That makes at least two of us Larry. 
Based on the gazillion videos and articles I have seen and read about building a website and current SEO strategies, I would agree. Having Gmail for a business email doesn’t bode well either, from a professionalism standpoint. Then again, I’m not a techie SEO guru or professional website designer, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express once… 
How’s that?.. considering I still have clients utilizing HOTMAIL, YAHOO, AOL, LIVE, JUNO, etc.
Seems they would be a match made in heaven!
(Oh wait… I use Gmail for my Business emails (4 accounts for business, and 1 for personal)!
I discovered the royal pain-in-the-arse it was when I closed/changed hosts of my first website after 10 years, and the ‘bad actors’ refused me access to my files of over 1,000 Contacts and Clients!!! NEVER AGAIN!!
You also have an established business and clientele base, whereas the OP does not. I read an article regarding this some time back that talked about consumer sentiment and how a “free” email account, like gmail or yahoo for example, associated with a new business made it equal to something like a cheap arse contractor that does cheap arse work and cuts corners in the eyes of the average “online shopper” type of consumer. Whereas with a well-established business with a real history, it doesn’t seem to matter much. I have read other articles that said those bots that crawl websites see this as “less authoritative” when scoring or ranking them, again with newer sites.
Like you, I have personal emails with gmail, hotmail, yahoo, etc… and a single gmail account tied to my business that is used as a link between my business, googoo business crap, and phone but I don’t use it for communications with clients.
BTW, it would appear that one of your sites is having an issue today.
I’m in process of shutting down my two Residential websites. I’ve been moving to 100% Commercial/Industrial inspecting only over the last two years. The four years of Biden, (adding to that the BS with the NAR), really screwed the Residential industry in my area, and I’ve had enough of the BS! Interestingly enough, I’ve had more calls from prior clients this year than I can count. The last one I received was from 16 years ago… their son was finally old enough to buy his first home! Damn… perhaps I should consider retirement. I’ve definitely earned it!!
I’m retired now since the end of 2023, but worked as a home inspector in the Washington DC Metro region for 25 years. Real estate agency offices were our biggest referral source. We visited each office leaving our contact info. Second was word of mouth from happy clients. We didn’t advertise, but that is a possibility as well, but will cost money. If you know what you’re doing, have a thorough/concise report, and agents and clients like you and you help make the transaction go smoothly you should receive regular calls, texts and emails for your business.
Good luck!
Hi Lon
The brochures were distributed before the presentation. I also brought donuts to that office on National Donut Day, and they mentioned it on their website see attached. I understand what you’re saying, and I received feedback from my friend who runs the office. She said the realtors liked me and appreciated the reports I provided. Thank you for all the information. I’m beginning to think most realtors already have an inspector they trust and may be hesitant to switch. Once they decide to use me, I believe they’ll continue working with me.
It takes most people at least a year to get a business to the point where it even begins to maybe make a hint of profit. Sometimes longer.
Most inspectors aren’t going to be doing 3 a week consistently until year 2.
Same here.
Google Ads really depends on what size town you live in and how competitive it is.
In a large city? Forget it. Each ad ends up costing $50 a lead.
IMH experience: Google Ads also attracts people who don’t need your service but think you can help.
When we ran ads, all day long, the calls were
Outside of the expense of the ads, Google ads just cost me money by wasting my office staff’s time answering inane questions.
