ductwork Posted February 5, 2015 Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 I have just launched my business 2 weeks ago, In that time frame I have booked and completed 1 inspection, my marketing has been as follows : 1. Donuts to Real Estate offices with a " top ten reasons " to use me along with the brochure holders 2. Candy bowls with mints that have my company logo on the wrapper 3. Joined the local realtor association ( signed up to sponsor for 5 minutes of face to face time. 4. Building a Facebook Page along with Google + 5. Joined the local networking association 6. Google click ad within a 35 mile radius along with Yahoo 7. Using ISN network to showcase the realtor dashboard app 8. Using a call center to offer a more professional appearance ( I refer to them as my office ) 9. Have a Supra key and a member of customized showings ( realtor appts settings ) 10. Offer an included 90 day warranty and 200% guarantee Am I missing anything ? Like I mentioned I have booked one in my first two weeks, hopefully it is a promising sign. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Hockstein Posted February 5, 2015 Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 11. Get involved with other home inspectors in your area. Go to home inspector association meetings so they can tell you all of their war stories and maybe it will reduce your chance of repeating them. Maybe they can throw some business your way when they get too busy (If I can't meet someone's schedule I like to offer the names of inspectors that I know and trust). 12. Win the lottery or marry someone rich to support you while you start a new business so you don't have to become desperate for referrals and compromise the quality of your inspection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottpat Posted February 5, 2015 Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 I have just launched my business 2 weeks ago, In that time frame I have booked and completed 1 inspection, my marketing has been as follows : 1. Donuts to Real Estate offices with a " top ten reasons " to use me along with the brochure holders 2. Candy bowls with mints that have my company logo on the wrapper 3. Joined the local realtor association ( signed up to sponsor for 5 minutes of face to face time. 4. Building a Facebook Page along with Google + 5. Joined the local networking association 6. Google click ad within a 35 mile radius along with Yahoo 7. Using ISN network to showcase the realtor dashboard app 8. Using a call center to offer a more professional appearance ( I refer to them as my office ) 9. Have a Supra key and a member of customized showings ( realtor appts settings ) 10. Offer an included 90 day warranty and 200% guarantee Am I missing anything ? Like I mentioned I have booked one in my first two weeks, hopefully it is a promising sign. Yes! The most important thing of all, and that would be a really good website! Everything else you have posted is just stuff that pretty much everyone else is doing or has done. The website works for you 24/7 and it can't be a "Cookie Cutter" website, your site needs to be original and it must have great content. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Posted February 5, 2015 Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 Scott is correct. Get rid of #1,2,5,7,8 and 10. At this time in your life - network with other inspectors. Also, are you any good as an inspector? Can you write? What do you look like. Get your real image on a website and leave the dog and kids with the wife; at home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Fabry Posted February 5, 2015 Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 I hear the agents like foot rubs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gtblum Posted February 5, 2015 Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 Got Little League baseball? Click to Enlarge 111.66 KB Young families buy houses. Any affiliation with kid's sports organizations can generate clients. Click to Enlarge 60.2 KB Get involved in local events. Tow the local Chamber of Commerce Independence day parade float. Your vehicle is a moving billboard. Use it. Buy coffee mugs with your logo printed on them. Big mugs. People love them. They either use them or put them on their desks and fill them with the pens and key chains they get from the other guys. They also end up in workplace break rooms, where they're seen every day. Business cards. Leave them everywhere. The convenience store counter, the restaurant table, and anywhere you can think of without being charged for littering. There was a local car salesman who had Buffalo Bills season tickets. The guy brought a banner to all of the games, with his name and number on it. No, "Go Bills" or anything like that. Just his own advertizing. Even got free TV exposure until someone stopped him. He also tossed a handful of cards in the air when they scored. A little extreme, but everyone knew who he was, and it paid him well. Point is. Don't limit yourself to to old school ideas of pandering and hoping. It's a trap. You didn't put yourself through school and open your own business with the idea of allowing someone with less knowledge of what you do, be in control of when you do business, right? Use your imagination. Direct you effort toward those you plan to serve. Good Luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurt Posted February 5, 2015 Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 Add time to the list, as in months into years of doing all the things folks are recommending and waiting for them to take hold. Don't quit the day job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ductwork Posted February 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 Scott is correct. Get rid of #1,2,5,7,8 and 10. At this time in your life - network with other inspectors. Also, are you any good as an inspector? Can you write? What do you look like. Get your real image on a website and leave the dog and kids with the wife; at home. Here is my website, please be gentle !!! www.advancedpropertyinspectionllc.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie R Posted February 5, 2015 Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 Do you have a sample report that can be seen from your website? If so that will give people a chance to see what they will be getting. Also, you may ask a few experienced inspectors to review that sample first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Posted February 5, 2015 Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 Scott is correct. Get rid of #1,2,5,7,8 and 10. At this time in your life - network with other inspectors. Also, are you any good as an inspector? Can you write? What do you look like. Get your real image on a website and leave the dog and kids with the wife; at home. Here is my website, please be gentle !!! www.advancedpropertyinspectionllc.com Nice photo on first page! Lose the last sentence on your promise. what does the second sentence mean in your promise? Sample report has lost some of its format when opened; spacing. Radon section first sentence is really bad and not complete. Report summary page has really bad/poor grammar and really confusing. Take that page down now and clean it up! Look at the basement section - subject - verb tense. etc. If I did not care about you and your career, I would just blow you off and think here is another character getting into my business. Listen to the guys above - they have decades of experience and a love for this business that will never be matched! Now, go make the changes and ask more questions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlparham Posted February 5, 2015 Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 You are probably in one of the best markets in the southeast. Very many professionals and second homes on the lake. I would consider one inspection in two weeks of marketing a new business a successful two weeks. Keep doing what you are doing. It will take some time, but keep marketing. Focus your marketing on offices in the areas that you would like to work. I made the mistake early in my business of "casting the net" to far away from my home base. Keep the candy bowls full and good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kogel Posted February 5, 2015 Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 Actually, the candy goes to the office staff mostly, or so I hear. Maybe that will help, maybe not. The really productive realtors are not hanging out in the office munching candy, or so I say, not knowing much about it. [] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ductwork Posted February 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 Scott is correct. Get rid of #1,2,5,7,8 and 10. At this time in your life - network with other inspectors. Also, are you any good as an inspector? Can you write? What do you look like. Get your real image on a website and leave the dog and kids with the wife; at home. Here is my website, please be gentle !!! www.advancedpropertyinspectionllc.com Nice photo on first page! Lose the last sentence on your promise. what does the second sentence mean in your promise? Sample report has lost some of its format when opened; spacing. Radon section first sentence is really bad and not complete. Report summary page has really bad/poor grammar and really confusing. Take that page down now and clean it up! Look at the basement section - subject - verb tense. etc. If I did not care about you and your career, I would just blow you off and think here is another character getting into my business. Listen to the guys above - they have decades of experience and a love for this business that will never be matched! Now, go make the changes and ask more questions! Thank you, I have made some of the changes already especially to the report, I appreciate any advice that comes from the experienced inspectors on this forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Posted February 6, 2015 Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 yer gonna do good at this bidness! Welcome to the tribe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erby Posted February 6, 2015 Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 Gentle ain't in most of our natures. Glad to see you've got the thick skin to take constructive criticism. It'll serve you well here. Your website sucks. It looks like a hundred other template inspector websites. Put this in quotes and google it. ================= "Our job is to provide you with a comprehensive, fair, independent, objective evaluation so that you can understand and take care of your valuable investment."" ================== I get about 391 results of that same exact sentence on other inspectors websites. So, what's really so special about you? Write your own text. Everybody has what you have on yours. How many inspectors are you? If it's just you, say so. ================ Our job is to provide Our home inspection services we are trained to We understand the value ================ If it's just you, say so. Lose the photo of you testing an outlet. It ain't clear what you're doing. Go stand on a roof, or in front of a furnace or electrical panel with the covers off or on a ladder. Or, better yet, have someone get a picture of you coming out of a nasty crawl space. $300.00 for 2,500 square feet. Really? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjr6550 Posted February 6, 2015 Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 Give 120% to every client. Make them want to refer you to others. Spend as much time as is necessary inspecting every part of the house. If you don't know the answer to something spend as much time as it takes to learn the answer. Keep doing that and eventually you will become a very good or great inspector. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ductwork Posted February 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 Gentle ain't in most of our natures. Glad to see you've got the thick skin to take constructive criticism. It'll serve you well here. Your website sucks. It looks like a hundred other template inspector websites. Put this in quotes and google it. ================= "Our job is to provide you with a comprehensive, fair, independent, objective evaluation so that you can understand and take care of your valuable investment."" ================== I get about 391 results of that same exact sentence on other inspectors websites. So, what's really so special about you? Write your own text. Everybody has what you have on yours. How many inspectors are you? If it's just you, say so. ================ Our job is to provide Our home inspection services we are trained to We understand the value ================ If it's just you, say so. Lose the photo of you testing an outlet. It ain't clear what you're doing. Go stand on a roof, or in front of a furnace or electrical panel with the covers off or on a ladder. Or, better yet, have someone get a picture of you coming out of a nasty crawl space. $300.00 for 2,500 square feet. Really? I actually appreciate your candidness, I have changed all the we to I or myself, I was in the process of changing the picture , BTW , I charged 380.00 for that 2500 sq ft inspection not 300.00 . I would much rather someone tell me my website sucks than to sugar coat it, BTW, I was trying to avoid the typical 129.00 dollar website . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottpat Posted February 6, 2015 Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 You need to do something to SEO. I went to page 5 on several cities in the areas you work and finally found you on page 5 in a couple searches. Get a list of the cities and towns you work in on your site, they will be picked up by the search engines. Right now your website is basically invisible if folks are looking for a home inspector by their city or town, and this is how most folks search for home inspectors! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie R Posted February 6, 2015 Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 Some things about your sample report - the more you write, the less your client will read. Why tell them the square footage of the home, the number of baths and bedrooms, they already know. And you may end up in an argument about how many bedrooms as Realtors will list closets as bedrooms. "The shingles are missing or damaged--" Which is it? Picture shows some lifted shingles, no missing. The main panel is rated as 150 amp, but is that the amperage of the service? Doesn't say that, just says the panel rating. And, according to the NEC, we have 120/240 volt services, not 110/220. Don't you have to provide any info on the type of grounding or bonding? The garage door failed the anti-entrapment test, why no picture of it squeezing that 2x4? You got all these pictures of what I think are OK receptacles being tested - why? And think about just telling people what to do - "Hire a --" or "Clean out the" instead of "I recommend" or "I suggest", especially on life/safety issues. I know it was too cold to test the A/C but what is the brand/date of manufacture/tonnage? Manufacturer dates on the heating and water heater? I am not familiar with the SC SoP so some of this may be off base. Take this post as intended - to help, but you can feel free to disagree. That is the beauty of owning one's own business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Brown Posted February 6, 2015 Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 You need to do something to SEO. I went to page 5 on several cities in the areas you work and finally found you on page 5 in a couple searches. Get a list of the cities and towns you work in on your site, they will be picked up by the search engines. Right now your website is basically invisible if folks are looking for a home inspector by their city or town, and this is how most folks search for home inspectors! He's too new to get any organic results yet... next year. His PPC is set to a 35 mile radius... and probably needs some tweaking. If your using real adwords (not adwords express) make sure you have all the other areas you are willing to drive listed as keywords also. In your adwords campaign settings under targeting use: "People in, searching for, or viewing pages about my targeted location" That will pick up anyone searching for an inspector in that area even if not searching within the 35 miles... make sure you don't exclude other areas. You could just create another campaign for it also. Check your pages on http://www.copyscape.com ... keep them 100% original. Check home and services pages as they need to be more original (hope you didn't pay for that). Make your schedule inspection link stand out more... move from busy clutter or make it a button. Need white space around. The site is NOT mobile friendly? Don't make any new web sites that aren't mobile friendly... bad for seo now. Google is sending warning to everyone now that isn't mobile friendly. (see responsive website) Not sure about hosting either... no compression or caching? See google test (edited broke link just paste in url): https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/ IMO: Get a decent host and use wordpress. Spammy links and crud in footer! Yuk... remove that crap (you would be doing Market Hardware a favor also and there's nothing of theirs worth protecting anyway)! That kind of crap really gets me unless it's free hosting or something like that! Remove all: "Base Content Copyright 2015 Market Hardware, Inc. Additional text content Copyright - Websites and SEO for Home Inspectors by Market Hardware" Wonder if the "Base Content Copyright" is what I picked up in copyscape LOL! Two emails addresses instead of one... just use one for biz and another for personal (leave personal off site). About page images/logos need work or replacement. Optimize all images. 90 day 200%? Doesn't "imply confidence" to me but I will leave that to others to comment on. If I do more I will have to bill you. Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Posted February 6, 2015 Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 Michael, thank you on his behalf! You gave him hundreds of dollars of advice (that would be US dollars). Combined with the other posts, he sure got a bunch of valuable advice. Now we just have to figure out what his background is so he can reciprocate! Hope he was a chef in his past life! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ductwork Posted February 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2015 I wanted to thank everyone for their brutal honest feedback, I have corrected the" us to me or I", picture changed on " About Page ", I will also have a mobile version of the website shortly, in addition I have someone who will be doing local SEO for me, I am either on my way to rags or riches,the saying " time will tell " fits me to a tee ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted February 7, 2015 Report Share Posted February 7, 2015 You need to do something to SEO. I went to page 5 on several cities in the areas you work and finally found you on page 5 in a couple searches. Get a list of the cities and towns you work in on your site, they will be picked up by the search engines. Right now your website is basically invisible if folks are looking for a home inspector by their city or town, and this is how most folks search for home inspectors! He's too new to get any organic results yet... next year. His PPC is set to a 35 mile radius... and probably needs some tweaking. If your using real adwords (not adwords express) make sure you have all the other areas you are willing to drive listed as keywords also. In your adwords campaign settings under targeting use: "People in, searching for, or viewing pages about my targeted location" That will pick up anyone searching for an inspector in that area even if not searching within the 35 miles... make sure you don't exclude other areas. You could just create another campaign for it also. Check your pages on http://www.copyscape.com ... keep them 100% original. Check home and services pages as they need to be more original (hope you didn't pay for that). Make your schedule inspection link stand out more... move from busy clutter or make it a button. Need white space around. The site is NOT mobile friendly? Don't make any new web sites that aren't mobile friendly... bad for seo now. Google is sending warning to everyone now that isn't mobile friendly. (see responsive website) Not sure about hosting either... no compression or caching? See google test (edited broke link just paste in url): https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/ IMO: Get a decent host and use wordpress. Spammy links and crud in footer! Yuk... remove that crap (you would be doing Market Hardware a favor also and there's nothing of theirs worth protecting anyway)! That kind of crap really gets me unless it's free hosting or something like that! Remove all: "Base Content Copyright 2015 Market Hardware, Inc. Additional text content Copyright - Websites and SEO for Home Inspectors by Market Hardware" Wonder if the "Base Content Copyright" is what I picked up in copyscape LOL! Two emails addresses instead of one... just use one for biz and another for personal (leave personal off site). About page images/logos need work or replacement. Optimize all images. 90 day 200%? Doesn't "imply confidence" to me but I will leave that to others to comment on. If I do more I will have to bill you. Michael Sheesh, if there's more of that advice where it came from, you can sure bill me. Ain't kidding. Mine is my own WP (just deleted and rebuilt following from a hack attack two months ago) and no professional has ever worked on it. That goes for both my site and my adwords. Let me know. Marc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Brown Posted February 14, 2015 Report Share Posted February 14, 2015 I took a look at your site Marc... needs a full rebuild obviously. I also found what I guess what was your old site or remnants of it still up there. I'm really confused as why do all your new WP pages link to .fatcow.com (not sure why but that has to be fixed)? Not sure if this is part of your hosting or not. The host server response time is a little slow (every test was over .7 seconds and couple were over 1). Maybe send your host an email and ask about the http://sherlockinspection.fatcow.com/?page_id=24 (why the .fatcow.com part?) My WP sites are setup to automatically apply security updates and that might be an option with these guys also? PM your adwords Customer ID (make sure its adwords and not express) and I will send you a request-to-be-managed for approval. I don't see much point in spending money there until your site is fixed tho. I'm really way too busy to take on any new work right now but maybe I can help you get setup again so you can take back over. Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted February 14, 2015 Report Share Posted February 14, 2015 Thanks. What's a 'request to be managed'? Fatcow typically hangs on a chat if I ask them to elaborate on an explanation. They're not very accommodating. I'd switch if I knew where to go. Marc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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