Given the problems with all the sites what would be a good alternative business models for such sites? I’m wondering if the marketing costs of a good site to lure job posts can somehow be paid by the tradesmen successfully securing the jobs on a co-operative way?

Thanks
Johan

We are working hard to attract tradepeople to register on the site, providing the first three months free of charge as an incentive – any tips the building trade may have to attract more people to sign up would be gratefully received.

Best regards

Michelle

The site for me has tripled my income in a very short period of time.
As a Property improvement company, working with a sub contract team, find if you have the savvy to reply to questions from potential clients with some form of inteligence you get good responses.
Ive previously been a Business Manager and Sales Manager and find it very easy to liaise with clients and obtain work.
I think a majority of the Builders on the site who say they find it hard to use and don’t get any work need to think about the way they interact with the client.
Ive only been a member since the beggining of August and have 14+ feedback with no negative.
This to me acts as insentive to always do a good job.
Anyway just thought i would express how well the site is working for me and what a cracking job you and the team are doing.

Keep the investment cogs turning things can only get better.

Best Wishes
Paul
Data Build

I can however see the frustrations for tradesmen with the costs associated with these sites mentioned above.

We have recently launched the site http://www.TheRightTradesmen.com which is similar in principle however we do not charge the tradesmen lead or success fee’s or commision on their jobs as we do not believe it is fair taking a percentage of the trade companies revenue especially in the current climate when the building industry is under pressure.

It is also our belief that these fees are passed ultimately onto the end customer as the trade companies will still have to maintain their margins.

So if anyone wishes to post a job do so on our site and hopefully get a great quote or if tradesmen wish to try it out it is free to register with no obligation until 2010.

Thanks
Michael

The outsoucing and tendering websites like elance, guru, rentacoder etc seem to have almost identical functionality, all forming in circa 2001.

Were these the main inspiration?

The ratedpeople vs mybuilder debate is easy to settle. Their functionality is quite different even though they perform the same task.

Rated people is probably better if you need someone quickly in an emergency situation. Rated people would also be better for the less I.T literate and patient people.

Mybuilder is better if you have more time or just want speculative quotes.

Personally for me as a consumer mybuilder wins hands down. I don’t want people phoning me, especially not for me to repeat myself 3 times. I also like the idea that you don’t have to do anything if you don’t want to, it’s much less intrusive.

Mybuilder is going to be HUGE.

Well done to Ryan & the team.
Nick.

http://www.here.org.uk/2009/06/ratedpeoplecom-great-service-with-affiliate-opportunities.html

“…You often find that the customer cannot be contacted because he / she has already had the work done or that the lead was in fact an old lead from previous weeks. So you’ve just paid up to £40 for nothing. If you contact Rated People to inform them of this they say that they won’t refund any money to the tradesperson and this is just an anomaly which doesn’t really happen.

I have actually paid for ten prospective leads/quotes in succession all of varying amounts but totalling £240 +VAT without any return. It was always the same story customers could not be contacted or if they could the work had already been completed previously. Rated People are adamant that they will not refund cash under any circumstances and only offer a referral credit i.e. free lead as a goodwill gesture which, going on previous attempts at gaining customers is just another hit and miss attempt.

It’s almost like saying “Here’s a box which might have something spectacular in it. Pay us £50 and you can have the box but you can’t look in it until you’ve paid us”. “Oh was there nothing in it, don’t worry try another one…..nothing in that either well here’s a free one which will have nothing in as well”

It’s not to say one is great the other is terrible, but no system can get work for everyone. As I always remind my team: the only thing that matters to a tradesman using our site is whether they get work from it.

As to my age and stonemasonry career, how young do you think I am? But you’re right in that I didn’t do a UK apprenticeship, I learned the trade in France.

In terms of understanding builders, I would never want to rely on my experience alone. 1/3 of our team is dedicated to speaking with and serving our customers directly. The learnings that come from picking up the phone and speaking with our tradesmen are invaluable, and your feedback adds to that knowledge and our determination to constantly improve our service.

Thanks.

It is interesting to note that the TC50 winner (RedBeacon) is in this area too.

Good work!

Darren.

We used to share an office with these guys so I’ve seen first hand how hard they work.

Best wishes for the future!

James and team at Bytes !