You’ve completed your training and gotten your certification. You’re ready to begin building a profitable home inspection business. You’ve told your family and friends about your new venture… now what?

It’s time to begin marketing yourself, developing new contacts and reaching potential clients.

Here are the 6 best marketing strategies for new home inspectors.

1. Get a website.

Five or ten years ago, you might have been able to do without one. Today, don’t bet on building a successful business without a website.

Google is the all-knowing resource people turn to when they’re looking for something, and that includes a home inspector.

Your website doesn’t have to be decked out with all the bells and whistles; it just has to be a place on the web that shows you’re a legitimate business and tells people how to get in touch with you.

2. Connect with realtors.

Realtors will likely be your biggest source of referrals, at least when you’re first starting out.

You can meet realtors the old fashioned way, pounding the pavement and knocking on doors to introduce yourself. You can also research real estate events in your community and make it a point to attend and network.

3. Create basic printed materials.

You’ve met a great new contact. Now what are you going to give them?

A brochure and a business card are a great place to start.

You can print professional looking business cards for a few cents apiece using a service like UPrinting, and design a great-looking brochure and logo by joining an industry association like InterNACHI.

4. Join industry organizations.

Groups like the aforementioned InterNACHI are a useful resource to connect with other home inspectors, share tips, ask questions and learn about new opportunities. They’re also a great line-item to add to your website or resume.

5. Go where your customers are.

You can work on your SEO all day long, but when you’re first starting out, face-to-face interactions are going to be your most valuable source of referrals.

Consider joining a community organization for business owners, like the Chamber of Commerce or a Young Professionals group. The more people you can form meaningful relationships with, the better.

You never know when someone’s great uncle’s brother will be looking for a home inspector and ask for a referral.

6. Get social.

In your first few months on the job, we’re not going to tell you to devote a great deal of time or money to social media. But… you can and should use social platforms to establish a presence and engage with other relevant users where you live.

We recommend setting up LinkedIn and Twitter to get started.

No Facebook, you ask? For businesses, Facebook takes one of two things to build a worthwhile following: time or money. We’re going to assume that if you’re just starting out, you don’t have a lot of either to spare.

By all means, share the news of your new business on your personal Facebook page, and ask your friends to help spread the word. However for new home inspectors, we don’t see business pages as a great place to focus your marketing efforts.