Handyman Hustle Ep. 10 Marketing
Welcome to the handyman hustle, I am your host Joseph the handyman.
On today's episode, I will be discussing a marketing strategies that I have used in my business to obtain new customers.
When I first started my handyman business, I depend highly on referrals and word of mouth to obtain new customers.
As a part time business, this seemed to keep me busy enough after work and on the weekends.
As I grew, i wanted take a part time job into a full time business that I really enjoyed.
As more and more handyman type businesses opened up in my area, I quickly realized that it will be harder and harder to keep depending on that method to obtain clients.
I first tried paying for leads through 3rd party lead providers like thumbtack, yelp, and Angie leads, which I found out was very expensive and didn’t generate the stable results I wanted for long term growth.
For those that haven’t tried 3rd party lead providers let me elaborate.
The way 3rd party lead providers work, is by setting up a vendor profile, uploading pictures of work you have done on that profile, and then getting reviews to establish your credibility.
Once you do that, you can set a monthly budget on how many leads you want to generate on a weekly or monthly basis.
Your budget can range from $100-$300 per week, and normally bills you out monthly.
Keep in mind, this is just to get a lead or “to get the phone to ring” but there is no guarantee that the lead will convert into an actual paying customer.
Here is what I found out when trying to use these services:
The leads are not exclusive to you or your business.
This is the most expensive way to obtain a new client.
These leads are not qualified in any type of way so you may pay for and get leads for services you don’t provide, even though the 3rd party lead provider will make all these promises that they do qualify their leads.
For short term, they do provide a constant method of generating oppertunities for new business.
They can help fill in gaps in your work schedule were you may be slower.
They can also help give you more exposure to see what people are looking for in your area.
3rd party lead providers are a good way to build short term growth and in the correct market may generate short term success.
For long term growth, One of the methods I also implemented early on was working with a local marketing professional.
This agency implemented a plan to grow my online presence through SEO, or Search Engine Optimization.
This is a marketing strategy in which the agency you work with, will actively work to keep your business ranked on the first page of google search results., as google has become the dominant search engine in the world.
They do this by creating a website that is designed with keywords, phrases, blogs, pictures, services that you offer, locations, and areas you serve.
They combine all that information and use an algorithm to help people find your business based on the services you offer or the keywords that they are searching for.
This method does take more time to generate leads and does cost more money upfront to build the Webiste but can reduce your cost to obtain a new customer substantially by generating more organic leads, which will be cheaper than 3rd party lead providers.
The cost to have a professional website made by a marketing agency can vary between $1500-$3000 but you own the website and the domain name.
You will also have to pay a monthly monitoring fee of anywhere between $400-$900 a month.
This fee normally covers things, such as maintenance of the website, changes you want implemented on the website, updated keywords to keep you ranked, and a monthly report to see how the work they are doing is generating you more bsuiness.
Most agencies can also combine their SEO services which produce organic leads, with paid lead services using google ads, Facebook ads, etc.
I would recommend starting this services first then the 3rd party lead providers, as this does take time to see results.
Once you see the SEO working and generating you organic leads, you can stop or reduce the amount of paid for leads you are getting through ads and/or 3rd party lead providers.
This method has worked in reducing our cost, growing our business, and giving us a professional image that clients really appreciate.
This concludes this episode of the handyman hustle. Please feel free to leave your feedback by posting a comment or emailing us directly at information@josephthehandyman.net.
Motivate, educate, and elevate, you and your handyman hustle, until we speak again.
