I moved to central florida from western NC, where I had a burgeoning home inspection business.
Now I find myself starting over…
From my experience, I found the big monthly bill I paid for a yellow book ad to be a complete waste.
I also used to go to all the realtor offices in the area and put up a candy bowl with a business card holder attached.
This didnt work out at all. Most of the time the realtor would move the bowl behind the desk out of sight. I never got a call on these.
Most of my calls came from people who found my business on ASHI. I know, they are the enemy:D …but they were to ones I was pushed towards when testing for the NC inspector license.
I’m now considering joining up with NACHI.
I know many claim that their website gets them a lot of calls. I do have one up, but need to beef it up some. I’ve worked to get the “key words” on the site and to get links to other related businesses on there.
I am now in the middle of going out to neighborhoods in my area that were built in the last few years and distributing flyers which talk about water intrusion and mold.
Many of the builders around here, like DR Horton, Mercedes, Maronda, etc… have had lots of problems after FAY came through with lots of wind driven rain. Standing water in many homes.
So, I figured I would direct market to the consumer.
First of all, we encourage you to move back to NC! We don’t need the competition in Central FL!
Just kidding… welcome.
And I’ve only been asked about my affiliation once in the last 3-4 years. That doesn’t seem too important to the clients or the realtors around here.
I think you’d be very wise to join InterNACHI. If for nothing else, just for this message board. I’ve gotten more advice, tips, and general knowledge right here that makes my investment worthwhile. Plus all the other benefits.
I’ve worked hard at getting a base of referrals, but my website seems to be the best source. I get about 50% of my work from my website, and it’s not even that good.
The other 50% is from several sources - several Realtors who seem to like my work and refer everything, and I’ve gotten a few jobs from people who found me here.
I’ve been to ASHI, CREIA, FABI, and many other association’s meetings. No offense to them all but they all sound like you. Yellow page ads, flyers, etc. They talk about stuff we were talking about 20 years ago. Marketing has really changed, even in the last couple years. My advice is to skip the McCain speech, he can’t top Palin, and instead read every word of www.nachi.org/success.htm twice. I’ll be doing a talk on marketing in FL on October 3, hope to meet you.
We don’t need the competition in Central FL!