Top 5 Marketing Methodologies for Professional Home Stagers in 2009

As we get ready to bid a fond farewell to 2009, I was reflecting on the marketing methods that I learned throughout the year and have taught to my students. There's no magic pill here and I'm not saying that you have to do all of these, but as you'll see, they are all interrelated somehow and that's the power of these methodologies. You get more bang for your buck if you will, without too much extra work. Check the list and seeif you are utilizing them to your advantage. Obviously, it's not expected that you use all of them, but the trick is to use a combination of them to gain visibility and ultimately, RESULTS.#1. Ezine or email newsletter. This is probably the MOST effective marketing tool you can use and definitely one of the least expensive. It is an electronic magazine or newsletter sent out periodically to a list of subscribers. This method of regular communication allows you to build an ongoing relationship with your subscribers. The key is to provide high value, high content consistently. I recommend that you publish on a bi-weekly basis at minimum, weekly if you're a real rockstar. This allows you to touch your market 24 times a year with this one tool alone. Once a month is just not often enough. Provide your subscribers with how tos, resources and tips to help them get their houses SOLD. This quickly helps you position yourself as the expert in your area and maintain top of mind awareness.#2. Blog. If you haven't started a blog, added a blog to your site, or know what a blog is, it's time to jump on the bandwagon. A blog is a tool to communicate with customers your knowledge and expertise. It's really the foundation of your online presence. It's a great way to build traffic and connect with potential customers. Blogging goes hand-in-hand with your ezine as the articles you include in your ezine can be posted to your blog. You're essentially killing two birds with one stone.#3. Social Media or Social Networking. Did you know that there are 350 million+ users on Facebook? 18 million+ Twitter users? and 40 million+ LinkedIn users? Are you one of them? You can't really brush it off as a fad or a waste of time anymore, it's the wave of the future. In fact, I met many of you through these communities. The key is to target your audience within those sites so that you're not just talking to every Tom, Dick & Harry that's online.#4. Video Marketing. Did you know that YouTube is the second most trafficked site globally? Video Marketing is more compelling than just the written word. Your clients and potential customers get to experience you on a whole other level through video. When done right, you can immediately engage your audience in a way that was not possible in the recent past. At least not without spending A LOT of money. Technological advancements have made it possible for the do-it-yourselfers to create professional results without the expense. You can even add value added services to provide to your home staging packages to make your offers truly irresistible.#5. Speaking. You'll hear me talk more about this in the new year, but there's no better way to get your message out and have more people get to know and experience you than by speaking. This could be speaking to a small group of realtor's in their office or to a large audience on stage. Be clear about what your message is which is what transformation they will experience by working with you. This is key in offering your services because ultimately, they won't care what your services are until they're clear about what you can do for them.There are plenty of other marketing methodologies that can and should be added to the mix such as live networking and direct mail. Test to see what works best for your business but remember, your #1 job as an entrepreneur is to market your business so that you attract a consistent stream of new clients. Review the list and make a commitment to do at least 3 out of 5 really well. It's not enough to just say that you have an ezine if you're not sending it out regularly or to say you have a blog if you're not posting consistently or that you have social media accounts if you don't do anything with them. Take immediate and imperfect action TODAY!