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FAQ's - Home Staging Questions & Frequently Asked Questions About All of Our Products
HSR Certification in Staging and Redesign FAQ's
Got a Question? We Have Answers...
You can read A LOT more about my background, awards and achievements on the About Us page, but here's a quick video on why I started the Home Staging Resource...
There are a ton of reasons why HSR stands out as the best staging and redesign training company available and here are a few to consider as you shop around:
The HSR Certification training was the first Accredited Staging and Redesign training recognized by the Real Estate Staging Association back in 2009 leading the way in staging training.
We provide an un-heard of 72-hour "no questions asked" refund guarantee, so you can get inside and make sure this is a fit for you. Other guarantees usually have lots of strings attached or forms you need to complete, so always check the fine-print.
We also provide a private, Facebook community filled with veterans and peers to answer questions, encourage and inspire one another. Only in a safe, private setting can this be accomplished.
Other programs stair-step their training charging you extra for more advanced training or a "Masters", additional forms, recorded training, help or service. We want a long-term relationship with our Members and we know that setting you up for success by offering advanced training at one price is how we create that relationship. We give you everything you'll need for this business at one low flat price. We would be doing a disservice to you otherwise.
Click here to get a video sneak peek of what is in Day One of our 21-Day Training!
Other programs will give you business forms/guides or website pages littered with their own brand and selling their own training programs. HSR gives you all the guides and forms in Word or Canva Template, so you can customize them to your OWN look and feel. HSR creates gorgeous websites that promote you...not us or our training! Again, we want YOU to look good.
Other programs have you attend a 3-day or 5-day classroom or listen to teleconference training and then you're done. HSR creates long-lasting relationships and community with its members by providing ongoing training, tools and materials through our extensive Members Training Area. We are also available for our members at all times via email and telephone. We keep your business current and are actively interested in your success.
Don't take our word for it! If you're serious about this, feel free to contact any of our Members in our directory for their feedback, as well as read our many testimonials. HSR prides itself on having 100% happy and satisfied members. No other training provider will tell you to do that!
While some of our members do come from the interior design field, most do not which is the beauty of the home staging industry! What you must have is a passion for design, interiors and a "natural eye for design".
If you don't love design, homes and decorating then this is not for you. If you're an HGTV junkie and the one your friends always go to for design tips then this is for you. If you have subscriptions to every decorating magazine available and have been studying this as a hobby or formally then this is for you! Join a great industry where you can take your decorating passion and skills and make money while helping people get more money out of selling their most valuable commodity. It's a highly rewarding experience!
This is not something that you can easily "train" yourself on. We give you step by step guides, video on over 30 homes staged, photo galleries and detailed training to refine your skills but your success lies in your staging talent and the ability to recognize design problems and create solutions.
HSR has put together a three week training program online but it is self-paced so you can go as fast as you want or take your time to get through it...it's completely up to you! Our goal is to help you get your business set up and off the ground within 21 days. On average, it usually takes about 4 hours a day for around 21 days to quickly go through it. Your HSR Membership lasts a year, so you have plenty of time to finish!
Simply put, we will take your business to the next level! In fact, every veteran stager who has taken our course has said that it doubled their business because our marketing section is like no other! We have advanced marketing training on branding, Facebook Advertising, blogging, social networking and give you a step-by-step marketing plan.
HSR is the MOST trafficked staging website on the Internet so if you have a home staging business, you really should be on our directory.
Here is a quote from Ellen in TX who has staged over 2000 homes and joined HSR: "With every page I review I think "this is what I do or use or envisioned" AND "I wish HSR was around when I started my business"! I worked for 3 months straight preparing the infrastructure of my business in the winter of 2001 so that I could launch with a professional face. You've thought of everything, and more, than I did!"
Yes, but unlike other training companies we don't assume you actually need it and should pay for it...that's why we cost significantly less.
Our Stagers Connect Group is a free network resource filled with veterans from all over the country happy to help and offer advice. Many times they will even allow you to job shadow them.
Having said all of that, most of our members don't need that after they go through our 21-day program because the program is a built-in confidence booster and all of our grads feel comfortable in the field after going through it.
It really depends on how fast you can absorb the materials and put into action the steps needed to build your business. We have people finish in 3 weeks working about 4 hours a day while others choose to take 2 months...it's entirely up to you and that's the beauty of self-paced AND being able to refer back and hit the rewind button on some items.
Complete renewal details for all our products can be found at https://homestagingresource.com/renewals/
You have a year to complete the 21-days of training and if you want to renew your staging training access, the cost is $250 and includes:
**Continued login access into our Member's Area for a year where we always add new info, training, forms, tools and content
**Continued access into our private, Facebook community
**Most importantly you keep your Directory listing with us and this alone should bring in enough business to justify the cost
Nope, we have a special deal for partners and employees at 50% off the full price! So many of our members get busy right away and want to bring on business partners or employees that are certified and trained. See our Partner Payment Options on the course sales page to view your options.
No! Regardless of how you pay, the moment you pay for the course you get INSTANT access into our Members Training Area where you can get started right away. You have the option of a priority mailed large, 300-page Training Manual (which takes about 5 business days) or you can download the manual in the Members Area.
The Most Recognized Home Staging Course in the Industry...
Certified Color Expert FAQ's
- You get immediate access into our Members Training Area where you can familiarize yourself with the training process and download our Training Example Calendar.
- We mail your a large package filled with a color Training Manual, all sorts of color fan decks and color tools for your business.
- We connect you with paint vendors for more tools and color swatches
- We walk you through choosing the right paint color scheme AND picking the right color finishes for clients
Yes and no, since we do mail you a large packet of materials including a CCE Training Manual, many different paint decks and a CCE Large Sample Color Binder and Category Tabs. The beauty of online training is that you always get to hit the “rewind” button and watch the presentations as many times as you wish in order to absorb the material. Online is really no different than classroom except you won’t forget the materials once you get home AND you don't have expensive travel costs associated with the training!
- We are all about giving you a color business model for success and credibility!
- We provide you the color tools, paint decks and forms you will need for this side of the business.
- We make specifying color within a home easy using our 6-Step Color Read.
- Our logo is about your achievement and not about branding our business name.
- We provide a specific consultation structure that is designed to grow your design business and up sell your services.
- We provide you easy and effortless ways to market your new CCE knowledge.
No! We keep the training focused on communicating color to clients in a practical way that they can understand. This is about your business success and how to practically pick the right paint color for clients...basically the fun stuff.
Color is the gateway service to more design business when done correctly. Home owners won’t blink an eye spending $350 on a color consultant but will be weary of a design consult where they think it’s just an up-sell to window treatments. Our CCE color consultation process is designed to build trust, rapport and solve all the design issues in the home...not just picking paint. You can't pick paint color in a vacuum and at the end of the day, you are giving your client HUGE bang for the buck when you tell them the design changes that would work best with their color palette.
No. In fact, you may decide to just create a business doing color consultations which is a ton of fun! Having said that, the course is really beneficial to those already in the industry since it creates a sales funnel for their design business through the gateway service of color.
On average, it takes someone 3-4 days to get through it all. The course is broken up into a 85-page color CCE Training Manual and 6 Training Video Modules that each take a couple hours to absorb.
Download the Course Calendar
It’s a lot of valuable material, so you won’t want to rush. Since it’s at your own pace, you set your hours. We also recommend you wait till you get your large CCE Package in the mail before you get started on Modules 2-4 because you will need your fan decks handy.
We have a variety of cool CCE logos for you to be able to use in your own marketing once you’ve gone through all the modules and completed a test at the end of Module 5 which insures you are confident about your newfound color knowledge. You will also want to include the initials CCE after your name as an additional designation you've gone through.
Yes and no. Our emphasis is on interior color with respect to furnishings, fixtures and paint so we don’t limit it to just paint. You can use the same principles for specifying exterior paint colors but the course is for interiors.
Never Buy a Training Without Seeing What's Inside....
Click on the arrow at right to see a complete video of what's inside the Certified Color Expert training area>>
Expert E-Designer FAQ's
- We are the ONLY e-design training that actually gives you access to a copy of Audra's Master Account filled with 100+projects so you are NEVER REINVENTING. You will have to pay DesignFiles for your subscription separately but they are the GO-TO online company for vision boards.
- We are all about giving you an e-design business model for success and credibility
- We have a track record of success! Audra has personally trained more successful staging and design businesses than any other trainer.
- Our "marketing formula" is the secret to our students success! Audra knows Internet marketing and how to get your phone to ring for business.
- Our logo is about your achievement and not about branding our business name. You develop "Expert" status once you get through our course!
- We provide a specific consultation structure that is designed to grow your design business and up sell your services.
- We provide you easy and effortless ways to market your new E-Design knowledge.
On average, it takes someone 3-4 days to get through it all. The course is broken up into 4-modules covering implementation, automation, pricing, packaging, marketing and board building.
Download the E-Design Training Checklist!
It’s a lot of valuable material, so you won’t want to rush. Since it’s at your own pace, you set your hours.
Here's the timeline breakdown of the training...
Yes! Our designers love creating these boards and we have BIG plans for different ways to use them to help your business. Although we don't benefit as a training company by adding to your DesignFiles subscription, we can't help but want to be helpful as you pioneer this industry:-).
Yes, because you will want to always be able to refer back to the instructions. The class is at your fingertips and you can hit the "rewind" button to refer back to sections at any time as a member.
- The HSR Template Projects are NEVER to be given in their entirety for free to anyone in order to prevent widespread distribution. You may however share the BOARD IMAGES ONLY (NOT LINKS OR PRESENTATION) to clients and in your materials as an "example" of what they will receive.
- The HSR Templates are primarily to be used as "starting points" for your projects. You've just saved 4 hours of work, by starting with a beautiful board, so now swap out some products and go from there.
- Never give an HSR Template project away for free unless we specify that that template is to be used for a sales funnel or "freebie" on your site (and we have quite a few of those for you). If we see that you are doing that, your HSR Templates will be revoked.
No. In fact, you may decide to just create a business doing e-design consultations which is a ton of fun! Having said that, the course is really beneficial to those already in the industry since it creates a sales funnel for their design business through the gateway service of e-design.
How easy would it be for you to send an follow-up email to every home seller you work with for staging that introduces the idea of creating a "Move-In Design Plan" for their new home?
This course was a natural progression for anyone who has gone through my staging certification course because it expands and easily upsells their design service. Here's my story...
We have a variety of cool Edesign logos for you to be able to use in your own marketing once you’ve gone through all the modules and completed a simple quiz at the end of Module 3 which insures you are confident about your newfound e-design knowledge. You will also want to include the initials EE after your name as an additional designation you've gone through.
Yes! At the end of the course, you take a short quiz for your Certified Expert E-Designer Certificate. You also get the benefit of our logos and being a part of the largest group of E-Designers collectively!
Yes and no. Yes, in the the training is universal and the easy copy and paste forms, emails, images for you to use instantly will be a HUGE time saver.
In terms of the DesignFiles boards...while the products sourced in the boards were all online product, some of the vendors do ship internationally while some do not. The whole point to the boards is that you are getting a starting point to work from and a HUGE inspiration platform. Simply swap out the products that are not a fit, change the images, do whatever you like to make them your own.
The alternative is you have a BLANK account:(
By the way, we have several members from Canada and even one from Romania and South Africa!
Absolutely! We have simple instructions in the training that walks you through how to get our over 100+ Project Templates added to your account.
Get a Sneak Peek Inside Our Templates
Click the play arrow to watch a short video of what's inside your DesignFiles account when you sign-up for our training.
Find Out More On How to Become an Expert E-Designer!
TrulyBranded Websites for Home Stagers & Designers FAQ's
Right after you purchase the TrulyBranded Website, you get immediate access into Audra's training area where you can fill out a simple form (brand choice, font choice, website address, name, company and locations served for SEO) to order your website. Usually within a week our web folks will ask you to make a simple change to your domain to point the domain to the host account we provide for you. Once your domain is pointed, we get to work and it's usually up within a week.
The website is always yours to keep and move to another host company before your year is up if you choose. To continue your TrulyBranded Website membership, video training access and another year of website hosting and monthly backups, the cost is only $150 a la carte or $100 when you renew with your HSR Certification membership. (less than $10 a month for hosting, backup and improvements).
Complete details can be found at:
We KNOW the home staging and design industry and have been building websites for over 15 years! No other website company or builder will come as loaded with the many design and staging content blocks and "extras" like videos, statistics, sales funnels, shop, services and pricing list, etc...
You can spend months building your own but why?
Also, most website builders are not using WordPress which is the platform that Google loves...you want to be found on Google don't you?
You can pay a web designer but then you have no control and will continue to make payments any time you want to make simple changes. With our websites you become the web designer using our easy platform and have complete control over your website.
Yes, yes and yes! The site is completely customizable and is designed to easily change your branding, fonts, etc...when you do. You never stare at a blank page with our 200+ design, color and staging related content blocks that you can also completely customize.
No, but it's in your best interest to make changes to the text of your site, so that Google won't think you're plagiarizing another site. You also want to look different than other designers and stagers, so it's VERY simple to click into the text and change elements on each page by dragging them around.
We've had the MOST non-technical people edit their websites following Audra's video instructions beautifully. Having said that...they put the work in to change some of the blocks, edit their text and add their own photos. You can spend a day just changing the basics and have an amazing website OR you can really change it up like some of our clients do...up to you.
If you don't want to learn the tech or spend time on it, by all means pay a company to build your site and do all the customizing but that cost will triple and they won't understand the industry like we do.
We show you how to easily back up your site, we also have a helpdesk and since most of the content is already saved as template blocks, it's easy to call it back up. Mistakes happen and yes, they take time to fix, so Audra's videos show you how to get comfortable on a "Test" page before tackling the real pages. Ultimately, you have total control of your look and feel but our system makes it easy for you to do GREAT things with your site! Look better than everyone else, get business from a stellar image and have complete control over your number one business asset.
These websites are wholesale ONLY to those who have taken one of Audra's Premium Certification Courses. We offer them wholesale to training clients because we are invested in your success! We know that if you do well, referrals follow and that is why the Home Staging Resource is the number one staging training company in North America...our members are awesome!
We still offer a retail, stand-alone option at a bit higher price to the public because we believe everyone deserves a beautiful, functional website that they control.
Since we want you to be completely happy with your website choice, you can get a refund any time within 30 days of your purchase BUT BEFORE you fill out the website form and any work is done on building your site. Once your fill out the form and our site designers start creating...there is no refund as no other website designer would refund having spent hours building your site.
TrulyBranded Social Media "Done-for-You" FAQ's
Got A Question? We Have Answers!
Monthly Subscription to Your Own Social Media Expert Who Understands the Staging and Design Industry and Curates Posts for You
Up to 3 Social Profiles Connected (Facebook, Instagram & LinkedIn)
12 Curated Posts a Month (3 Per Week in Each of Your Social Platforms for a Total of 9 Posts)
Simply Login, Review & Hit "Approve" Weekly
Easily Edit Posts or Swap Out Imagery with Your Own
Access to Amazing Post Creator/Editor/Idea Curator Portal Filled with More Post Ideas in the Design, Staging, Real Estate Industries PLUS Tons More!
Ability to Comment Within the System and Add the First Comment for Instagram in the Post
Ability to See Your Analytics and REPOST Your Best Posts
Social Calendar Allows You to Schedule and Repost
A "My Library" to Save All Your Posts and Use Again and Again
Evergreen Posting Allows You To Repost Daily or Weekly
Yes, yes and yes! The posts are completely customizable and is designed to easily change your branding, fonts, etc...when you do. You never stare at a blank page with the 200+ idea templates provided in the Canva like editor. The editor also also taps into millions of stock photos so you can do a simple search to find a TON of cool photos.
I've tried EVERY platform out there from MeetEdgar, Later, Plannthat...everything! None of them curate industry specific posts for you AND post them into your calendar WITH copy, emoji's AND hashtags. This is like hiring a social media expert to do this work for you and that's definitely going to cost you more than $119 a month!
Also, none of those systems give you post ideas on an ongoing basis.
Yes and no. Only 6% of your followers will see your post (statistically), so the chances of someone seeing the same post in another designer's feed are slim to none. We simply do not have that many subscribers from the thousands of designers out there.
BUT we also group people so there's no overlap and only 60 people worldwide will have the same post. Why reinvent?
Also, sharing a good post is common.
No, this is a simple subscription model where if you don't like it...email us and we will cancel your account before the next charge. Plus we have a 7-day guarantee, so you can see a week's worth of posts to make sure it's a fit.
You only spend on the set-up fee and first month to know right away what an extreme time saver this is for your business!
We have a 7-day guarantee, so you can see a week's worth of posts to make sure it's a fit.
No, sorry it's a package deal...but we do agree the platform is the BOMB!
No, sorry it's all automated and that's why it's so incredibly reasonable! Just don't approve the posts you don't like.
This is like any subscription in that you have to set it up for it to work. We have a quick video training that shows you how to connect your social profiles to the portal AND we send you a few email reminders to do so. Once set up, you will see the posts in your calendar weekly where you can approve.
If you don't connect your profiles, you will not get the posts but your subscription is still active with portal access.
Yes! While it's most ideal that you have somewhat of a "following" this is a great portal to kick start and automate your social marketing to grow your business.
Who Has Time for All the Social Media Work?
Get your own social media manager who will post 3-times a week in your two favorite social media platforms (ideally Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn)
Simply Hit the Approve Button
We will never post without your approval and at the beginning of every month, your 12 posts will be available for review and approval.
Edit All You Want
With a Canva-like editor built into the social media platform it's SUPER easy to swap out imagery, change text and add links.
Home & Design Post Ideas
The content creation portal is specific to the home and design industry and is FILLED with additional post ideas.
Here's What's New on the Blog
Hear Audra's Story...
Quick video on why Audra started HSR and a bit about her
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