In this episode of Home Stagers and Designers on Fire I interview laura Zavelson, a corporate escapee turned serial entrepreneur, former professor of entrepreneurship and now business guide. 

You will learn:

• How Laura helps women leave a secure job in order to start a business
• Why Laura decided to specialize in Gen X women
• Why it is so important to define what success looks like to you
• How Laura recommends how to transition financially from a job to owning a business
• Why thought leadership and a network is important when building a business
• Where the first client typically comes from (hint-it is not Social Media)
• Why it is important to differentiate yourself and take a stand as opposed to following the crowd
• Why your concept of "failure" needs to change as an entrepreneur

In this podcast episode of Home Stagers and Designers I interview Michelle Minch of Moving Mountains Designs, a sought after LA staging company. Michlle has developed a pricing calculator in order to help stagers make sure that they are being profitable. 

You will learn:

• What the biggest challenge is for Home Stagers when it comes to pricing
• How new stagers might price differently at the beginning in order to be competitive
• Why crunching your numbers is the difference between having a successful and profitable business or a hobby business
• When and how Michelle is willing to negotiate on price
• Why Michelle's prices fluctuate
• How Michelle continues to market her 19 year old business in order to continually fill her pipeline
• How data motivates Michelle to do the things that bring in revenue

In this episode of Home Stagers and Designers on Fire I interview Whitney English, author, interior designer and entrepreneur.

You will learn:

• the ups and downs of building  2 lucrative businesses
• how Whitney uses story in her design narratives (and how stagers may do this as well)
• how Whitney created a "cult like" following with her handmade journals that were sold at places like Target
• what the "slow styled" home is
• why Whitney loves the "messy middle" in her creative endeavors
• what Whitney's litmus test is for choosing items in a home
• how biophilic and wabi sabi design can be integrated into design projects
• how Whitney turned her ADHD diagnosis into an asset

and so much more!

In this episode of Home Stagers and Designers on Fire I interview Laurie Graham of Boss Babe Creative and Visuals. Known as a vision caster and the ultimate hype girl, Laurie helps Home Stagers and Entrepreneurs build brands that reflect their value, attract dream clients and grow bold, beautiful businesses that they love.

You will learn:

• how Laurie helps clients define their brand
• how Laurie helps clients choose brand colors
• how fashion and location inform branding decisions
• how to use the 5 pillars in your content marketing plan
• what Laurie would love to see Home Stagers do instead of, or in addition to reels
• how Laurie builds a brand backwards

and so much more!

In this podcast episode of Home Stagers and Designers on Fire I talk with Heather Cook of Social Stager about how to optimize your website and turn leads into customers.

This is part 2. Part 1 was episode #142.

You will learn:

• How to make your website user friendley
• What your home page should be about
• Why meta tags and descriptions are important
• What the main purpose is for your website
• How to convey pricing
• Why a website should be mobile friendley
• How to build trust with your website
• Why FAQ's are important
• What you should have on your portfolio page
• How to optimize your site for SEO

In this episode I interview Natalie Lorenz. Natalie is an award winning stager, designer, speaker and TV contributor with features on NBC, CBS, Elle Decor and more. We discuss how Natalie built a seven figure staging business in the Seattle area.

You will learn:

• Why it's important to know what it costs to keep your doors open when pricing your services 
• How Natalie determined her pricing structure
• The tool that helped Natalie understand her numbers on a more granular level
• How Natalie makes sure her furniture and accessories are making money
• The importance of tracking KPI's
• Why your staging aesthetic is a big part of your brand and how to be unique and still attract target Buyers
• How Natalie delivers top notch customer service in order to create clients for life
• Why tracking time and understanding logistics is important
• Why Natalie decided to add custom artwork into her staging

In this episode of Home Stagers and Designers on Fire I discuss the importance of building your confidence muscle. Whether you are a new stager or have been in the business for awhile, pricing can cause uncertainty. In order to build a profitable, sustainable business it is extremely important that you know your numbers, know your market and own your value when setting your prices.

In this episode you will learn:

• how to confidently relay your price
• how to determine your price based on the value you bring, your market and knowing  your numbers
• what you need to do in order to get the prices that you are asking
• how to recognize money stories that may be sabotaging your success
• how to gracefully set pricing boundaries with family and friends
• an important clue that it's time to raise prices

In this podcast episode I interview David Cieslak, owner if Signature  Staging in Chicago, a boutique luxury staging company. 

David's talks about how his business has evolved over 20 years.

You will learn:

• How David built his staging business during the housing crash
• What David learned about business after being incredibly busy and what he learned about preventing burn out
• How vulnerability and asking for help impacted David's life and business
• How David shifted his mindset on money
• How David executes a stage without being at the install
• What is happening with staging trends

In this episode of Home Stagers and Designers on Fire I interview Christine Rae founder of CSP International Staging and Decorating BUSINESS Academy.

You will learn:

• What Home Stagers struggle with the most
• What Christine learned about selling in the corporate world
• How working with Michael E. Gerber (author of the E Myth) helped Christine create a long term business strategy
• Why social media is not enough to get a steady stream of business
• How to differentiate your business so that you aren't competing on price
• Why we should stop talking about staging and what we should be saying instead

In this podcast episode of Home Stagers and Designers on FireI talk with Heather Cook of Social Stager.

You will learn:

• what intuitive website platform Heather recommends and why
• why an optimized home/landing page is important
• what to place "above the fold" on your lhome/landing page
• how your brand impacts how you tailor your website copy
• what to do before you start creating your website
• why showcasing transformations and case studies are so important
• how to write copy that is engaging and keeps the viewers interest
• how to speak to different ideal clients on your website so that they feel as though you are speaking directly to them