InterNACHI

How to promote your inspection business.

  1. Make sure you've added any ancillary inspections you offer to our search engines.  Many real estate agents use InspectorLocator.com to find a one-stop inspector who offers all the inspections needed.  Such ancillary inspections include: chimneys, commercial buildings, green certification, energy loss, IAC2-certified inspectors, lead paint, log homes, mold, new construction, pools and spas, pre-listing, radon, septic, stucco/EIFS, thermal imaging, water quality, WDO/insects, and W.E.T.T. certification.  There is no cost to list your ancillary services on our search engines.
    Site: Ancillary Inspection Services
    Cost: FREE

  2. Make sure you are listed in InspectorNow.com and try the automated phone notification.  The listing and phone notification services are free.
  3. Use the Inspection-Related Article Library for marketing purposes.  It's very educational as well.
    Site:  Inspection-Related Article Library
    Cost:  FREE

  4. If you qualify, join IAC2 (International Association of Certified Indoor Air Consultants) and use the IAC2 logos.  IAC2 is the non-profit, certifying body for home and building inspectors who have fulfilled certain educational and testing requirements, including those in the area of indoor air quality.  Indoor air quality issues include mold, radon, biologicals, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, pesticides, asbestos and lead.  IAC2 members can also use the Trademarked tagline "Bringing Clean Air to Life."  Membership in IAC2 is free and there are no annual dues.
    Cost: FREE

  5. Use the online, electronic-signature Inspection Agreement.  It will protect you. InterNACHI's online Inspection Agreement is signable and legally binding.  It allows the client to read and sign your agreement before you do the inspection, or at least before they view their report online.  We've provided InterNACHI's basic contract for you to start out with, but you can make changes as you like.  You can also add your own clauses and/or hide others.  
          It's simple:     start out with suggested wording written by InterNACHI's lawyers, then make any changes you want, such as adding additional clauses (for example, InterNACHI's Hold-Harmless Clause), and hide clauses that don't apply to your business, and add specific notes pertaining to an inspection to each individual agreement.  
          You can then: notify your clients automatically by email when you create an agreement; check the signed status of your agreements quickly and easily; and receive instant email notification when your client has signed the agreement. 
          Other features include:  agreements signed online by clients and confirmed by email are legally binding; you can require that the agreement be signed before the client views the report; and you can store past agreements online for you and your clients to view and print at any time. 
          The online, electronic-signature agreement system is free.
    Site:  InterNACHI's online inspection agreement 
    Cost: FREE

  6. Set up a website at InspectorPages.com, even if you already have a custom one.  It will provide you with additional shelf space on the Internet.  InspectorPages is the first of several industry-specific web design and hosting services built on the Galahad modular content management system.  It is also the first of several services utilizing the InterNACHI Exchange Program.  This program lets members of the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors maintain the most company-specific information on a centralized server (in InterNACHI’s membership database) and distribute all changes to other services transparently.  These websites are free and hosting is provided at no charge, forever.
    Site: InspectorPages website 
    Cost: FREE

  7. Order "Now That You've Had a Home Inspection" book.  This book is designed to reduce inspector liability and get inspectors more work.
    Site:  Now That You've Had a Home Inspection...
    Cost:  $2.20

  8. Borrow a trade show display and do a home show or REALTOR Expo. To borrow a display, email us and tell us about the event.  There is no charge to borrow the displays; all we ask is that you email us a photo of your booth after the event is over and return the displays to us.
    Site:Inspector's trade show display
    Cost: FREE

  9. Mail your home inspection brochure to all the real estate agents in your area.  We provide a database of their mailing addresses.  Give your inspection business a boost!  It's simple.  Each member can now search InterNACHI's database of 1.5 million U.S. real estate agents (Canadian database coming soon) by metro area or by state, then refine the search by real estate agency and/or company size, then refine the search even more by agents with email addresses and/or agents with websites.  Finally, the member can download the list as a CSV file to use for marketing purposes.  There is no charge to use our agent database.
    Site:  InterNACHI's real estate agent database
    Cost: FREE

  10. Check CorrectInspect.com and make sure you are listed.  CorrectInspect.com gets about 800,000 consumer hits a month.  There is no charge to list your inspection company on CorrectInspect.com
  11. Print off your Certificates of Completion and use them in your marketing packets.  There is no charge, and you can print off as many as you like.
    Site: Inspector's certificates of completion
    Cost: FREE

  12. Order license plate covers for your inspection vehicle.  No charge.
    Cost: FREE

  13. Add the "Call me now" button to your home own inspection website so that consumers online can have our automated system notify you by phone.  Each member now has his/her own "Have this inspector call me" button on InspectorNOW.com  When a potential client clicks on it and submits his/her call-back number, the InterNACHI member is instantly called by an automated office assistant and given the client's call-back number.  The InterNACHI member is given several other options, as well.  There are no phone toll charges, lead generation fees, or other charges for this service.  It is a free InterNACHI member benefit.
    Cost: FREE

  14. Enter your inspection website in InterNACHI's search engine optimizer.  Most of your new customers don’t get to your website by typing in your URL address first.  Instead, they use a search engine (such as Google) to find you.  Though the best strategy is to let larger sites like InspectorLocator.com, InspectorLocator.com, InspectorSEEK.com, OverSeeIt.com or MoveInCertified.com push potential clients your way, it’s also important to make sure your website can be found online.  That’s why InterNACHI has search engine optimization (SEO) tools that will help you track and improve your site’s search engine rankings, as well as a free search engine submission tool that submits your website to over 900 search engines. 
          Three of the major indicators of how well your site is doing are Google’s PageRank, Alexa’s Traffic Rank, and the number of other websites that link to you.  InterNACHI has begun tracking this information for all its members so you can easily see how well your site is doing now, and how it’s done in the past. Google’s PageRank is a 0-to-10 rated system that’s a rough indicator of how searchable (or "find-able") Google’s search engine considers your website.  Very few websites reach the 8-10 range (MSN.com, one of the most popular sites on the ‘net, is only a 9).  On August 22, 2006, for example, InterNACHI had a PageRank of 6, which is very good.  Most small inspection websites should expect to be in the 0-4 range.  Alexa’s Traffic Rank is a rough estimate of how your site compares to every other site on the Web.  Sites like Yahoo.com, MSN.com and Google are in the top 10, while smaller sites are in the hundreds of thousands.  A Traffic Rank of 2 million is completely normal because, no matter how popular your home inspection website is, it simply doesn’t reach a broad enough audience to compete with general-purpose sites like Amazon.com.  Both Alexa and Google keep track of how many websites link to your site.  Because each uses its own system of gathering this number, they can be significantly different.  That is why InterNACHI gathers both numbers for you.  Every week, InterNACHI collects your website’s PageRank, Traffic Rank, and the number of page hits via incoming links.   Once a few weeks’ worth of information has been collected, we will begin showing a custom graph of this data for each member.  
              InterNACHI will be releasing other parts of our Search Engine Optimization Project to help you get a better position in search engines.  We’ve released this tool first so you can track your site’s listing and see the effect that our other tools and tutorials have on your own site’s search engine rankings.  We've released a second tool so you can submit your website to 900+ search engines.  Members can view their custom Search Engine Optimization Tracker and also submit their website to 900+ search engines.  There is no charge for this service.
    Site: InterNACHI's search engine optimizer
    Cost: FREE

  15. Check out the benefits at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.  U.S. InterNACHI members are automatically members of the Chamber. This unique partnership formed between InterNACHI and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce provides your business a membership in both organizations. By maintaining your InterNACHI membership, your business also receives access to benefits and services provided though your Federation membership in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.  You can save up to 20% on select FedEx Express® services and up to 12% on select FedEx Ground® services.  Membership in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is free for all InterNACHI members.
    Cost: FREE

  16. Start using a great multi-inspector tagline: "The right inspector, right away."   InterNACHI members may use the Trademarked tagline at no charge.  This tagline is especially good for multi-inspector firms' websites.
    Site: Multi-inspector's tagline
    Cost: FREE

  17. Check out InterNACHI's images and use them in your brochures, flyers and website.  No more cartoons.  InterNACHI's inspection-related images provide a professional, consistent look.  The line art works with any inspector (female images coming soon).  They are abstract enough to not overpower accompanying text.  These images are available in both color or black & white.  InterNACHI Images' entire 700+ collection is royalty-free to InterNACHI members only.  Members may use the entire collection and the images within as they want, as many times as they want, as many as they want, and as many ways as they want in their own inspection businesses at no charge.
    Site:  Inspector-related images
    Cost: FREE

  18. Stop by your local store and make sure the manager is carrying PRO-LAB kits which promote InterNACHI members. More than 50,000 retail outlets recommend that consumers contact their local InterNACHI inspector exclusively. PRO-LAB®, the leading provider of environmental laboratory testing services in the world, has re-packaged all of their millions of retail kits to include a recommendation to contact solely InterNACHI members for further professional inspections and testing.  PRO-LAB consumer home safety test kits can be found in retail stores such as: ACE Hardware, Avon, Chase-Pitkin, CVS/Pharmacy, Distribution America, Do it Best, Fred Meyer, Giant, H-E-B, Home Depot, Kroger, Lowes, Menards, True Value and Wal-Mart.  On the back of each kit is the recommendation that consumers with environmental issues visit www.InspectorSEEK.com and contact their neighborhood InterNACHI inspector.  This is a InterNACHI-exclusive deal.
    Site: PRO-LAB kits 
    Cost: FREE

  19. Start using a great tagline: "Anyone Else is Just Looking Around."  InterNACHI members may use the Trademarked tagline at no charge.
    Site: Inspector's tagline
    Cost: FREE

  20. Participate in AskNACHI.org, which helps consumers.  Have a question about inspections?  Ask InterNACHI-certified inspectors about anything and get an answer quickly.  AskNACHI.org is a free service to consumers and real estate agents.
    Cost: FREE

  21. Add the Consumer Verification Seal to your website.  When making a purchase online, most consumers will look for a seal of approval from a company such as Thawte or VeriSign. Now, you can give your clients the same kind of confidence by letting them know that you're certified by the world's largest home inspection organization.  By placing this "InterNACHI Certified" seal on your website, you can allow your clients to verify your membership with the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors.  We provide you with the code to add the seal to your website. You will have to be able to edit the HTML code of each page you want to add it to. If you cannot edit the HTML yourself, send this code to your host/web designer -- s/he'll know what to do with it.  You can change "seal.gif" to "seal-t.gif" for an image with a transparent background. If you're going to put the image on a dark background, use "seal-tb.gif"  The interactive Consumer Verification Seal is free.
    Cost: FREE

  22. Read about how to create a better brochure.
    Site: Inspector's Brochure 
    Cost: FREE

  23. Enter your favorite real estate agent's email addresses in the e-newsletter system.  InterNACHI's “Home Inspection Tips for Home Buyers, Sellers and Real Estate Professionals” e-newsletter system just got better.  InterNACHI's e-newsletter system now permits members to add any number of email addresses with no limit.  Some members already have over 15,000 email addresses entered into the system under their names.  The system also permits members to delete individual addresses, delete all their addresses, or download their entire list of addresses into a Microsoft Excel-compatible "CSV" format, manipulate it, and re-upload it with the changes.  The e-newsletter has been a tremendous success.  Of the issues that were sent out, only about 0.2% of the addresses or about 0.09% “unsubscribe” requests were received. Each e-newsletter comes from the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors (InterNACHI) but includes the name and contact information of the InterNACHI member who provided the agent's email address.  Coming from the inspection industry's largest non-profit trade association is far better than having members send out their own advertising "spam," as InterNACHI uses professionally written articles that are pre-tested to assure a low opt-out rate.  InterNACHI members can add and remove names through the link in our members-only section to the Real Estate Newsletter.  There is no charge for using this system.
    Cost: FREE

  24. Order decals. They're screen-printed on 5-year vinyl.  No charge.
    Site: InterNACHI decals
    Cost: FREE

  25. Form your own InterNACHI Chapter in your local area. Forming your own Chapter is easy and fun.  We will help you. Besides, being an officer in your own local Chapter of the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors is great for your business.  A chapter can be an INFORMAL Chapter and meeting (nothing more than a named InterNACHI meeting where attendees are charged for the cost of the room and food), or it can be a FORMAL CHARTERED Chapter (separate entity)...You decide.  Many Chartered Chapters start off as informal chapter meetings and evolve into fully chartered InterNACHI Chapters later.  InterNACHI will reimburse all cost overruns.  Cost: FREE

  26. Set up your own InterNACHI Chapter website to promote yourself and your local members.  In keeping with InterNACHI's efforts to give individual members more control in their local markets, InterNACHI is pleased to announce FREE chapter websites for every member.  Any InterNACHI member can form his/her own local chapter, and now every member has one FREE chapter website which includes free hosting forever.  Pick from any of dozens of site styles, and change styles anytime you want without disrupting the content you've added.  Upload up to 10MB of images to display. Take online registration and payments for events and classes with our event-tracking system.  Add as many custom pages as you'd like. Create pages with our easy-to-use interface -- no need to know any code.  The chapter sites are easy to create (all you need is your InterNACHI member username and password), and each site comes with a simple content manager so you can update it as you like, anytime you like.  Chapter sites are free and hosting is free forever.
    Cost: FREE

  27. Offer to teach a course to real estate agents. "What Every Real Estate Agent Needs to Know about Inspections" is a full-day Continuing Education course for real estate professionals. 
          Course Summary:  The real estate agent/student will go through the entire inspection process, from writing an inspection addendum to handling post-closing complaints, covering nearly every inspection-related scenario, all with an emphasis on limiting agent liability.  
          Course Instructor: Nick Gromicko, veteran REALTOR, inspector, home-builder, real estate author, and Founder of the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors (InterNACHI).  
          Course Fee:  Mr. Gromicko and InterNACHI offer this course FREE to all InterNACHI members and InterNACHI chapters that procure CE approval from their local Board of REALTORs and/or real estate licensing board.  
          This is an excellent course for an InterNACHI member or chapter to host and offer to the real estate agents in their area.  CE Approval for REAL Estate Agents: This course has already been approved for Continuing Education by several Boards of REALTORs.  Submitting the course outline (below) to your local Board of REALTORs and/or real estate licensing board should result in its immediate approval.  InterNACHI will provide additional advertising to real estate agents at no charge, should a member or chapter decide to host this course.
    Site:  What Every Real Estate Agent Needs to Know about Inspections course
    Cost: FREE

  28. List yourself in OverSeeIt.com.  OverSeeIt.com helps consumers who are having a new home built, or repair or remodeling work done, find a certified inspector who can make sure the work is being performed properly.  OverSeeIt inspectors offer a variety of services, such as project and contractor oversight, new construction phase inspections, final walk-through inspections, one-year builder warranty inspections, annual inspections for home and commercial property owners, investor consulting, pre-listing, seller inspections, foreclosure inspections, insurance inspections, and general home inspections.  There is no cost to be listed.
    Cost: FREE 

  29. Make sure you are listed in FindAnInspector.us.  It gets about 1.5 million hits by consumer and real estate agent per month.
    Site: FindAnInspector.us
    Cost: FREE

  30. Use the Client Satisfaction Survey.  InterNACHI's Customer Satisfaction Survey hits seven birds with one stone:  
       1.  It limits your liability.  Often, a dissatisfied client will describe your services to his/her REALTOR,
            or, worse, to a judge, much differently than the truth.  Procuring and maintaining a copy of this
            survey will bring them back to Earth, so to speak.  It is a handy document  to have to
            present to a complaining REALTOR, and can often end a legal action all by itself.  It's the next
            best thing to a deposition.  
           2.  It alerts you to weaknesses in your service.  Often, a client is too shy to complain to you in
            person about your service, or, worse complains only to the REALTOR that referred
            you.  Providing this survey offers your client a way to express his/her dissatisfaction while you
            are still on the inspection site and can do something about it.  Customer feedback is necessary
            to improving your service. 
       3.  It reminds your client that you don't have X-ray vision.  It is important to explain to your client
            that a home inspection can't reveal every defect that exists, or ever will exist, in their new
            home.  This Survey works in conjunction with InterNACHI's Agreement (between you and your
            client) in that it again reminds them of this fact. 
       4.  It suggests that your client may wish to order ancillary inspections.  Some InterNACHI members
            offer additional inspections such as WDO, radon, water quality and mold... for an additional fee,
            of course.  This Survey reminds them to ask about other services you might offer. 
       5.  It grants you written permission to discuss the report with others.  And, even more importantly,
            you can point to this document when a seller's agent demands a copy of the inspection report
            by responding: "I'm sorry, but my client has given me written instructions not to share the
            results of his/her report with anyone." 
       6.  It lets your client know you care about his/her opinion.  Everyone likes being asked. 
       7.  It helps InterNACHI get you more work.  By entering your InterNACHI ID# and your client's
            email address into our tickler system, your client will receive four e-newsletters a year packed
            with helpful homeowner maintenance tips.   These newsletters are well received as they come
            from the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors.  Each includes a reference to your
            inspector contact information.  Once a year, we will suggest that your client rehire you to
            perform a home checkup.  This is a painless way to keep your name in front of your former
            clients... forever.  The Client Satisfaction Survey is free. 

    Site: Customer Satisfaction Survey
    Cost: FREE 

  31. Make sure you are listed in InspectorSEEK.com.  InspectorSEEK.com gets over 1.8 million consumer hits a month.
    Cost: FREE

  32. Print off your Certificate of Membership and use it in your marketing packets.  There is no charge and you can print as many as you like.
    Site: Inspectors Certificate of membership
    Cost: FREE

  33. Attend an InterNACHI event.  InterNACHI hosts over 400 inspection-related events a year.  Many are free.
    Cost: Not much

  34. Make sure you are listed in InterNACHI's thousands of sites.  InterNACHI is the world's largest inspection association and the largest generator of leads for the home inspection industry.  Search engines treat domain names and portions thereof differently than they treat text or meta-tags.  Despite a domain name often being the combination of more than one word such as newyorkhomeinspector.org,  Google, for instance, automatically splits up the search to be equivalent to "new york home inspector."  A full state or province name, followed by the word or words "home inspector," are the most popular searches, next to the phrase "certified home inspectors."  Therefore, for search engine purposes, we registered or purchased a variety of combinations that captures consumers, and eventually whittles down their search results to solely InterNACHI members who service the area being sought.  Search engine optimization experts often argue whether or not hyphens between words within a domain name affect ranking, so InterNACHI just bought them all.  InterNACHI converted all these websites into InterNACHI-member lead generators for its U.S. and Canadian members.  
       "Inspectors outside of InterNACHI can waste their money building their own websites, I suppose, but they won't get much traffic buried under all the InterNACHI lead generators.  Our members' contact information is promoted on the Internet even if they don't have a website," says Nick Gromicko, InterNACHI's Founder.  InterNACHI now has a designated website or web page for every single city and town in the U.S. and Canada.  "Our goal is to own one million InterNACHI- member lead generators," adds Gromicko.  
       You can list your inspection company on all of them at no charge.
    Site: Get Listed on InterNACHI's leading websites
    Cost: FREE

  35. Order a tablecloth for your next event. There is no charge.
    Cost: FREE

  36. Download the real estate presentations.  They are the best PowerPoint presentations in the inspection industry, and all free.
    Cost: FREE

  37. Check out the Inspector's Websites of the Week.  You can review all the winners over the past several years.  Compare their sites to yours at no charge.
    Cost: FREE

  38. Get up to 250 solid local inspection leads.
    Site:  Inspection leads
    Cost:  FREE

  39. Check out the Inspection Graphics Library.  Members are allowed to download high-resolution versions of each graphic for use in their brochures, reports and websites.
    Site: Inspection Graphics Library
    Cost: FREE

  40. Order a photo I.D. card at no charge.
    Site: Inspector photo I.D. card
    Cost: FREE

  41. Improve your website with these great logos, images, taglines and links.
    Site: Inspector website extras
    Cost: FREE

  42. Get a state-specific logo.  There is one for every state and they are all free.
    Site: Inspectors state specific logo
    Cost: FREE

  43. Add this promise to your brochure and website.  It works, and it's free.
    Site: Inspector promise
    Cost: FREE

  44. Read about how to make your website better at no charge.
    Site: Inspector website management tips
    Cost: FREE

  45. Create custom binders.  They work!
    Site: Inspector's custom binders
    Cost: $100/case.

  46. Order free brochures.  They work!
    Site: Inspector's brochures
    Cost: FREE

  47. Make sure your contact information is accurate on thousands of websites with InterNACHI's member-controlled Profile Editor.  InterNACHI members can now edit their own contact information and personal market areas on all InterNACHI-owned websites at once, anytime, and as often as they like (no limit).  This easy-to-use editor allows members to change such things as their company name, address (not made public), phone number, fax number, email address, website, and zip/postal codes served (yes, it is Canadian-friendly).  There is no limit to the number of times you can edit your profile and zip/postal code service areas.  Profile changes take effect instantly and simultaneously on all InterNACHI sites, including InspectorSEEK.com,  FindAnInspector.US, InspectorLocator.com, InspectorNow.com at InterNACHI's Membership Department, in your free Inspector's Quarterly subscription database, on your free website at InspectorPages.com, and in your avatar on the message board (so double-check).  It also changes it at www.IAC2.org (within 48 hours), at www.OverSeeIt.com, at MoveInCertified.com, and on your fully tax-deductible receipt.  The member-controlled Profile Editor is another step toward giving members greater and faster control of their online market presence.  The Profile Editor, which changes your contact information on 4,500 sites at once, is totally free.
    Site: Inspector's member-controlled profile editor
    Cost: FREE

  48. Expand your market into other zip codes.  FindanInspector.US is now the Internet's most prolific home-inspection lead generator.   It permits you, the inspector, to determine or carve out your own market regardless of where you live.  In other words, you can pick the areas you most want to service.  You do this by submitting up to 20 zip codes (postal codes coming soon).  
       Here is some information, as well as tips for choosing and submitting your 20 zip codes: 

    • Because the home-buying public is more familiar with towns than zip codes, submitting a zip code 
      you service will cause you to appear to service the town that the zip code corresponds to.  So, if
      you want to appear to service a certain town, submit the zip code from that town.  If a visitor
      searches for an inspector in a town you service, you will appear. 

    • You can carve out your own market.  This is useful if you own a franchise territory or want to
      work or not work in a particular neighborhood.  So, if you want to service a certain town, just
      submit the zip code from that town.  It does not matter what your physical address is (where you
      sleep at night).  The system only cares where you want and are willing to service. 

    • Each zip code covers an area with a radius of 20 miles -- that's over 1,200 square miles!  Properly
      spaced out, your 20 zip codes will cover thousands of square miles.  Each zip code submitted
      carries nearby zip codes with it.  So, if you submit a zip code area with a center that is closer than
      20 miles to the center of another zip code area, you will appear as servicing both towns that
      correspond to both zip codes.  In other words, you need not submit both zip codes if they are very
      near each other.  If a town has more than one zip code, you will only appear as servicing that town
      once, regardless of how many zip codes you submit from that town.  So, more than one zip code
      from the same named town need only be submitted once. 

    This system is free.

  49. Make sure you are listed on InspectorLocator.com.  InspectorLocator.com searches for inspectors based on what inspection services they offer, such as:

     
    • chimneys;
    • commercial buildings;
    • energy loss;
    • green;
    • IAC2-certified inspectors;
    • lead paint;
    • log homes; 
    • methamphetamine (meth) testing;
    • mold;
    • new construction; 
    • pools and spas; 
    • pre-listing; 
    • radon;
    • septic; 
    • stucco/EIFS;
    • thermal imaging;
    • water quality;
    • W.E.T.T.; and 
    • WDO/insects.

     

    Agents love InspectorLocator.com because they can find one inspector who does everything they need.  There is no cost to list your ancillary services on InspectorLocator.com
    Site: InspectorLocator.com
    Cost: FREE

  50. Get a professional email account.  InterNACHI provides professional email aliases to each of its members.  These state-specific email accounts give members a professional email address to advertise.  Rather than something like johninspector28674@aol.com, members can now use an address similar to jinspector@ny.nachi.org. The address automatically forwards to the email address you've provided to InterNACHI.  
       "We find that many members use their personal email address for business," said Chris Morrell, Director of Information Technology at InterNACHI.  "Though their address may be difficult to remember -- and often look somewhat unprofessional -- members don't want to check multiple mailboxes.  By offering a professional address that points directly to our members' personal email account, we provide a clean, marketable email address without any additional hassle."  
       Members' email addresses are their username@their state.nachi.org (for example: jinspector@ny.nachi.org).  This system works now without having to do anything.  InterNACHI members already have their username@their state.nachi.org emails set up and may begin using them.  Emails are forwarded to the member's email account of record in their profile.  Send yourself a test email, and then begin using this valuable member service immediately!
    Site: Inspector's e-mail aliases account
    Cost: FREE

  51. Upload your reports online for your clients to view and print.  As the inspection industry moves toward doing more work for home sellers, and as inspectors are seeking more ways to add value to their services without additional cost, a robust and unified upload and download system with multiple benefits has now been universally adopted.  FetchReport.com has already procured agreements from nearly every inspection software company, report form vendor, and testing laboratory to become FetchReport-friendly over the next several months. Uploading reports to FetchReport.com offers a number of advantages for everyone.  

       Advantages for the real estate agent: 
       ● real estate agents receive the inspection reports faster and can share them with repair
         contractors to get estimates faster; 
        ●     they can download, read and print the reports easily;
       ● they can provide potential buyers a link (from the pages on their website that promote a
          particular property) to access all the home's reports for seller inspection marketing purposes; 
       ● they can become acquainted with an easy-to-use, unified system for all the home sales they are
          involved with, regardless of which inspector they use, regardless of how each inspector
          generates the reports, regardless of what supporting documentation or laboratory reports are 
          desired, and regardless of what type of inspections are performed; and
       ● they can provide added value (in terms of third-party discount coupons and gift certificates*) to
          their clients through reports uploaded to FetchReport.com.
      
       Advantages for the client:  
       ● clients can receive the inspection reports faster and can provide others with access;
        ● they can download, read and print the reports easily;
       ● sellers can provide potential buyers a link to access all the home's reports for seller inspection
          marketing purposes; 
       ● potential buyers can access past inspection reports when considering whether or not to tour a
          home; and 
       ● clients enjoy added value (in terms of third-party discount coupons and gift certificates*) found
          in reports uploaded to FetchReport.com.  

       Advantages for the inspector: 
       ● inspectors can upload their reports easily;
       ● they can control who gets access to uploaded reports: 
       ● they can upload the reports under one unified system, regardless of what software or forms
          they used to generate the report;
       ● they can upload information from various types inspections, laboratory analysis reports, and
          supporting documentation using one unified system;
       ● they can provide added value (in terms of third-party discount coupons and gift certificates*) to
          their inspection reports.  

       FetchReport hopes to soon provide so much added value to uploaded reports that consumers (who have no need for an inspection otherwise) order one anyway, just to acquire the downloadable gift certificates, and they can enjoy added marketing exposure to potential clients who view reports of inspections performed on homes they considered buying but did not purchase. 
       Four other uses for FetchReport that are developing: use of the system by home insurance companies; use of the system for marketing foreclosed homes to online buyers; use of the system to move toward Pay-Per-View report downloading; and use of the system by real estate companies to mass-market listings.  InterNACHI's free, online, signable electronic inspection agreement system is FetchReport-friendly, and MoveInCertified.com uses FetchReport technology exclusively.  The entire system is totally free.

    Site:  FetchReport.com
    Cost: FREE

  52. Install InterNACHI's Inspection Glossary on your website.  Give your clients and your website visitors access to InterNACHI's online, searchable glossary of inspection-related terms and improve your site's search engine optimization at the same time.  Feel free to use the code to put the glossary search box on your site (it will open search results in a new window).  You can put it on your website or give it away.  It's all yours.
    Cost: FREE

  53. Learn how to convert every call into a scheduled inspection.  The home inspection business is different than nearly every other business in that you don’t meet your client until after they hire you. It is all marketing (getting your phone to ring) and almost no sales (converting a phone call into a scheduled inspection). The only time you get to sell yourself is when the phone rings. You’ve probably done a lot of marketing to get your phone to ring. Don’t have it all go to waste when the phone rings… convert every call into a scheduled inspection.  Here are some tips to converting.  No charge.
    Cost: FREE

  54. Learn how to turn a complaint into a marketing gain.  Handling complaints is a part of any business.  Three out of every 100 people are nuts and you can't change that.  You cannot find every defect that exists or ever could exist in every home you inspect.  Do not think backward -- think forward.  The real problem is not with the sink, it is with the damage a complaint can do to your company's reputation.  Don't think plumbing -- think marketing!  Here's how.  No charge.
    Cost: FREE

  55. Send a seller inspections letter to all your local sellers.  There are numerous advantages for the seller using this letter.  The seller can choose a certified InterNACHI inspector rather than be at the mercy of the buyer's choice of inspector. The seller can schedule the inspections at the seller's convenience. It might alert the seller of any items of immediate personal concern, such as radon gas or active termite infestation. The seller can assist the inspector during the inspection, something normally not done during a buyer's inspection. The seller can have the inspector correct any misstatements in the inspection report before it is generated. The report can help the seller realistically price the home if problems exist. The report can help the seller substantiate a higher asking price if problems don't exist or have been corrected. A seller inspection reveals problems ahead of time (which might make the home show better), gives the seller time to make repairs and shop for competitive contractors, permits the seller to attach repair estimates or paid invoices to the inspection report, and removes over-inflated buyer-procured estimates from the negotiating table. The report might alert the seller to any immediate safety issues found, before agents and visitors tour the home. The report provides a third-party, unbiased opinion to offer to potential buyers. A seller inspection permits a clean home inspection report to be used as a marketing tool.  A seller inspection is the ultimate gesture in forthrightness on the part of the seller.  The report might relieve a prospective buyer's unfounded suspicions, before they walk away.  A seller inspection lightens negotiations and 11th-hour re-negotiations.  The report might encourage the buyer to waive the inspection contingency. The deal is less likely to fall apart, the way they often do, when a buyer's inspection unexpectedly reveals a problem at the last minute. The report provides full-disclosure protection from future legal claims.  Use the free sample letter sellers.
    Site: Seller inspection's letter 
    Cost: FREE

  56. Send a seller inspections letter to all your local real estate agents. There are several advantages for the real estate agent.  Agents can recommend certified InterNACHI inspectors, as opposed to being at the mercy of buyer's choices of inspectors. Sellers can schedule the inspections at the seller's convenience, with little effort on the part of agents. Sellers can assist inspectors during the inspections, something normally not done during buyer's inspections. Sellers can have inspectors correct any misstatements in the reports before they are generated.  The reports help sellers see their homes through the eyes of a critical, third-party, thus making sellers more realistic about asking price.  Agents are alerted to any immediate safety issues found, before other agents and potential buyers tour the home.  Repairs made ahead of time might make homes show better.  Reports hosted online entice potential buyers to tour the homes.  The reports provide third-party, unbiased opinions to offer to potential buyers.  Clean reports can be used as marketing tools to help sell the homes.  The reports might relieve a prospective buyer's unfounded suspicions before they walk away.  Seller inspections eliminate "buyer's remorse" that sometimes occurs just after an inspection.  Seller inspections reduce the need for negotiations and 11th-hour re-negotiations.  Seller inspections relieve the agent of having to hurriedly procure repair estimates or schedule repairs.  The reports might encourage buyers to waive their inspection contingencies.  Deals are less likely to fall apart, the way they often do, when buyer's inspections unexpectedly reveal problems at the last minute.  Reports provide full-disclosure protection from future legal claims.  Use the free sample letter to agents.
    Cost: FREE

  57. Download the "10 Top Problems Found in Homes" PowerPoint presentation.  It works and it's free.
    Cost: FREE

  58. Learn what to say when clients complain about the inspection fee.  It works!  No charge.
    Site: What to say to inspection fee complaints
    Cost: FREE

  59. If you are a member, use your IAC2 logos.
    Site: Inspector IAC2 logos
    Cost: FREE

  60. Make sure your location is in our databases.  InterNACHI maintains a database of nearly 1 million coordinates for locations all over North America. We use this data to provide accurate search results for consumers and agents. Though we are constantly updating this database to reflect new towns, zip codes and postal codes, you may occasionally find that a location is not in our database. If you have discovered a missing location, or simply want to verify that a location does exist in our database, please let us know using this system.  If the location is not found, our system will automatically gather the data needed to create a new database record.  No charge.
    Cost: FREE

  61. Make sure your auto-phone notification works in MoveInCertified.com.  MoveInCertified homes have been pre-inspected by InterNACHI-certified inspectors, and the sellers confirm that there are no major systems in need of immediate repair or replacement, and no known safety hazards.  The inspection reports are hosted on FetchReport.com.  The listing and the phone notification system are both free.
    Site: Inspector's auto-phone notification 
    Cost: FREE

  62. Be in your own commercial promoting your own inspection business.  NACHI.TV produces and hosts these commercials online at no charge to InterNACHI members.  Members can link to their custom commercials from their own websites, and even email the link to potential clients and to local real estate agents.  Production, publicity and promotion are all free.
    Site: NACHI.TV
    Cost FREE

  63. Add the MoveInCertified report download box to your website.  If you are using your own website for MoveInCertified clients, you can use the following form to let your clients download MoveInCertified reports directly from your site.  Simply copy the HTML code to a page on your site and you're set.
    Site: Inspector's MoveInCertified reports download box
    Cost: FREE

  64. Make sure you are listed in the 430-million page North American Inspector Directory.  This is the world's largest directory of anything anywhere.
    Cost: FREE

  65. Get Infrared Certified™ 
    Cost:  FREE

  66. Read about how to make a better NACHI.TV commercial for your inspection business.
    Site:  Inspector's commercial at NACHI.TV
    Cost:  FREE

  67. Send this article to local real estate agents.  The article reminds agents that inspectors are their first line of defense.  If the inspector gets sued, the agent will likely get sued, too.
    Site:  Inspector's article to real estate agents 
    Cost:  FREE

  68. Email-blast this membership requirement comparison to the local real estate agents in your market.
    Site:  InterNACHI membership requirement comparison
    Cost:  FREE

  69. Order your free MoveInCertified.com signs.
    Cost:  FREE

  70. Offer warranties.  Even if you're the best inspector in your state, you need to stand out. Mountain Warranty Corporation's limited home warranties can help you distinguish your business from the rest of the crowd.
    Cost:  Very inexpensive.

  71. Download and print your IAC2 Membership Certificate.
    Cost:  FREE

  72. Download and print your Infrared Certified Certificate.
    Site:  Inspector's Infrared Certified Certificate
    Cost:  FREE

  73. Boost your search engine optimization by contributing to this solely inspection-related blog.
    Site:  Inspector's blog
    Cost:  FREE

  74. Get a free book display.  Get paid for marketing yourself and your inspection business.
    Site:  Inspector Book Displays
    Cost:  FREE

  75. Use InterNACHI's free, online First-Time Home Buyer-Friendly web seal.
    Site:  First-Time Home Buyer-Friendly web seal
    Cost:  FREE

  76. Improve your bottom line with InterNACHI's free, online Net Profit Optimizer.
    Site:  Net Profit Optimizer for inspectors
    Cost:  FREE

  77. Give your inspection clients a free $200 VISA gift card.
    Site:  Free $200 VISA gift card.
    Cost:  FREE


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