H.A. tells me its $$$ to qualify, then each lead cost $ - $$$ depending on what the scope of work is. Here's the problem, they are giving the same leads to 2 or 3 other individuals at the same time and charging them for the lead as well, so lets say I get 10 leads and it cost me $350 for that week, and the guy that charges $40/ hour gets all of those leads, H.A. has been paid $1400.00 for literally nothing. I really don't think it is worth it.
I’ve been with Home Advisor for one year. I’m grandfathered in to there deal they offered back then. It has changed. They charge a monthly fee and charge per lead now.
I got started by going to the leasing office of some high end apartment complexes. They’d refer their residents to me to mount tv’s, hang ceiling fans, install curtain rods, etc. It was a great way to get initial business and experience.
Home advisor is not on the contractors side - you can get some good leads from it BUT KEEP IT TO A MINIMAL! I have had people hire me to do things like drywall, I do the bid, send estimate, send invoice, and start work and when it is completed they refuse to pay and take me through home advisor arbitration since home advisor pays for it and they will say things like "He didn't replace the insulation and paint" - I argue that wasn't apart of the bid and show they estimate and invoice and the arbitrator would side with them and I ended up owing the person to have the wall taken down insulation replaced then a new wall and new paint. I have had 2 situations like this. Home Advisor is great for really small jobs to give you leads to build a relationship with people and turn them into lifelong clients. Keeping things low like handyman jobs, broken fences, etc was the best avenue to take at least for me and not get scammed by people manipulating home advisor's system to get more. Keep in mind while the contractors are the ones who pay them, they are not on your side at all they are on the side of the home owner always.
Google has been working well for me. I just ask clients that have been happy with my work to leave a review. And if they’ve been a pain in the ass?... I don’t ask them to leave a review lol
I placed an ad on my local city's quarterly magazine for summer. Apparently they don't get that many people to advertise on it. It's a magazine which shows all of the city's free programs for kids, adults, and seniors. Guess who reads it the most?? SENIORS! I started getting phone calls left and right from seniors. That was the only marketing i did. Seniors are reffering me to their family and friends now. So far it has been great.
This is great info thank you so much I'm finally going to decide to get out of the automotive business and get into doing handyman work I've done enough of it on my house or houses and for family and friends I might as well make some money off of it
How is it 2019 and people can’t google questions. Business cards? Come on. So many websites and resources. Lol. Love the straightforward info you give. Keep up the great content!
Po dunk town of only 200,000! my entire county is about 4000. Love what the rest of the world thinks is po dunk. Love the videos just had to through this out there.
I have been with HA/SM for 10 years now. They have been mostly good for me. When I do have tire kickers, I do a really good job at working for a credit on the lead if I can. But I have gotten many good leads, mostly in the $15-25 range, because they are the ones that are really looking for good handyman, and then once in the door hand them my card and tell them of all the other work I can do. Also you can pause your leads if you get to much work.
I just purchased 25 outdoor signs to staple to telephone poles by large rich neighborhoods. Im hoping this will work in my favor. The only thing I'm worried about is turning away to many people. I do no tile work so kitch and bathroom stuff is a no go for me unless we're talking some electrical stuff or some light plumbing. I want to try and stay at fixing something that broke, not break something and fix it, it remodels. I dont have a license and so I can charge more than 1000 for a job.
I run a craigslist ad for $5 per month, it pays for itself easily. I don't get enough work from it to quit my day job though. The gigs section only has 2 or 3 posts per day for the eastern half of my state. Mostly looking for movers or other cheap labor. 75% of my jobs are referrals or repeats. I'm in a podunk town of 100k people though. :)
Amazon must be starting a service too. I get just as many calls a week now from Amazon to sign up with them as I do Home Advisor. I used CL for awhile, but for me the clients I got were not all that great. I mainly use Nextdoor because i live close to a wealthy area, where rich people have vacation homes.
Home advisor cost me about 1500 a month but I did that for 4 months and turned it off. Answer the phone when it rings and show up to the appointment clean and sober and you get the job. Now I pick and choose the "opportunities" as they come. I get cold calls based on reviews alone now and home advisor costs me maybe 200 a month now. But the first 10 days of my business I got so busy I was begging my wife to quit her job and answer the phone for me. Home advisor is expensive, but YOU GET BUSINESS.
Podunk town with 200,000 people in it. Lol I came from a town with 900 people and 200,000 to me is far Fromm podunk. Good thing I found Houston - it’s an entrepreneurs dream.
I don't know if this has to do with location, but I get charged to post anything on Craig'slist. So that is not a free option for me. Home Advisor I hear tons of negatives about. Don't think that is free, either. These things will generate customers, but it is a lot more hassle getting the customers. I believe it is easier doing a good job and making yourself visible by means of your own website. I would say to use google, but you have to understand the algorithm, otherwise you waste time and money.
Hi! Thank you for your videos! Im not understanding what your saying in regards to Craigslist, the first part you were talking about. "Go to gigs and start looking at anything" then you named different services that people offer. I must have missed something because I cant figure out why id be going to the gigs page..would you mind elaborating? I appreciate it..
What @thehandyman doesn't seem to understand is that there is more to being at his level than just being smart. You know to whom the trades are rocket science? Rocket scientists. You charge what you're worth but you act like it's easy. You are talented, smart, healthy and experienced. I'm smart and that's gotten me nowhere fast.
@@TheHandymanBusiness Seriously, since watching your channel, I am actually thinking about giving them another try. I gave up on them around 2005ish with the DEW900 series(I think it was), five - 2man crews burnt up a drill a day, then found out, they had plastic gears and the metal gears would cost 3 times the price and could only be bought at the Dewalt Store, at the time, there were better and cheaper options for us.
I see people complaining about HA I don't think most of these people are business savvy. For instance, I limit is 1500 for leads a month. that price is built into my billable hour. Yall have to remember that the customer pays for EVERYTHING! Show up and sell and it will pay off.
I own dash roi marketing agency for home service businesses. I have 5 or so handyman clients right now all over the US. For my vegas clients, I generate an average of 100 leads a month... they close about half with a $200 average sale. It all depends on where you are located... for example Vegas Vs Somwhere rural, how many competitors are in your area, and how well you can close over the phone... the best handymen know their pricing in 2 seconds... and they also know when to NOT take certain jobs and how to leverage good jobs into more jobs, etc.
Hey Handyman, like your content. Just started watching you. I know this is an old post. I myself have been in the home building industry for 20 yrs seen and heard lots. I disagree however on your recommendation on using Home Advisor or Angi Leads and or any lead generation companies in general. They are a rip off and do not help contractors in the least. You will spend way more money than you will ever receive in return. I highly suggest that buyer be were here. My Opinion.
I was with homeadvisor for 5 years had over 125 reviews until one angry customer that I decided not to perform any work wrote a negative review and spread it all over the internet I decided to close my account but the review still all over the search engines.
Re craigslist--I live in a *very* populated area, and the gigs section for the entire site has maybe 15 new posts a day. Half of those for "domestic" or "labor." Also, it's $5 to post an ad for your business. Same for each repost. Craigslist isn't what it used to be.
@@TheHandymanBusiness It must be regional then. I have 18 posts for the day for the entire gigs section where I live. Fewer for yesterday. (Again, as highly populated as it gets in the US.) Love your RU-vid channels, btw!
@@TheHandymanBusiness 27 in my town of 80,000. Nearest larger town (100,000) is an hour away. The larger town has 44 gigs listed. I think there is plenty of business here (I just moved here a few months ago) but I don't think Craigslist is the place to find it here!
I’ve been with Advisor on and off for about 15 years. And customers for that long. Sadly I’m horrible at getting at leads right away. No complaints for me Built a bunch of good reviews. I don’t know about tricks they play. Now I’m curious. Mmmmm
I hate Home Advisor. They hounded me for months to join. I learned from other local people that they charge you fees for leads even if you don't go do the estimate. If you get a lead and talk to the customer and decide it's not a job for you - you still have to pay for the lead. Most of my jobs are fairly small - $60 - $200, sometimes a larger job is $500 - $1,500 But I like keeping it small. The fees they charge would wipe out the profit potential of smaller jobs. And, I just can't charge people $200 to replace a fill valve in a toilet.
You had a very attention getting intro this time! When folks used to fling arrows at me I was inclined to send them a return gift........ at around 240 grains and 1100 FPS..... lol! I was hoping there would be some link to the mysterious unicorn third channel.....
There are other ways to advertise as well like putting a decal or phone number on your vehicle. Make a A framed sign with your information and put it up at every single job. The final way, and the way I get most of my business is to pass out flyers. Do not put them in mail boxes unless there is a drop box. Make sure they do not fall off the door or you could be fined for littering. Some states and counties have specific laws like you are required to have a license to advertise so make sure you do your research. I suggest staying away from home advisor. They not only have a bad rep with handyman but also with homeowners. Go read their reviews and you'll see what I mean. They are a scam.
Ask H.A. for a list of the other contractors in your field of expertise. they will be 100% honest and up front about how many guys they have, now multiply that one lead by the other 3, 4, or 5 guys that will be getting it, then divide by a -2, carry the one and that's how many jobs you will actually get thru that service. Now take the price of that H.A. lead and multiply it by the # of other contractors, that's how much H.A. gets paid for that one lead. H.A. actually makes more off the one lead than the profit to be made for the single contractor that gets that lead, and it's every lead they send you, not just the ones you get, they'll tell you, it's up to you to sell the job, they just supply you the leads.
Handyman do you or any of your subscribers know of any associations, organizations or groups coming together for handymen for the purpose of cheaper health care options. Maybe an idea for a future video??
Hey handyman. Make that video on not working for friends and family!!! I'm the same way I wont work for them either. When you make the video I can just send them the link to that video and I wont have to deal with them. It will be great...for me. Haha
Craigslist sucks. They don't want to pay. They pay crap. I see ads that want you to do yard work for like $20 an hour. Or someone wants you to take away construction debris. And want pay $100 of less. $100 is most likely just dump fess alone. I mostly see ads for Uber, Handy, and Door Dash, and lift. It's like they spam craigslist.
@@TheHandymanBusiness Right now, I'm not looking just for construction job. I'm just looking for a job. I'm also looking to get into construction. But I will not work for free or very low pay.
I looked at it once, seemed to be more for unskilled work (raking leaves, shoveling snow, etc) jobs had to fall into specific categories or something weird that really turned me off to it.
Thank you, I’ve been working since May without any marketing. I would suggest getting on Next Door. Been great for me, again first response and professional response gets me jobs.
If people are so thick they need advice on where to get business cards, they probably shouldn't be in business. And on a side note, if you use a lead generation service, ask them if they are exclusive leads. If not(and they never are), ask them how many others are getting the same lead.
Facebook, Facebook, Facebook! Ask your friends to subscribe to your page. Post your work and each job will get hundreds to thousands of views. It is the only advertising I do, it is completely free, and I had to start turning away business in my year of operation because I was so busy.
Home advisors its tye worst i would prefer to do craigslist but then again craigslist sucks too i dont know who looks for handyman on craigslist everybody knows whats was craigslist used for ha ha ha ha ha 😂😂😂😂😂😂
