Will,
Next time I’m visitng my mom down in Laguna maybe I should stop by and show you Home Inspector Pro. You could load 40-50 photos in it without breaking a sweat and the pdf would only be about 2-3 megs. If you’re interested, let me know.
Dominic
So, I finally found where you’ve been hiding this afternoon, Dominic!
My thoughts are to have user-filled pages to begin with, or as one package.
Another option - for which you may perhaps charge more- is to have it where you fill it in for them, based on an online questionnaire form you have them fill out. It would seem to me that, with your wizardry, you could push a bitton and everything they filled out from their phone # to the cities / counties they work to the types of inspections they offer, would be instantly loaded into the site.
Hhhmmm, not a bad idea. That actually could be the basic format you provide, and it would still be individualized. The HI could take it a step further by fleshing it out even more.
That’s a possibility and would at least provide a little customizability up front. First things first though, gotta finish getting a bunch of cool templates and useful features all added.
Dry, I don’t drink…
But I do email my clients the report with the pictures in the report, but not the summary.
Realtors, which I seem to dislike many, I upload the report with the pictures in the report, the largest size available (about half a page LxW) usually about 30 pictures to the client for just the items needing repair, the realtor gets every picture I take…usually about 75 FULL SIZE in the report, and in the summary report also.
I even take a few pictures just up and down the street, neighbor kids, etc (if I am asked to send a copy to the realtor) and add them to the realtors report-FULL SIZE…so the client if they choose to print generally has a 30 page report, the realtor usually has a 60 page report with the color jet cartridge half empty…:lol: :-&
What, no pictures of the neighborhood dog? They could be a mennance the real estate agent should know about!
There, I believe, you have the heart of the matter!
I also have a Grassfrog site, and I know there is some info provided by Roberta (and a lot more by you) on this subject.
Just as a lot of HIs are not strong in some (marketing, communication, public speaking, etc) areas, there are others of us who want this ancillary stuff done for us. I personally prefer to spend my time with learning more, networking people & products (HIP, HHN) and marketing than learning the obscurities of the internet world.
I may switch focus at some point, but I don’t feel that I have the luxury of time to learn all that needs to be learned.
Your SEO tutorials are quite in-depth, yet simple to understand, from what I’ve seen, and far more than anyone else has helped us with in the 5 years I’ve been on this MB. Perhaps, as I get my faster internet connection, I may involve myself with them.
Slow internet connections (being the last dial-up in the phone line in the county, and PC cards in fringe coverage areas) to the point of 5.53 kbps make it very discouraging for myself and, I’ll bet, many others to tackle projects that transform a 5 minute operation into an hour - with the very strong possibility of being timed out, and even losing the entire webpage that’s being worked on at the time. I’ve had that happen!
Recognizing that many HIs want and need SEO to be either simple, or done, for them will be key to the appeal and success you will enjoy as this project moves forward.
As you have demonstrated in HIP, you give a lot of thought and planning into any project you undertake. Additionally, you listen to your clients and act upon their requests & suggestions.
I, for one, am looking forward to being on board with this!!
What is “Home Inspector Pro”?
Will, it’s the only HI software that fits my needs in 5 years.
Click at the bottom of my signature line!
I guess no one can say that I’m here just to push my software, 747 posts and Will doesn’t know that I am an inspection software programmer as well as an educator. My philosophy has been to just be the as helpful of a person as I can and if people feel like it, they will check out the program or they won’t.
I’m going back to Colorado in 2 weeks to do 3 more NACHI.TV shows. One of them will be on SEO and how to get your website better rankings, no matter where it’s hosted.
Thanks Russ…
As you can no doubt discern from my posts, I’m way old school. I’m working on my 23rd year as Progressive Inspection Service with over 14,500 inspections under my some what large size belt. I still believe the inspector should focus on inspecting the property and not be so concerned with producing an onsight report. I believe the reason for my success over the years has been my attentiveness with the client and total focus on inspecting the property during my time on site. I don’t bring a lap top or pda on site, just a simple note book, flash light and a few other field tools. I’ve been deposed regarding my inspection reports hundreds of times over the years. It just seems to work for me. It wasn’t until two years ago that I even had a website. NACHI was my first HI membership and that began two years ago as well. Point is, I’m an old dog and there’s only so many tricks I’m still willing to learn.
Reporting software is not one of them…
Thermal Imaging inspection services might be…
Hey Dominic;
Sorry about that. I’ve seen the name of your company on your posts and just thought you were a home inspector in Cucamonga. You do seem to know a lot about websites and the like, but so does Mr. Richardson and I think he’s a home inspector, (Although his most recent posts indicate he maybe beginning his vendor career).
Thanks again for all your assistance on the subject of SEO, it is very informative and easy to understand.
Happy New Year to all…
No problem at all Will. One of these days we’ll need to get together 
Will, you are refreshing-
even if it’s because you make me feel like less of a dinosaur than I am!
Thanks for being one of the pioneers of our industry.
Will , I use HIP and do not use it on site. I just do it at home, so keep that in mind.
Dominic, some blank pages are the way to go in my opinion so people can add what they want. We all would not want mirror sites and either would the search engines.
Like to see:
- Full report upload service
- Online scheduling with the ability to sync with software
- QB intergration
- Online payment synced with merchant account
- Ability to capture clients signature in software (tablet users)
I don’t ask for much…
Kevin
Dominic I am Interested in this service my website www.alertinspections.org is my primary site at this time but have secured www.alertinspectionsga.com that I hope to make my primary site in the near future. Please e-mail any recommendations along with fees involved Thanks jmarcusmc@yahoo.com
Mark, You will have the ability to add unlimited pages of your own.
Kevin, you’re talking more about the software than the webhosting, but just an FYI:
1 is done withing Home Inspector Pro, I’m working on it as a separate service for other software users.
4,5, are being worked on right now.
2,3 are on the board but as of right now I haven’t figured out how to make the days longer than 24 hours so it’s going to be awhile down the line. Scheduling within the websites but not sync’d with our software I am working on right now though.
Jeff, I’ll let you guys know more once we’ve decided for sure but more than likely the NACHI discount will be to waive all setup fees and charge $19.99 am month for the website without report uploads and $35.00 a month with report uploads if you’re acutally using our report upload service. Storage costs are actually quite high as each server will run us about $350+ a month and we will be getting quite a few more than we currently have for this project.
Dominic
Hey Russ;
I’ve been called a lot of things over the years, refreshing is a first. Speaking of refreshing, I’m in June Lake, California inspecting a small hotel/cabin resort. It’s been snowing ever since I got here three days ago. So I’ve been skiing a little more than inspecting. Man, now I know what you guys in the cold climate areas go through, what a pain in the rear end…
Will,
You’re extremely lucky! It’s just been raining down here. I lived in Arrowhead for 10 years so I guess I got my skiing in, but I wouldn’t mind being up there right now!
Dominic
Will, I don’t ski for the same reason I don’t jump out of perfectly good airplanes (even tho I’m a USAF and USA vet) . . .
Gravity works!!!:roll: