Home Advisor, get yourself on there

Hey if your in a large market area and arent on home advisor yet, check it out... were pretty excited, just signed up over the winter and its starting to blow up

The mobile app is really nice and they are pushing millions in advertising just like angies list and yelp

Now that the sun is coming out the leads are pouring in from there, they do go to more than one company but the other companies seem easy to beat to the punch so far.


check it out in your area, it may be worth it. Theres no monthly commitment, just pay per lead about 13 bucks for a carpet cleaning lead. They got a terrible rep from when they used to be called Service Magic so you can read tons about them online.

I was with Service Magic in their hay day and it was the best pre 2008, unlimited landscape install jobs in this area had to turn leads down from being too busy... then they got really bad giving out leads that were just "tire kickers" and people wanting free landscape consulting with no intent on hiring.

seems that they have really made a turn around and are competing with the other big name companies again

Ive been seeing their commercials alot more. May give them shot. Angies list is king here and the leadss are free but 12.00 per lead is one hell of ROI

Ya Angies is still great here, kept us busy through the winter and slammed in the busy season.

I also started noticing all the HA adds, a friend of mine has a siding/construction company which is much larger than us. He started on HA last year and they are just killing it on there.

He suggested I give it another shot, we were both in the same boat around 2008.. both of us were on Service Magic and doing great until they got nasty to deal with.

Sounds interesting. Service Magic didn't work out around here too well, but things sound like they may have changed.

The only concern I have is the fee of $13 for the lead. Do they distinguish between a lead and a job?

Back when I was on Recruiter duty, we had a quota of people to recruit each month. I was required to supply at least 20 leads per month to keep my job at that recruiting office.

I went to the library and pulled out the local High School's yearbook and submitted 20 names from the senior class. I even submitted the names of old girlfriends so they could enjoy being harassed by a recruiter for a few weeks.

Needless to say, none of my 20 names were really interested in joining the military, but I got credit anyway for the referrals.

My point being that they can send me a dozen weak referrals that result in no work at all, yet charge me $13 a piece anyway. Great for them, but not so much for me.

Now, if they received 5% of the job that came from a referral, I would be very happy. Heck, I would give them 15% if they found me the job.

I will only pay for getting the job and not the referral...I could pull names out of the phone book and cold call for leads for free.

I think that was the problem with service manic the leads were bogus

Find some young stay at home moms that like to gab: Facebook, face to face or what ever; offer her a % of each paying job.

Matt; My carpet cleaner wrote:Find some young stay at home moms that like to gab: Facebook, face to face or what ever; offer her a % of each paying job.

How does that work for you??

My experience is it only last a short time (A job or two), and then they slack off and nothing............But that was a long time ago, pre-interwebs era.....maybe those soccer mom's have changed?

Matt has good timing.

I'm thinking about hiring a manager if my contract does expand at the end of the month. She used to own a GNC franchise until a divorce destroyed everything.....some of us know how that works.

Anyway, she is a wiz at sales, QuickBooks, and social media....even plays guitar. On paper, it would seem like a great match for what I need in a manager.

I would rather hire a person to find my sales than a third party headhunter. It gives me greater control over the process and the ability to end it quick if it doesn't work....divorce teaches you that last lesson.

I don't know Rob you're pretty dam good at securing business. I would probably just hire cleaning techs get off the truck and concentrate on the sales and managing part of the biz.

Mo wrote:I don't know Rob you're pretty dam good at securing business. I would probably just hire cleaning techs get off the truck and concentrate on the sales and managing part of the biz.

You mean give up the fun part?

Actually, that is probably very good advice. I'm still trying to get the team together for the marathon cleanings this week and not having good luck, so the cape goes back one 3 nights this week.

It is that theater that concerns me at this point....400 seats and so far no helpers are available.

That theater seat  problem does sound familiar   Hiring good help is easier said than done

Did you ever do your theater, Mo?

I clean a theater about ever 3 months, and luckily they've never asked me to do their 300 seats!

No and I have a feeling I wont be doing the carpets either

You don't know if you're bidding enough if you're getting them all, right?!

I'd say I don't hear back from 25% of quotes I give, which tells me I'm right where I want to be on price........high!

Last I heard about Home Advisor was it messes up your seo. Seems they build their own websites with your business info but with their phone number.

Call me old fashioned but I just can't see paying for leads to these companies that have several approved local contractors. I would gladly pay for leads to realtors, painters, etc if I know they referred me.

Most often though is all it takes is a thank you and to do quality work. I know I don't like to give referrals unless I know the people doing the work personally and that they do stellar work.

milspec6 wrote:

Mo wrote:I don't know Rob you're pretty dam good at securing business. I would probably just hire cleaning techs get off the truck and concentrate on the sales and managing part of the biz.

You mean give up the fun part?

Actually, that is probably very good advice.  I'm still trying to get the team together for the marathon cleanings this week and not having good luck, so the cape goes back one 3 nights this week.

It is that theater that concerns me at this point....400 seats and so far no helpers are available.

Looked at plane tickets to Neb. 800.00. lol What happened to cheap seats 99.00

Yup, almost $ 900 from LAX to Omaha, crazy high !

Thank the high fuel prices for that too.

It is almost cheaper to drive these days....food is better as well.

I'm almost to the finish line. Finished off my store cleanings a few minutes ago and now have to grab a little sleep before the 4 am wake up call.

Okay, so the time change isn't working for me this time...could have used that other hour of sleep.

It will be a very tough week, but I will be sent to Nashville later in the month for a week to do some investigative work for the company. It will sure feel like a vacation after these last few weeks.

Davey Cracker wrote:Thank the high fuel prices for that too.

Great picture, My 6 year old daughter gets upset when I dont let her help. Like the saying "20% are willing to work and 80% are willing to let them," its difficult to find good workers.

A few weeks ago I paid 1.99 in Turlock and was ready to have a celebration but that happieness ended real quick after a few days and now back up to 3.19.

Wow, a $1.99?

I haven't seen that price in a very long time.

Oh, and yes, that is a cool avatar....is it going into the advertising as well?

Its father and son/daughter Avatar time.

Its cheaper to fly to Hawaii that Nebraska

Mo wrote:Its father and son/daughter Avatar time.

Its cheaper to fly to Hawaii that Nebraska

I actually saw that too....been watching for airfare deals for the trip next year.

Home advisor doesnt mess with seo, its no different than when you google your business name and you see your yelp ad up there near the top. Its just the way it is, these companies spend big money on google placement.


Any lead you feel is a tire kicker or illegitimate, they will instantly refund. I had a few so far that I was unable to contact by phone, they credited them to my account without fuss.


Service magic was notorious for the crap leads, a new company bought them out years back and its a whole new system. Service magic actually got into trouble for that with the attorney general because they had ads saying things like "get a free consultation from a certified contractor" then selling it as a lead to the construction company.

Top 3 yelp - Angies list - home advisor according to several friends that own service companies which are much larger than us... anywhere from 6-15 trucks

Davey Cracker wrote:

Matt; My carpet cleaner wrote:Find some young stay at home moms that like to gab: Facebook, face to face or what ever; offer her a % of each paying job.

How does that work for you??

My experience is it only last a short time (A job or two), and then they slack off and nothing............But that was a long time ago, pre-interwebs era.....maybe those soccer mom's have changed?

From what I've seen..very good. There is a PM group owned and run by 5 Ladies. They are going gang busters. Think about this? Women to women service. Most of the time we are dealing with the Lady of the house. Want an advantage; get a women involved. Answer phones, billing, QC phone calls.