This month we would like to discuss inexpensive methods of marketing your home inspection business effectively. A call from a fellow inspector in South Carolina today inspired this tip.

If you receive an invitation to participate in radio and/or television regarding home inspection by all means take the opportunity! The visibility for you comes from the introduction and the “expert” status by way of the invite. Keep in mind your audience will want useful information – not puffery about you or your company. Consider the audience and create a short outline for yourself (do not read something on air). If you are given a specific time frame, say two or three minutes, create a short script for yourself and time the presentation. Edit least important information first. A typical interview will consist of your introduction, what a home inspection is, what are the benefits of a home inspection, what does it include, where can customers find home inspectors and lastly a tip for your audience, such as a reminder about home maintenance. A good one for spring is pool safety (An example is locted at the cpsc.gov web site and the “Pool Barrier Safety” booklet) or now is the time to clean gutters and be ready for the rains, etc. You can find many of these types of tips in our set of 12 marketing postcards.

Other methods to increase your exposure are: joining business networking clubs; providing informational seminars; writing press releases; providing clients with additional information on-site, make sure these hand-outs are clean, professional and display your contact information clearly. Any of these activities are minimal cost, but involve your time. All of them increase your visibility and credibility as the local home inspection expert. Getting your name into the heads of potential clients is the game. Be aware of any opportunity to expose your company to potential clients or referral sources.

Lastly, get a web site! Recent surveys indicate 79% of potential home buyers use the web to perform research regarding homes to purchase and services. If you are not on the web you are leaving business on the table. Make sure your web site is intuitive and loads quickly. Be sure there is a “contact us” page that is easy to find. Believe it or not we have seen home inspector web sites with minimal information and absolutely no method (phone or email) provided to contact the inspector. Try to obtain your own individual URL; using one of those free web sites with a long, hard to remember URL is not productive. The beauty of a web site is it allows customers to research your services at all times of day and once the initial set-up is completed there is very little maintenance required.

Remember Kaplan ITA has a business consulting service where you can obtain design services and advice for brochures, cards, web sites and more. Give us a call at 888-482-5655 or visit www.inspectormarketing.com for more information and online samples.

We'll talk next month,

Mike Casey & Asha Alsobrooks
Kaplan Professional Schools
Now You're Ready For Business!™