Why is it important for you to have a blog? How do you go about starting and structuring your blog posts? How can they be seen by others? All of these questions are answered in this training video, so buckle up and download my Blog Worksheet first to get started.
Here's another great tool not mentioned in the training for creating headline ideas: Title Generator
One of the huge bonuses to the staging business model is that you have an Association in your area that is filled with your "A" target market. That's right, it's your local Realtor Association. You can become an active part of your local Realtor Association by joining as an Affiliate Member. How do you find your local Realtor Association? Simply go to www.google.com and search your city and "Realtor Association" to find your local association.
Here are my top five ways to make the most from your Affiliate membership with Realtor Associations or any Association for that matter:
Make Sure Their Affiliate Directory is Both Online and In Print - First search under the "Affiliate" or "Find a Member" link to locate the Affiliate Directory online. Most of the local association websites have the Affiliate directory available for you to search.
Make Sure There Is a "Home Staging" Category - If there isn't a home staging category, it's probably because you're the first professional home stager interested in becoming an Affiliate member. All you need to do is contact the association and ask if they can create a category for you. Then your next question should be...
Ask If You Can Speak At An Event - Associations are always holding various events and looking for good speakers and topics to address the needs of their members. It makes sense that if you are the only Affiliate Home Stager member of your Association that you should get dibs on this.
Ask How Best to Market Your Services to Their Members - Each local association has a marketing plan and opportunities for their Affiliate members to connect with their Realtor Members, all you need to do is find out your options. Many times simply by reviewing their website and Affiliate link area you can discover ways in which they help you get the word out to their members about your business.
Build Your List - Many local associations will have a list of their members in print or download, so you can access important contact information of your prospects. Many times when you're doing your Intentional Marketing campaign you'll run into an agents website that does not give you their email address. No problem! Go to your local association and it will usually be listed there!
Other Associations to connect and get involved in are:
Women's Council of Realtors - CLICK HERE for a Directory of Local Chapters in your area
Local Chamber of Commerce - Great networking for those who live in smaller areas!
BNI.com - Largest referral organization in the world. Might be very strongly connected in your local area!
For a large list of every real estate association under the sun, go to: http://www.coursedates.com/associations.asp
I can't say enough about the importance of networking and just being where you clients are on a regular basis! Connect with another local stager to attend these local realtor events together and just be yourself!
Are you feeling overwhelmed with your marketing activities and social media? Are you finding that your business is dangerously narrow because you haven’t been marketing? I’m going to simplify everything for you while putting your marketing on auto-pilot!
First off, I want you to watch my "Getting Your Phone to Ring" video that is also on the public side of our website if you haven't already:
In the next more detailed training video I'm going to walk you through the steps to creating an automated sales funnel for your business using Facebook Ads. This is the secret to always building a prospect list and growing your business automatically, so PLEASE take the time to do this:
Here's what you will learn:
Set up a sales funnel that attracts your ideal client and creates the relationship for you!
Create a strategy for each service you offer, as well as core message
Creative and professional ways to design a free give-away
Easy ways to capture your target markets and create instant credibility
Use tried and true Facebook Marketing strategies that are easy on the budget
Create example Staging Facebook Ads that get attention
Facebook is ALWAYS changing it's look and Ad algorythm and process, so to get latest info on setting up ads best practices, I suggest Googling "how to set up a facebook ad" and look at recent articles too.
#1
You want an email address from a prospect, so you can build a relationship. You have to GIVE them something very good in order to GET their email address. Here's some items to inspire you that you are free to use...
Right-click and Save As...onto your computer
Use the 3D image above on a landing page to entice your prospect
Use the 3D image above on a landing page to entice your prospect
Use the 3D image above on a landing page to entice your prospect
Click to download PDF give-away
Click to download PowerPoint Presentation
Use the 3D image above on a landing page to entice your prospect
#2
Once you decide what that first great give-away is, use the other cool resources above in separate emails to your prospects over the course of 30-60 days.
I recommend using MailChimp currently because it's free if you have under 2000 contacts and most every stager typically has less than 100 agents in their database! Follow their tutorials to set up a simple "auto-responder" that goes to everyone who signs up for your give-away.
#3
Now that you have the key pieces in place, you will want to create a sign-up page on your website to drive traffic to! Our Premium Websites make this very easy and is one of the reason I love the Thrive Technology. You are always welcome to add the Premium Website to your membership by going to the Member Store.
Here's an example of what that page should look like...
Download this exact landing page and import it into your website to use...
#4
Go to www.canva.com and find their Facebook Ad template (Facebook needs the image to be a certain size and these templates are a great way to never reinvent!) Here's some quick ones I created using Canva that you can use...
#5
Facebook Ad - Login to Facebook and create your ad and target market. Make sure to choose your local area only and the job title of "Realtors" for the best targeting. You want "click throughs" to your landing page (not likes). Set a daily budget to make sure you can afford this. See my video above.
Google PPC - Go to www.google.com and click on "Advertising" (lower left) to create a Google pay-per-click account. Work with them to create a great ad geared towards anyone searching for the term "home stager" in your area.
This list of directories is always changing, so please let us know if you run into a dead link or find a GREAT directory to share!
Getting your website linked to all the places online that your prospects might be searching is an easy way to "get found" and a marketing activity that never stops for your business. Have your business information, social profile links, best portfolio photos and a quick bio in one folder on your computer so you can quickly input all sorts of great information on your business if the directory allows it.
You should also know that if you want your website to creep towards the top of Google, then you need to have links INTO your website from relevant sources ie directories online. Google considers your website more relevant when other places link into it.
I know it takes time to list your business, so if you want to hire a company that specializes in dialing in your local listing on general directories, then use Mozlocal.com. I cost money but saves you time. This is not a recommendation, we don't make money for the referral but simply a "for your information".
There's a reason why we list Google first among the "Credibility Connecting" Lessons and it's because there is no denying the power of a Google presence for your business! In the over ten years of this training, Google is the ONE consistently awesome marketing avenue we train on!
Did you know that 46% of all searches on Google are local searches?
That’s right. Nearly half of the people checking out your business online will be located within your immediate geographical area.
Go to https://www.google.com/business/ and get your business listed right away!
Another great way to get to the TOP of Google is to pay for it. You can "sponsor" specific searches and create an ad, so that home sellers and agents searching online can see you right away. This is probably the best way to spend your marketing budget right away!
All you need to do is go to www.google.com and click on "Advertising Programs". Google will walk you through the rest. You only pay if someone clicks on your listing, so make sure your ad is specific to your area and offering ie. "Certified professional expert home stager in Tulsa. Call for a consultation!"
I've seen many a member do well by figuring out the best way to advertise their business using Google. Create an account, brainstorm on key words and phrases people in your area might use, make it location specific and watch it carefully! Once you've finessed your Google account, you won't need to mess with it again. This is what I call a marketing activity that works while you sleep 24/7! Here are my top five tips for setting up your pay per click campaign:
Bing isn't nearly as big as Google or Facebook BUT it does control a third of search! Google controls 65% and Bing controls 33%, so getting your business listed (and possibly doing a ppc on both) will REALLY cover the search results!
Go to https://www.bingplaces.com/ and get your business listed right away!
I talked about this in the Website WORCS section but it bears repeating...to give your website "value" in Google's eyes and get on page one in the "natural" results you have to :
Local search engine optimization for location based businesses like yours is an art form! Similar to the Social Networking, SEO changes all the time, so here are a could good resources to use to learn more about local SEO.
Josh Hamit, the Founder of "Improve My Search Ranking" wrote the best, step-by-step guide on local search entitled: "The Ultimate Guide to Local SEO - 2017 Edition". He graciously offered to share the report with you all, so download the pdf by clicking on the button below...
Of course the resources I listed for social networking are also great sources for finding out more about "Local SEO" so if you have a particular question, refer to www.socialmediaexaminer.com, www.quicksprout.com or www.katylance.com for updated direction.