This post continues a series about home staging in the news which began with my  5 tips to get media attention for your home staging business.

Last week, I covered 5 things I learned the hard way about media coverage for my home staging business and today I’m going to share what to do to address these home stager media challenges and in some cases turn them into new opportunities.

1. Your phone will NOT start ringing off the hook immediately after you appear in the media.

Have more realistic expectations so that you don’t make the mistake of stopping your marketing just because you have a story coming out.

One of the things I talk about in Course 4, Staging Diva Sales & Marketing Secrets to Boost your Home Staging Business is that someone needs to see your name 7 to 10 times before they’re even aware of you, simply because we’re bombarded with so much information. So your challenge will be to get your name out there before and after those media appearances.

I’ve also found that the greatest value of media coverage is the “bragging” you can do about it afterwards. So someone might not see the article but when you keep talking about how you were in such and such a newspaper or magazine, or that you were featured on the radio or appeared on TV, it helps establish your authority and credibility as a home stager.

In other words, one of the biggest advantages of media coverage is how much LEVERAGE you can get out of it!

If you do find yourself in the lucky position of having too many clients all at once, raise your rates. This will cause some of these potential clients to disappear, and you’ll make way more money on the projects you have left.

2. Your name might be spelled wrong or they might forget your company name altogether.

This is always a big let down, and I’ve been there! Here are strategies I’ve developed to lessen the chance that this will happen.

Whenever possible get the email address of the writer and follow up after the call with a thank you email. This is a nice courtesy, but serves other purposes too!

In your message, include a short blurb of how you’d like to be described (with luck they’ll use that word for word!) With your name, company name and URL in writing in front of them, you improve the odds of having that information included correctly in the final story.

This thank you email is also your chance to add any additional comments you wish you made during the interview. But keep it short and sweet, or this email won’t be read at all.

Remember, these writers are humans too and have the same need for recognition we do! With that in mind, after the story appears, why not write a second thank you note? If you can express in one sentence or two the positive effect they’ve had on your business, you’ll no doubt brighten their day (and strengthen your relationship)!

3. If the article is compelling and your URL is included, you will get a spike in traffic to your website.

Make sure your website is hosted on a server than won’t crash when you get your traffic spike.

Consider this a huge marketing opportunity and don’t waste this new traffic to your website! It might cost you a couple of dollars per click to buy this traffic, through Google for example, and here you’ve got it for free! Ensure you have an opt-in box on your landing page to capture interested leads. You’ll find tips like this explained in detail in 14 Marketing Ideas to Rev Up Your Home Staging Business.

During the original interview (or ideally while you’re negotiating being available for it), make sure that you request that your URL be hyperlinked to your site from any online version of the story. Canadian media seem to always refuse this request, but I’ve had some luck with US media.

Having a CNNMoney link to my home staging business website has been very helpful for my search engine ranking. In fact, the size and ranking of the websites that link to yours is one of THE most important factors in determining your own site’s ranking!  (See also: Home Staging Website – Does Yours Perform?)

Stay tuned next week for my recommendations on how to turn the next 2 media challenges into opportunities to grow your home staging business. Namely:

• What can be done when you spend an hour on the phone with a reporter and only get quoted in a sentence or two.

• What to do about the fact that the home staging story might not appear when you think it will.

In the meantime, please add your comments below and let me know if this information is helpful, what else you’d like to know about media coverage, and share any experiences you have.

Your comments are always appreciated by our community as they make this a livelier and more educational and inspiring discussion for all!