Well, I've done it

[Brian R]

I know I will catch hell from this because it will appear that I am waffleing.
I've tried them and tracked them and even really tried to make them work.

I've canceled Service Magic and Reach Local.

At the end of the day, the money made from these leads isn't worth the hassle.

I've made only a few hundred dollars from each after expenses but have wasted precious time on making them work.

I still get way more work from other avenues so I will put my focus there.

They are good ideas, but are not executed in a manner that really helps the Carpet Cleaner.

They help the adveriser, which is usually the way it goes, so they can kiss my ass.

When I did it, I could feel the stress being lifted off of my shoulders.


I would spend an hour a day dealing with these ads and it just isn't worth it.

Still nothing beats word of mouth and repeats........nothing.

 

[Nate The Great]

:roll: lol.

My pops wanted to try SM and did. I kept telling him it's a waste of time and money. He got leads but non followed through. Exact matches and SM charged more. In the end, I try and learn for others who been there and done that.

Having faith is one thing, throwing your money away is another.

 

[Brian R]

:roll: lol.

My pops wanted to try SM and did. I kept telling him it's a waste of time and money. He got leads but non followed through. Exact matches and SM charged more. In the end, I try and learn for others who been there and done that.

Having faith is one thing, throwing your money away is another.

Honestly it wouldn't be so bad if I were just an owner operator. But the way I am doing things, it just isn't making enough money.

I posted my numbers in another thread. With customer retention and the amount of money being made, an O/O would do ok.


On the other hand...an O/O might not be able to follow up as well because of doing the jobs.

It's a catch 22.

 

[dgargan]

We are getting a 3 to 1 return. Not great. I like to have atleast a 4 to 1 return on marketing but I'll stay with SM enless it drops.

David

 

[Royal Man]

About time you came to your senses Brian!

 

[Brian R]

About time you came to your senses Brian!

I saw that coming.

Not horrible or anthing, just isn't going to make me rich.
You know howitis.

 

[Brian R]

I noticed you only had 1 review on SM and that customer had not even had the work done yet. I found that reviews help a lot in closing. Given that you were on SM longer than I and presumably had more jobs were you just not asking for reviews/ not using the tools provided by SM?

I understand that your business model is different than mine but I've found managing SM takes very little time and when the referrals and repeats are factored in it is really good. At face value it is at the very least as good as a direct marketing campaign figuring a .01 return without the risk of a bomb.

I understand there are cheaper ways to acquire customers but most of those don't provide the volume. What have you done to replace SM? Mind giving some numbers on those campaigns?

I did use the tool for the reviews and even asked the customers directly. Never had a problem with quality of work, I guess they just didn't do it.
Oh well,

I am busy enough (never busy enough) with repeats and referals to not worry about it that much.
I am taking the money from both Reach and SM and puting into some online adverting (local targets) and raising the ads I have now that promote my website....That hasn't kicked in yet so I am just trying to save a little bit of that marketing money.

I just recieved a bill for my first month of online ads from a small advertiser that puts you in the phone book for "free" if you advertise online...really good deal (economy?) so I couldn't pass it up.
I was in that phone book (just the book) a few years ago with a small ad and it did really well considering it's a phone book.

I am spending alot of time estimating, meeting, cold calling, following up, retouching you name it.
Those two programs (reach and SM) just took too much time away from better programs. Some other stuff I am doing runs themselves so all I have to do is follow the customer when they come...I don't have to work as hard to get them because they are calling me directly.

I will keep my eyes and mind open for other programs.

I am glad it is working for you.