This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
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Hey there, hope you've been well. Thanks for tuning in today. My name's Chris Guillebeau, your host of Side Hustle School, author of Gonzo Capitalism, the new book that's coming out in August. I'm excited about that, I'll share more about it soon. But today we are diving into a question from Emily in Portland.
Emily is a professional organizer with a keen eye for interior design. Actually, now that I'm looking at this a little bit closer, I realized that Emily is in Vancouver, BC. So I'm not sure how I got Portland, it's in the neighborhood, at least the Portland, Oregon version is. So we're gonna go to British Columbia, not Oregon in this question. Exciting, gonna cross a border.
Emily is thinking about starting a home staging side hustle to help homeowners sell their properties faster and at a better price. Let's see what guidance we have for her on building a portfolio and perhaps developing relationships with local real estate agents. So home staging services, interior design, that's the idea. Let's see if we can help Emily in Vancouver. Once again, detailed question coming up in just 30 seconds.
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Hi, I'm Emily from Vancouver, BC, a professional organizer with a keen eye for interior design. I've helped friends and family declutter and redesign their homes and I've received numerous compliments on my work. I'm considering offering home staging services as a side hustle for homeowners looking to sell their properties with a focus on creating inviting functional spaces. How can I build a portfolio showcasing my staging skills and develop relationships with real estate agents to generate a steady stream of clients? Also, if those aren't the right first steps, what would you recommend?
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Hey, Emily, thanks for reaching out. Definitely sounds like you're off to a good start. The background and organization and interior design, obviously a strong start for an idea like this. And these also seem like good starting steps. Emily asked if those aren't the right steps, what would I recommend?
Well, I think that's a good starting point. I would just add one more step, which is to think first and most about your offer. I talk a lot about this in the side hustle book and from time to time here on the podcast as well. People have general business ideas often and the more we can make them specific, the better they're gonna be able to do in terms of converting potential clients. It's just gonna be so much easier to be able to say, like here is my specific service, here's the price.
And how can it be explained as simply as possible? I think that's, as I said, first and foremost. But as for the other points, in terms of building a portfolio and developing relationships, well, for the portfolio, maybe start by offering your staging services at a discounted rates or even free of charge to friends and family, acquaintances, perhaps somebody selling their home, take some really great photos. That's gonna be critical, of course, really good visuals, high quality images of each property, capturing different angles, maybe highlighting these inviting functional spaces that you create. And when it comes to developing relationships with local real estate agents, well, here's some more good news.
You know, those folks tend to be outgoing and relationship building focused to begin with. So they also want to get to know different people, other professionals that are gonna help them do a better job for their clients and advance their own careers. So it's kind of a win-win. Introduce yourself to agents at open houses, any local real estate associations or meetings. There's a lot of different stuff happening in most communities for real estate.
So you just want to kind of involve yourself in that wherever possible. And as I said, it's usually pretty beginner friendly and welcoming to outsiders who are kind of breaking in just because you're not competing with the real estate agents. You're offering something that's potentially complimentary. So you might want to prepare a short pitch, just highlighting your skills and their benefits, but mostly keep it natural, you know? And maintain contact with these agents, provide them with regular updates on your work, new testimonials, anything that's relevant without overselling it, as I said, it really is a relationship focused business.
So that's the path. It sounds like you're mostly on it. So good luck, Emily. I'll be cheering you on. Listeners, I'm always cheering you on as well, wherever you are in the world, whatever you're up to.
I want you to achieve the momentum that you deserve in terms of creating your own income generating project, being able to do more of what's important to you. If I can be helpful in some way, sidehustleschool.com/questions, or of course my weekly blog, chrisguillebeau.com. And we'll continue to feature listener questions every week, along with updates from other listeners as they launch and grow their projects. That's all for now. My name is Chris Guillebeau.
This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
- From the Onward Project.
