Marketing exposes problems

Greetings to all.

So here I am, trying to compile a mailing list of potential members. It's tedious and time consuming, and to be honest...not a whole lot of fun. I've got my assistant Faith working with me going page by page through Google searching. Home this, absentee that, property check here, home concierge there... Well, I'm sure you get the point. People have been telling me to get a hold of mail marketing / direct mail companies to do the research. After all, they have the know how to gather all of the information that I need to find all of the Home Watch companies in the US and Canada. So I contact a couple of them. After about a week, I get an email from one of them asking for my help in finding a category for Home Watch on a list from Dun & Bradstreet containing "S.I.C.'s" which is short for Standard Industry Codes. An S.I.C. is designated by the federal government. And...wait for it...the list has not been updated since 1997! According to the S.I.C. number given to Coastal Carolina Home Watch (my own company), Home Watch is a "wholesale distibutor of durable goods". Huh? Given the fact that there is no designation for Home Watch, or absentee this and property that...well, is it any wonder that insurance companies, credit lenders and worst of all, clients might have trouble knowing what we actually do? Of course, we need to get our own designation, but that does not solve the current problem.
This is one of the many issues that we face. How do we know if this is contributing to some of the hurdles and obstacles that we are being forced to navigate around? I can tell you that there is strength in numbers. Help us gain ground and be recognized for what we do. Send in your application to become accredited and join the NHWA.

Much success,

Jack