I just finished updating my “Blogging” section and creating a webinar about successful blogging for home stagers and designers in 2015. The Internet is always changing and so I’m constantly updating my training material to reflect what matters to stager TODAY.
Blogging for business is not about writing down your musings so much as giving prospects an insight to the way you work and your style, so having a plan for how to do this is essential!
If you’re a home stager, you may be saying, “why blog?” That’s a good question. Here are six great reasons why blogging is essential for home stagers:
- For skilled writers who are capitalizing on their strength
- To create credibility – which in our industry is critical
- To create a “Buzz” about your business and staging in general
- Better SEO for your website – Who doesn’t want that?
- Build your email list – Fill your pipeline with prospects
- “Touch” your prospects/clients – Most of sales is just reminding people that you are there
I see so many stagers create interesting blogs to only have them go out into the Internet-sphere never to be read by anyone! It’s a complete waste of time to blog and not be incredibly “intentional” about it, so…
Here are my 5 Steps to Blogging Success for Home Stagers and Designers:
1. WHO Exactly is Your Audience?
As a professional home stager and designer, you have many different target markets you could potentially be writing to. Too many times I see stagers writing for other stagers which really doesn’t help them at all. In the blogging training I added the members area, we listed those target markets, where they hang out online, what they wanted to see/learn about and more importantly…what they would share. When you know WHO you are targeting you can move onto the next key step and that is…
2. WHAT Are Your KEY WORDS?
One of the beautiful things about the home staging vs the design industry is it’s lack of keywords. Yes, it’s a good thing when there are few terms that describe what you do because that makes listing those terms that much easier.
For the home staging industry, the key words that 85% of folks would use to search are “home staging” and “home stager” but getting to the top of Google with those keywords can be tricky, so thinking outside of the box is imperative. List your “service” key words and how someone in your area might phrase those services and your type of work in a search. Next list your specific location keywords and you have a starting point for what to blog about.
A very cool tool that helps you brainstorm these key word terms is at www.semrush.com. Remember, my philosophy is to help stagers never reinvent the wheel and when you know how to use the cool tools online that help your business…you save tons of time!
3. HOW Can You Get Their Attention?
Nobody wants to read straight text. In an era of very short attention spans, it’s critical to be visual and readable! Here are things to think about when trying to get your reader’s attention:
- Headlines Matter – There are cool resources online that can help you craft a killer headline and I list some in the training
- Images Matter – We are in the visual industry and a picture is worth 1000 words, so make this work for you! I list a ton of great resources and rules for images in the training but you all know I’m a huge fan of Canva which puts the visual in motion. Canva is developing a Canva at Work program I’m excited to see, so go to Canva for Work so you get early access.
- Readability Matters – People like numbered lists and bullet points, so it’s easier to skim the page.
- Grammar Matters – Another cool tool that can help with your grammar is at www.grammarly.com.
4. WHEN Should You Post?
It’s not so much about what time of day (although I’d stick to midday) but how often? It takes time to blog, so shooting for once a week on Wednesdays is a good goal to start. Plan ahead and develop a calendar based on the ideas you brainstormed in steps 1-3.
There’s nothing worse than going to a website and seeing that the last blog was posted in 2012! An easy way to not give the impression you’re out of business is to simply leave the date off your posts.
5. WHERE Can You Distribute Your Post?
You see, the key to successful blogging is the ability to not only write well but more importantly, distribute the blog to the specific audience you are targeting. There are so many great ways of doing that! In the blogging training I put in the HSR members area, I created a worksheet that listed the places I repost/share my blog once it’s up. Obviously, you will want to share your post on your Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter profiles. Beyond that you will want to share it on your LinkedIn and Google+ profiles, as well as with your Groups, Circles, etc…Having a worksheet that helps you keep track of when you shared the post to each profile is critical!
In the HSR Training, I have an exhaustive list of all the editorials across the country by city in my “Public Relations Section”. A great way to get publicity is to share your articles/posts with your local newspaper/magazine editors who are always looking for content and photos!
In Closing…
When you think about it, this 5 step formula for blogging success can really work for almost any industry, so if you’re a real estate agent, you may want to follow this formula as well!
The home staging industry is growing leaps and bounds and it helps all of us when stagers look great, get press and are connecting very credibly with real estate agents, sellers and home owners!
XOXO – Happy Staging!
Audra Slinkey
Hope to hear from you!
1-888-563-9271
audra@homestagingresource.com
