There has been a lot of talk in the blogosphere lately about Web 2.0.  For those of you not familiar with the term, our own Matt Heaton gives an excellent explanation in one of his blogs.  I have been thinking a lot about this concept and how it applies to staging.  To me it means taking Home Staging and one's Staging business to the next level of service & networking in innovative ways.  Here are my thoughts on this: Staging 2.0 the next level.........................

Business Side:

• Website: A web presence is critical considering the level of internet usage among home sellers and buyers.  Once the website is up it is important to make sure that the site is optimized so that search engines will be able to find it.  Fellow Rainer Mary McKnight is the one to ask about this!
  
• Blogsite:  In true web 2.0 fashion, a blogsite is critical to take your business to the next level.  Show to your local realtors and homeowners that you have the skill and experience needed to provide them with a top quality service.  Even more importantly, give them an idea of who you are, your personality should shine through in your posts.  ActiveRain makes having your own blog easy and fun!
  
• Education: The more you can bring to the table the more your clients will value you.  Many stagers advocate going into real estate brokers and offering to do a short presentation on staging for the realtors in that office.  I decided to take it to the next level by working with the resource committee at our local realtor association to provide a comprehensive education 'course' on staging.  It is an hour long presentation, and it will be offered through the association to all member brokers for use in their continuing education.
  
• Pareto's Principle:  With the proliferation of the internet it is easier than ever to determine who the top producders are and target those professionals in your marketing campaign.  Why waste your efforts to market to the the 80% who only do 20% of the sales volume?  Apply Pareto's Principle to your business and you will see the results!  Craig Schiller found a fabulous way to do this and graciously shared with the rest of us.
  
• News & Media: If you are published in your local area you will add credibility to your company and help spread the word about what staging is all about.  My fellow Coloradoan Dena Stevens had the great idea of e-mailing a copy of all her blogs to her local newspaper.  So far this has resulted in 2 publications of her 'articles'. 

Staging Side:

• Rental Furniture:  Whether for vacant or occupied homes, offering a furniture and accessories rental adds a new dimension to your business.  The most cost effective way, (though the highest initial outlay) is to have your own stock of furnishings, as Craig Schiller advocates.  Offering rental of accessories and even possibly furnishings to fill in the gaps of the existing pieces in an occupied home is rarely done and doing so would put you on the leading edge.  This would require a good written agreement, since there is added liability in having your stock in an occupied home.
  
• Home Organization:  Although this is not a strong point of mine, this is one way to take your staging business to the next level.  Many companies out there offer home organization services, so what better way to add value to yourself and expand your service menu than to offer this?  Gina Dougherty has some great tips on how to help the homeowner do this.
  
• Feng Shui:  If you have a genuine interest in the concept of Feng Shui and how energy moves this might be worth looking into, to enhance your services and set you apart from other stagers.  By integrating principles of Feng Shui when staging a home one achieves improved energy (Ch'i) and natural flow to a home.  Admittedly, this concept might work better in some areas of the country than others. ;)  A good place to start would be Feng Shui Your Life by Jayme Barrett.
  
• Color: Take staging to the next level by offering color consultations to your clients if they have all white walls, tacky paint colors or the ever dreaded wallpaper.  Find a quality painter in your area to form a relationship with.  Its a relatively simple and inexpensive change a home seller can make that can dramatically increase the appeal of a property.  If you're not amazing with colors, Maureen Henry has graciously taken the time to give us a list of her favorites.
  
• 'After' Photos: Realtors can pay anywhere from $50 to over $200 for a professional photographer to take their listing photos.  Offering the after photos (which hopefully you will be taking anyway) for free is a great way to add incentive when bidding jobs.  Jeff Turner even found a compact, inexpensive camera that takes great home interior shots.  Better yet, invest in a digital SLR, with flash and tripod and join the pros.  Once you have established yourself as a competent real estate photographer you can start to charge for this service. 
  
• Visual Tour: Why not use those still shots you just took and compile a nice little visual tour for your agent/client.  I'm sure that agents would love to be able to offer this service as an added bonus to their clients.  It is just the natural progression to do it for them.  Jeff Turner, in addition to being an awesome individual all around, also has an awesome company that sells inexpensive and easy to use software to make real estate shows. 
  
• Redesign and Move-In Decorating: Last but not least, expand your business by focusing on the redesign aspect of staging.  As the concept of staging becomes more recognized in your community, the demand for redesign services for your average homeowner will increase.  Offer as part of your serviced menu, quick 1 day redesign transformations.  Also, just letting your homeowner clients know that you offer 'move-in' staging services can automatically increase your business.  Most would never think of this until they knew it was a possibility!
  
• Say Thank You:   I always give a small 'signature' gift to each client in thanks for allowing me to work with them.  Take a tip from the top producing agents all of whom can credit much of their business from repeat customers and referrals.  So don't forget to say Thank You (Craig Schiller has mastered this in a classy non-overbearing way)!  You WILL BUILD your repeat and referral business.

On that note:  My SINCEREST THANKS to all the other Stagers and ActiveRain members who contributed to this post.  With your help, I was able to represent a much larger picture than I would otherwise!

Of course you wouldn't necessarily want to implement all of these ideas, you have to 'find your niche' as Judy Kincaid did.  But the more you can expand your level of service, the more prepared you will be to 'take it to the next level'!

Attention Stagers: Please lets brainstorm, let me know of anything else we can do to implement Staging 2.0???