TOPIC: Marketing ideas

I'm just starting out and I've been blessed to have meet a HI who was moving out of the state.  He sold me a list of 50 realtors that I could contact and say that I was being referred to by him.  I have sent them all letters and called them all.  I've gotten three inspections from this and I'm sure more will come.  Most of them were sad to hear the other inspector left but glad to hear they had someone to turn to. 

Now it's on to stage two.  I've got vehicle signs and I'm working up a list of realtors to send "cold call" letters to.  I know that most people (in any business) do not respond to cold call letters.  My plan is to call the realtors after sending the letters but I don't anticipate much more response with this.

What have the rest of you found to be sucessfull?  How long did you all work at this before things starting taking off? 

if your not inspecting, then your marketing.
thats what keeps the money machine moving, put in your 8 hours a da doing one or the other

Yup, what Bill said. Check out the Marketing Ideas thread on the forum here for a lot of ideas.

How long before 'take off' really depends on where you are, the amount of competition you have, your skills and your personality. I've seen inspectors get to 30 inspections a month within 4-5 months of inspecting by hitting a niche market, others can take much longer.

Thanks.  I looked at the suggested items and there is some good stuff there.