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what do you guys use to get leads?

33K views 51 replies 37 participants last post by  cedarboarder 
#1 · (Edited)
there are so many different websites for leads, which one is the most popular and gives you leads instead of taking your money for nothing.
 
#14 ·
I would do a search on CT for the numerous threads concerning: angie's list, service magic, yodle, BBB, and all the other "lead generating" services out there that you can pay for. The vast majority of the time............you will be wasting what little money you have.

Your questions lead me to believe that you are starting a business without having a business background, or, doing a lot of research yourself (without asking everyone else what to do).

I don't do any advertising. I have an old website that I haven't touched for years. I have tried a few lead generating companies and have lost money. I have paid a "professional" marketing guy that ripped me off for a lot of money ( I sued him ), and, I have been a member of chambers of commerce, networking group, professional trade groups, etc.............all of which produced sales that wouldn't pay for one dinner at Sizzler.

What has worked for me ( at least ) is: keeping in contract with former clients, relationships with other contractors, having business cards on hand, plus advertising on the vehicles. I have four contractors both in state and out of state that send me a steady stream of business weekly. That is what works for me. And it only took 10 years to get to his point.
 
#19 ·
marketing & leads

I have tried using the lead services. Waste of $, especially for a GC. Trades pay less and people are usually ready to go if they only need one trade. If they need a GC then they are much less likely to sign and the leads are much more expensive. Get a web site and promote that.
 
#20 ·
Doing good work and conducting yourself and buisness in a professionall manner goes without saying- thats a no-brainer!

yodle, yelp, HA, angies list, and everything else like them have their place when they are used the right way for certain service providers, but as for me, I think they are useless and will actually inhibit the growth of a starting out buisness. Read carefully the terms of service and what-not because many of these companies take the rights to all your internet presence and charge you for leads whether they are good or not. Some are "free", but you show up at the bottom of search results unless you pay.

The best thing you can do to generate business is to get involved with your community. Online networking is nice, but people with a lot of money to throw around do not spend a lot of time reading newspapers and surfing the internet. Do some real-life networking. Shake hands, kiss babies, carry groceries and make aquaintences!

Whether it is Church, Chamber of Commerce, local benefits and charities, clubs, groups, whatever it is, get involved. Also, do your spending locally, and get to know your local merchants. People tend to reciprocate buisness. Meet new people and tell everyone what you do and what your goals are.

That (IMO) is why some people don't have to advertise- they know people. For some, this comes naturally, for others it takes a concerted effort. I am with the latter.

..........Also, use every free form of advertisement you can find. Start a facebook fan page, use local online free classifieds (idk if nextech classified are in your area, but thats what I use) twitter, etc.

Put a sign in your OWN yard, go door to door, give incentives for refferals, there are so many things you can do without spending a dime. Get creative.

If you have a little $ to sink into it, conventional advertising (truck lettering, classifieds, newspapers, Website, business cards, Radio, Television, web ads) is something you should definetly add if you want your business to get bigger and reach farther.

Also, tracking your efforts and their lead generation and focusing on the best ones will turn your marketing campaign into a well oiled machine.

That will get you far. Its not one thing that draws business- there is no one stop easy answer or website that will do it all for you. It is a combination of all your resources used in a focused manner that will bring you leads.
 
#21 ·
If you are new in the business you don't have enough past customers to get referrals from so $40/lead at least gets you people who are actually interested in what you have to offer. If you think you can close 25% of them then you know you're paying $160 per job which is at least predictable, unlike a lot of other things where you can throw money at it and not know if you're going to get anything back. $160 is expensive, but it beats not having any work at all. That said, I've pretty much weaned myself off of them now that I've got enough referrals, repeats, and business off my website.
 
#23 ·
There are several thing you can do to get more leads, but you need to have a website for some of these and for others you don't.

1) List Use Craigslist
2) Get Your Business Listed on All the search engine
--Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.
---Get Your Business On Citation Sites
---Etc.
3) Use Video to Advertise your business
--Youtube, Dailymotion Vimeo, Etc.

4) Advertise your business on Google adwords, Bing Ads Network, Etc.

5) Post Card Marketing Send Flyers/Postcard in the mail in your Local area

These are just some of the ways you can get more leads for your business there are other ways. I hope this helps you. And If you have any questions about anything i have listed here don't be afraid to ask.
 
#28 · (Edited)
Just remember customers are people and we all like to be treated well. As already said do good work,do what you promised,on time,at a fair price,clean up everyday,respect their house and them personally. Nobody likes a phony and can spot them a mile away. Be yourself,talk to your customer-communicate,send them emails before,during and after the project explaining your construction process. Convey to them how you appreciate their confidence in you company and how you want to make their project all that they hope for and more. Tell them how valuable their time and busy schedules are and to let you handle their project, assuring them no worries that you will take them start tguyo finish and hand them the key.
Why am I say all this, are you starting to see a pattern here?
People are tuned into WIFI (M.S.) What's In It For Me. They don't want to hear your business problems. When you go to your doctor with a problem you want his full attention on you-you don't care about his day-it's your day and it should be, and he still goes home a rich man!
Do this and you will have a customer for life-as well as his friends.
What is the corollary to this-we try to make it about us and go home the poor man!
More leads-then lead.
 
#29 ·
I found a couple of easy ways to get business:

First off, go make yourself a professional on linkedn just answer questions, without selling them.

-Create a Facebook page, with an offer on it and start managing it your self.
(If you want you can go to fiverr.com and buy some likes from the US. This would only be used to act as "social proof" this way when people go to like it, they aren't the only one, and look like a loner."

You can download a program called "fb lead chef" basically it finds related groups, pages, and events.

Once you have those groups, maybe like diy home repair groups, extract those users, and run Facebook ads at them, and clicks are cheap on FB.
(Just test at first with $50.00)

-Verify and complete your Google Maps listing.
(This will bring in local traffic to your site, if you don't have one, buy a domain from godaddy, then get hosting from hostgator, then install wordpress, and a basic construction theme.) Hard at first, but youtube has tons of tutorials on this stuff.

Post ads in Craigslist, you will get crappy leads. But there are still some gems in there.

Make referral partners, anyone in your related niche, cross-promote, or pay them for referring you business.

Then hire some sales guys, I heard mormons work really well. LOL, sounds funny but I heard they are relentless. Or not mormons, you can just pay them per appointment, or a commission out of every deal closed.
 
#32 ·
best way to get leads. Have a balanced approach. Set up call tracking. Mongoose Metrics is the company that under the old google engage program somewhat recommended. When call tracking is set up, you will see your referral sources. Using a blend of adwords, social, organic, videos, and positive review generation. Send out targeted post cards inviting people to check out your website, or call now for a no charge estimate - first 50 get a free something- earthquake emergency kits work good in california. Salesgenie is great, but infousa is free. Just sign up thru your local libary, the online portal should give you access.
 
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