivaŽ offers the following advice to those moonlighting as home stagers, "When you get a call from a potential client and they want to meet with you, you don´t have to tell them you can only meet them on Wednesday after work. If that´s the only time you have available, tell them you happen to have an opening on Wednesday night at seven.
If that doesn´t work for the homeowner, just keep going back and forth until you find a time that works for both of you. Unless you tell them you´re trying to do home staging around your full-time job, they´re likely going to assume you´re a very sought after, heavily booked home stager."
Gould adds, "Remember it´s all about perception. If you have a professional looking website and home staging portfolio, and carry yourself with confidence, nobody is going to question whether or not you´re doing this part-time or not. It won´t even cross their minds."
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