Video Inspections

[Ben J. Gromicko]

Has anyone ever taken video of their inspections? It's so easy.

I used to take video on every inspection. I recorded a short 5 minute video of the inspection of the roof system. Before excusing myself for 30 minutes to compile the report summary at the conclusion of the inspection, I'd slip in the camera chip, move the video over to my notebook, and play the video.

The client and agent jaws dropped.

Video on inspections - today - is like digital pictures at inspections 10 years ago. Get into it. Try it.

[John McKenna]

Ben,

You would do a 5 min video of the roof and then also turn in your
regular report?

[Michael Roberson]

That is a great Idea Ben, Thanks.

[Ben J. Gromicko]

Originally Posted by jmckenna1

Ben,

You would do a 5 min video of the roof and then also turn in your
regular report?

Yes.
The video of the roof (and other systems) were simply icing. I gained a huge marketing advantage over my competition who were still struggling with inserting digital pictures in the report.

It's really funny to see some of the old videos I did years ago on my company's website http://www.peachinspections.com/ Hee Hee (How far I've come considering NACHI.TV. )

[Darren Spencer]

How about a sample of your report with video

[John McKenna]

Originally Posted by dspencer1

How about a sample of your report with video

Here are some samples...

http://www.s135577378.onlinehome.us/8.html

[Ben J. Gromicko]

Originally Posted by jmckenna1

Here are some samples...
http://www.s135577378.onlinehome.us/8.html

Yeah, but remember that was 7 years ago! These old crappy videos were amazing back then.
If I were still doing inspections, I'd have videos all over my website. Decent ones. Videos of me performing inspections, speaking, talking, etc.

Potential clients want to meet you before they hire you, but never get the chance.

Home inspectors with videos on their website are at a huge advantage over all others.

Try to do something that makes your company different from all the rest. Unique characteristics. Why make your website look just like everyone else?

Video testimonials - give it a try. Ask your client. Ask them for a testimonial after they move in (as suggested before). That's really powerful. http://www.nachi.org/forum/f13/blow-...55/#post514969

My 7-year old videos suck. You can do much better.

[Vince Santos]

I like the idea of video inspections but how do you incorporate video into your report? Would you take the video and convert it to mpeg and embedded it into your report?

I'm going to upgrade my 1gig SD card and give this a try.

[Dominic J. Maricic]

Ben is talking about integrating it onto your site or showing a short video on site.

If you want to integrate it into your report, upload it to youtube so it compresses it and gives you the code AND stores it on their servers. Put it on a page on your site, then link to that page within your report. Which also brings people back to your site giving you a few more hits.

[Mark A. Timpani, CMI]

Russel Ray does them...

[Ben J. Gromicko]

Originally Posted by mtimpani

Russel Ray does them...

I don't see videos on Russel's website. Pictures, but no videos. http://www.russel-ray.com/testimonials1.html

[Darren Spencer]

Originally Posted by dmaricic

Ben is talking about integrating it onto your site or showing a short video on site.

If you want to integrate it into your report, upload it to youtube so it compresses it and gives you the code AND stores it on their servers. Put it on a page on your site, then link to that page within your report. Which also brings people back to your site giving you a few more hits.

I would not make the video reports accessible to the general public using YouTube. Place on a streaming site with security applied to folders with client access only.

[Ben J. Gromicko]

I burned the videos to a CD, along with my hundreds of digital pictures that I took during the inspection, and the report, and summary, and any other important information. All on the CD. Only took a minute to burn.

I would often do a video of the entire house.
When I was hired to inspect a new home, and the supervisor would walk through the house with the new home buyer, I would be left by myself to inspect.
That was my opportunity to video the entire inspection.
At the end of the inspection, I would play all of the video, and I wouldn't actually have to walk around with the client. The video satisfied them enough.

It was as if the client was there.
Which reminds me, I used to do videos of my inspections when the client was unable to make it to the inspection. That was a huge marketing point that I made to real estate agents who had out-of-town clients.

[Dominic J. Maricic]

Originally Posted by dspencer1

I would not make the video reports accessible to the general public using YouTube. Place on a streaming site with security applied to folders with client access only.

Good point, I didn't even think about that. I guess you could just use it for the client testimonials.

[George A. H. Luck]

Ben, for interior shots, what did you use for lighting? There are lots of small SD card cameras out there but they all seem to need additional lighting for indoor video.