Re: Is Anyone Having Success (serious question)???

MR · ‎April 07, 2019

The title of the thread is the simple question I ask: Are you still finding success on Thumbtack?

(for those who are not, let's not post here - lets let this thread just be for the one's with positive feedback)

If so, tell us:

what line of work you are in?

where generally you are located?

Do you use promote?

About how long have you been with Thumbtack?

Are you more successful in the last 6 months than before that? (if applicable)

Why you consider things to be successful?

Besides "respond quickly and often" and "have a great profile"... what advice would you give us having troubles?

Thank you - your responses are very appreciated.

Thank you.

MR · ‎April 08, 2019

Just replying to my own thread to (hopefully) bring it back to the top of the stack for visibility.

Pros with success stories - please post here.

DustiO · ‎April 08, 2019

@vaughn, @ontherockies, @Penn-The-Moment , @SharonM7, @alangholt, @Rebus, @perrysto, @jbelden, @LZDNVG, @Producify, @Ksphoto, @GreyBugPhoto, @LVphotog, @Guatamama, @Carlesha, @GlamorousDrinks, @craftyfunwpam, @JodiWeddings, @PatriciaN, @Sarah-Rooforia, @CLGPatrick, @Dessi, @Patricia, @JSGDS, @SaraO, @StvRich, @keiradavis27, @Barbeve, @appreciateit, @JoyofMovement, @shafiqmallory49, @Apollo19147, @mobilegrooming, @EnglishTrainer, @CourtneyCulkin

Do you guys have any insight to offer here? Would love to hear from you!

JoyofMovement · ‎April 08, 2019

Yes! Thumbtack has sent me most of my clients, and my business has grown substantially over the past two years! Thumbtack works very well for me and my personal training business!

JoyofMovement · ‎April 08, 2019

@DustiO wrote:
@vaughn, @ontherockies, @Penn-The-Moment , @SharonM7, @alangholt, @Rebus, @perrysto, @jbelden, @LZDNVG, @Producify, @Ksphoto, @GreyBugPhoto, @LVphotog, @Guatamama, @Carlesha, @GlamorousDrinks, @craftyfunwpam, @JodiWeddings, @PatriciaN, @Sarah-Rooforia, @CLGPatrick, @Dessi, @Patricia, @JSGDS, @SaraO, @StvRich, @keiradavis27, @Barbeve, @appreciateit, @JoyofMovement, @shafiqmallory49, @Apollo19147, @mobilegrooming, @EnglishTrainer, @CourtneyCulkin
Do you guys have any insight to offer here? Would love to hear from you!
Yes! Thumbtack has sent me most of my clients, and my business has grown substantially over the past two years! Thumbtack works very well for me and my personal training business!

alangholt · ‎April 08, 2019

Okay - so the first year of my wedding officiant business, my goals were volume, pictures, and testimonials. So I charged less than most of the others, and got 65 gigs. My second year, I got 85. My prices were low, but my value was high. 95-99% of my business back then was TT.

I think that basically TT customers want cheap prices - they're close to groupon customers. So, now that I'm in my 4th year as a wedding officiant, and I have packages with options, and my prices are more competitive, because they can be, and because my time is really worth it, I am getting most of my business via my website, and I've stopped using "automatic quoting" because it was costing me too much. My prices are more of the going rate - which TT buyers are mostly looking for a deal. I do get SOME customers from TT now, but it's more like 10% of my business compared with before.

LZDNVG · ‎April 08, 2019

@alangholt

Interesting you say, "I think that basically TT customers want cheap prices - they're close to groupon customers."

My experience couldn't be more different. In my industry, I am the most expensive and have been hired the most in my area, 3x more than second place.

I think Thumbtack is so different for each pro depending on the industry that companies really need to figure out what works for them personally. It takes trial and error. I started lower and got a lot more business when I raised my prices.

MR · ‎April 08, 2019

Thank you all for responding - it is great information and indeed valuable. Please keep the input going!

To your point @LZDNVG , I think you are right in that the results may vary greatly by line of work. Hopefully we can get a good cross section of different professions here to see what may be specific to one area and more general to another.

I do worry about lower pricing being a key way to get success. The last thing you want to do is become a runner in the race to the bottom. May have short term win, but long term it can really hurt. For me, you should charge what the market expects.. in my profession of law, a cheap lawyer is usually a broke lawyer as many believe in the theory of "you get what you pay for." Unfortunately not all of the lawyers buy in to that and some are displaying rates that are bad for the profession as a whole. There is no doubt things are more competitive, but $100 for a will is problematic.

Barbeve · ‎April 10, 2019

Great job! Yes agreed people are looking for a deal, but I personally don't settle my price. My prices are higher than some, but I do deliver quality service and stand by it. I have for a few clients reduced the price n the beginning, but refuse to do it at this time as my business is growing (thanks TT) and since I seem to do more for each and every customer, (spending time, consulting, shopping etc.) I have decided to continue to keep my rates and increase. I am now a full fledge "Business" so we all know that costs $$ too.

Thank you for helping me to get to this level! don't stop, sounds like your business is growing too!!

PatriciaN · ‎April 08, 2019

Ohh. I can answer this.