I guess confusion sets in when I see the stuff like above. How can a person teach universal marketing? I guess there are some basic ideas to marketing and if you don’t have the slightest idea about marketing then being a business owner is probably not the proper situation to be in.
I will attend Nicks meeting because #1 I respect the guy and like the guy.
But to me marketing is so much more than a two hour chat and a pat on the back.
Marketing for me is totally different than Jefferey Jonas and Sean Fogerty. You cannot just wrap us up into a neat ball and then say “Here is how to market!”.
I have read several marketing books and tried $1000’s worth of ideas. Some hit home runs, some flop. But some of my flops may be a big hit in North Dakota. So my flops may be another mans riches!
What I do with the bus and the multi inspector aspect won’t work in Chicago, you can’t find parking for that thing! Also in some areas the winters are so slow that to keep employees during the extremely slow times may not be possible.
So when I see a “One size fits all” approach, it cannot be “marketing” it has to be marketing 101.
Without knowing the person.
Their vision
Their drive
What customers they are trying to attract ( its ALOT more than just finding a person who is buying a house).
Are you looking for middle income housing?
Are you looking for 10,000 SF homes?
Are you looking for Condo’s?
Are you looking for historic homes?
I just find it odd, that teaching marketing in an open forum for a few hours is much better than reading a book and listening to Dom.
If you want to market and be serious in business then pony up the money and interview business coaches. They will ask you questions that are so basic and you never even thought of them.
To me Mike Crow and that other guy are just peddlers of others ideas. He might call you and keep you on track and motivated, but thats about it in my view.
I took Nathan Thronberry up on a statement he made and sent him a report and he about crapped. He told me I am doing it all wrong and need to change some things. That is EXACTLY what I wanted to hear.
I don’t want to put out the same product and service 500 other people in my area are putting out. What good is that? You will just be another name on board and another flyer in the trash.
What I do is not for everyone. But it works for me and two others who have adopted the method. I am not saying that what I do is right for everyone, as a matter of fact, that is my point exactly.
Find out where the competition is and exactly what they are doing and do it totally different.
Listening to a guy to tell me where I am wrong and what is wrong with my marketing without knowing me, my business model, my target audience, my goals, my vision to me is well…wrong.
With all that said, Maybe I am wrong and willing to admit it. But for many their main goal is to do more inspections. They want more and more and more…to me I want less and less and less…but to make 4 times what other in my area make per inspection. Make sense? Work smarter not harder…
Just my 2 cents and I am sure there will be a comment or two coming back at me…
Ahh Yeah!
You know your important when Russ starts using you for name dropping.
Russ, the goal isn’t to teach someone everything they need to market themselves. Having talked at many of these with Nick over the years I can tell you that the goal is more to give people a ton of ideas on how to market themselves and inspire them to get off their butts and improve their business by following some of them.
Most inspectors have ZERO ideas on how to market themselves. They just get a business license and wait for business to start coming to them. That’s it. And that’s why the average inspector doesn’t make it longer than 3 years.
Many of the guys that attended these marketing seminars in the past when I was speaking got websites with us. Inspectors that have gotten websites with us have twice the success than the average inspector. It might not be the fact that they have a site with us, but the fact that they have any site and that they’ve worked on it and put in that marketing effort.
If Nick mentions ONE thing that you haven’t thought about as he’s blasting every marketing idea he can think of (and whomever else is speaking) that you can take and make your own, then it’s worth going.
Why do you think your so damn successful in Florida and a ton of other inspectors aren’t? It’s because you do know more than them when it comes to running a business!
It’s not a one-size-fits-all, marketing event… if it was, I’d build a free, online course on the subject for every member to take. And it certainly isn’t a Tony Robins-style Rah! Rah! sales event either… it it was, I’d create an online video for members to watch.
It’s difficult for me to describe (mostly because no one in any industry offers it… except us). It’s more of an interactive consultation (but that doesn’t really explain it well either). I’m having trouble putting it into words.
Furthermore, it’s not a general marketing presentation. Not only is it particularly geared to the attendees, but it is also particularly geared to the inspection industry (I can’t think of any part of the evening that isn’t all about our unique profession).
We start off with marketing and sales-generating tips, advice, and new ideas for inspectors and end up reviewing and enhancing attendee’s websites, brochures, SEO, business models, and marketing programs and pump them up with new strategies. It’s a serious working meeting, not a presentation. For example,… we provide so much individual help that we can’t have too many attendees per evening (some cities have already sold out and have been removed from the Tour site)…which is why I have to do 5 separate nights/cities in Florida. Again… it isn’t a show.
Let me try to put it another way by using an analogous service: It’s directly parallel to what our graphics designers do for individual member’s logos: http://printservices.nachi.org/logos (click on pagination at the bottom of that link) … only instead of professionally designing and enhancing their individual inspection business logos, we are enhancing their individual marketing strategies… if that makes any sense.
Read what attendees are saying: http://inspectorboost.com/pictures
LMAO are you serious or joking? Your “free” design logo can be technically free if you want to wait forever or to move in front of the line you can pony up the money!
The only ehncement you are doing is for internachi with those logos. Internachi’s name is on every logo! So lets not play games, you made those logos to promote yourself. Don’t you really believe all the BS you try and make these people believe?
Lets once again go a step further. Your logo designs all look the same. Same color tones, same feel, same look and please look at these two, when I say them I laughed, they look so much alike its a joke.
The logo “service” is to promote YOU and Internachi and you know it! Why else put the Internachi certified on every logo?
I see how you give people that, “individual” look and feel. So that is the service you brag of? Look at the logos Nick with the excpetion of a very few they all look alike. Hence that is where YOUR marketing comes in…these logos do little for the member, but so much more for you.
All that you mention in the previous post has to be BS as well. Nick there is no possible way you can do significant help within a day. What do spend with each person? 1/2 hour? Maybe an hour? So you take a room of lets say 12 guys in Iowa and tell them all the same thing…how does that differentiate you from your competition?
Your gonna help me with my business model? In an hour of 1 to 1 time? Seriously? That is not marketing its BS. I can read Dom’s website for 2 hours and learn more. You cannot teach or help a person stand out and become successful with a few hours split amongst a dozen guys. Sure they will be pumped up. Sure they will take one or two things and try them out.
For a professional to give professional results, professional time must be given.
I can have the best website, brochure and one of the most proficient inspectors around and still be broke. I personally see it day in and day out. You can’t fix douche. Booking a job today gives me a meal, but during that job if I can covert each of those people to use my company in the future or sing my praises and recommend me, then I eat for a lifetime. I don’t even have a brochure, my website is not neat nor pretty and we do 4-6 inspections per day not to mention the other services we offer. It is so much more and takes months of being mentored and coached to provide results that are lasting and professional. Not 1 hour of face time…
I personally think, you thought 100’s of people would be running to this and it became a huge flop and you had to spin it into something “small and quaint” to save face. But thats just my guess and that is why you cannot make venues ahead of time, because your hoping many show, but don’t want to financially commit to a big place and 5 people show up. I can understand that.
And if you market it as a small group, then you can say “see we want it small and quaint”, but if many show you will take their money and make it a bigger place and service 200 people if they sign up. Then your small and quaint will go to the wayside.
I appreciate what you do and I appreciate all that you offer, but stop feeding us BS all day and just be honest with yourself and us. I still love ya…and respect ya.
Russell, obviously when 32 inspectors showed up in San Diego, I can’t spend an hour with each of them individually and get done in 4 hours (get out your calculator to check my math if you need to :roll:). But much of what we do with the useability, SEO, and conversion rate of one attendee’s website also applies to many other attendees’ websites. Just like when someone in the room describes a marketing problem, we don’t have to have every other attendee with a similar issue each ask the same question. This goes without saying… at least I thought it did until I read your post. We intentionally included many small-market stops on the tour in hopes of providing more individual assistance. Toward that end, in your state of Florida for example, we split the Tour up into five different evenings instead of one big show… intentionally.
Staff also intentionally waits until about a week before the event to solidify the venue so that they know what size room we need. Toronto will of course need a bigger room than Wichita, but they like an exact registrant number. Furthermore, we have venues being offered to us: The Chicago Chapter asked us to hold the Chicago stop of the Tour at the same hotel where they have their monthly meetings, the NIBI Home Inspection School is hosting the Philadelphia stop, etc.
Russell complains about our free logo design service:
But the money doesn’t go to us for doing the design work (we do that or free). The money goes toward printing the member’s brochure. The wait for a free logo design (provided you are going to do something with it and not just wasting our time) is only about 10 days on average.
Russell complains about our logo design service:
and they
Really? They really “All look alike” ???
See if you can get someone to agree with you… anyone. All I ask is that they click on these links first:
To me, they all look alike…or very similar and I personally think that is what YOU want. I think you are marketing more for Inachi then anything else. Keep it similar so they can be associated and the Internachi certified on every logo? Really? Who is that promoting? Your a very smart man, get people to pay to advertise for you. Awesome thinking.
I thought the seating was very very limited and it was for only a select few. I knew that would change the minute you got more people. If 200 hundred show up, then what? I thought it was suppose to be nice personal service.
I understand you had to say that because it looks poor when only a few show up. I probably would have done the same. But now you have painted yourself in a corner when numerous people show up. What do you tell them? Especially when they thought it was suppose to be a small amount of people like you previously mentioned.
Some of the inspection industry’s largest 5-day conventions barely draw 200. I really don’t think that is going to happen… but if it does (like I was worried it would in Florida)… I promise to cap it, break it up into more than one evening, or add a session in the morning.
That’s also another reason why we don’t solidify the venues too early.
Cities and dates have been posted for months: http://inspectorboost.com/cities
These are serious, advanced, working meetings with one-on-one help (not Ra! Ra! sale events or PowerPoint presentations) and so smaller groups are better.
Seating is very limited.
"Who said this? Just one guess…now when more people sign up, then “this” doesn’t come to fruition. Kinda misleading, no?
If 6 is a smaller and better group does that mean 50 is a larger and worse group? The one to one help doesn’t happen.
What is your definition of “limited”? 25? 50?..at what point does the customer not get what you promised in your previous threads?
Painting yourself in a corner sucks…now what?
It already happened. We were scheduled to have our San Diego meeting INSIDE the bank vault itself (see PICs of the bank vault boardroom table near bottom of this link). But during the last day before the event, we had too many inspectors try to register. Luckily, we were able to get a bigger room next the bank vault and hold the event there. Had there been any more registrants, we would have had to add a morning session.
But many inspectors only register in the few days just prior the event date.
I am not "fearing’ anything and I am a HUGE supporter of marketing ideas. Hell, if I get just one good idea many times it is worth it. But when 25 people show up, and the meeting is 4 hours long and you talk for an hour…which means Nick has 3 hours.
Since big daddy likes math…4 hour meeting, You speak for 1 hour. Lets just say the entire other 3 hours Nick gives his promised “one to one” marketing help…lets do the math. 25 people…3 hours=180 minutes which means each of the 25 people get 7.2 minutes of the “one to one” time.
So you disect a website and beat it up. What good is that? Hell it takes Dom 8 hours to talk about SEO! JUST SEO…and I am sure he could go longer!
I just think he is promising more than he can deliver. Its not really a marketing tour, I think its a get out of house and go shake some hands and kiss some babies tour.
If your counting on this to be your marketing turn around, I think many will be disappointed.
Why did people walk out on yours and Nick talks? That was kinda rude.
so your saying about 25 is the max per event, or before another shift has to be added?
So here in Fort Myers on November 7th the event starts at 6 and ends at 10. Your telling me you may tell people, hey, we need to have one at noon to 4 on a day or two’s notice? Do people really have that flexibility the day before to change their schedule?
If they wait till the last minute to register… that may be their only option (other than not come).
P.S. I suggest you inquire from past attendees if they think this was simply a “shake hands” meeting or 4 hours of one marketing strategy followed by another at a rapid-fire rate combined with individual help from everything from building a business of annual inspections to exit strategies when you decide to retire. With the pace we maintain… we should require attendees to wear seat belts. But don’t take my word for it. Ask your fellow members who have been to one.
Another issue that is playing havoc on staff’s attempt to book the correct-sized venue:
Some inspectors are registering for events they have no intention of attending. We even had 2 inspectors from Alaska register (we don’t have a Tour stop in Alaska).
Why?
Because they want the $99 voucher. Most of our sponsors (including InterNACHI) give you the $99 back toward something. You can use the $99 to renew your membership, then use the voucher again and again and again with other sponsors. http://inspectorboost.com/sponsors I know of at least one attendee who already used his $99 voucher 4 times.
Like I’ve said… you have to be pretty bad at math to not register for this Tour (regardless of whether or not you are actually going to attend).
I can understand there are some “universal” marketing ideas to everything. But to really market, I mean really help me out I would think a person would have to spend a week with me and see how my operation runs, see the office, she the inspection process, the tools, the deameanor, the entire process before you can actually help me with marketing.
I would honestly say you could probably help people out tremendously without ever looking at ANY of their marketing material. A class on how to make the client feel “special”, event though your doing 4 more after her inspection.
You can read my website and have Dom personally build it, have Nick make my brochures and failure is super easy without ALL the tools. I am not saying there is NO value in the conference/meeting. I am sure it is worth the $99 but lets not pretend it will change your world.
I can listen to every testimonial for the next 8 months and I am sure they will all be glowing. Its is easy to excite people and get them feeling like they found the gold nugget that will change their world. Hell, I get that feeling when I watch RUDY…but 30 minutes after the movie is over, life carries on and the movie has been forgotten.
What Nathan and Nick are very good at is value. The have products that are give value for the consumer. With that said, I know Nathans parents and they own a super successful inspection company and Nick has been building Nachi for what…11 years, maybe longer.
Success does not come with a 4 hour marketing class and I personally believe without knowing the person, the company and the goals of the inspector, its all just smoke and mirrors with some rah rah rah…
I shall see and will admit if I am wrong.
I want people to realize that marketing goes so much deeper, so much more time consuming and it is 100% NEVER ending. For me marketing is a 24/7 job. I forget who said it, but they said:
"If you have the mentality that you DO NOT OWN a HOME INSPECTION company, but instead own a MARKETING company that specializes in HOME INSPECTIONS, that is when success will begin to breed.
I think the quote was: “Don’t strive to be a home inspector, strive to be a businessperson in the home inspection business.”