Anyone try Adwords

[Walrus Gumboot]

Is it worth the expense?

 

[Melissa Nelson]

We have set up a google adwords account. I have the limit REALLY low, I think I get billed about 2.00 per month, yes month. I am getting about 5-10 click throughs a month- which is really low in the google world scheme of things but it is fine with me. I am terrified of setting the limit higher because they bill you to a credit/debit card automatically at the end of the month- I could not take the sticker shock of a big charge

We do get approx. 3-5 new clients per month from "Being found on the internet" and some of those are adwords- I personally think optimizing your website so that google finds you naturally is way more effective- there have been some great posts on here about that topic.


Melissa

 

[Greg Cole]

As you are a competitor- I would suggest you just close up shop and don't advertise at all! lol

I've seen your current site- spend the money on a new website - not adwords.

 

[Walt]

Greg may have a good point, though not graciously stated.

Google adwords work well, if your site converts people who are looking to people who are calling. So, a site designed for that purpose is what you want. One of the big problems that I see is that in certain areas the Adwords price has been driven up so high by bidding that it isn't realistic.

It used to be a great deal at 30 cents a click in Portland. Now you wish you could get clicks for under 2 bucks.

 

[CleanFreak.com]

I agree, you really need to know what you want to get out of Adwords before you start. Cost per click has really been driven up. We spend quite a bit per month on Adwords, but we are actually selling products online, not a service, so we can track to see if it is profitable for us.

 

[Walrus Gumboot]

As you are a competitor- I would suggest you just close up shop and don't advertise at all! lol

I've seen your current site- spend the money on a new website - not adwords.

Man are you right about my freakin' web site! It sucks! But you get what you pay for, which wasn't much.
I am having a professional web site designed for me right now. It's going to be the bomb!
All the bells and whistles! Not using anybody in the industry either.

But, I am also changing my business structure 100% as well. No, I'm not following in your footsteps Greg, I'm going to do something completely new.

After much investigation, I have determined that sub contracting will land your butt in big trouble with the IRS,sooner or later.
Why?
If you are booking their jobs,and scheduling their appointments,they are employees,not sub contractors, and you will be responsible for their taxes when the tax man cometh. A 1099 won't save you.

If you give them a lead and they call and schedule the job themselves, they are subs.
But, I'm not going to be doing that either.


Do your technicians(the subcontractor ones) introduce themselves using your business name or theirs?
What about invoices? Your business name or theirs?

I'm sure you already knew all of this anyway.

 

[Brian R]

Stevie Wrote

If you are booking their jobs,and scheduling their appointments,they are employees,not sub contractors, and you will be responsible for their taxes when the tax man cometh. A 1099 won't save you.

Yea it's touchy.
You really have to be careful with that.
This is why I get so many people asking me about "techs stealing jobs".
I have to "Give" the job to them...but I track the customer to get them again next time.
They Use their own invoices, and the customer pays them....in other areas.
They are allowed to make the check out to me but it can be dangerous.
It pays to read a lot and ask questions to people or companies that know this stuff.

Major three are ...not scheduling exact times
Not owning any of the equipment used
Making sure the techs have their own, license, DBA, insurance, phone...etc.

helps to be incorporated with a non-carpet cleaning name.


They basically have to own/be their own company.

 

[Walrus Gumboot]

sounds like you're doing it the right way.
Other companies that have the guys working right out of the home office,scheduling them,etc., might have a problem. Those techs better have a DBA checking account at the very least.


anyway, I found out enough to scare me off. I'm not building a business on a flimsy rock.
there are other ways...

 

[Brian R]

To each his own.

 

[klewis4]

I agree with those that say have an effective site before spending money on Adwords. I would first make sure I'm using all of the "Free" lookup that I can (Google Local Business listing which show under the Google Maps version of search, Yahoo Local, Bing, Merchant Circle, Yelp, etc.).

After you've done those things, monitor the site visits and see if customers say they found you from your website. If your website is working to get customers, it makes sense to spend the money on Adwords. I currently spend about 200 per month on adwords and it is one of the better advertising returns I get.

 

[handdi]

we have a 8to1 return on adwords for the year or on the internet i should say
but have been on adwords program for a year
play with it and see manage it every day it works for us.
But that bein said we have been workin to get first page presence
on the organic pages which i feel is much more productive and have been relyin
on adwords less and less.