As per title, are there better ways to do it or is it simply time served on the forum?
One day I'd like to offer Escrow services but maybe lending BTC is another way to do it, although there is obviously risk involved in this :/
Why do you want to offer escrow services? This always rings alarm bells because why are you so eager to hold onto large sums of others money? There is no fast track way to gaining trust so you have to do it the long way and build it other time. Do lots of various trades and eventually you will become so trustworthy people will trust you without escrow, then maybe you can start offering escrow yourself.