I do not service the public, and I do not do property surveys. I do not advertise, have never been in the yellow pages. Yet I get calls all the time (2 this morning) asking for a price for residential surveys.
I did a google search on several terms, and none of them come back with my company. So where are these people getting my phone number from???
[sarcasm]Maybe a competitor is writing it truck stop restrooms...for a cheap survey, Call BR547 and ask for John.....[/sarcasm] :snarky:
It is probably word of mouth from your customers. For example Land Owner A needs a survey for refinance and asks his engineer buddy for a recomendation. Engineer buddy sees your name and phone number on a Topo for one of his projects and suggests that they call you.
Simply a two step process, first the PA Board of Registration license verification site. The inputs are Professional Land Surveyor and Bethel Park, PA. You are one of the listed surveyors.
The second step is Google or Find People, Phone Numbers, Addresses & More | Whitepages search usiing "JOHN HAMILTON" then narrowing the search using PA and Bethel Park. The first three Google search items are:
- John Hamilton's Profile - Land Surveyors United
- [PDF]Dam Deformation Surveying John HAMILTON,
- TerraSurv Experience, www.terrasurv.com/experience.html (Listing your telephone number)
The MSWhite pages results in " 3 Whitepages profiles found for 'John Hamilton in Bethel Park PA', and 43 possible matches." This requires a bit of review and maybe some trial and error calls.
Recently saw a television show where young (twenty something) people had their cell phones taken away. They did not know how to use the Yellow Pages and found it difficult to read a simple road map.
If you're a member of your State's Professional Society, some people might look @ that list. I did that when I wanted to see a specialist in another field, since it was an service I had absolutely no knowledge in and new no one who could even refer me. I know that "anyone" can join, but I thought if they at least cared enough to pay dues to an professional organization it was at least one step ahead of calling off of a yellow page listing.
Dallas Morlan, post: 337775, member: 6020 wrote: Simply a two step process, first the PA Board of Registration license verification site. The inputs are Professional Land Surveyor and Bethel Park, PA. You are one of the listed surveyors.
The second step is Google or Find People, Phone Numbers, Addresses & More | Whitepages search usiing "JOHN HAMILTON" then narrowing the search using PA and Bethel Park. The first three Google search items are:
- John Hamilton's Profile - Land Surveyors United
- [PDF]Dam Deformation Surveying John HAMILTON,
- TerraSurv Experience, www.terrasurv.com/experience.html (Listing your telephone number)
The MSWhite pages results in " 3 Whitepages profiles found for 'John Hamilton in Bethel Park PA', and 43 possible matches." This requires a bit of review and maybe some trial and error calls.
Recently saw a television show where young (twenty something) people had their cell phones taken away. They did not know how to use the Yellow Pages and found it difficult to read a simple road map.
Come on. John was not saying "It's impossible for anyone to find me on the internet!" His point was, how is a property owner doing a shotgun search for a local surveyor ending up with John's number. It is definitely NOT by doing what you describe.
Most of my younger students did this for everything they wanted to find.
John Hamilton, post: 337763, member: 640 wrote: I do not service the public, and I do not do property surveys. I do not advertise, have never been in the yellow pages. Yet I get calls all the time (2 this morning) asking for a price for residential surveys.
I did a google search on several terms, and none of them come back with my company. So where are these people getting my phone number from???
Why not ask them?
Perhaps if you were to use an alternative mode of transportation, such as a vehicle, instead of that strange looking horse you currently utilize you would be less obious to the public
Tongue in cheek, John, just fool'in with ya 😉
I've been sending them your way. You are welcome.
Tom Adams, post: 337777, member: 7285 wrote: If you're a member of your State's Professional Society, some people might look @ that list. I did that when I wanted to see a specialist in another field, since it was an service I had absolutely no knowledge in and new no one who could even refer me. I know that "anyone" can join, but I thought if they at least cared enough to pay dues to an professional organization it was at least one step ahead of calling off of a yellow page listing.
Yes, I was on that list )PSLS) for a while but at my request they removed me.
Some new clients find me thru the State BOR website.
Well meaning "friends" give them my cell number; some drive to my house, and some call my house when I won't answer the business phone. I am still behind in my work, and many callers are dismayed to hear that is will be a while before I can get to them. I do not like to take on a job when I do not know exactly how soon I can get to and then finish it. Typically, they need it sooner than I can provide. If I refer them to other surveyors, they want to know names and phone numbers. If they found me with the tenacity of a bloodhound, it seems that they could use the same method to find someone else. I have several surveyor friends I refer to, and they do the same for me.
I deal with clients who "don't know how to turn a computer on," but own a smart phone. A lot of clients own what I own - a rugged outdoor flip phone. I do not want a smart phone. The last client-adjacent landowner meeting revealed that we all had the same Rugby 1, 2, or 3 cellphones! Most of my clients are past clients or from word-of-mouth referrals. In my county, I have been the only surveyor listed in the yellow pages; there are more now. Many are surprised to know that smart phones and computers are good for something beside games and social media; you can look up stuff, like names and phone numbers of land surveyors. I do have many clients who found me through Internet searches.
People are amazing - there is a vast difference between "old school" mentality and the newer generation thinking. I teach one class at a local university, and students take a picture of the whiteboard with their cellphones instead of taking class notes. Textbooks remain lightly read or not at all; and I get a lot of inquires about virtual textbooks. The newer generations have increasingly fewer manual skills, but have an amazing knowledge of computer-smart phone skills. I see a few button-pushers in the making.....
E-mail is still my favorite method of communication. That is considered "old school" by some, and "I don't do e-mail" by others. Most of my client base is somewhere in the middle.
I have gotten new clients from this BB and a couple others that I post in.
(or they checked the NSA database)
Harold, post: 338071, member: 4544 wrote: E-mail is still my favorite method of communication. That is considered "old school" by some, and "I don't do e-mail" by others. Most of my client base is somewhere in the middle.
Email is also my favorite means of communication. There are people close to my age (the upper side of 50) who automatically assume I have a smart phone and texting capabilities as they do. At the same time, I assume they have a computer and email as I do.
Someone I knew a couple years ago apparently sent me a forwarded joke by texting it to me. When I picked up my land line, I heard dead air. The next week, he asked if I saw his text, at which point I explained to him he got my land line.....
Though my older brother and some friends who are older than me do text, I personally have no use for it. At. All. Ever. Never have. I am perfectly capable of leaving something called a voice message. And retrieving the same. For me, having a voice conversation is much faster and easier than attempting to type on a much too small keyboard and reading on a much too small screen.
An occasional co-worker had a smart phone disaster and suddenly lost all 250 names/numbers he had stored in it for handy use. He sent an e-mail out to everyone on his computer e-mail list of contacts explaining his problem and asking everyone to send him a text containing their phone number. Mrs. Cow found this message first. She turns to me and says, "Send Jeremy your phone numbers. His phone crashed." That's all she said. So I grabbed my cell phone and texted him the following message: My phone number is XXX_XXX_XXXX. A few seconds later I sent him a second message with my land line number.
I saw him Friday. He laughed as he told me how he had imagined the conversation between Mrs. Cow and myself when he sent his request for help. He was absolutely correct. He then explained that since his phone didn't know who I was he simply received the above messages. He had to recognize them enough to know it was from me. Otherwise all he had was number with no idea who had sent it to him. He had several others who did exactly what I did and he has absolutely no idea who they are.
If your phone ever crashes, be sure to put out the word that you need numbers AND names.
He did have a bit of fun with one. A lady sent him her number and the message, "Put me down as THE MOST WONDERFUL PERSON IN THE WORLD" and no name. Although he had only used her number 3 or 4 times in the last couple of years he recognized that it was her number. He also had her younger sister's number in his phone. The sisters tend to be quite competitive towards each other. His response to Donna was, "Thanks, Denise, I'll do that." Donna called him a few seconds later to set him straight on who THE MOST WONDERFUL PERSON IN THE WORLD really was---AND DON'T YOU FORGET IT!
Holy Cow, post: 338139, member: 50 wrote: If your phone ever crashes, be sure to put out the word that you need numbers AND names.
Better yet, keep your contacts in the cloud and sync them with both phone and desktop. Google does this very well for me.
