If you are paying for leads you need to read this now.

I am Ron Ramsden, I am a DYB Coach, also a painting contractor here in Northern Massachusetts.

I was having breakfast this morning, one of the other people at the table was a painting contractor from my area, yes, I am friends with other painting contractors from my area.

The meeting was just kind of a social event and we didn’t mean to speak much of the business in the painting world but of course that comes up.

He went on to tell me that over the past month, he spent $1,200 on painting leads through two different painting lead sources.

I almost fell over!

I asked more questions because it’s been about 15 years since I used this one company.

That company actually ended up changing their name because they had such bad reviews.

He was telling me that this morning he woke up and had 3 leads sitting in his email.

Most of the time they were bad leads and he actually had to go to the bank to stop them from accessing money for the leads.

I don’t know how that all worked and I am not getting into that.

Anyways, he told me yesterday, he went on 5 estimates, one of them he walked into and he already knew he didn’t want to be there, bad area and such.

The other two, he knew would be way too expensive.

There is no figuring out what you are going to, there is no pre-qualifying these leads that are coming from these lead companies.

In fact, imagine this, if you are living in someone else’s house, you are looking around saying, boy, this place needs painting, I am going to get him an estimate.

A painting contractor goes in, you fill out all this information, being the homeowner, and the contractor on the other side sees this, comes up and says “oh, they want 4 rooms,” this painting contractor hits accept, even if it was a bad lead, that just cost that contractor $70.

It adds up quick; depending on the size of the job, is how much money these leads cost and then you don’t get a refund if it is a bad lead.

You request a refund back and they give you credits back instead.

He was telling me he’s requested credits back for bad leads so many times in the last few months that he can no longer request credits back for the next 7 weeks, kind of a scam if you ask me.

Anyways, I just want to review really quick how we do NOT pay for leads.

I just can’t fathom it in this day and age why you would pay for a lead!

I know there are a few contractors that do and they turn it on and off, but there is no reason to, and I am going to show you why.

Utilize these tools and never pay for leads again:

• Social Media

Social media is VERY strong.

You have Facebook, Twitter, and also Google reviews.

All of these things will bring you straight to the top and will help you to stay top of mind when someone is looking for a contractor.

One of the other things we do to stay top of mind and also to be the person out there that people want to work for and they refer us is, we send thank you notes, and we also send “nice to meet you notes.”

Maybe we gave an estimate, we’d then send a thank you note saying, “hey, thank you for the opportunity.”

We also afford a networking event, and just recently, we were at ASPCA which is where they bring the animals that nobody wants anymore.

They had a function called “Ales & Tails,” here they had Beer and Dogs and Cats, and it was kind of an adoption sort of thing.

I met someone there, I got their information while chatting, I got their business card, the next day I sent the “nice to meet you” note.

He’s going to remember us, nobody sends a hand-written card anymore, so that’s another way.

• Networking

Networking is huge!

Rotary, Chamber of Commerce, etc.

I just wanted to go over some numbers, I mentioned that they had $1,200 in leads.

Honestly, I think he said he’s only had 3 or 4 jobs, but with $1,200, I can do a lot.

• B.N.I.

B.N.I is Business Networking International, it costs me $600 a year.

It’s everywhere across the United States, and in my group, there are almost 40 people and out of the 40 people, only one person can hold the painting seat and that is mine.

Another painter can’t come in, even if he comes in to visit, they can’t speak because I own the seat.

We meet weekly so that costs about $600 a year to be a member.

There are room dues, we rent the room that we have and also we have hot coffee there, that cost about $200 a year, I pre-pay it, if you don’t pre-pay it, you pay it by the quarter, it’s slightly more money.

My exception here is $200, 2 times a year, I give a 10-minute presentation when you give a presentation, you bring a gift for the room and also maybe some other things that I buy through B.N.I, maybe dinner or something like that.

My total outlay for an entire year is $1,000.

Through B.N.I. In the last 2 months, I have gotten about $15,000 worth of business.

• Online Services

He is paying, between $30 and $70 per lead depending on how big the lead is.

Can you imagine an exterior?

It’s probably going to be $70, $80 or $100 a lead.

Also, this lead is going to 3-5 other painters, so you really battling…

You are not just presenting to a homeowner, you are presenting and trying to beat the homeowner generally in price.

You’ve got to remember the homeowner isn’t looking for value, you are nobody to them because they don’t know you, you have no proven record for them.

If they knew a painter, they would have called them, instead, they went online and went to this lead generation thing.

He spent $1,200 in the last month, 5 estimates yesterday, he had 3 leads this morning when he woke up, 2 estimates in the last week were no-show estimates.

Meaning he actually got to the appointment that he made and the people weren’t home, he even told me he called them at noontime to let them know he would be there and they said yes and when he got to the house, nothing.

I had a story from way back when I actually made an appointment with a homeowner, using a lead service.

It was about 15 years ago, I learned my lesson, that’s why I am telling you, don’t do it.

I got to the job to give them a price and there is already a painter painting!

The homeowner was very sorry but it still cost me about $35 because I accepted that estimate.

Anyways, work on all of these aspects, also networking, and remember do NOT pay for leads.

Get reviews up on Google, those are so, so strong.

• Charity events

That’s another way we got our name out there, it gave us a name.

Get out there, help someone out, paint something if you can on a day off.

You can sit in front of the computer and play with these silly leads that you guys are paying for, or you can go out and call your local charity and ask them what they need painted for the day.

It’s going to repay you more in the long run.

You can paint a room for a local charity or you can sit there, I think this local charity in my eyes, is going to refer you, they are going to put you in their company newsletter and everybody who works there is going to talk about you.

Please, please, please… do NOT pay for leads.

I am Ron Ramsden, I am a DYB coach, also a painting contractor here in Massachusetts.

If you want to get in touch with me, I am ron@dybcoach.com, find me on Facebook here, send me a message, we can chat on Facebook, we can chat via email.

If you’d like, we can even chat on the phone, I would be more than happy to help you work on your business so you don’t have to work in your business.

Have a great day and don’t pay for leads!