Angie's list vs. Craigslist and other ads

[ATH]

Had some clients come through Nextdoor...but I unsubscribed from that because every day there were 10 lost cat messages.

Here is the email I got from Nextdoor yesterday:
"Last week, your business appeared as a top result when neighbors searched for similar businesses.
74% of searches are from neighbors less than 10 miles away.
Create an ad campaign and turn interested neighbors into local customers."

Uhhh, so I pay you nothing and I'm the top result on your search, but should pay you something to get....what is it? No thanks.

 

[climbingmonkey24]

I’ve never really pursued Nextdoor or thumbtack or whatever it’s called. Anyone have any success?

Regarding HA, building off of what @ATH said the reality is with our industry is you constantly need new clients to sustain your business. It’s not like owning a store where people come in every week to shop. Customers may call you back when they need you, but that could be once every 1-3 years or even longer (depending on their property of course and what they have for trees / shrubs).

I think a good way of looking at it would be to not necessarily rely on Angi by itself but to use it in conjunction with other resources.

Maybe create a monthly budget for what you’re willing to spend on advertising / leads and then figure out how much money you want to allocate to each individual marketing source based on how they perform in terms of money spent versus leads generated / jobs won, etc.

It’s not a one size fits all. Marketing strategy could vary for each individual business, but it definitely doesn’t hurt to learn from each other and share tips / things learned along the way

 

[southsoundtree]

Nextdoor had been useful to me. I use it to connect with my very local, target market, and offer lumber to the greater area.

 

[tomstrees]

A local landscaper who was supervisor at my Home Depot recommended Facebook marketplace, but I don't have a lot of connections on there. The problem with self employment in the tree field is you may do a superlative job, in terms of turn around time, cost, efficiency, etc. and you get no glory. You get paid and that's all there is, may get a referral maybe not. And since I have no labor source and am unwilling to go to the grey market of likely illegal labor at $150 a day, picking them up, feeding the worker, dropping them off with the cash they demand, I'm limited.