Hey, everyone this is my first time posting on the forum. I’ve been working as an inspector for the last two years under another inspector and I’ve decided to go out on my own. I owned another business for 12 years but the marketing for that was much different than the home inspections industry. I have a marketing plan in place but I would love to hear from others about what has worked for them in the past.
I have brochures and business card to hand out. I always like having some type of marketing material when I meet potential clients or visit Real Estate and Insurance offices. Social media marketing is huge so I’m obviously going to use that platforms to advertise and get my name out there. I also plan to join local Real Estate Associations to meet people and network. Associations seem to be a great place to source email address so I’m planning on using emails to reach out to agents and brokers. Any other ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.
Agents hate getting spam emails, they will just delete them. Marketing as a home inspector is harder than you think. I have better luck with Google ads and Google local service ads and being Google guaranteed. I have my handful of referring agents, but 90% of my work comes from Google searches. Being at the top of the list helps allot. I spent too much visiting offices, paying for email services to send out to 4000 agents when only 10 would open the email and 100 would unsubscribe, and the rest just get deleted. I attended my local board annual affiliate expo every year. I always get a couple new agents from that.
But most agents have their favorite inspector already, there is nothing you can do to change that, till they piss them off.
Home inspection marketing is not a “one size fits all”. If you talk to ten home inspectors, each will tell you whats works for them. Most of the time you get ten different answers.
This is true, as different markets have different dynamics
Goole ads may work wonders in a small city or town, but they’re stupidly expensive in a major city.
Yelp is a must have on the West Coast, useless in the mid-west.
Cold calling agents and inviting them to coffee works great in the South or areas where hospitality is part of local culture. But less so other places where being friendly to strangers is less of a thing.
For starters I recommend you fill out your profile and add a signature line to let people know what region you’re from. It could help you to get more area specific information that way.
Ian is right, what works in one part of the country may not work in another. I’m in NW Florida, Visiting offices and going to the Association meetings is where I got to know the realtors that put me on the top of their list. Like William said, most have their favorite already, you need your name in front of them when he’s not available. Google might work in SW Missouri but not worth the expence in my area.