Your eNewsletter is a fantastic way of staying engaged with your clients and agents. And in addition to the direct value that this creates for your business, it can also create value for others who appreciate that you stay connected with a large group of people in your local community.
This additional value of your eNewsletter can be monetized by allowing advertisers to participate in your eNewsletters. Done well, this can not only off-set the costs of your eNewsletter, but can also be a profit center for you. Plus, it can help build stronger relationships with businesses that you have been sending leads to over the years.
WHAT MAKES YOUR SUBSCRIBER LIST ESPECIALLY VALUABLE
As a home inspector, there are aspects of your eNewsletter subscriber list that make it especially valuable to local advertisers:
1) You know when people are moving into the area. Knowing when people are moving into homes from outside of your local area is especially valuable to certain businesses. And assuming you are adding each new inspection as a subscriber to your eNewsletter, then each month a portion of your list is going to be for people moving new into your service area.
2) A large percentage of your subscribers are real estate agents. Having a large percentage of your subscribers being agents is another unique source of value of your eNewsletter distribution list. Agents are not only valuable to advertisers as homeowners who are potential consumers of their services, but they are also potential influencers for referrals of the advertisers' services.
So who are potential advertisers?
LOCAL CONTRACTORS AS ADVERTISERS
The best opportunities for ad sales are with local contractors with whom you have had good, long-standing relationships. These contractors can include roofing, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, landscaping, foundation, and the list goes on.
These are likely to be contractors that you have routinely referred clients to, and you may or may not have been getting referrals back in return. So, here you are giving them both a chance to participate in a great advertising opportunity, plus an opportunity to also return some of the goodwill that you have provided them over the years.
OTHER LOCAL BUSINESSES AS ADVERTISERS
In addition to the traditional home services contractors, because of your unique position of knowing when homeowners are moving new into your service area, there are also other local businesses who are likely to be very interested in participating as advertisers. For example, beauty salons, dry cleaners, car mechanics, and other local businesses who know that it is easier to catch new customers when they are just moving into an area, rather than trying to get existing customers to switch.
