Got a sales call from Angie’s list yesterday as usual. The interesting thing was he explained they no longer charge people for accounts. He says now when you search the list of providers is limited and if you don’t pay then you might not be shown.
It then clicked why we haven’t gotten any new customers from Angie’s list the last couple months. We got a couple in March and April, but nothing after. I created an account and searched for window cleaning. Sure enough, we don’t appear at all.
I don’t know if he was just acting impressed, but he said only a dozen C rated or worse reviews out of over 500 reviews was the best he had ever seen. Of course he probably said that just to make a sale. If we have such a good rating shouldn’t we be on the list somewhere?
I guess if you want to appear on Angie’s list now you have to pay.
We’re going to look at it. The listing cost is based on the number of members they have in that zip code. So if they have 100 it is cheaper then 1,000.
He kept talking about how we need to lock in rates now because of all the new members they are getting.
We were always the first non-paid result in our area. Now we don’t show up at all.
I pull the strings
Do what I tell’em, buy what I sell’em
Puppet master, See my muppets, they like ducats
Come to the boss if you need some work ~ ice cube
Lol really " they just want to be friends forget about that C-note you have in your back pocket ". An you believed them was it the right number when you tried to call ?
Angie’s List would not be worth even $500 a month if they brought in the same amount of customers they did in the past 2 years. They were only beating the phone book on new customer acquisition.
It seems a lot of these business listing websites are following a similar route, and its very reminiscent of how the printed phone books went about 10 years ago.
I had a free advert in the phone book for years - which never bought in much work at all, so one year I decided to try the bigger paid ad,… the paid ad didn’t bring in any work, so I didn’t renew the next year & just assumed my free listing would return. When it didn’t I phoned them up & was told that thats how it was going to be from now on,… I wouldn’t get back in without paying!
More & more people are just searching Google directly & skipping the Angie’s List type middle men, and I reckon if the trend continues, these sites will soon be on the decline.
I was talking with a client this week about Angie’s list . And she was mentioning how she really dislikes all theses middle people/websites that charge so many fees and really don’t do anything .
Those business listings sites used to be useful though, back when the internet was new & Google search was a bit hit & miss - and when a lot of businesses weren’t online at all, or had a fairly basic site,… those days are long gone - but these companies are going to squeeze every last cent out of this scheme before they admit defeat!
angies list–what a rip–2 months-$150 a month- 1 tiny job…i’ve talked to them…nothing…going to break contract…you forum guys warned me…a rip…i’m transitioning to appliance repair after 25 yrs as w/c and powwrasher…excited…will sub out the work or something…but angies list…i’m pissed…jerks…
Home advisor is without a doubt 1 of the worst marketing decisions i made during the recession. All lowball,shoppers and i was competing with illegals,no insurance, under the table scabs. You get charged every click ,its outrageous. Also beware of Indeed for help wanted. I hear,angies no better
You guys get ripped off bad over there - Its years since I did and of those online business listing websites, but when i did it was 1/3rd that price and I was on one of the top packages! You could get a LOT more online exposure with that budget just by having a decent website & paying for some content creation or blog management each month…
