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On-line Billboards for this Salem, Oregon Home Inspector

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I was telling my father about my on-line marketing and how it was effective at driving business and contacts to me for very little money.  I was telling him that my blog and FaceBook are serious tools that allow me to be found when I am doing other things (like home inspections!)  He mentioned that he really had no idea what I was taking about.  So I started to think about my understanding of this on-line world that I have so-far been able to leverage.

I watched the movie, “I love you man,” the other day and I got to thinking about billboards.  In the movie, the real estate agent’s friend puts up all kinds of silly billboards for his friend.  The advertising was very visible and really got the agent noticed.

I told my dad that blogging and networking on-line was kind of like that.  I put up a billboard in cyberspace every time I write a blog or post a comment.  The freeway on and off ramps are controlled by search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN).  If you are looking for, say a Home inspection in Salem Oregon, for instance, you would drive your car into cyberspace and ask one of those engines to show you where to go and the applicable billboards.

Now to back track a little;  the way a search engines work is by continually cruising around on those freeways.  They all have little robots or spiders that are driving around looking at billboards that are being erected in cyberspace.  They take note of these billboards and catalog them according to what is on the billboards and where the billboards point.  The more entries the spider robots get in their catalogs that point at one place, the higher they rank that location for those terms.

Of course that is a very down and dirty explanation of things and there can be a significant amount of refinement and development.  That is a basic idea of how Search Engine Optimization works.  The point of this; is that blogging and on-line social networking is very inexpensive compared to real world (as opposed to cyber-world) advertising.  For much less than $1000 dollars a year I have easily doubled my business and done my fair share of puttin’ my name out there where it is going to be seen.

 

Jim Allhiser  President/Inspector
http://SalemOregonHomeInspections.com
503.508.4321

“Always on the cutting edge”

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Google Docs people!!

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Google Docs people!!

My little garden of irritation for Windows products has been growing and thriving lately.  I guess anything that you rely on day-in and day-out will let you down now and then.  I don’t really have any experience with anything else, but I have heard some wonderful things……

One of the fantastic little products that I have started using is Google Docs.  …Um, can you say, “suck-it ms Word?”  Not only does G.Docs work every time, it is on-line so that there are no formatting issues when I cut and paste a blog that I have written and to which pictures have been added.  Did you read that last part?  Yeah, things just cut-and-paste like you think they should, weird huh?

It is important that you take warning from this post.  As of today there are about 10 previously written blog posts on my computer that are locked in a bizarre ms Word purgatory.  I can only partially open them and I cannot highlight to cut-and-paste.  For me, there is little hope.  But for all of you that read this, please do something today.  Put down that widows pacifier and try the solutions that were created for the people!!

Break-away crotch

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I do love disposable coveralls.  The crawlspaces that I frequent in Salem, Oregon seem to be places where critters relieve themselves and where they decide to die.  All of that feces, urine and dead carcasses add up to some pretty disgusting crawling and it can be challenging to bring my coveralls in the house after crawling through a litter box.

Overall the disposables are totally sufficient, especially after I belly crawl through one of those litter boxes that people call their crawlspace. All of the disposables however, have one fatal flaw:

The crotch.

I don’t know if they mean to build them with a “break away crotch” but being a home Inspector, that is not one of my requirements.

Salem Oregon Home Inspector’s New Blog!

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Anoucing my new Blog! 

 Thank you Melina Tomson w/ Tomson Burham LLC for the tips and tricks for getting my web presence noticed.

Expect my blog to continue to discuss issues with home inspections in and around Salem, Oregon.  Also I will be putting together a comprehensive (and hopefully organized) section for home owner maintenance and knowledge.

I hope you enjoy yourself and come back often.

The Oregon Gardens and Home inspections

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I had the chance to visit the beautiful Oregon Gardens this weekend with my family. This is one of those special places that really needs to be visited many times throughout the year to enjoy the different plant displays.

 

The Gardens are located in Silverton,Oregon and if you like to grow things this is the place to be. I stay very busy inspecting homes in and around Silverton, OR and if you need to check on the condition of your new home contact me.

 

 

 

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Custom Cabinetry

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Keizer, Oregon Home inspection cabinets

Keizer, Oregon Home inspection cabinets

In the midst of the foreclosure boom there are more and more unexplained or questionable issues that arise as more and more banks become the sole owner of home. It is unfortunate that this is the current state of things and more and more history is being lost as banks repossess homes that they don’t want in the first place.

I was doing a home inspection on one of these homes in Keizer, Oregon the other day and came upon a little oddity that I just couldn’t help but speculate over. As the drawers in the cabinet were pulled the drawer slides (not just any slides by the way, these were high quality full extension slides) would bang into the doors after about ½ inch worth of travel. Every single drawer was installed with this same issue. This little “oops” rendered the pull out shelves utterly useless.

The section of “custom cabinetry,” work had me envisioning a the home owner, (most likely a contractor or builder as well) behind on his bills and sweating away as he installed upgrades here and there in hopes to quickly attract a buyer before things went south.

Of course it was too late, and at that point and the market around him was crumbling as he tirelessly tried to bail water from his sinking ship.

His loss, my clients gain. My client knew his way around a tool belt and looked forward to the finishing touches he could put on this home that had some very nice features. And at the price he was paying it will be a very nice home for his family very soon.

 

Operation Love Boxes

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Sometimes it can be hard to let people know that you are thinking of them. Especially if the people that we are thinking of are in other countries.

Operation Love Boxes is a program that has given me extreme pleasure. My friend, John Baker, a great local agent and philanthropist, and his church and local community, started the program in November of 2005.

 

The idea is to fill standard boxes to the brim with candies, granola, stationary, wet wipes, small books and even Christmas decorations. The boxes are sent with a domestic flat rate for very little postage. These are just simple things, from home, to remind our troops overseas that we love, miss and support them.

 

I have only been involved for a few months now and the thank you emails that we have received have been very special. I urge you to check out the website and start your own Love Box Operation. It is
easy, view the video here.

 

Operation Love Boxes is having party to stuff, address and send DVDs on Wednesday the 18th (tomorrow). The DVDs tell the Operation Love Boxes story and tell how to start your own operation.

 

If you are in the Salem, OR area and want to help out please come to:

 

2339 State St, Salem, Or 97301 on 3/18/09 @ 6-8pm.

 

If you want to start your own Operation Love Boxes please go here:
http://www.loveboxesforourtroops.com/
and view the video,

 

Or call/email John Baker:

 

john@nedbaker.com

 

(O) 503-364-6797 ext 302

 

(C) 503-871-2624

 

(F) 503-364-6798

 

Toll Free 877-893-6797

 

 

My March Garden

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I started turning under my cover crops yesterday. A few days of sunshine on this side of Oregon is a welcome if not unusual occurrence in March. The ground was a bit wet but in my raised beds it will dry faster than if I was gardening on the flat.

 

Two years ago I harvested my first ripe tomato in mid October, and vowed to do better the next year. I discovered two books, written by the same author, that were a tremendous help. Anyone on this side of the Cascade Mountains that wants to grow their own vegetables should read these books: Gardening West of the Cascades and Growing Vegetables When it Counts both by Steve Solomon. These books cover gardening from general to specific and most importantly ideas for the Westside gardener.

 

Many books have been written about how-to grow vegetables. A majority of these books have been written by people in other parts of the country and even other parts of the world. There is a huge amount of useful information available however sometimes there are some specifics that can be confusing for gardeners on this side of Oregon. In most other parts of the country starting seedlings indoors on a sunny window sill is common. There is one big problem with that here: we don’t get enough sun light. Starting seedlings requires artificial light. We just don’t get enough sunshine to grow stout plants early in the year.

 

Last year I harvested my first ripe tomato on June 21st. With the help of lights and cloches I hope to repeat my luck with early season veggies again this year.