January's issue albeit a bit late, has three articles on thinking creatively or seriously depending how you look at it.

All three articles contain a smidgen of what I've been up to lately. I have plans of being in Las Vegas for the NAHI conference, how bout you?

NEWSLETTER FEATURED ARTICLES Book Review: - The Exceptional Presenter We've all heard it before - Presentations are the best way to gain new Realtors or other equally Realtor concentric affiliations. But what if your not any good at it? Well, there's two things you can do.... . . . Keep Reading Idea Hurdle- Crowd Dynamics The other day I was explaining to a group of home inspectors the very real possibility that all homes in the future will need to have passed a methamphetamine residue test. . . . Keep Reading Biggest Mistake - Home Inspection Marketing Cruising the message boards the other day and came across an entry that stimulated quite a few posts. Not that I take issue with the responses, but... . . . Keep Reading Pre-Market Inspections - Brokers Wanted Most of us, if were active marketers anyway, get hundreds of emails a year touting some sort of free tele-seminar that will make us rich, smarter or better looking. Not to throw the baby out with the bath water I'm going to give you the crux of the latest call (Pre-Market Inspections), in a nutshell. . . . Keep Reading Business Card Fodder Take a good long hard look at your business card. Your business card is your identity, your unique and distinctive mark on the home inspection profession of your area, how does it stack up. I mean against the competition or for that matter your own sense of creative excellence. . . . Keep Reading Hard Work The hardest part of any business is the "Critical Thinking" aspects. Inspecting a house and the relationship building that might be accomplished during the inspection is not what I would call hard work. There's no creative struggles, or internal conflicts that keep you from progressing to your finish point. The problem with hard work is... . . . Keep Reading Where Did It Go? Home Inspection Seminars and back of the room sales, we've all been there. The speaker paints the scene of success using their product and then motivates us to buy. Oh yeah, for a greatly reduced price for a limited time, like the next 30 minutes. The odds are definitely stacked against your benefiting from the purchase. Why, because - something's missing. . . . Keep Reading The Decision Matrix - Speed & Excellence In almost all of the decisions that you have to make during the growth of your home inspection company, the two main elements or standards by which those decisions are made are speed and excellence. These two elements are pitted against one another in what is called a decision matrix. . . . Keep Reading Phase Inspections - Getting Started A member called the other day to ask about how to get started doing phase inspections. Since I'm trying out my new phone recording equipment I recorded the call. If you have any interest in adding this type of service to your home inspection company - this may be for you. . . . Keep Reading Productive Time Warning, this article is not geared for the sedate, just glad to be a home inspector with a job. In writing this article I started to give an example of the average home inspectors hourly rate- but nixed this route right off, as this article isn't for the average home inspector. . . . Keep Reading Creative Whack Pack I've always had a thing for Tarot cards, so when I stumbled upon the Creative Whack Pack I just had to have them. These aren't so much Tarot cards in the way you normally think of Tarot cards. These cards can give you a needed creative whack!... on the side of your head when you're feeling a bit stuck. . . . Keep Reading For Want Of A Nail What's the next best thing to a notepad at the side of your bed to write down some half baked dream of a home inspection marketing plan gone bad? A chalk board in the shower of course. Honestly, I get some of my best flashes of insight about the time my finger tips start turning white. Unfortunately, it's much like the dream state in that. . . . Keep Reading