Dominic Maricic
12-01-2010, 01:08 AM
Time for another SEO/Website Marketing Tip :D
How many of you are on Facebook? Who ISN'T? How many booked an inspection in the last month because of Facebook? You haven't! Why not?
Facebook has over 500 MILLION people. 250 million of them log in each day. There's only 300 million people in the US (and 33 million in Canada)!
Facebook is quickly becoming one of the best marketing tools you can have but many inspectors are completely ignoring it. Lets go over some of the advantages of Facebook and some of the ways to use it. If you don't want to, that's up to you, your competition thanks you. Everyone might not agree with all these techniques but you should definitely be able to pick up quite a few ideas.
It's FREEeeee (picture guy in green with the $$ all over him shouting)
When a person logs into Facebook they see recent comments by all of their 'Facebook Friends.' The goal here is to get as many clients, potential clients, friends of potential clients and Realtors to be friends with you on Facebook so they see the comments you make on your site.
Each time you post a comment and it is seen by someone, you're reminding them that you're around! You're reminding them that they know a home inspector. This means that if they need an insector, or a friend or family members does, they will remember who you are to refer you. By keeping in constant contact with past/potential clients you keep them from forgetting about you, your name, your website. That's what would normally happen a few months after they hired you. This fact alone will help drive traffic to your site and inspections to you.
Post photos of crazy things you see at inspections and make a few comments on them. Tell people what city you were inspecting in. People like seeing things that they can identify with as being very WRONG. This helps you build a connecting again that will stick out in their mind. This gives people, especially guys a chance to post on your site and further identify with you.
Post some pictures of friends & family and events. Your son hits a home run in baseball, daughter just got accepted to the Navy, dog does something funny, etc. Posting small events gives people, especially women a chance to comment on your post. Each time someone posts on your site you're furthering the connection with them. EVERYONE knows at least a few people who will buy a house over the next year. Past clients are future clients and more importantly, connections to others. You might want to leave out the binge drinking you did over the weekend.
Those of you who are currently on Facebook might have noticed a HUGE source of information that arrives every Sunday night via email... a list of all your Facebook friends who have birthday's it the upcoming week. There's quite a few things you can with this information. For most of your past clients you can send them a postcard. For the past clients that are investors and send you quite a bit of business, send them a Starbucks gift card a birthdary card. For the real estate agents send them a gift basket, chocolate or a card. The last one might be borderline in a few licensed states so make sure it's okay. At the very LEAST you can get on their Facebook page and say HAPPY BIRTHDAY! You'd be surpirsed at what this small gesture can do. How many other inspectors do you think will be doing this? If you haven't already, think about signing up with Send Out Cards. Brian has a link here: http://www.inspectionnews.net/home-inspection-inspector/referrals/
Are you donating money to a Charity during Breast Cancer month? Post this on your Facebook. What do you think the response is from the Women who see this? Giving a discount to Active Military & Vets around Veterans & Memorial Day, post it.
If you're blogging on your website (which all of you should be doing), write a teaser on Facebook linking to your sites blog.
Post videos!! Facebook allows you to post videos up to 20 minutes long. These can be great ways to grab people's attention if done right.
Now, the next big secret for those of you who are still with me. Facebook not only allows you to post a 'Like' button on your website, but more importantly allows you to post a list of "common friends" between you and the site visitor. What do you think the reaction is when John Smith, first time home buyer logs onto your site and see's that his buddies, Larry, Moe & Curly are ALREADY friends with you? They're going to realize that you've probably done inspections for them. They're probably going to contact their friends and get a review of you. This connection will guarantee you jobs. Gone are the days where you just have agents referring you, you will have friends referring you without even knowing they're doing it!
There's a lot more that you can do with Facebook, but this should get you guys started. So if you don't have an account, go to Welcome to Facebook (http://www.facebook.com) and get one. Once you do, make sure to go to Dominic Maricic | Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/HomeInspectorProSoftware) and be my Friend :eek:
How many of you are on Facebook? Who ISN'T? How many booked an inspection in the last month because of Facebook? You haven't! Why not?
Facebook has over 500 MILLION people. 250 million of them log in each day. There's only 300 million people in the US (and 33 million in Canada)!
Facebook is quickly becoming one of the best marketing tools you can have but many inspectors are completely ignoring it. Lets go over some of the advantages of Facebook and some of the ways to use it. If you don't want to, that's up to you, your competition thanks you. Everyone might not agree with all these techniques but you should definitely be able to pick up quite a few ideas.
It's FREEeeee (picture guy in green with the $$ all over him shouting)
When a person logs into Facebook they see recent comments by all of their 'Facebook Friends.' The goal here is to get as many clients, potential clients, friends of potential clients and Realtors to be friends with you on Facebook so they see the comments you make on your site.
Each time you post a comment and it is seen by someone, you're reminding them that you're around! You're reminding them that they know a home inspector. This means that if they need an insector, or a friend or family members does, they will remember who you are to refer you. By keeping in constant contact with past/potential clients you keep them from forgetting about you, your name, your website. That's what would normally happen a few months after they hired you. This fact alone will help drive traffic to your site and inspections to you.
Post photos of crazy things you see at inspections and make a few comments on them. Tell people what city you were inspecting in. People like seeing things that they can identify with as being very WRONG. This helps you build a connecting again that will stick out in their mind. This gives people, especially guys a chance to post on your site and further identify with you.
Post some pictures of friends & family and events. Your son hits a home run in baseball, daughter just got accepted to the Navy, dog does something funny, etc. Posting small events gives people, especially women a chance to comment on your post. Each time someone posts on your site you're furthering the connection with them. EVERYONE knows at least a few people who will buy a house over the next year. Past clients are future clients and more importantly, connections to others. You might want to leave out the binge drinking you did over the weekend.
Those of you who are currently on Facebook might have noticed a HUGE source of information that arrives every Sunday night via email... a list of all your Facebook friends who have birthday's it the upcoming week. There's quite a few things you can with this information. For most of your past clients you can send them a postcard. For the past clients that are investors and send you quite a bit of business, send them a Starbucks gift card a birthdary card. For the real estate agents send them a gift basket, chocolate or a card. The last one might be borderline in a few licensed states so make sure it's okay. At the very LEAST you can get on their Facebook page and say HAPPY BIRTHDAY! You'd be surpirsed at what this small gesture can do. How many other inspectors do you think will be doing this? If you haven't already, think about signing up with Send Out Cards. Brian has a link here: http://www.inspectionnews.net/home-inspection-inspector/referrals/
Are you donating money to a Charity during Breast Cancer month? Post this on your Facebook. What do you think the response is from the Women who see this? Giving a discount to Active Military & Vets around Veterans & Memorial Day, post it.
If you're blogging on your website (which all of you should be doing), write a teaser on Facebook linking to your sites blog.
Post videos!! Facebook allows you to post videos up to 20 minutes long. These can be great ways to grab people's attention if done right.
Now, the next big secret for those of you who are still with me. Facebook not only allows you to post a 'Like' button on your website, but more importantly allows you to post a list of "common friends" between you and the site visitor. What do you think the reaction is when John Smith, first time home buyer logs onto your site and see's that his buddies, Larry, Moe & Curly are ALREADY friends with you? They're going to realize that you've probably done inspections for them. They're probably going to contact their friends and get a review of you. This connection will guarantee you jobs. Gone are the days where you just have agents referring you, you will have friends referring you without even knowing they're doing it!
There's a lot more that you can do with Facebook, but this should get you guys started. So if you don't have an account, go to Welcome to Facebook (http://www.facebook.com) and get one. Once you do, make sure to go to Dominic Maricic | Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/HomeInspectorProSoftware) and be my Friend :eek: