paying for leads

[Justus Lambros]

Just wondering if any builders have tried subscribing to the .com lead generating sites that are available. Two that come to mind are: decks.com and build me a deck .com
Were they successful for you? Did they generate the type of leads you were hoping for? Would you recommend them?

Thanks,

Signature Decks
www.sigdecks.com

[jhutch]

I'd like to know about these sources also. Does anyone have any experience with them?

[Brian Crisler]

My understanding from other contractors is that since you pay for the leads, you end up getting a lot of junk leads. That's just what I heard.

Brian

[John Hyatt]

Nothing but Junk leads. I did try to make a deal with service magic or something like that I told them I would pay for the jobs that came in. The little girl on the phone was a little less than nice with that request.

The best thing to do is get a good rating on Angies List. After one goes really well see if your Wallet with recomend you over there. JonMon

[thedeckbarn]

Use them if you have money to burn. I used renovations.com and another that had Bob Villa's name on it. Got ripped off bad. Well over 5,000 fall of 08. Once they get your credit card it is almost impossible to get rid of them. I had to cancel my credit card. You will be a lot better off to learn seo and let real customers find you that way. Because that's all those lead generation services are is some goof who knows web sites and how to get them listed. If you look at all the sites when you type in a search like decks, you will find most of those bottom feeders prowling around trying to get your leads you would have had with some proper seo yourself.
seo is search engine optimazation.
Than when you finally find a lead that is real there are at least 20 other guys like you bidding on the same 4x4 platform with 1 step, by the side of the garage in okey fanoke nowheresville you drove 1/2 hour to get there. These guys make there money by selling the leads to as moany hardworking guys as they can. Don't believe there b.s. when they call you and say " I need a good contractor, just like you. I'm way overbooked and have 100's of good solid leads. Its another trick to get your money in hard times.

They do absolutely no checks other than process your credit card.
steve scholl
www.thedeckbarn.com

[ctdecks]

never got a a single lead from decks.com.
service magic is hit or miss, you will get leads and many will not pan out, but a few will work out.

[cfbrew2]

Service Magic is great if you like competing against 3 other people who are desperate for work and cheap homeowners. Once they sign you up they use your name in their advertising so if people look for you, they are directed to SMs site. It is very hard to get a refund for bad leads and your closing ratio will be about 10%.
www.apexcarpentryinc.com

[Bayn Wood]

Build me a deck ... I believe is a offshoot company of a Michigan deck building company. For us being deck builders in MI why would we support another deck builder, and their website is not ranked very high from what I have seen.

Decks.com's website does rank better ... I am surprised they don't get any leads from that site. It must help your website SEO being on Decks. com

[thedeckbarn]

buildmeadeck.com is dennis schaefer he used to or still does own creative wood products in fenton michigan. decks.com is owned by erik stalemark whose claim to fame is registering decks.com in 96. He wants $1,000 a year to be listed on a site with all the same guys you have to compete with all year long. I've paid it and don't anymore. Both are former deck builders and may still be.
steve scholl
www.killerdeck.com
www.thedeckbarn.com

[redzventures]

It is no good rubbishing lead generation companies. I have used them in my landscaping and excavating business. What you need to realize is that a lead from anywhere does not guarantee a sale, whether you generated it yourself or whether you purchased it. Because prospectors will shop around anyway.

It is important that you do your homework into the background of the lead generation company that you intend to use, because some leads are better and/or different from others, depending upon the method used for generation.

Then, there's your pricing and customer service that could have lost you the sale. Anyway, I'd use them again.

www.americasbestexcavators.com/