Originally Posted By: rharr03 This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
I’m getting ready to do some advertising, and wondering if anyone with a yellow page Ad can tell me about the response? It’s costly and I don’t want to spend a fortune in start-up costs this first year. But then again…there aren’t ANY display Ads at all in the section of my hometown where I will be working. Mine could really stick out? So, I could use some feedback ASAP. Deadline is the end of August for advertising.
Originally Posted By: gbeaumont This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Hi Rodney, the yellow page question is a good one, and the answer varrie very much dependent on area, in my local book most inspection companies have a block ad, so i will not put marketing budget in that area. for the same price as a small ad ($2-300) you can have a very good web page built (e-mail Chris Morrell) the Real estate people will not pick up the phone book to go looking for inspctors, they know who is around already,so unless you are going to take the new issue and beat them around the head with it they will never see your ad. I belive you are get a much bigger bang for your buck by marketing directly to the real estate market, banks, mortgage companies and lawyers, and by using a web presense to market direct to the public. Just my 2 cents worth.
Regards
Gerry
BTW if you use the search function at the top of this page you will find a similar discusion that we had here a few months ago.
Originally Posted By: rharr03 This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Thanks for your (2 cents worth) Gerry!
I hear what your saying about the realtors & brokers not looking in the
yellow pages for an inspector. I was thinking though, that when my wife and I have bought and sold houses over the years (before I was an H.I. myself), we always seemed to just go to the Yellow Pages to find an inspector when we needed one. Friends of ours have said they did the same when they sold or bought. Maybe there is such a “low” amount of business from people who do that, it’s not going to be worth it?
Leaves me curious as to whether or not to pay out the money. My wife (& right~arm) Erin, is my marketing pro. She has been working with a Rep. on pricing for a yellow page ad. She's got them down from hundreds per month to around $70 a month right now on a full color, credit card size Ad. Not sure if I want to give the go-ahead on it or not? I've got until the end of the month to decide. 
I really appreciated your input and I will check out the "previous" message board discussions on this subject that you suggested. Erin also has Chris Morrell in the beginning stages of creating a Website for me. I'll pursue that a bit more than I was going to.
Originally Posted By: lfranklin This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Hi Rodney
I’ll go in the middle here. I like the yellow page, but only do one line that comes with a business phone line. People that pick me from the yellow pages all usually say because of the one liner. I think they think a big ad just drives the price of the inspection up a little
Originally Posted By: rharr03 This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Hi Larry,
Thanks for your input. I'm pretty close to backing out on the idea for a large Ad...at least for now. I will have the freebie listing for this first year and see how that goes. I think you could be right about people thinking the larger ads are going to just mean more expensive inspections.
It's great getting this input. Helps a lot. Guess we'll see what happens.
Originally Posted By: jhorton This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
I have been without internet while I moved my office and home. So while I am late I highly recommend Yellow Pages. Now I don’t know you area and how many are listed but next to personal references perhaps, that is the first place people turn too! If there is a lot of others it might not be as good. But most everyone uses the yellow pages.
I get more calls (Appraisal and Inspections) that I can trace to my ad there than anything else I have tried.
-- Jeff <*\\><
The man who tells the truth doesn't have to remember what he said.
