© 2007 Hann Tech Marketing Links and Carlos Tabora

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Brian and Carlos' PRWeb interview. You can also read the transcript of the interview below.


Female Announcer: PRWebPodcast.com. Visiting with newsmakers and industry experts.

Mario: This is Mario from PRWeb today it's a real pleasure to have a couple of gentleman with us today in the home inspection industry. They are Brian Hannigan; he is founder of Hann Tech Marketing Links. Brian, it's a pleasure having you here.

Brian Hannigan: Hey Mario, pleasure to be with you.

Mario: And also Carlos Tabora. Carlos, it's a pleasure to have you here.

Carlos Tabora: Good to be here too.

Mario: Give us guys some background, some information about your companies and what space you're in. Brian, talk to us about Hann Tech Marketing. I know you have lots of different services underneath that, tell us about some of them please.

Brian: OK, correct. Hann Tech Marketing Links I founded back in 1997 after coming out of the home inspection industry. I was a home inspector and I started developing websites. I saw the Internet coming along and I had a large interest in that. So my first contract was with the California Real Estate Inspection Association to develop and market their website, and the websites of many of their members.

After doing that for awhile the urge to go out and create something new came along and I just found a need to provide more information. And so I developed InspectionNews.com. And what InspectionNews.com is, it's an information site for inspectors. I spend a lot of time gathering links that would be important to them and then developing a message board system. And today we have over 5, 000 inspectors that use the message board. It is the largest and most used independent message board for inspectors on the Internet.

I also have a program called the Cost of Business, seeing a need for inspectors to help them price their services. It's a large problem in the inspection industry where people get into the business, and they look at the other inspectors around them, and they just come up with the price. More or less off the top of their head without actually going through the business side of things, and calculating out what their fees need to be.

So I created a program through the Cost of Business where they can use this. It gives them the information, it teaches them how to formulate their inspection fees and gives them a program that actually runs the calculation. And I've been speaking on this across the country for about three years now.

A third service that I have is called Home Inspector Locator. And that is for consumers to find inspectors online. The inspectors that we have on that site all have at least two years of experience, and have to belong to an association or state that requires continuing education.

So when Carlos came to me and mentioned an idea about inspection radio, I was extremely excited. It just fit right into what I was doing. So, we got the ball rolling from there.

Mario: Carlos, tell us about your experience in publishing and experiential marketing.

Carlos: Actually I am very happy about the different industries that I've worked in. And the time that we're in the work force right now with the immergence of the Internet and the different forms of communication that are now available.

I've been doing marketing for the last 15 years and, as the press release says, in various industries including publishing, nonprofit associations, as well as experiential marketing.

And I think it's very important for what we're doing with the Inspection Radio Project because the way I view the popularity of social networking sites and social media is that they're really the convergence of three different things. And that is content, community, and the emotional connection between. And my experience has really given me a great insight into those three different areas.

From 1997 through 2004 I was the Director of Marketing for the American Society of Home Inspectors. And with ASHI I had a great chance to see the home inspection profession develop. During that time period membership increased, not only in ASHI, but in several different organizations. And the interest in what home inspectors do and how they perform their job really caught a lot of peoples' attention, from state and federal legislatures to different real estate industry, or home industry organizations.

I was happy to be involved in many programs that help build awareness of the importance of the home inspection, as well as using a qualified home inspector.

Some of the programs that I was involved in that other home inspectors and people in the industry will recognize include Inspection World, which is the largest conference and exposition for home inspectors. As well as the Home Inspection Business Operations Study, which was the first research study regarding the business practices of home inspectors across the United States and Canada.

And I was also involved in different product launches regarding training and education, and different products regarding special niches in the home inspection industry.

One of the what I... And I'm sure Brian can confirm or deny this, but from my prospective, and that's why I really like the Inspection Radio venture between me and Brian because we really bring two different perspectives to this project.

I first met Brian after he started his company. As he was starting to promote his services, he would attend the conferences that I would run, and run advertising in some of the publications that I managed. And through that we developed a business relationship. And I developed a great respect for what he was doing.

Working for one of the leading national associations for the home inspection industry, I had an opportunity to see many different things from a national level, from a local and regional level, from interacting with other leading real estate industry organizations like the National Association of Realtors, or the National Mortgage Bankers, or National Mortgage Brokers Association...

Brian: I'd guess you'd say I was more down in the trenches. I was working the exhibits, I was with the inspectors themselves down there. And so we did, we both come from a little different side of things, and it worked out very well, the team here.

Carlos: Now, I had mentioned before in terms of my experience, my experience with the American Society of Home Inspectors really taught me a lot about community. And just watching how a national organization works, not only from its top level, but from its grass-roots level as well, in dealing with local chapters and regional organizations.

But as far as content, I was in charge of marketing for the 'Dog Fancy' and 'Cat Fancy' magazines, for the largest pet publishing company in the world. And from there I got a good understanding of how expert content is developed, and the value of content in the marketplace.

And one of the interesting things that magazine publishers are dealing with these days, are how to use their expert content in an Internet world where user-generated content is what is hip and cool right now, and I don't even know if those are hip and cool words to use.

Brian: [laughter]

Carlos: But that was a really good experience for me to see that that is an incredible asset that publishers have as they transition that and use that in their Internet initiatives, how they are able to use it without giving it away.

In terms of experience in marketing, I worked for one of the largest special events and business communications firms, based in Chicago, they have in the last few years been bought out by TBA Communications.

But there I had a chance to work with several Fortune 100 companies based in the Chicago area, and I got a chance to see how they build relationships with their key influencers, with their VIPs, their franchisers, the executive sales force, their premier clients.

Now, these are the people that make decisions within their given industry, and they want to build a strong relationship with them, and help build brand loyalty.

And these are all the things that we want to incorporate within 'Inspection Radio' We want to provide information on everything that is available in the home inspection industry, not specifically by one organization over another, or from a service providers perspective as opposed to a national or state organizations perspective.

Brian: And that's very important, that we keep it independent, and that's the way 'Inspection News' was set-up and that's the way we want 'Inspection Radio' to be, independent of all the associations and different vendors and dates if you will, we want it to be a place where everybody can come and gather information.

Mario: And Brian, let me jump in here, and end up talking about something that... The headline of the press-release says that you're going to provide 'Multi-media information' Can you give us the highlights of what some of that multi-media is and why it would be a benefit to the subscribers?

Brian: Absolutely, and that's what is so exciting about 'Inspection Radio' I mean, this is the first 4D inspection community where - as the name implies - we are going to have inspection related radio shows, talk shows, information, where they can come in here and listen to information.

As well as videos, we will be putting together different video segments that through the 'Inspection Radio' toolbar inspectors can easily click on and gather information. They can listen to the information, they can view the information, they can go through links and go to different sites for information, there is just a variety of different ways.

And the multi-media side of it, is the side that really gets us excited, because it is something completely new for this industry. And Carlos, why don't you jump in here a little bit, and I'm sure you have some other things to mention here.

Carlos: Well, I'm really excited about inspection radio, and more specifically with the way we are delivering the content. It is using a special browser toolbar that people can use in their Internet Explorer or Firefox browsers, that enables them to access anything and everything that is available in the home inspection world, without having to change their web-browsing habits.

They could be looking at different sites and then checking the toolbar, and all of a sudden there is a new host on one of their favorite discussion boards like 'Inspection News' Or perhaps there is a new YouTube video that a home inspector has uploaded to help market their services, or there is a post or a request for information regarding issue that a home inspector might be dealing with. And this is something that is really different for the industry.

Brian: Yeah, the toolbar, the information on it is constantly changing. It's not like someone loads the toolbar and they go through the links, and they say 'OK, been there, done that' The information is constantly changing, it get's direct feeds through the Internet, we update content as well. So that every time they come back there is new and fresh content there, just an amazing tool to use.

Mario: Carlos, give us some contact information where our listeners can end up going if they want to find out more.

Carlos: Well, listeners, and people interested in the home inspection profession in general, can go to our website which is at www.inspectionradio.com. At the site it will give a list of the different features and benefits of using the 'Inspection Radio' toolbar, and listening to the 'Inspection Radio' service. As well as an area where they can download the toolbar for free, and within thirty seconds they can download and install the toolbar and be listening to their favorite home inspection radio show.

Mario: Did you say it's free?

Carlos: Yes it is, absolutely free.

Mario: What a bargain. [laughter]

We've been listening to Brian Hannigan, founder of Hann Tech Marketing links, and Carlos Tabora, founder of Advertiseyourspace.com.

Gentlemen, it's been a real pleasure to podcast with you today, some great information that those in this particular home inspection space can end up getting some great solid information. Thank you guys, and continued success.

Brian: Mario, thank you for your time.

Carlos: Thanks, Mario.

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