My name is Dan Hoban. Im almost through all the required coarses in order to be able to open up my home inspection business. I live in Philadelphia PA and was wondering what is the easiest way through Internachi to get your business up and running? Such as website, what type of software people are using to perform their home inspections, how they are advertising themselves etc. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank You
Welcome Dan
If you don’t know anything about websites and seo have it hired. Or you can go thru Home Inspector Pro for your web and for reports. Get your self a good domain name.
I don’t hit the realtors hard like some. But just starting out you’ll need to meet realtors and get your name out there. It may take awhile depending on where you live.
Good Luck.
Get all of Nicks Marketing books and material FIRST before you DO ANYTHING.
Study, read, ask questions…THEN decide how to proceed.
It is much easier than reinventing the wheel.
Others have books as well.
The hungry home inspector has a lot of great information in it as well that would be great to know BEFORE you start doing stuff on your own.
I have reviewed several here for members the more you read first the less mistakes you will make.
Feel free to call me anytime after 10:30 am Mon-Fri to discuss.
Go to http://www.homeinspectorpro.com/
Dom or Dan most likely will actually not only help you with sites and software but will give you inside knowledge.
I agree with all the posts. I do use a call center to setup appointments works great & they integrate ISN. For software I use horizon. I tried others but found their integration with my phone & tablet worked best & their setup was easiest. Good luck hope you the best.
Hey Dan! The best way is to get yourself out there in the easiest manner possible and the cheapest went sort of like this for me… A website is great, but you will only get 20 to 25 percent of you business from there. You have to get in front of realtors and convert them to you. The cheapest and easiest thing I did was put together a letter, put as many cards as I could get in it for one stamp and mail 100 each Saturday until I covered all of the realtors in my catchment area. I got all of my first work from this simple letter. I set up a constant contact and sent 2 communications per month to stay in front of them. I no longer use any of that as I do not need to. I never made one office visit. Not one. We average 10 to 12 inspections when it is slow, 15 to 18 otherwise. I only market now in a local paper and in realtor folders. I also pay a small fortune to stay number 1 in my state on the web. I try to just stay in front of people. Cards in all banks, and other locations, inexpensive ways too numerous to keep going with. It all adds ups. Good luck!
Jeff,
Do you have a copy of the letter to realtors that I could look at? I may try to implement your idea.
Try and go out with an experienced Home Inspector .
A few trips will teach you things you can never get from a book .
If no one local go 100 miles away .
Well worth the time ,money and effort .
All the best send me email if you want to talk give time to call and your number… Roy
Thank You everyone for your advise. Seeing that so many people are willing to share their advise motivates me to get out there and promote my business. Happy holidays to all.
I agree with what everyone else has said. The biggest thing is to be disciplined during the slow times. Laying in bed all day does not make the phone ring. It also helps to have a supportive wife for the times when things are slow.