Welcome to CT. Just a heads up, you will get a lot of valuable information here if you follow the protocol of the site, namely fill out your profile in a little more depth including area.

There is all kinds of info already posted on lead generators here. Do a search for it.

I think you will like this site alot as there are alot of guys here who had to start somewhere too.:thumbsup:

I don't think you'll find many favorable reviews for SM or any other lead generation providers for that matter on this forum.

Your "avenue of getting leads" is just a small part of what you need to set yourself up. I would start by reading some books. Try "Plan for Profitability" by Lee Hargrave, "Running a Successful Construction Company" by David Gerstel, and "The E Myth Contractor" by Michael E. Gerber.

thank you for the input i will fill out my profile more detailed just signed up to this site. i will def read these books if u had to read only one what one would it be?

Start with E Myth Contractor, because it's a short one.

Call me today. And send an e-mail. I'll send you my copy of websites for dummies if your e-mail cliect will hold it. 3.6mb

Congradulations on going out on your own. You will soon realize
actual production work you do ends up being about 50% of all the work you do. And to quote Thomas Jefferson, "The harder I work, the luckier I get."

Anyway, for a cheap and simple website with ample features for any small service business, I use www.homestead.com. They have no lead generation service like SM. But SM sucks.

Marketing is most important

Good luck with your new business. Service Magic sucks, you can see opinions about them on a couple of threads here. There is no easy way for leads to appear in your lap without searching for them.

Read some other threads here. One was started by "Handyman's Wife" in a similar situation to you. Another is "Guerilla Marketing." Best results are claimed by people with a strong canvassing program, which takes time and money to build, but you could do it yourself in a small way quickly.

Personal note. In your communications with prospects be careful with your writing. I know the trend is to ignore language rules in e-mails, but it can form a bad impression in someone's mind quickly. A misspelling here and there is overlooked, but Twitter-style or personal e-mail style is not acceptable in your business. Best wishes for 2010.

homestead.com is basically a website within a website. They are cheap and simple, but they also look cheap and simple. homestead.com is good if you need a website when you're trying to find your lost dog or something, it's not good for a business.

Plaster Ayn said:

Congradulations on going out on your own. You will soon realize
actual production work you do ends up being about 50% of all the work you do. And to quote Thomas Jefferson, "The harder I work, the luckier I get."

Anyway, for a cheap and simple website with ample features for any small service business, I use www.homestead.com. They have no lead generation service like SM. But SM sucks.

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I like Bidclerk.com.
It is about $40/mo.
You can do searches acording to the type of work you do and select a radius around your zipcode. You can try some searches on it without joining.

bfitz said:

my name is brian ive been doing carpentry for 10 yrs im 30 years old i live in ny,i wanna start my own business,i was gonna use service magic but did a customer reveiw search through google and ended up with nothing but bad reveiws. if anyone could help me out with maybe a web site like service magic that has descent results.any avenue of getting leads would be greatly appreciated as my budget is small due to economy and just starting up thanks

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bfitz,

First of all, congradulations on your new venture & good luck to you.

I would suggest that you read every possible post on CT that might apply to your situation - there is a wealth of information on here & you will soon figure out who the "pros" are on this site.

I also agree with grahaminteriors post. IMHO you should look & sound as professional as possible (from A - Z) with everything you do.

I understand that you are 30 years of age, but if you present an estimate to a prospect that looks like a text message, in most cases that won't fly.

Your potential customer starts "judging" you & your company within 3 seconds of their initial contact with you - no matter what the first impression may be, I.E.; In person, on the phone, YP ad, newspaper ad, website, etc.

I'm sure you've heard the old cliche' "You never get a second chance to make a first impression". Cliche's are cliche's, because they are true!

Once again, good luck to you - us small business owners need to stick together, especially with what looks like is coming down the road from our current political administration.

You would be better off starting a new thread for that and not hijacking this one....:thumbsup:

C&N said:

Can anyone pLease recommend a home improvement finance co? I'm thinking about offering that as an option for my customers, I have been in the remodeling business for the the past 13 YRS we operate out of MA any advise Thanks.

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All it takes is a few jobs done right and do them well and you have a happy customer and a good reference. word of mouth is the best form of marketing for a contractor.