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Marketing Step3-Credibility Connecting

Getting Found Online

The Step 3-Credibility Connecting step is about “Make sure you are found by BEING in all the places a client might search for you”. When your website and profile comes up in searches, directories, listings, etc., so that a client can find you when searching…your phone will ring. When your phone rings for business, you will very likely “make the sale.”

Every salesperson knows that when someone calls in, they have an 80% better chance of turning that call into a sale than calling out cold. HSR wants you to be found, so you’re not relying on cold calling out. When you take the time to “Credibility Connect” that activity works while you sleep, so that is why it is an essential element in your marketing plan.

As you can see from the module training image above, we have a lot to go over!  You will need to have all your Step 2 - Representation materials handy, so you can quickly link up your website, portfolio photos and social profiles.​

Please read the HSR Marketing Step Three section in the First 50 Marketing Guide of the Training Manual before continuing to the following sections of the day.​

Perfect Portfolios

Showcasing Your Work

In this section, we are going to wrap up your portfolio in a big bow and make it look fantastic! A portfolio is not as simple as taking photos and enlarging them for your hard copy portfolio. You need to consider how to clean them up, brand them and post them online for tons of instant marketing!

Don't email me asking how you can build a portfolio when you're just starting out like it's an impossible task...it's absolutely not AND every stager has to start somewhere!  Take photos of your own home if you must or redesign a friends home.  This is how every stager usually starts their portfolio since you have to give client's "an idea" of your style and the way you work.  This is also a great way to practice your photography skills so do vignettes in your home and photograph those as well.

Once you get that first staging/redesign job, you will have oodles of photos to work with and you can swap out your portfolio photos when better ones come along...you only need your BEST 10-20 on your website.

**If you ordered the Premium Website Package, we have a special slideshow for you built into your site.

**If you built a WordPress website on your own, then a great plugin to add to the site is:  metaslider and it's a mobile friendly slider plugin for your website that is free.

Website Advice for Showcasing Your Work

While you can get fancy and "watermark" your photos with your logo or business name, many times that can distract from the photo in my opinion.  If you do plan to watermark, use an easy app like Watermark Studio X or Watermark Photo's free versions to see if it's even worth it.  

Always have a "Gallery" or Portfolio page on your site to showcase your best work.  Use a slideshow or simply put the photos in the page (making sure they are resized, so they don't slow the loading of the page).

  • In a slideshow put your BEST photo first (visitors have a 2 second attention span)
  • Always include a call to action
  • Sprinkle your photos throughout your website
  • Edit the after photo but don't get too crazy on the editing...

Quick Editing  in 3-Minutes from Your Phone Video

If you're having trouble seeing this video, here's the direct YouTube link - https://youtu.be/5p0lPRTGiNw

Quick Editing  in 3-Minutes Using Lightroom (free app)

If you're having trouble seeing this video, here's the direct YouTube link - https://youtu.be/XBQ00lKwOEQ

Get instantly good photos using "light room presets" in Adobe Lightroom.  This quick video shows you how to download the free app (which can also be used on desktop) and use Jenna Kutcher's free light room presets to edit your pictures to create perfect lighting!

Jenna Kutcher is a photographer turned Internet influencer and I love her look, strategies and photos.  Here's a link to her free presets - 

https://jennakutcher.leadpages.co/preset-giveaway/

Full disclosure, I'm not affiliated with her and you will get her marketing emails after signing up for the presets so just unsubscribe;).

Here's another quick video showing my before and afters:

If you're having trouble seeing this video, here's the direct YouTube link - https://youtu.be/eIQIxVoNCFA

Using the Ripl App to Showcase Before and After Videos

One of my favorite video apps is Ripl and it does cost a bit but it's VERY easy to upload your photos and make a quick video of your staging job.  In fact, some of the videos we created in the Social Curation area were made with that app.

https://www.ripl.com/features-and-price

Test it out for yourself with their free trial and the yearly cost might make sense to your IF you use it...it also allows you to easily brand your videos and multi-post it to all your social platforms with one click...how cool is that?

More Portfolio Information

Here is a link with some great advice on taking interior photos:


https://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/2632982/list/take-better-photographs-of-your-house-in-a-snap

Here's another great resources site and article to check out...

A Website that WORCS

Creating a Website that Rocks!

If You Purchased our TrulyBranded Website Package:

Don't worry, you are in good hands and will have a website that is mobile friendly, easy to edit, customizable, search engine friendly and tailored to our industry. 

If You Did Not Purchase our Premium Website Package:

We all know the importance of "first impression" and your website is your prospects "first impression" of you!  Spend some time on this CRITICAL marketing item!  

Click on the image below to download a Website Checklist I created for you to shop around with as you choose a website for your business:

You should know that picking a wix, weebly, vistaprint or godaddy website product may not help you much in "getting found" by search engines.   Having said that, wix.com and squarespace.com are my favorite of those options and can be fairly user friendly to use.

Watch our latest sales video for our Website Product and I show it to you because what we provide is a benchmark for what you should be looking for when you invest in a website for your business. 

If you are on a VERY tight budget, consider just using your business Facebook page  but keep in mind that a professional website that represents your business well will really help to get your phone to ring.

10 Critical Keys to Every Successful Website

Social Networking

Time to Get Social

Due to the ever-changing nature of the Internet, this section refers to many other websites whose soul purpose is to stay on top of social media/digital marketing. 

Social media and networking has come a long way in the last couple years for stagers and designers! In this section, you will learn:

  • How to stay on top of the social media industry

  • How to use Houzz and when to become a Houzz Pro

  • The most important social networks for your business (Facebook and Instagram which are connected which makes it easy)

  • How to set each social network up and stay organized

  • How to research your competitors to connect with clients

  • How to easily build your friends, followers and likes (in video below)

    But first...here's a quick video I created for the general public about WHY social media is critical...

Using Social Media to Get Clients

In the training above, I explain a product HSR offers which is a SOCIAL MEDIA SERVICE only for stagers and designers where we literally do your gorgeous posts weekly for you... can you imagine the time saver?

This is a perfect product for those who are too busy to post, don't know what to post and/or just want to focus on other marketing avenues (like the ones I mention in the video.)

Click Here Full Details About Our Social Media Done-for-You Service!

3 Quick Steps to Get Started Right Away

1. First off, the very best websites out there for you to stay on top of all things social media are:

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/

Katie Lance who was a RESA Speaker and has free webinars on the subject!  http://www.katielance.com

Neil Patel is a social media guru online too, so you may want to subscribe to his blog:  http://www.quicksprout.com

I recommend you go to those sites right away and subscribe to their emails. Also, while articles in this training may get dated, I recommend going to the sites above to search for the latest and greatest when it comes to social networks or any questions you may have.

2. Secondly, for those of you who are resistant to using social media and change (like I was for a while), here's a good quote to remember:

"Just because you aren't there (on social platforms) does not mean the conversation isn't happening!"

There is a rule of social networks where the recommendation is that you use the 80/20 rule. The 80/20 rule means you spend 80% of the time interacting with and promoting others and 20% of the time promoting yourself and your products. In the video below and later in my Facebook Connect Section, I talk about easy ways you can do this.

Connect With Me!

I want you to go to my social platforms and get a good idea of what to do, as well as connect with me for ongoing information and ideas. Make sure to connect with the Home Staging Resource page and "Like" us, so that you get the latest staging statistic updates, etc..

3.  Finally, watch the quick video below and instructions underneath for setting up some basic social media profiles for your business:

Below are the social media platforms you will want to create your business in order of priority, along with quick article instructions on how best to set them up:

 

I've talked about Google which is AWESOME for email, calendar, documents, online forms...everything. Here is a good article about that.. http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/60668-22-Free-Google-Products-for-Small-Business-Owners

 

  • Houzz - My personal favorite for just refining your design style but this one packs a punch when you build your profile well, upload gorgeous after photos and then begin to advertise using Houzz Pro (I talk about it in the video). http://www.bluecorona.com/blog/houzz-marketing

 

 

  • Twitter - Unless you love to post and can make this a twice daily part of your routine, you don't really need a Twitter account. 

Cool Tip - Go to search.twitter.com, use their advanced search tool to search for "Realtor" in People near you to find all the local Realtors you can follow.

 

 

Marketing Materials

One-Click Marketing Materials

We know that it takes months to create marketing materials and websites from scratch and we don't want you to have to wait that long!  You can always get back to creating a custom look but for now, consider simply choosing one of our many styles, swap out your company information and order.

We strongly recommend you watch our Bling Your Brand section, so you have an idea of the "look" you want to achieve!

*If you have one of our TrulyBranded Websites  then you already have a Brand board for your business, so make sure to refer to that for your color codes, fonts, hero photos, etc...
**If you would like to purchase one of our websites, go to this page since you get a HUGE discount as an HSR Member - https://homestagingresource.com/designer-websites/

Marketing Material Canva Templates

Make sure you create your free Canva Account by click here if you haven't already!  FYI - There is also a Pro version which is what I use, so some of the things I show you may not be on the free version.

Business Card Canva Templates

Click Here for Canva Business Card Templates
Here's some examples of the business cards we created for you in Canva:

Canva Brochure Templates

Click Here for Canva  Brochure Templates
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