Great story - and a lot of resiliency to create a positive outcome from a non-paying client.
2
This is seriously amazing. I love it.
Can you provide some more details on the logistics when you were just starting out? Like, did you pretend to be a carpet cleaning company with a name and all, and what would you say to the customer about having someone call them back?
Have you changed the prices at all since you started (per lead)? Did the client every try to convince you to do "per booking" instead?
2
There's no need to fake it, I just took the details and told them a technician would call them back.
Of course, everyone wants to pay per booking and they'd be willing to pay more for it.... BUT... that introduces too many variables that are out of my control. What if the person answering the phone sucks? What if they don't answer emails quickly? My job is to get the leads it's the suppliers job to do everything else.
2
I love stories like this.
Do you think a similar model could work for brick & mortar stores? I have a family members that own a carpet store. I wonder if I could help them bring their store online somehow.
2
Absolutely! I'd say it's worth having some sort of online presence.
2
Props to you for realizing the opportunity and thanks for sharing. My thought is that you should use this as a template and apply it to other service related industries.
3
Yep, you're right. I've got 4 of these sites now.
I don't want to dedicate all my time to this business model though as it doesnt excite me. The beauty of earning a bit of passive income is that you can dedicate more time to things you'd rather be doing :)
2
Awesome story, mate! This was a good morning-read for me so thanks for putting in the time :-). I have two questions:
Do you have only one carpet cleaner picking up the leads? What if he wants to stop?
What's the name of your successful agency? ^^
2
Yep - one company purchasing the leads. They have been with me since the very beginning. If they ever quit on me I'm confident I could pick someone up fairly quickly. I have plenty of historical data and businesses are always keen for leads.
I'd rather not plug the agency though - I sold it and have personal reasons for not wanting to link to it publicly.
1
Sure thing, no worries! So you're a fulltime side-hustler now?
2
Yep - haven't had a real job in several years.
1
Haha, fantastic mate! That's what I'm trying to achieve but I'm nowhere near that goal yet. I actually got the dream of this lifestyle when I was backacking Oz 😊
1
If you're ever back down here hit me up. We'll go surfing!
1
I really appreciate how responsive you are in the comments section. Lots more tidbits of actionable advice down here :)
1
Really interesting read! Way to hustle!
My question is, it seems people only go through your website once. Because once they visit you (Lets say Cleaner One) and then buy Cleaner 2 and they do a great job, they will just go directly to Cleaner 2.
What is your strategy due to no (or very low) repeat business?
1
I don't think about it. There is always someone else with dirty carpet coming down the pipe.
1
Thanks Mike, that’s a really great story!
1
Thanks for the write up!
1
I love it when karma does her thing. Good going man. Very inspirational
1
Did you try expanding at all?
Selling to more than one company?
Doing some of your own PPC to increase lead counts
Selling shared leads?
1
Yep! I tried all those things and while they all work they complicate things. In the end I valued simplicity over anything else.
One website, one lead buyer makes things so much easier. I dont desire to be the king of carpet cleaning so Im happy with the passive income and spend more time on projects I prefer.
1
I currently work in Lead gen. so I understand what you mean. That income for a single person is great!
1
@benko I’m seriously inspired by this. Would love to find out details about the early days of execution. Are you up for chatting??
1
Maybe... how keen are you to talk? I'm happy to make some effort if you are.
How's this? If you're keen to try this do some keyword research, come up with a viable niche, location and for bonus points register a domain name. Show me you're willing to put in some work. Then, come back here and leave a comment. Then I'll happily jump on Hangouts and you can ask as many questions as you like.
Fair?
2
Haha, I have already done all of the above before reading this 😂 I'm the proud new owner of ChicagoWoodFlooring.Info :)
1
There's a decent amount of competition....but I wanted to do something home-related that's relatively expensive and easy. what do you think of my choice? I was also going to do ChicagoBoatRental or something similar but then I found this: https://www.boatsetter.com/boat-rentals?near=Chicago%2C+IL#
1
Which call forwarding service you're using?
2
I feel like answering that questions gives unnecessary weight to the importance of it. Don't get locked into the specifics... execute!
1
Really interesting case study Mike! If you don't mind me asking, how did you manage to build the initial SEO around the site to generate the original 100pvs per month?
1
Basic onpage stuff and a half dozen blog posts, good mix of content. Also, it was a very good domain name.
Getting to 100UV per month is actually easier than you might think. If you publish a dozen pages of content you'd have to be writing in gibberish NOT to get up to 100UV.
1
Could you elaborate more on the phone call forwarding? How could you verify that the calls actually went through?
1
The phone company handles all of that, provides an API and reporting.
1
Sorry if I missed it in the main article but what if a customer called in, got sent to the company, but didn't actually order the service?
2
In lead generation the client pays for the lead. It is up to the client to close the sale.
Typically there are two formats for paying for leads either Per Lead or Per Acquisition (successful sale).
1
Correct!
1
I love such stories. Nice hustle mate. What is your revenue split between Google local business listing and website?
1
No way of knowing this 100% accurately because the phone number and email is identical in both places.
1
I have two questions,
How did you get up on Google My business without going through their verification process?
How did your leads react when people from a different company turned up on their doorsteps for cleaning?
2
It's registered to my office address, which is legit as its technically a real business.
The supplier explains that to them before they arrive
1
Brilliant story. Thank you do much for sharing.
1
Great article, I like your chill attitude :)
2
Haha - I appreciate it. It means a lot from someone with an upside down profile pic. I bet you know how to have a good time! :)
1
Thanks for writing this
1
Thanks for actually sharing this Mike! ;-)
Did this "easy success" (at least it sounds the way you tell it) motivate you to try similar mechanics in another space/niche/locations?
3
I suppose everything seems easier in hindsight. However I consider it more luck than ease.
Yes! I ended up doing the same thing in Melbourne (second largest city in Australia) for carpet cleaning as well as removalists/movers in both cities. I tried a few other markets as well but those 2 yield the best results for me.
2
Awesome! It's great to see some showcases of non-SaaS business having success too.
And it's a great case for "going niche" can still earn you a great side-income.
And again, thanks for your transparency. I am sure you inspired some fellow Indie-Hackers too ;-)
1
This was a great read, thank you for sharing!
1
Awesome.
1
Very interesting story, congrats.
1
Hey Mike, love this story, and loved the lessons! :) Thanks for writing it up!
Great story - and a lot of resiliency to create a positive outcome from a non-paying client.
This is seriously amazing. I love it.
Can you provide some more details on the logistics when you were just starting out? Like, did you pretend to be a carpet cleaning company with a name and all, and what would you say to the customer about having someone call them back?
Have you changed the prices at all since you started (per lead)? Did the client every try to convince you to do "per booking" instead?
There's no need to fake it, I just took the details and told them a technician would call them back.
Of course, everyone wants to pay per booking and they'd be willing to pay more for it.... BUT... that introduces too many variables that are out of my control. What if the person answering the phone sucks? What if they don't answer emails quickly? My job is to get the leads it's the suppliers job to do everything else.
I love stories like this.
Do you think a similar model could work for brick & mortar stores? I have a family members that own a carpet store. I wonder if I could help them bring their store online somehow.
Absolutely! I'd say it's worth having some sort of online presence.
Props to you for realizing the opportunity and thanks for sharing. My thought is that you should use this as a template and apply it to other service related industries.
Yep, you're right. I've got 4 of these sites now.
I don't want to dedicate all my time to this business model though as it doesnt excite me. The beauty of earning a bit of passive income is that you can dedicate more time to things you'd rather be doing :)
Awesome story, mate! This was a good morning-read for me so thanks for putting in the time :-). I have two questions:
Do you have only one carpet cleaner picking up the leads? What if he wants to stop?
What's the name of your successful agency? ^^
Yep - one company purchasing the leads. They have been with me since the very beginning. If they ever quit on me I'm confident I could pick someone up fairly quickly. I have plenty of historical data and businesses are always keen for leads.
I'd rather not plug the agency though - I sold it and have personal reasons for not wanting to link to it publicly.
Sure thing, no worries! So you're a fulltime side-hustler now?
Yep - haven't had a real job in several years.
Haha, fantastic mate! That's what I'm trying to achieve but I'm nowhere near that goal yet. I actually got the dream of this lifestyle when I was backacking Oz 😊
If you're ever back down here hit me up. We'll go surfing!
I really appreciate how responsive you are in the comments section. Lots more tidbits of actionable advice down here :)
Really interesting read! Way to hustle!
My question is, it seems people only go through your website once. Because once they visit you (Lets say Cleaner One) and then buy Cleaner 2 and they do a great job, they will just go directly to Cleaner 2.
What is your strategy due to no (or very low) repeat business?
I don't think about it. There is always someone else with dirty carpet coming down the pipe.
Thanks Mike, that’s a really great story!
Thanks for the write up!
I love it when karma does her thing. Good going man. Very inspirational
Did you try expanding at all?
Selling to more than one company?
Doing some of your own PPC to increase lead counts
Selling shared leads?
Yep! I tried all those things and while they all work they complicate things. In the end I valued simplicity over anything else.
One website, one lead buyer makes things so much easier. I dont desire to be the king of carpet cleaning so Im happy with the passive income and spend more time on projects I prefer.
I currently work in Lead gen. so I understand what you mean. That income for a single person is great!
@benko I’m seriously inspired by this. Would love to find out details about the early days of execution. Are you up for chatting??
Maybe... how keen are you to talk? I'm happy to make some effort if you are.
How's this? If you're keen to try this do some keyword research, come up with a viable niche, location and for bonus points register a domain name. Show me you're willing to put in some work. Then, come back here and leave a comment. Then I'll happily jump on Hangouts and you can ask as many questions as you like.
Fair?
Haha, I have already done all of the above before reading this 😂 I'm the proud new owner of ChicagoWoodFlooring.Info :)
There's a decent amount of competition....but I wanted to do something home-related that's relatively expensive and easy. what do you think of my choice? I was also going to do ChicagoBoatRental or something similar but then I found this: https://www.boatsetter.com/boat-rentals?near=Chicago%2C+IL#
Which call forwarding service you're using?
I feel like answering that questions gives unnecessary weight to the importance of it. Don't get locked into the specifics... execute!
Really interesting case study Mike! If you don't mind me asking, how did you manage to build the initial SEO around the site to generate the original 100pvs per month?
Basic onpage stuff and a half dozen blog posts, good mix of content. Also, it was a very good domain name.
Getting to 100UV per month is actually easier than you might think. If you publish a dozen pages of content you'd have to be writing in gibberish NOT to get up to 100UV.
Could you elaborate more on the phone call forwarding? How could you verify that the calls actually went through?
The phone company handles all of that, provides an API and reporting.
Sorry if I missed it in the main article but what if a customer called in, got sent to the company, but didn't actually order the service?
In lead generation the client pays for the lead. It is up to the client to close the sale.
Typically there are two formats for paying for leads either Per Lead or Per Acquisition (successful sale).
Correct!
I love such stories. Nice hustle mate. What is your revenue split between Google local business listing and website?
No way of knowing this 100% accurately because the phone number and email is identical in both places.
I have two questions,
How did you get up on Google My business without going through their verification process?
How did your leads react when people from a different company turned up on their doorsteps for cleaning?
It's registered to my office address, which is legit as its technically a real business.
The supplier explains that to them before they arrive
Brilliant story. Thank you do much for sharing.
Great article, I like your chill attitude :)
Haha - I appreciate it. It means a lot from someone with an upside down profile pic. I bet you know how to have a good time! :)
Thanks for writing this
Thanks for actually sharing this Mike! ;-)
Did this "easy success" (at least it sounds the way you tell it) motivate you to try similar mechanics in another space/niche/locations?
I suppose everything seems easier in hindsight. However I consider it more luck than ease.
Yes! I ended up doing the same thing in Melbourne (second largest city in Australia) for carpet cleaning as well as removalists/movers in both cities. I tried a few other markets as well but those 2 yield the best results for me.
Awesome! It's great to see some showcases of non-SaaS business having success too.
And it's a great case for "going niche" can still earn you a great side-income.
And again, thanks for your transparency. I am sure you inspired some fellow Indie-Hackers too ;-)
This was a great read, thank you for sharing!
Awesome.
Very interesting story, congrats.
Hey Mike, love this story, and loved the lessons! :) Thanks for writing it up!
Thank you! I'm grateful for the kind words :)