Thumbtack

Why can you go online right now and buy any product you want but you can’t do the same for tutors, handymen, dog walkers, or other local services? Whether or not you have a geographically-based business (i.e. you’re getting most of your business from your local area), it never hurts to have your business listed in as many places as possible.

Thumbtack gives you a free listing where you can showcase your service to the world. And, it isn’t like typical local search directories that simply return business listings with ratings and reviews, leaving you no better off than the paper Yellow Pages. You are free to promote your phone number and website on your listing, and add unlimited photos, videos and testimonials.

Thumbtack provides free Google optimization by having your listing reviewed by thier experts and having your listing submitted to the search engines. A cool feature of Thumbtack is the free Craiglist templates included with your listing and posting of your business to Craigslist is included, as well, and free Craigslist leads delivered to your email inbox.

You can also participate in their fee-based leads programs, where the Thumbtack staff will evaluate the request for a service professional, searches its database, and then delivers the leads to your inbox. You choose whether or not to respond to the lead. You can choose either the lead payment option or the commission payment option. Declining a lead will not affect your Thumbtack listing or reduce your standing with Thumbtack.

You can see one of my profiles here.