Becoming a home stager in Georgia could be a lucrative and rewarding career for you. If you have a creative eye and a drive to learn and succeed, this could certainly be a job worth pursuing. Georgia realtors and homeowners alike are always searching for the best home stagers, so with some investment of time, and an excellent marketing campaign, you’re sure to take your Georgia home staging business to the next level.
When you start with a little creativity, you can learn all the rest of the skills you’ll need to succeed.
We’ve been offering Home Staging Certification courses since 2007. Our popular courses cover a wide range of skills for home staging in Georgia, teaching you all the tips and tricks you need to excel as a home stager.
So, how do you become a home stager in Georgia?
We’ll look at this from the point of view of starting your own home staging business. If you want to start with getting a home staging job, read our articles on resume tips, how to get a home staging job, and our overview of home staging careers.
Like many careers, getting your first break can be tricky. There are of course other home stagers in Georgia, so you need to make sure you stand out from the rest and can secure some jobs in order to become established. Eventually, you’ll benefit from word-of-mouth recommendations, but to begin with, you need to prove yourself. Setting off on the right track is the key to a successful home staging business.
So let’s take a look at the steps you need to take to become a home stager in Georgia…
Steps to becoming a home stager in Georgia
It’s time to believe in yourself and give it your all. Georgia is such a rich and varied state, from the modern apartment blocks of Atlanta to the 18th-century dwellings of Savannah, your work is going to be fascinating and diverse. Gain the knowledge you need to sympathetically stage each type of home, to perfectly set the scene for buyers to picture their dream life.
Step 1: Take a home staging certification course in Georgia
When you’re researching home staging training in Georgia, you’ll find several options available to you. We suggest that you always opt for a home staging course that rewards you with certification when you’ve successfully completed the program. In Georgia, there are no legal requirements for home stagers to have any formal qualifications, so literally anyone can call themselves a home stager. If you want to have an advantage and prove you have the necessary skills to take on the most challenging of home staging projects in Georgia, having a relevant certificate, such as those you’ll receive when you complete courses with the Home Staging Institute, can definitely give you the edge. When realtors or Georgia homeowners are looking for a home stager, this could swing their choice in your favor!
Step 2: Understand the local Georgia market
From the forests to the huge cities, Georgia is incredibly diverse. With over 10 million residents, the Peach State is an ideal location for a home stager as there are plenty of potential clients out there. When one day you’re staging a 19th-century mansion in Athens, and the next a ranch-style home in Marietta, life is never dull as a home stager in Georgia!
When you take your home staging course, you’ll learn how to perfectly stage each type of dwelling, to showcase its positive points and make the most of any aspects of the property that are less than ideal. When you’re dealing with so many different types of homes, this will be an invaluable skill.
Step 3: Learn from other home stagers in Georgia
Once you’ve completed your home staging training in Georgia and gained a good understanding of the local market, the next step in the process is to check out the local competition. So head online and search the internet for ‘home stagers in Georgia’ and ‘home stagers in Atlanta’ etc. Take a close look at how other home stagers in Georgia are showcasing their skills and advertising their home staging businesses. This will give you some excellent ideas when it comes to creating your own online presence. When you’re first starting out, you may need to think outside the box. Your competitors are likely to have a portfolio of previous work and stunning images of perfectly staged rooms. Just because you haven’t yet had a paying client doesn’t mean you can’t show off your home staging skills though. Stage the rooms in your own home, or offer your services to friends and family, and take some photographs. It may even be worth hiring a professional photographer, to ensure the images look absolutely amazing.
Step 4: Start a home staging business in Georgia
You’re fully certified, you’ve learned so much, and so you’re all ready to set up your Georgia home staging business!
Now you’ll need to…
- Ensure your business complies with all legal requirements (details here)
- Get the relevant insurance policies in place
- Open a business bank account
- Learn how to keep your accounts
- Develop a website and make sure it comes up in the Google results (Unlock a 40% discount at StagingWebsites.com with the promo code HSIDiscount)
- Commission a stylish logo
- Get a dedicated cell phone to keep your work calls separate from your personal calls
- Work on your network of connections and keep a list of reliable suppliers (we provide a supplier list as part of our home staging courses)
Step 5: Begin marketing
Once you have an impressive website, and some great examples of your work, you need to get the word out there that you’re ready and available to work. Eventually you may get a lot of your business through personal recommendations, but for now, marketing will play a huge role in your success. Luckily, these days there are so many ways to market your home staging business in Georgia. Put in the time and explore every avenue. Take advantage of all the social media channels, giving you plenty of opportunities to advertise your business free of charge. Once you are established on all the social media platforms, you can look into paid advertising opportunities too. But while the online avenues can be very lucrative, for very little investment, don’t overlook the ‘real world’ options such as placing advertisements in local Georgia newspapers, or networking with Georgia realtors. Referrals from real estate agents are definitely highly valued in the world of home staging
Other facts about becoming a home stager in Georgia
How much do home stagers make in Georgia?
Based on our own research, home stagers in Georgia typically earn between $40,000 and $60,000 per year, with an average hourly rate of $20 to $30. Experienced professionals or those working in high-demand areas can potentially make upwards of $70,000 annually. Income can vary depending on factors such as location, clientele, and the number of projects completed.
Do I need a license to become a home stager in Georgia?
There are no requirements to be licensed to be a home stager in Georgia. Any credentials you earn through completing courses and gaining home staging certification in Georgia are entirely voluntary, putting you head and shoulders above those Georgia home stagers who didn’t bother to take this route.
Do you need a degree to become a home stager in Georgia?
A degree is not required to work as a home stager in Georgia. In fact, you can become a home stager with no qualifications at all. However, it can be harder to break into this career without relevant certification. Certification impresses potential clients, but it also gives you the skills and abilities you need to succeed as a home stager in Georgia.
