Tag: business growth

Print Marketing 101: 6 Types of Marketing Collateral and When to Use Them

March 5, 2024

By Melisa Rana, NPI, Inc.’s Graphic Designer Across industries, experienced marketers know how important it is to practice omni-channel marketing to find success and grow consistently. This means finding your audience wherever they are and delivering your message to them in many different ways. Businesses that rely only on digital marketing will begin to feel impersonal and distant, while marketers who focus solely on in-person interactions spread themselves too thin and miss out on opportunities to stay top of mind. The most effective marketing plans employ multiple campaigns and various diverse strategies to foster business, ongoing referrals, and loyalty with their key customers. Because of this, no business should expect to reach their long-term goals consistently without a selection of well-designed, attention-grabbing marketing collateral. From posters to brochures, flyers, and door hangers, it can sometimes feel like there is an endless list of potential physical marketing materials to invest in. But to achieve the best possible return on investment, it’s important to understand how each material differs and in which situations they excel. With all that said, let’s discuss some of the most popular and effective print marketing materials, and when to use them! Brochures Pack a Big Punch in

From Startups to Industry Veterans: Why You Should Write A Business Plan

February 27, 2024

By Sammi Marcellus, NPI, Inc.’s Recruitment Coordinator When launching a new business, entrepreneurs embark on a demanding journey, defining goals, charting growth plans, and strategizing execution. A business plan condenses these key elements into a streamlined document for investors to assess. While securing funding often necessitates a business plan, even established businesses benefit from revisiting and updating theirs. Let’s delve into what a business plan is, how to write one, and how each section empowers seasoned entrepreneurs to achieve their ambitions. Understanding the Business PlanThe format of a business plan varies depending on its purpose. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), a valuable resource for new business owners seeking funding, outlines two main types: Lean Startup Plan: This concise, one- or two-page document provides a bird’s eye view of a business’s purpose and goals. It might not suffice for securing funding, but serves as a vital tool for entrepreneurs to revisit their goals and adapt their strategies as needed. Traditional Business Plan: This comprehensive document dives deep into each facet of the proposed business. While requiring more effort, the detailed information and commitment to crafting it instill confidence in investors and provides clear direction for the entrepreneur. Notably, the information

Why Now Is A Great Time To Franchise With NPI

January 30, 2024

Opening up a small business requires boldness and a willingness to think big, but the most successful entrepreneurs tend to have their pulse on the current trends and projections of their selected industry. In an industry like residential and commercial property inspections, it makes sense to track the health and activity of the local real estate market before making major investments. While recent housing struggles might tempt some to delay franchising in property inspections, encouraging real estate projections and the challenges of solo operation paint a different picture. Here’s why now might be a strategic entry point: Housing Market Projections for 2024According to the most recent housing market projections from Forbes, 2024 projects a rebound from 2023’s real estate woes. Declining mortgage rates predict a much-needed rise in inventory. While improved affordability may arrive later in the year, these trends signal a recovering market. While healthy real estate markets benefit property inspections, solo businesses often follow a boom-bust cycle. They launch during hot markets and struggle when things cool. Conversely, inspectors who weather tough times gain valuable experience and client relationships. When the market rebounds, they are perfectly positioned to dominate. Considering this cyclical nature and the time required to

Marketing Insights: How to Use a Powerful Testimonial

January 23, 2024

By Zach Vesper, NPI, Inc.’s Senior SEO & Marketing Strategist Beyond developing a great product or service, the biggest challenge small businesses face is gaining their audience’s buy-in to their message. Eye-catching graphics and memorable slogans can help your business stand out to potential clients, but people are naturally skeptical. You claim your service is the perfect solution, but how can they be sure? They might wonder if you’re exaggerating or, as a business owner, simply trying to present yourself in the best light. The key to overcoming this hurdle is building trust. While there are various ways to achieve this, testimonials offer a powerful tool. However, not all testimonials are equally effective. By leveraging strong testimonials and applying the right strategies, business owners and marketers can effectively build that essential trust. What is a Testimonial?For those unfamiliar with the term, testimonials are statements about a person, business, product, or service made by someone independent of the subject. In the small business world, these are most easily recognized as reviews. Reviews are crucial for growing businesses, not only for their impact on SEO and online visibility, but also for their persuasive power. As mentioned earlier, any information your business marketing

Using Your Unique Background to Make Your Business Stand Out

January 16, 2024

By Michael Trimble, NPI, Inc.’s Content Marketing Coordinator Small business owners and entrepreneurs are trailblazers, carving their own unique paths in life with unexpected twists and turns. When marketing their small businesses, however, entrepreneurs often shy away from highlighting the more eccentric details of their backgrounds. This, however, could mean missing out on opportunities to make a splash in their market. Making yourself recognizable and memorable takes effort and planning, essential for any business owner seeking to make an impact. With this goal in mind, owners can actually leverage their unique backgrounds in their marketing to stand out from the crowd. If you’re considering this tactic, here are a few things to consider to strike the best balance: Some Backgrounds Are AssetsEntrepreneurs often transition into becoming business owners after careers in other fields. While utilizing these previous professions to stand out in a new industry can be beneficial, understand that a recognizable profession isn’t always well-liked. Each year, Gallup polls the US on their perception of the most honest and ethical professions, helping to create a picture of the careers with the best public image. According to Gallup, nurses, doctors, and high school teachers are some of the most well-regarded

How to Be More Productive

January 9, 2024

By Michael Trimble, NPI, Inc.’s Content Marketing Coordinator If you’re anything like me, at the beginning of every year you tend to make a lot of resolutions for the new year. Eat better, get more sleep, read more books, and hit the gym – the goals I set for myself at the beginning of the year are usually pretty ambitious and widespread. Unfortunately, I have to admit that my track record of seeing those resolutions through to the end of the year tends to not be so great. Too often, other responsibilities pile up, new tasks or interests take priority, and I find myself feeling not all that productive around December 31st. In the workplace, most people would jump at the opportunity to accomplish a bit more each day, and depending on your industry, finding ways to push more projects across the finish line can be the key to taking your business to the next level. To discover some of the best strategies and tips to improve productivity this year, I decided to poll the NPI Corporate Office for their best advice! Make a List, and Check It TwiceRecommended by Celeste Black-Harr, Recruitment CoordinatorWhen speaking with Celeste, one of our

The Benefits of Going to the Annual InVision Conference

January 2, 2024

By Stepha Vesper, NPI, Inc.’s Senior Marketing Communications Strategist Every year, the National Property Inspections home office hosts its annual conference, inviting professional property inspectors from all across North America to gather in Omaha, Nebraska with the intent to network, learn about the latest happenings within the industry, and celebrate the past year’s achievements. While it’s a great time to reconnect and catch up with one another, the InVision Conference is also planned with adding direct value to your business in mind. If you haven’t been to the InVision Conference or if you’re interested in learning more about what to expect, here are a few takeaways you can look forward to! Discover Opportunities to Expand Your BusinessWhether you’re curious about adding a new service to your business or you’d like to partner with a nationally recognized vendor, the InVision Conference offers opportunities to meet with representatives about potential partnerships. In 2023, the InVision conference featured booths and speakers from Thumbtack, ISN (Inspection Support Network), Guardian, MFD Home Certifications, AirAdvice, Inspector Cameras, Fixle, Sporecyte, Scarpello Consulting, and Secure24. Our team does their best to provide a slate of high quality vendors like these every year at the annual conference. If you’re

Employee Milestones Worth Celebrating

December 26, 2023

By Stepha Vesper, NPI, Inc.’s Senior Marketing Communications Strategist As the year draws to a close, we naturally reflect on achievements, challenges, and triumphs. Recognizing personal and professional accomplishments is crucial for growth, and if goals weren’t met, the year’s end offers a prime opportunity for future planning. Business owners, responsible for managing and inspiring employees, should celebrate both company and individual milestones to foster a driven and collaborative work environment. While acknowledging accomplishments is vital for employee retention, creative ways to celebrate don’t always come easily. Here are some often-missed opportunities to show your team appreciation: Types of Milestones Worth CelebratingNot all milestones require earth-shattering career shifts. Several everyday moments offer managers a chance to recognize hard work, creativity, and innovation: Individual Milestones: Team-wide Milestones:Celebrate team-wide achievements to build morale and camaraderie. Depending on your industry and structure, individual roles might blur, but acknowledging shared wins is vital. Company Achievements:Don’t overlook celebrating company-wide milestones. Reaching significant business anniversaries, exceeding targets, developing new products/services, or receiving media recognition are all opportunities to showcase collective effort and its tangible impact. Celebrate reaching revenue goals, launching new offerings, or media features to further motivate and engage your team. Doing so reinforces that

National Property Inspections Franchisee Spotlight: Chris Harr

December 19, 2023

In our Franchisee Spotlight series, we like to take some time to recognize the efforts of some of our most outstanding franchises. Every year, we partner with new inspectors and seasoned professionals seeking extra support to take their businesses to the next level. While our marketing, technical support, and national accounts all work together for ongoing assistance, we think that one of the most impactful resources our partners gain when joining the NPI family is access to some of the best business owners in the inspection industry. Today’s feature is Chris Harr and his team from NPI Columbus SE: our 2023 Franchise of the Year. Veterans of the industry, the Harr Team has served Central Ohio since 2002, and in that time, they have established themselves as consummate professionals. They are prime examples of NPI’s core values–Honesty, Integrity, and Professionalism. The Harrs are true mentors, and we’re always excited to see what new strategies their team discovers. With that said, let’s discuss who the Harrs are and what makes them stand out. Chris Harr pictured with his sons Jake and Will at the 2023 InVision Conference Awards. NPI Columbus SE & the Harr FamilyFounded in 2002, NPI Columbus SE has

Hold The Phone: How Do You Turn Price-Shoppers Into Paying Clients?

November 28, 2023

By Kimberly Stevens, NPI, Inc.’s Marketing & Business Coach As a small business owner, getting your phone line to start ringing can sometimes be a difficult task, but once those prospective clients’ calls begin to roll in, that doesn’t always mean you’ll be booking inspections right and left. Often, a lack of conversions can be due to the fact that while some people might make an inquiry, many would-be clients are likely to get a second, third, or even fourth opinion on their search for the best price (or in other words, the lowest price). Marketing experts over at First Insight break it down by explaining that all businesses are battling the top two deciding factors for consumers: price and quality. The best business owners endeavor to offer a product that is uniquely valuable to their clients, something that goes above and beyond their competition, hoping to become the obvious preferred option. If an entrepreneur has confidence in their product but they aren’t closing the deal, then the problem lies in their ability to explain their product or service’s strengths, leaving potential clients to default to price as the deciding factor. This situation can be incredibly frustrating for owners who

Daily Videos: Reaching Tomorrow’s Homebuyers with Social Media

September 24, 2024

How can inspectors can utilize short-form video content creation on social media to boost their presence? We’ll discuss realistic ways that won’t overwhelm their busy schedules.

Responsiveness: The Traits of a Successful Property Inspector

September 10, 2024

Being responsive is a valuable quality in any professional industry, but we’ve found that property inspectors who prioritize this trait separate themselves from their competition and set themselves up to leave a lasting first impression.

Viewing a Hire as an Asset, Not an Expense

August 27, 2024

It costs time and money to find the right candidate. How do you make the shift from looking at the cost of a new hire to seeing the opportunity for growth that they bring?

Inspection Insights: How to Stand Out with Sample Reports

August 13, 2024

By Jon McCreath, NPI, Inc.’s Technical & Training Director In any industry, success often comes from separating yourself from the pack. Some businesses have exceptional communication skills, prioritizing customer service above all else. Other business owners invest in a diverse array of add-ons, making them a convenient one-stop shop for their clients. Then, of course, veteran business owners might trust that the quality of their products and services will naturally trump all in the end. Dedicating your attention to becoming the best among your competition is an excellent goal, but proving yourself to clients takes work, too! We’ve talked about how to get more reviews by prioritizing Google business listings for better online searchability, but there is another powerful tool that too few home and property inspectors utilize: sample reports. Home inspectors who host a sample of their inspection report on their website can display the quality of their product for any prospective clients and answer many of their burning questions before they even pick up their phone. If you’d like to start using sample reports on your website but you’re not entirely sold on the concept yet, let’s review a few of the benefits and discuss some of the

Expanding Your Audience by Becoming a Bilingual Business

July 30, 2024

New business owners often feel that they are racing to find a client base and develop trust with their local community. Finding leads, converting them into sales, and creating advocates to spread the word of all the good work that they do – the fight to gain credibility in a market takes plenty of guts and hard work. But after that growth slows, it can be difficult to find a new client base to tap into. Language barriers in diverse populations can limit a business’s market reach, posing a significant challenge. There’s certainly an opportunity to expand by becoming a bilingual business, but making this change involves more than simply translating a flyer into Spanish and calling it a day. Owners who learn a second language or hire employees with language skills may be able to grow their business, but that’s only the start of the story. If you’re wondering what it would look like to start marketing in a second language as a small business, here are a few of the considerations to take into account first. Learning a Second LanguageOne strategy that business owners may consider if they’d like to start marketing in multiple languages is to learn

Franchise Planning: The Importance of an Exit Strategy

July 16, 2024

Without proper planning and vetting, businesses can get mismatched to new owners with the wrong industry knowledge, the wrong skills set, and the wrong expectations.

Keeping Up to Date as an Entrepreneur

July 2, 2024

By Jon McCreath, NPI, Inc.’s Technical Supervisor & Training Administrator When running a business, owners work extremely hard to find their unique strategy for consistent success. Winning over a share of the market takes time and plenty of energy, but one common pitfall that entrepreneurs frequently encounter is losing that initial fire to learn and experiment. Too often, professionals find a comfortable place in their industry and then fall further and further behind while competition follows trends and implements what works into their businesses. So, what’s the solution? How do small business owners stay up to date in their industry? In the home inspection industry, some may point towards licensing requirements in each state as a solution, but this doesn’t resolve the problem for a couple of reasons: Ultimately, keeping up to date with your industry has to start with an internal desire to improve your services and elevate your business. Required courses will not cut it! So, for any property inspectors out there who want to keep their business practices and their personal knowledge on the cutting edge, let’s discuss a few of the top strategies. 5 Ways to Stay Up to Date in the Home Inspection Industry 1.

Ranking Up: Debunking the Service Area Myth on Google

June 18, 2024

By Zach Vesper, NPI, Inc.’s Senior SEO and Marketing Strategist As a multi-national property inspection franchisor, our marketing team gets a lot of questions about how to increase ranking on Google. Of course every small business’ marketing efforts should be multi-faceted, with a mixture of in-person relationship-building efforts and digital campaigns. With that said, there is no question that Google is king for digital marketing, and that all starts with optimizing your Google Business Profile. There are many features on a Google Business page that can be utilized to improve visibility and ranking, but we commonly see people turn to their service areas for answers. Many business owners seem to think that slight changes to the service area field could create the presence bump they need in certain areas. But we’re here to say that this probably won’t be the solution to any Google ranking frustrations. To better understand why this is the case, let’s discuss what service areas actually are, how they should be properly set up, and which strategies are the real secret for ranking up on Google. Defining Service Area BusinessesGoogle Business Profiles can be created for free and are broadly set up in one of two

Game Plan for Growth: Stop Selling & Start Making Connections

June 4, 2024

By Kimberly Stevens, NPI, Inc.’s Marketing & Business Coach People become entrepreneurs for many different reasons, whether it’s the freedom to control their schedule, the direct impact they have on their business growth, or the prospect for financial independence. For many, “being your own boss” can be a career goal all by itself. However, despite the benefits, there are aspects of business ownership that can be intimidating as well. One challenging aspect that comes up again and again? Sales. Despite your skillset or previous experience, the need to sell yourself, your products, and your services can stop you in your tracks. Maybe you don’t think you’re charismatic enough, or the thought of selling things feels deceptive, selfish, or “slimy.”. The truth is, though, that “sales” has a worse reputation than it deserves (maybe thanks to one or two too many pushy telemarketers or sales clerks). Whether you’re extroverted or introverted, everyone has a unique way to relate to people so that they can become effective “salespeople” and set their business goals in the right trajectory, in a way that’s actually enjoyable. So, to all future entrepreneurs out there: stop selling. Instead, let’s discuss how important it is to invest in

Is Social Media the Right Platform for Political Commentary by Your Small Business?

May 21, 2024

By Michael Trimble, NPI, Inc.’s Content Marketing Coordinator You probably haven’t noticed, but 2024 is an election year! Okay, so maybe you have noticed. In the midst of heavy polarization, heated disagreements, and the general anxiety that comes with national elections, it’s understandable if you want to distance yourself from the political dialogue sometimes. Navigating political discussions in your personal life can be tough, but small business veterans understand how much trickier it can be in the professional sector. Despite this, many feel compelled to jump on social media and add their two cents, either on their personal profiles or through their business pages. The temptation is clear. As a small business owner, you’ve worked hard to build your social media following. Now that you have a platform with people interested in what you have to say, it can seem natural to use it for everything. Some business owners may feel it’s their social responsibility to speak about a particular topic, while others argue they’re exercising their rights. Some may even argue that staying silent is a statement in itself. Before you hit send on your next political post using your small business as a platform, here are a few