ASHI Gains Name Recognition, Builds Positive Image

Quick turnaround for Brown

On April 1, ASHI distributed a template National Home Inspection Month press release to members via the First Thing e-news.

Almost immediately, ASHI member Brodie Brown, Atlanta Georgia, completed the template, posted it on his blog and was being picked up by Google alert. 

Browntree Home Inspections: Protect your greatest investment

By Brodie Brown

With April showers in full swing, the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI) reminds  homeowners that April is National Home Inspection Month and encourages them to identify potential maintenance issues now before they become major …

Browntree Home Inspections – http://gahomeinspector.blogspot.com/

That’s how to make good use of ASHI resources.

Interview and press release highlights

Editors and reporters know whom to call when they need information about house-related issues. Immediate past-president Brion Grant was tapped by Money Magazine for an article that appeared in the March 1 issue.

President Bill Richardson was quoted in the This Old House article,  “9 Tips for Buying a Foreclosure.”

Dan Howard, ASHI Public Relations Committee chair, was featured in the January 31st weekend edition of House to Home, a guide to real estate, homes and gardens. The center-spread article, “Senior Home Safety,” focused on the need for seniors to have safety and maintenance home inspections, which Howard does in the Alleghany County, Penn., area.

Bruce Barker’s column, “Make the Best Home Inspector in Your Area Part of Your Quality-Control Team,” was published in Team Builder News (Western Region). Barker of Phoenix, Ariz., is the ASHI Standards Committee chair.

Feature article catches editors’ eye

The clipping report for February shows a nice increase in Internet presence. Recent samplings indicate ASHI will have an even greater online presence in March, in part due to the release of the feature story, “Home Inspection Helps Ensure Dream Deals Don’t Turn into Nightmares.”
In addition to press releases, Gibbs & Soel, ASHI’s public relation consultants, developed the story to be distributed through a paid-placement service that provides editors with articles on current topics of interest to their readers.

Although the service targets smaller markets, the story is being picked up in area markets, too. Within a few weeks, it was published in a Sunday edition of the Dallas Morning News, circulation 563,000, and the Tampa Tribune, circulation, 309,000.

It also was being read on 233 sites with an ad value of $9,617. Here’s a sample of the sites:

• burbankleader.com/ara/home_improvement
• columbuslocalnews.com/ara/home_improvement
• thebostonchannel.com/houseandhome
• carolinacoastonline.com/ara/home_improvement
• sonomawest.com/ara/home_improvement
• homeandgardenupdate.com/story

Watch for the story in your local publications and online.

The numbers for February

During February, 41 total articles were published for a total audience of 50,315,427.

Highlights included Money Magazine, “It’s a Basement, Not a Swimming Pool, audience 1,933,584; CNN Interactive, “9 Tips for buying a foreclosed home,” audience 23,972,320; and MSN Real Estate, “Thinking of springing for a foreclosed home? Check for these 5 problems first,” audience, 1,874,536.