Forget cold calls and cookie trays—authority is the best marketing, and the fastest way to earn it is by teaching. We sit down with solo inspector Carrie Cheek of Rosie Home Inspections to unpack how building state‑approved continuing education turns a room full of agents into a trusted referral network. From her early, expensive experiments with lunch and learns to consistently packed CE classes, Carrie shares the exact steps she used to stand out, connect with top producers, and boost revenue without chasing leads.

We walk through how to choose winning topics—like outdated systems, report interpretation, and environmental hazards—and structure them with photo‑rich slides, memorable stories, and hands‑on exercises. You’ll hear how decoding serial numbers, explaining design life by system, and showing real defects make agents more confident during showings and negotiations. That clarity keeps buyers calm, reduces inspection‑day drama, and prevents deals from dying over predictable findings.

Carrie also reveals the hidden growth lever: education that sells ancillary services without the hard sell. When agents understand mold, radon, lead, and asbestos risks, they advocate for full testing upfront, raising revenue per inspection and improving client outcomes. We cover practical barriers and how to overcome them—getting course approval, using Canva to build engaging decks, capturing agent questions to refine content, and leveraging association email lists to fill classes and nurture relationships over time.

If you’re a solo inspector looking to scale trust, differentiate your brand, and create steady demand—even in the slow season—this playbook shows how to turn knowledge into compounding marketing. Subscribe, share with a colleague who needs a spark, and leave a review telling us the first CE topic you’d teach.

Check out our home inspection app at www.inspectortoolbelt.com
Need a home inspection website? See samples of our website at www.inspectortoolbelt.com/home-inspection-websites

*The views and opinions expressed in this podcast, and the guests on it, do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Inspector Toolbelt and its associates.

Ready to stop coasting into December and start launching into January with real momentum? We sit down with Mark Hummel of Inspector Empire Builder to unpack how home inspectors can design a life-first vision and then build the business to match it. No secrets, no gimmicks—just the practical shift from technician thinking to CEO thinking and a system that turns goals into weekly action.

We dive into the 1-3-5 framework—one, three, and five-year vision—so your annual targets tie to something bigger than revenue. Mark explains why clarity beats hustle, how to future pace with your “future self,” and what it takes to move from feast-or-famine to steady, predictable work. Whether you run solo or lead a growing team, you’ll hear how to stabilize your calendar, batch your report writing, use canned comments without losing quality, and choose a personal operating system that fits your brain—process maps for detail lovers or time blocks for energy-driven operators.

The heart of this conversation is simple: your calendar should reflect your vision. We cover quarterly strategy reviews, monthly activity audits, and a 30-minute weekly reset that keeps you on track, plus the habits that fuel consistency—sleep, focused inputs, and purposeful learning instead of endless firefighting. If you’ve ever felt trapped by your business, this is your playbook for taking back control, creating time freedom, and punching past the bag to hit 2026 with energy and direction.

If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a fellow inspector, and leave a quick review. Tell us: what do you NOT want your 2026 to look like? Your answer could be the clarity you’ve been missing.

Check out our home inspection app at www.inspectortoolbelt.com
Need a home inspection website? See samples of our website at www.inspectortoolbelt.com/home-inspection-websites

*The views and opinions expressed in this podcast, and the guests on it, do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Inspector Toolbelt and its associates.

Quiet calendars don’t have to mean quiet growth. We break down the most common slow-season mistakes home inspectors make—and replace them with practical moves that compound into spring momentum. From why turning off your website or pausing SEO backfires to how steady AEO signals and consistent social content build authority, we show exactly where to invest attention when the market cools.

We dig into real-world tactics: refreshing your website with local service pages and helpful articles, optimizing your Google Business Profile with complete details, weekly posts, and fresh photos, and using YouTube and Facebook to boost topical relevance. On the relationship side, we lean into the realtor calendar—office visits, short trainings, and pre-listing inspection packages that put your brand on the sign and in the room when deals return. Pricing gets a strategic reset too: plan your spring increase now, refine packages and add-ons, and script your phone conversions so you protect margins without racing to the bottom.

Professional development and operations round out the playbook. Finish CE while the phones are calm, add certifications that open new revenue like sewer scope, infrared, mold, and radon, and service every tool and vehicle you depend on. Then let data guide your next leap: read your analytics, identify top referrers and churned agents, automate client follow-ups, and audit report clarity. Finally, build a true profit and loss so you know your cost per acquisition and cost per inspection—numbers that inform smart pricing and better marketing bets.

If you’re ready to turn winter into your advantage, this is your blueprint for marketing consistency, realtor partnerships, pricing strategy, CE momentum, equipment readiness, analytics literacy, and cleaner reports. Subscribe, share this with a fellow inspector who needs a boost, and leave a quick review to tell us your top slow-season priority.

Check out our home inspection app at www.inspectortoolbelt.com
Need a home inspection website? See samples of our website at www.inspectortoolbelt.com/home-inspection-websites

*The views and opinions expressed in this podcast, and the guests on it, do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Inspector Toolbelt and its associates.