do Web pages generate leads?

9800 Views 66 Replies 22 Participants Last post by alta, Apr 3, 2008

scottyd2506

Discussion Starter · Oct 8, 2007 (Edited)

I am thinking of making me a web page for my painting company.

I am new to this for the most part, I had my own company back in 1998-1999 (some2000), most of my jobs was relitaves, friends, 6-8 reguler cutomers.
It got to be too slow as newspaper adds were tire kickers looking to have the job done for minimum wage, yellow page add generated 1 call every 1-2 months, and that was mostly insurance claims.

I took up a job and worked for the other guy, a large company who mostly does GC work... the 4 owners would NOT allow me to do side jobs while working for them (sometimes I can't blame them), so I could not nurse my business up... I did take the first summer off and finnished some work I promised to some clients, who wanted more rooms done and called me back telling me who this other painter they hired had paint peeling from the wall , and slopped up the jobs, with my house I just bought, and my job, I did not have time...

In the almost 8 years I worked for them I learned quite bit bit
99% of my work was sanding, staining, sweeping, taping.. doing mostly high end new homes and high end remodel.
in 2006 after I slipped off a ladder with a wrung missing on it, while we was bleaching a house, I messed my my felt shoulder some, in early 2007 I developed a Hernia and doc found I had two small hernias (probablty from my younger more crazy heavy athletic days, that is now haunting me some) ...I scheduled to get myself fixed in Aug 2007, and I think they had enough and let me go a month before.
It is business and I can understand not wanting to take chances with a cripple.... not bad feeling on that part.
I did get fixed and after 2 months I am healed, and back in shape

I am ready to get back into it.... I have a Binks pot HVLP unit and a goo dGraco Gun, but I want a Good Airless unit as I always had to thin/water down my paints to get results with high gloss oils and latex. still have all my tarps and other stuff..

My only problem is getting leads,,,, I also tried calling home owners back 9 years ago, and around here people HATE Telemarkers with a HOT HORRIBLE PASSION

I plan to go direct mail sometime, but wanted to know if anyone has any luck with a webpage and if so, how much per month do you get from them...
I am looking around to find some free wep page tools and graphics editors on the net.. I made my own web pages back in the early 90's (a hobby page on uboats), but thigs are differnt, please can anyone direct me to some web and graphics tools.

sorry for the typos and long wind... kind of excited to be back...
I know I can make it work IF I can just get the word out enough.

Scott

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Nathan

· #2 · Oct 8, 2007

Hey Scott and welcome to the site!

Websites can be a great leads generator but that isn't where I would start. They only generate leads when they are well designed (I'd recommend professionally designed) and have some time to get picked up and over time well placed in the search engines. You can buy some advertising in the search engines but once again that isn't where I would start. The best way to use a website is to reinforce your other advertising methods. Say you end out a post card or have an ad in the newspaper, listing your web address where people can find more info can go a long way.

So, maybe just some intro on getting your name out there would be a better discussion.

scottyd2506

Discussion Starter · #3 · Oct 8, 2007 (Edited)

Thanks for the info Natthan, and quick reply.I know what you mean, and I would not use one type on advertizing in the long term. Right now I need what I can get, I may try the newspaper again..
Right now I am just a one man show...I do everything, so I do not need mega advertizing to keep a crew from collecting unemployment on me, a $1,500.00 job or equiv every 2 weeks.

I thought about door to door, I'm not too bad at it, but a lot of the sub divisions have rules against this stuff around here, they are considerd private.
I have no referals, they like my work, but on the other hand do not want to be bothered by callers.

A lot of people don't mind as I usually do "pay when it's done", or I do pay per room, so if I ever get burned, and I'll not lose out the whole house/job earnings.
Everyone loves the work (I do a lot of prep),. But I have been gone for a long time...

Can't get back into the yellow pages till 2008,

I used to be on a paint forum years back, contractors message forum, maybe it is this one upgraded... don't remember some of the names.. lots of great guys/gals... Richard Kaller and a bunch of others, don't remember all the names.... lots of good folks with good info.
I have been reading on here for awhile now, and you guys know a lot of stuff, any extra advertizing tips would be appreciated too.

later

scot

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Humble Abode

· #4 · Oct 8, 2007

I agree with Nathan. I get a lot of leads through my website and the Internet in general. But I didn't start getting serious leads until it was up for over a year.

For good short term marketing I would recommend neighborhood canvasing. Get a job in one neighborhood, put up a job sign, put up 100 door hangers, send out 200 Jobsite Proximity Mailings (some people recommend a JPM at the start and finish). You are nearly guaranteed to get a few leads and a job if you can sell and have your prices right.

So many factors go into it... I shouldn't say guaranteed. You will probably have to do some experimenting.

Start with your website now though, it will be kicking next fall. I paid $800ish for the initial build and to maintain it I pay $60 or $70 per month. It was designed by FootBridgeMedia.com.

scottyd2506

Discussion Starter · #5 · Oct 9, 2007

thanks again

I do not plan to spend that much on a web page, I would like to use a free service like myspace or something to that order, I can use another pro web page and convert the text and graphics over to my won as there is no copywrite on the page layout alone.

No, I am not in the mindset to think I can advertise for free..
In general, You have to spend money to make money, at least for the most part, or unitl I get a good word of mouth going. I may set my own server up someday. starting up is always the hard part

My last employer put a small $70 add in the yelow pages once a year, thats all the advertizing they did...they have more work then they can dream of, of course 90% of it is CG new homes, most remodel jobs come from word of mouth and a certain paint store sends about everyone to them.

anyways, I live in a town of almost 60,000 pop, 100k county, there are around 10-15 paint contractors in the phone book at a given time, 1/2 of them ae there a year or two and are gone.. none of them have a web page
so I figured maybe I'll have something on them, I need what I can get.

All your information is very valuable, the doorhangers in the area around you is a good thought, got to get a ext job lined up firrst, most of mine is int, as 99% of home owners have gone to alu or vinyl siding or even steel around here.
thanks again

scott

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Nathan

· #6 · Oct 9, 2007

Scott,

Personally I wouldn't send people to a myspace page. It's not the most professional website if you know what I mean. At this point, if your not willing to spend some money on a website, I'd just skip it for now. I think no website is better than a really bad website.

I would recommend adding a Free listing on the contractortalk.com directory. You can read about it here: http://www.contractortalk.com/directory/signup_contractor.php
Use the showcase listing for the best results and make sure you create both an account AND a listing. A lot of people create an account and think they are done and their company never gets listed.

Here is an example listing: http://www.contractortalk.com/contractors/Ekedal_Masonry_Concrete.html

If you like you can register a domain name forward your traffic to your listing until you get the money for a real site. Either way it's free and might be a good option for you. :thumbsup:

SgtBaldy

· #7 · Oct 9, 2007

I have had a myspace page up for 2 yrs and had one good lead. It is more of a pain to check everyday than it is worth. Met a few painters though.

You got to have a main site to do biz. My website generates 4 good leads a week. It has been up almost 3 years.

Nathan

· #8 · Oct 9, 2007

SgtBaldy said:
You got to have a main site to do biz. My website generates 4 good leads a week. It has been up almost 3 years.

It's a nice site!
If you don't mind me asking how much did it cost you to get running and do you pay any monthly fees beyond hosting?

Tmrrptr

· #9 · Oct 10, 2007

I looked at the Tampa Painters AND the critters...

Nice looking websites!

I don't think myspace would be a good idea.
r

Workaholic

· #10 · Oct 10, 2007

Yeah that is a nice site
Why no gallery?

scottyd2506

Discussion Starter · #11 · Oct 10, 2007

SgtBaldy said:
I have had a myspace page up for 2 yrs and had one good lead. It is more of a pain to check everyday than it is worth. Met a few painters though.

You got to have a main site to do biz. My website generates 4 good leads a week. It has been up almost 3 years.

That is the advice I need, thank you!! (all of you).

I was thinking of myspace or something equivelent but... one good lead in 2 years is not worth it at all..
But 4 good leads a week is VERY very impressive.

Does any other paint outfits have web pages in the area?

scott

FHI Decks & Windows

· #12 · Oct 10, 2007

My two cents, I had a crappy website for a year and it produced next to nothing for leads. Most of my visits lasted only a few seconds because it was just an ugly site. My new site has been up for a little over 5 months and it is producing around 5 leads a week now. George (a member here) gets 4 times my lead volume so you might want to talk to him.

I used to pay for on-line lead services, now I run more appointments for less money, my website pays for itself every two weeks! My start up cost was around $500 for the design and SEO work. Here's the tough part, I spend 5-10 hours a week building links and getting my company listed in directories (you have to spend time or pay someone else).

George Z

· #13 · Oct 10, 2007

we get about 30-40 leads a week, mostly from our website.
I can't be bothered counting anymore.
If they sound good, we get to them.
Some of them are really good leads that became jobs.
Office depot, The Design Exchange,
Lululemon (11 stores different colours twice a year, every year)
http://www.ecopainting.ca/Eco_friendly_Painting_and_Retail_Lululemon.featured.html
9 floors of an Insurance company headquarters and many more:
http://www.ecopainting.ca/Commercial_Painting_Services_List_of_clients.art.html

Having said that,
this is our 4th website and we serve an area of almost 4 million people.

Is a website worth it?

Yes.
But like anything else, it is buyer beware
and you have to work hard at it.
I am constantly working on it,
even after paying someone money for links,
a content Management Program etc.

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Nathan

· #14 · Oct 10, 2007

George Z said:
we get about 30-40 leads a week, mostly from our website.

WOW

Is that with buying traffic to through Adwords?

George Z

· #15 · Oct 10, 2007

Nathan said:
WOW

Is that with buying traffic to through Adwords?

No, there is no point,
I set the bids very low.
Mostly organic

FHI Decks & Windows

· #16 · Oct 11, 2007

George Z said:
we get about 30-40 leads a week, mostly from our website.
.

I set a goal to catch up to your 20 leads a week..........if you keep increasing your volume how am I going to catch up?

Think about other people once in a while!:jester:

PainterKevin

· #17 · Oct 11, 2007

Some additional information

There has been a lot of good feedback on this thread about websites. I think most are spot-on about how it will take time for your search engine optimization to work out. At that point, you will start generating more quality leads from your site. One recommendation I would have is if you are going to put the time into a Myspace site, you mine as well just develop your own independent website. From GoDaddy.com or 1and1.com, you can get a website hosted for a year, with beginner website design software for under $10 per year. 1and1 is under $7, I think. Doing a website through this avenue, you will probably have to use other mediums than SEO to get traffic to your site, however you can always upgrade your site once you get cash flowing through your business. Good luck!

Tmrrptr

· #18 · Oct 11, 2007

Excellent info...
Proper website may one day allow you to go global!
r

scottyd2506

Discussion Starter · #19 · Oct 14, 2007

I plan to build my own page using a effective template, my own pictures and text.
I am willing to spend to make it happen, how much does it costs, say if my company is jdpaintingpros, can I have www.jdpaintingpros.com (org etc)?

Cost per month?

Do you run your own server, or do you put the info on a site and they give (rest, sell) you the address name?

Just want to thank you all for the intelligent info.

scotty

Nathan

· #20 · Oct 14, 2007

One bit of SEO (search engine optimization) advise is to link o your homepage using keywords in the footer of your posts on this site and contractortalk.com.
I've seen some websites rank very well and the only backlinks they had were from ContractorTalk.com.

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