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I think it all depends where you are....in London I imagine you could set up an electrical business tomorrow, register with check a trade and be making a living by next Friday.....However if you live in the middle of but **** nowhere then you aren’t going to do that well off it. I live on the coast in the south east and know a plumber who makes a living off of checkatrade and also know a chippy/builder that gets nearly all his work off of checkatrade. I’ve just rewired a 12 bedroom hotel for him, that he’s just Refurbished/toshed up and the job was worth about 175k to him. Not a bad investment from a grands worth of advertisement.
 
Mmmm....may need to reconsider CaT but they better have a blindin' deal or I want me Trust a trader, checkatrade, rated people Censored - EletriciansForums.net
 
I was sceptical about checkatrade and gave it ago recently via an offer 12 months for 10 if you are unhappy get money back after a year apparently.
As per my post in another similar thread, not liking mybuilder. Real race to bottom but keep profile open as its free and some people find you there then google and contact you direct.
Ratedpeople is similar but filters a few cowboys by the monthly fees.
Checkatrade has brought in several jobs already and made me a couple grand in the first several weeks. I got more jobs lined up and others to quote for.
Id say most if not all of which I wouldnt have got if i wasnt on Checkatrade.
So yes at around 20 quid a week its not cheap but its a damn better investment than paying google adwords, less time than delivering leaflets etc. For say 3 quid a day its money well spent. If you cant build 3 quid into a job somewhere each day then something is wrong with your pricing.
I bought a new multitool from ITS this week and there was a leaflet inside offering 12 months for price of 9 on checkatrade membership i will dig it put the recycling if anybody wants it.
 
Expert Trades, have a look you won't regret it. No subscription and when you have been verified you will be listed for customers to find you. They have very good software to run your business if you wish (subscription required), quotations invoices etc. I got in at the start they are good. They also have ToolTalk great for a workaholic like me.Just won a tool last week, thanks.
 
Expert Trades, have a look you won't regret it. No subscription and when you have been verified you will be listed for customers to find you. They have very good software to run your business if you wish (subscription required), quotations invoices etc. I got in at the start they are good. They also have ToolTalk great for a workaholic like me.Just won a tool last week, thanks.

I had a look on their website and it offers a free trial but no where does it say how much it cost after the free trial. In fact I'm not even sure what they do to get you work?
 
Hi guys,

Wondering what your thoughts where on these schemes has anyone signed up to these and got any work from them? They seem really expensive and not sure if your even guaranteed the work. They seem a good idea but are they worth it? Read some reviews online saying some schemes where a scam etc.
Word of mouth best way
 
i'm with check a trade now and all they do is increase the cost.
i also caught them out with a service they was meant to provide last year. the person this year said that wasn't available then and is now.

so i have lost trust with them.
i can agree tho the amount of work covers the cost but this year was a joke at £1400 and they wanted to add more too it.


@John Arnold is expert trade just a website designer?
how does it work? i am looking are other options for work advertising.
i have started my 3rd year alone and just started getting a little bit of word of mouth
 
you need to invest in your own SEO website really.. it takes a year or two to get going but once it does its fairly regular work coming in. I use Simply Digital and pay £15/month once startup costs are paid. I would say most new domestic clients go to the web to search, certainly if they have an emergency..
 
you need to invest in your own SEO website really.. it takes a year or two to get going but once it does its fairly regular work coming in. I use Simply Digital and pay £15/month once startup costs are paid. I would say most new domestic clients go to the web to search, certainly if they have an emergency..

I would certainly agree that anyone SE these days can't exist without a reasonable website BUT based on my own decade of experience, don't assume your pot of gold will be full from internet enquiries.

My website costs £99 per year to have ..... and I've never paid for any SEO
 
no doubt about it.. word of mouth and repeats are best work, its just initially getting started and accumulating a critical mass of a customer base.. its def the majority of my work; and getting in with one or two builders/kitchen fitters.. good ones of course!
 
Don’t turn down those little pain in the backside jobs..
Most nearly all of my big jobs and best customers have come from a quick 20 to 40 quid job

Spot on! I give a morning when I can, to our local foodbank which leads to little jobs and to err... you get the picture. The more we share, the less the scalpers like CaT, Rated Popes and MyBulldozer will be able to drive down rates.
 
i'm with check a trade now and all they do is increase the cost.
i also caught them out with a service they was meant to provide last year. the person this year said that wasn't available then and is now.

so i have lost trust with them.
i can agree tho the amount of work covers the cost but this year was a joke at £1400 and they wanted to add more too it.


@John Arnold is expert trade just a website designer?
how does it work? i am looking are other options for work advertising.
i have started my 3rd year alone and just started getting a little bit of word of mouth
Have an informal chat with expert trades they will be happy to explain,started by one tradesman for all. Yes they do websites and business software if you need them.
 
I have tried Check A Trade, got a lot of outrageous quotes for a loft conversion. Also there were better traders locally not listed with them. They argue credibility on that but the trader I used was not listed there. Hype to be honest, TV ads probably responsible. I've been told My Job Quote is better but you would have to take a look. They have a questions page for asking tradesmen construction questions for free as on here and Quora.
I think there is a directory of electricians on this site. What are you wanting to do with your home?
 
You want your own websites. They will rank above any directory. Google told off for ranking their own news website above independent ones so had to change their algorithm.

Any good website will rank above ALL listing websites.

And it's cheaper. You don't have competitors on it. And you update it instead of Facebook and get paid for posting online then.

Social media is terrible for actual good businesses.

And check a builder sites are terrible companies and business models.
 

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