Marketing Event: Stage a Walk-Along Home Inspection

Looking for a new way to catch the attention of your local media? Your chapter may be able to experience the success ASHI did with a walk-along home inspection conducted in April as part of a media tour to Des Moines, Iowa, arranged by ASHI’s public relations consultants, Manning Selvage & Lee (MS&L). Three ASHI Members from Iowa joined Don Norman, ASHI President, for the walk-along. Tony Smith, House and Home Inspections Services, Cedar Rapids, and Greg Guyler, AmeriSpec, Des Moines, observed while Jon White, Homestead Inspections, Des Moines, conducted the inspection for Greg Cook, the bhg.com editor from Meredith Publications.

As a result, ASHI was the lead story in an e-newsletter from Better Homes and Gardens to more than 200,000 opt-in subscribers on May 18, 2005.

“Recently, the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI) was in town, and I had the opportunity to meet the president and go on an actual home inspection with Jon White, an ASHI member in Des Moines, Iowa,” wrote Greg Cook, senior editor, BHG.com.

He explained the importance of having a home inspection, and he encouraged readers to use the link provided to try the Virtual Home Inspection on the ASHI Web site.

There’s nothing ASHI Inspectors do better than inspect homes, so a walk-along would seem to be a natural event for chapters to stage. The following planning guide was created for those who want to give it a try.

How-To Guide

Creating a Local Media Event: Walk-Along Home Inspection

An exciting way to generate media attention and increase public awareness of ASHI, your chapter, its members and the home inspection industry is to create a local event. Use the following guide to plan a demonstration home inspection in your area.

You’ll Need:

• A local ASHI Inspector (chapter member)
• Local chapter board member (as additional spokesperson)
• Home (in need of repair or currently on the housing market). The home in need of repair can belong to a member or acquaintance. If the house is on the market, the real estate agent or broker and the owner must approve its use for this purpose.
• A date and time for full access to the home (including permission to film or photograph)
• Agenda of inspection (for media)
• Key messages and Q&A
• First aid kit

Invite:

• TV show producer and/or reporter
• Local newspaper editors (consult Chapter CD)

Media Materials:

• Media alert with follow-up via telephone (A media alert is a shortened, top-lined news release that allows media a one-glance grasp of the information. It includes the who, what, where, when, why and how of the event.)

Tips
The underlying purpose of this event is to offer the local media and, in turn, their viewers, a behind-the-scenes look at an ASHI Experience home inspection and to educate them as to what it should include. Conducting a walk-along home inspection is not a simple task; therefore, here are some tips that may help the event run smoothly.

• Schedule media interviews both before and after the inspection so each producer, editor or reporter has an opportunity to speak one-on-one with an ASHI representative. (Call again to confirm these scheduled interviews a day or two in advance.)
• Send background information to the media before the event, and have spare copies on hand. This may help answer some basic questions.
• Before conducting the walk-along inspection, make sure the site is ready for company—ensure that walking areas are as unobstructed as possible and think about locations for photo opportunities.
• Relax—you are the expert. As if you were walking through the home with a homeowner, explain what you will be looking for and why. Try to avoid industry jargon and encourage your audience to ask questions.
• Lastly, create a mock home inspection report to give to your audience at the conclusion of the inspection. Clearly mark it as a sample, so there is no way it could be represented as an actual report.
• After your chapter conducts its successful media event, share your story with other chapters by sending photos and details to sandyb@ashi.org.