As a Creative Professional, like most of you, I am always looking for ways to bring in business, make contact with prospective clients, and such. So when a Contractor friend of mine told me about Thumbtack, and how he had gotten a number of jobs through them, I figured I would give them a try myself. After having used them for several months, I felt it appropriate to share my experience. More recently, LinkedIn has launched a similar service, called, ProFinder, so I will discuss my experience with both services.
I apologize from the start. I know this will not be a "brief" article. Let me qualify this by saying, this is MY experience. As the expression goes, "Your mileage may vary."
Since I first dealt with them, I'll start by talking about Thumbtack.
Thumbtack
I suppose I should start off by answering the question, "What IS Thumbtack?" According to Wikipedia's answer when I googled that question, "Thumbtack is an online service that matches customers with local professionals. Currently, Thumbtack lists 1,100 types of services in categories such as home, wellness, events, and lessons." How does it work? Well, let's say your prospective client needs... to use myself as an example, we'll say they need a Website (Though Thumbtack claims to match providers for 1,100+ services). So they go to Google and enter, "Web Designer [your town]". Chances are good that Thumbtack is going to come up somewhere on that first page. And with a link that says, "The best Web Design Companies in [your town] (with Free Estimates)", it is pretty likely that a prospective client is going to at least take a look to see what they're about. Once on Thumbtack's site, the client is asked for their location (Zip Code). Next, they're told how many professionals of that type are in their area and ask what service(s) are needed. In our example, it asks what type of website you have or would like, Personal, Blog, Social Network/Community, E-Commerce or Business/Non-Profit. (I'll finish going through the whole process, and then comment on it.) They select their category and are asked if they have a preferred platform (Squarespace, WordPress, Wix, Weebly, Shopify or "What the web designer recommends" are the listed options). The next question asks if they will be providing "some", "most" or "all" of the content for the site, or if they would like the designer to create the content for you. They are then asked about working arrangements, "Do you want the designer to come to you, will you go to them, or is a phone or online meeting acceptable?" Next, it gives them a generic, "Anything else?" block where the client can add any notes/comments/requests or anything not otherwise mentioned. Their location (Zip Code) is confirmed, they enter their email address, And that's it... From there, their system takes the request, looks in their database, and sends that request to every professional registered with their service who have listed themselves as providing the desired service and has stated they serve the client's location.
NOW, things start to get "interesting". Now, "the race begins!" Because while the request goes out to multiple professionals, only the FIRST FIVE professionals to respond are able to submit their response to the client. Yes!, That means that you may very well have taken the time out of your day to read over the request (and we'll talk more about that in a moment), process the information however you happen to do so, prepare a response, and attempt to submit it, only to be told, "Sorry! Five others have already responded to this person." Which means that depending on where you are, and what sort of service they are requesting, you stand a strong chance of doing nothing more than wasting your time. Add to this, the fact that from the moment they send you that request, you have 24 hours to respond. Which means, yes, you may very well go through that whole process, submit your response, and be told you can't respond because time ran out! (I've had both of those happen to me, more than once.)
OK, Let's talk about the customer request. In case you didn't pick up on it as I went through the process above, probably 98 times out of 100, the information you receive will be "cryptic" at best. Here's an example of a typical Web Design request that I receive from Thumbtack.
Let's review. Right from the top, we see just how cryptic and devoid of information this is. Work needed? "Changes to my existing website." OK. This is, in all but the most basic senses, completely useless information. This can mean anything from, "I want you to go in and replace the old picture of me on the 'About' page with a new one that I will provide." to, "I'd like to completely change the visuals of my site." About the only thing we actually can gather is that at least based on what the client says, they aren't needing any new pages created. They tell us it is an E-Commerce Site (which we probably could have gathered from the fact that it is on the Shopify platform.) Customer will provide all content. This can be a blessing or a curse. Most of you who have done this sort of work know this can mean anything from, "I have Camera-Ready Text and Artwork" (Yeah, I know, the term, "Camera-Ready" shows how long I've been doing this stuff.) to, "I've got a couple lines of concept text scratched on a napkin from lunch, and a few pictures I took from a competitor's website that I expect you to turn into a beautiful web page." Let's go on... Additional Services: "To be determined with professional". Translation: I've got a laundry list of additional stuff I want to be done, and I'll tell you about it once you've been hired." OR"I have NO IDEA what I want or need, and you're going to have to hold my hand and draw information out of me, every step of the way." And of course, the "Message" is that "Anything Else?" block I mentioned above. "Need help customizing our Shopify site" That's a nice broad description. This could mean anything from, "I'm completely new to all this, and I can't figure out how to get my business name on the first page of the site." to, "I'd like something that will intercept the customer's request when they click to order a particular product, and render one of 40 possible intermediary responses, based on an algorithm that I've written, which may provide them with new information, update the shopping cart, or simply return them to their order..." But let's continue, "...Tracking from Google Analytics, AdWords Conversions..." First off, these are again, extremely broad concepts. Do they need help implementing Google Analytics onto their Shopify site? Or is there some detailed marketing report that they need to be gleaned from their existing GA setup? "AdWords Conversions". Again, What do you mean? Well, with all of this, we fall right into the middle of at least one of the major issues with Thumbtack. In a "Normal" situation, the prospective client finds my website on Google, or another of my clients refers them, and they call me or e-mail me. We can TALK! If I have questions, I can ask them, "Can you explain to me what you mean when you say _______?" They can ask ME questions. We can communicate, I can make sure that we're on the same page, and THEN, I sit down, and work up a quote/proposal. NOT WITH THUMBTACK! On Thumbtack, as I said, I've got what they give me in that request, and I've got whatever's left of that 24 hour time period to make my best attempt at translating the request, and prepare a response that I'm hoping they'll actually RESPOND TO! Now, to be completely fair, there are a couple other factors that do come into play here.
1) Once I submit a response, the customer has 24 hours to actually open and view your response. If they don't do so within that time, Thumbtack will refund your credits. What? I didn't mention credits? Oh yes. That's how Thumbtack makes their money. While it is free for the customer (Remember, right on that Google Search, they say, "...with free estimates"), each professional pays a certain number of credits for each proposal they submit. How many credits it takes to submit a proposal varies, depending on what sort of project it is, as well as how many requests of that particular type have come through recently. How much is a credit? Well, that too varies, depending on how many you buy at a time, how you purchase, etc. so the short answer is, there's really no easy way of knowing. (Note: To be completely fair, I just looked at some of the recent Thumbtack requests that I've received, and they DO now state a price to quote, however, in the name of full disclosure, the request shown above has a cost of $30.06 to quote. (Yes, for that one project)).
2) When I submit a response, I actually have three options as to how I respond. I can quote them my hourly rate, I can quote them a flat fee for the whole project, or I can choose to ask for more information. HOWEVER, this isn't the magic bullet that it might, at first appear to be. In all honesty, this is actually just another opportunity to shoot yourself in the foot. In the Thumbtack Environment, you are most likely going to be dealing with small home-based businesses, or folks with an "idea they're playing with". In other words, people who have never dealt with a Creative Services Agency before, and are operating on a shoestring budget. So when you leave a response quoting them $95+/hour (and the other professionals give comparable quotes), the color drains from their face, and after they regain consciousness, they abandon the whole idea, or they decide to go with that place they saw on Facebook that says they'll do it for $5. Either way, they're not going to respond to your proposal, whether by, "Thank you, I've chosen to go another direction", "OMG! I had no idea it was so much!" or even a polite, "...and the horse you rode in on." You can leave Follow-Up messages, offer to quote a flat rate if you'd originally given your hourly rate (or vice-versa), or ask for more information. They're not going to respond. Giving an hourly rate quote is also problematic, because not only have you given them what they consider a high price, but they have no clue how long what they are wanting is going to take, so the hourly rate isn't a lot of help to them. However, trying to come up with a Flat Project Rate quote is difficult at best, when you have only vague ideas at best, of what the project entails. "So, why don't you just use the 'Ask for more information' option, and get the information you need, and then quote them?" you ask. Well, that would seem like the ideal solution, however, my experience has been that in at least 90% of cases, when I chose to respond by asking for more information, I got no response whatsoever. Of the remaining 10%, there were the, "I'll check on that and get back to you..." responses, which never get back to you, or the rare cases where they actually DO respond, giving you the information you ask for, you then prepare and submit a price... and... never hear from them. And Thumbtack STILL charges you the fee to make the quote, whether you quote hourly, flat rate, or ask for more information. I would say that probably 97% of all proposals I submitted via Thumbtack ended up sitting, waiting for customer response (even after follow-ups, etc.) roughly 2% of them actually responded with some form of, 'i have chosen another provider.", and maybe 1% of the time did my proposals end up leading to a paying project. Couple this with the fact that you are receiving "blind" requests. For example, "Joseph R. needs Web Design in Boston, MA". No company name, no contact information. Obviously, this is so that you won't just cut out the middleman and contact the client directly, and Thumbtack makes their money. Yes, once you've paid your fees, you get a name, and an e-mail address or phone number, however Thumbtack does no vetting of any kind, and more than once I have found the contact information provided to be bogus. Complaints to Thumbtack are largely pointless. They are quick to point out that they are there only to provide an "introduction" between the customer and the professional, and once you have submitted a proposal, that "introduction" has been made, they feel their job is done.
Thumbtack shows an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, however, they show 82% negative reviews, which appear to be largely from dissatisfied professionals.
LinkedIn ProFinder
In October of 2015, LinkedIn launched a similar service they call, ProFinder. Shortly after launch, I was contacted by a member of the ProFinder team and invited to participate in the new service, as well as asked to share my ideas. I talked with them at length, shared my experience with Thumbtack, and made suggestions as to ways they could improve in areas that Thumbtack had fallen short. These ideas were gladly received, and I was invited to try ProFinder, and let them know what I thought. I was given 10 free proposals, after which I would have to pay. In their favor, where Thumbtack charges the professional for each proposal they submit, with LinkedIn, for service providers and freelance professionals, "your first 10 proposal responses through ProFinder are free to submit so you can get a sense for how the platform and the process works. After 10 proposals, a LinkedIn Premium Business subscription is necessary for unlimited responses to project requests. The Premium Business subscription costs $59.99 per month, or you may wish to purchase annually and save up to 25%." While one of the items I shared with the ProFinder team was Thumbtack's lack of information on requests, here is an example of a request from ProFinder.
As you can see, ProFinder uses much the same, "fill-in-the-blanks" forms as Thumbtack, and thus, the requests look quite the same. They likewise give a 24-hour period to respond and allow only the first five professionals to submit their proposals.
How does ProFinder compare to Thumbtack? As I said, ProFinder gave me 10 free proposals to "try it out". The results, after having submitted those Ten proposals? Four of them still sit "Unread" after anywhere from Seven Months to a Year now, Three of them were simply "Declined" with no further comment from the client, One was "Viewed", and then never responded in any way (again, in spite of Follow-up requests, etc.) and the remaining two responded with, "I'm currently reviewing all of the proposals and will get back to you shortly." (clearly, a canned response, as both of the responses were word-for-word identical). Both of them were six months ago and haven't been heard from since.
So, I've stated the problem. What do I see as the solution? Well, as I see it, the problem is, the customer doesn't have any, "skin in the game". They request the service, they get their responses, and they have no reason to bother responding. It doesn't cost them anything, so why should they worry, right? My suggestion? First of all, customers should be vetted. I'm not talking about anything overly extensive, but I think it is reasonable to expect that they check to make sure that phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and such contact information are valid. If the customer claims to be with, "ABC Motors", then when someone calls the given phone number, it should be answered with, "ABC Motors..." The E-mail address should reasonably have an abcmotors.com address, etc. If the customer is a private individual looking for a Personal site, or for someone to design their wedding invitations, or whatever, they should be able to call and validate that the person named as the point of contact, can be reached. And not just "validated" 30 seconds after submitting their request. Further, Neither side should be going into this "blind". If Thumbtack or ProFinder are offering to match up a Logo Designer with a client seeking their service, is it not reasonable that Thumbtack/ProFinder should KNOW what the average cost for a logo, or website or whatever service? I think that when the customer is filling out their request, somewhere in the process, they should be told, "On average, [service] costs between $X and $Y. Are you prepared to receive, and respond to quotes in this range?" I think that a deposit is also in order. If a person is prepared to pay $500-$1000 or more for a logo, is it not reasonable to ask them to put down $50-75 deposit when they make their request? And when one of the five respondents is hired, that deposit is passed along to the designer to be applied toward their fee. If the customer fails to select one of the five within a reasonable time (say, 72 hours? perhaps 5 business days?), that deposit would be divided equally among the responding professionals. If the customer should choose to hire another professional from outside of Profinder/Thumbtack, their deposit would be refunded, but only after responding professionals had been notified, (Is that not just simple, common courtesy?) and showing proof. (Which would have to be significantly more than simply them saying, "I hired someone else.")
In summary, Thumbtack, and LinkedIn ProFinder are great concepts, however, I find both have a number of large holes, which need to be patched before they can be considered worth investing money in. As I said, I am speaking only from my own experience, however having spent in excess of $1000 in Thumbtack "credits" to eventually land $300-400 worth of work just doesn't make sense. And when ProFinder's ten proposal "test drive" yields an 80% unread/non-response rate, a $0.00 financial return, and a 0% project generation rate, I simply cannot justify the expense of using either service.
I apologize from the start. I know this will not be a "brief" article. Let me qualify this by saying, this is MY experience. As the expression goes, "Your mileage may vary."
Since I first dealt with them, I'll start by talking about Thumbtack.
Thumbtack
I suppose I should start off by answering the question, "What IS Thumbtack?" According to Wikipedia's answer when I googled that question, "Thumbtack is an online service that matches customers with local professionals. Currently, Thumbtack lists 1,100 types of services in categories such as home, wellness, events, and lessons." How does it work? Well, let's say your prospective client needs... to use myself as an example, we'll say they need a Website (Though Thumbtack claims to match providers for 1,100+ services). So they go to Google and enter, "Web Designer [your town]". Chances are good that Thumbtack is going to come up somewhere on that first page. And with a link that says, "The best Web Design Companies in [your town] (with Free Estimates)", it is pretty likely that a prospective client is going to at least take a look to see what they're about. Once on Thumbtack's site, the client is asked for their location (Zip Code). Next, they're told how many professionals of that type are in their area and ask what service(s) are needed. In our example, it asks what type of website you have or would like, Personal, Blog, Social Network/Community, E-Commerce or Business/Non-Profit. (I'll finish going through the whole process, and then comment on it.) They select their category and are asked if they have a preferred platform (Squarespace, WordPress, Wix, Weebly, Shopify or "What the web designer recommends" are the listed options). The next question asks if they will be providing "some", "most" or "all" of the content for the site, or if they would like the designer to create the content for you. They are then asked about working arrangements, "Do you want the designer to come to you, will you go to them, or is a phone or online meeting acceptable?" Next, it gives them a generic, "Anything else?" block where the client can add any notes/comments/requests or anything not otherwise mentioned. Their location (Zip Code) is confirmed, they enter their email address, And that's it... From there, their system takes the request, looks in their database, and sends that request to every professional registered with their service who have listed themselves as providing the desired service and has stated they serve the client's location.
NOW, things start to get "interesting". Now, "the race begins!" Because while the request goes out to multiple professionals, only the FIRST FIVE professionals to respond are able to submit their response to the client. Yes!, That means that you may very well have taken the time out of your day to read over the request (and we'll talk more about that in a moment), process the information however you happen to do so, prepare a response, and attempt to submit it, only to be told, "Sorry! Five others have already responded to this person." Which means that depending on where you are, and what sort of service they are requesting, you stand a strong chance of doing nothing more than wasting your time. Add to this, the fact that from the moment they send you that request, you have 24 hours to respond. Which means, yes, you may very well go through that whole process, submit your response, and be told you can't respond because time ran out! (I've had both of those happen to me, more than once.)
OK, Let's talk about the customer request. In case you didn't pick up on it as I went through the process above, probably 98 times out of 100, the information you receive will be "cryptic" at best. Here's an example of a typical Web Design request that I receive from Thumbtack.
Let's review. Right from the top, we see just how cryptic and devoid of information this is. Work needed? "Changes to my existing website." OK. This is, in all but the most basic senses, completely useless information. This can mean anything from, "I want you to go in and replace the old picture of me on the 'About' page with a new one that I will provide." to, "I'd like to completely change the visuals of my site." About the only thing we actually can gather is that at least based on what the client says, they aren't needing any new pages created. They tell us it is an E-Commerce Site (which we probably could have gathered from the fact that it is on the Shopify platform.) Customer will provide all content. This can be a blessing or a curse. Most of you who have done this sort of work know this can mean anything from, "I have Camera-Ready Text and Artwork" (Yeah, I know, the term, "Camera-Ready" shows how long I've been doing this stuff.) to, "I've got a couple lines of concept text scratched on a napkin from lunch, and a few pictures I took from a competitor's website that I expect you to turn into a beautiful web page." Let's go on... Additional Services: "To be determined with professional". Translation: I've got a laundry list of additional stuff I want to be done, and I'll tell you about it once you've been hired." OR"I have NO IDEA what I want or need, and you're going to have to hold my hand and draw information out of me, every step of the way." And of course, the "Message" is that "Anything Else?" block I mentioned above. "Need help customizing our Shopify site" That's a nice broad description. This could mean anything from, "I'm completely new to all this, and I can't figure out how to get my business name on the first page of the site." to, "I'd like something that will intercept the customer's request when they click to order a particular product, and render one of 40 possible intermediary responses, based on an algorithm that I've written, which may provide them with new information, update the shopping cart, or simply return them to their order..." But let's continue, "...Tracking from Google Analytics, AdWords Conversions..." First off, these are again, extremely broad concepts. Do they need help implementing Google Analytics onto their Shopify site? Or is there some detailed marketing report that they need to be gleaned from their existing GA setup? "AdWords Conversions". Again, What do you mean? Well, with all of this, we fall right into the middle of at least one of the major issues with Thumbtack. In a "Normal" situation, the prospective client finds my website on Google, or another of my clients refers them, and they call me or e-mail me. We can TALK! If I have questions, I can ask them, "Can you explain to me what you mean when you say _______?" They can ask ME questions. We can communicate, I can make sure that we're on the same page, and THEN, I sit down, and work up a quote/proposal. NOT WITH THUMBTACK! On Thumbtack, as I said, I've got what they give me in that request, and I've got whatever's left of that 24 hour time period to make my best attempt at translating the request, and prepare a response that I'm hoping they'll actually RESPOND TO! Now, to be completely fair, there are a couple other factors that do come into play here.
1) Once I submit a response, the customer has 24 hours to actually open and view your response. If they don't do so within that time, Thumbtack will refund your credits. What? I didn't mention credits? Oh yes. That's how Thumbtack makes their money. While it is free for the customer (Remember, right on that Google Search, they say, "...with free estimates"), each professional pays a certain number of credits for each proposal they submit. How many credits it takes to submit a proposal varies, depending on what sort of project it is, as well as how many requests of that particular type have come through recently. How much is a credit? Well, that too varies, depending on how many you buy at a time, how you purchase, etc. so the short answer is, there's really no easy way of knowing. (Note: To be completely fair, I just looked at some of the recent Thumbtack requests that I've received, and they DO now state a price to quote, however, in the name of full disclosure, the request shown above has a cost of $30.06 to quote. (Yes, for that one project)).
2) When I submit a response, I actually have three options as to how I respond. I can quote them my hourly rate, I can quote them a flat fee for the whole project, or I can choose to ask for more information. HOWEVER, this isn't the magic bullet that it might, at first appear to be. In all honesty, this is actually just another opportunity to shoot yourself in the foot. In the Thumbtack Environment, you are most likely going to be dealing with small home-based businesses, or folks with an "idea they're playing with". In other words, people who have never dealt with a Creative Services Agency before, and are operating on a shoestring budget. So when you leave a response quoting them $95+/hour (and the other professionals give comparable quotes), the color drains from their face, and after they regain consciousness, they abandon the whole idea, or they decide to go with that place they saw on Facebook that says they'll do it for $5. Either way, they're not going to respond to your proposal, whether by, "Thank you, I've chosen to go another direction", "OMG! I had no idea it was so much!" or even a polite, "...and the horse you rode in on." You can leave Follow-Up messages, offer to quote a flat rate if you'd originally given your hourly rate (or vice-versa), or ask for more information. They're not going to respond. Giving an hourly rate quote is also problematic, because not only have you given them what they consider a high price, but they have no clue how long what they are wanting is going to take, so the hourly rate isn't a lot of help to them. However, trying to come up with a Flat Project Rate quote is difficult at best, when you have only vague ideas at best, of what the project entails. "So, why don't you just use the 'Ask for more information' option, and get the information you need, and then quote them?" you ask. Well, that would seem like the ideal solution, however, my experience has been that in at least 90% of cases, when I chose to respond by asking for more information, I got no response whatsoever. Of the remaining 10%, there were the, "I'll check on that and get back to you..." responses, which never get back to you, or the rare cases where they actually DO respond, giving you the information you ask for, you then prepare and submit a price... and... never hear from them. And Thumbtack STILL charges you the fee to make the quote, whether you quote hourly, flat rate, or ask for more information. I would say that probably 97% of all proposals I submitted via Thumbtack ended up sitting, waiting for customer response (even after follow-ups, etc.) roughly 2% of them actually responded with some form of, 'i have chosen another provider.", and maybe 1% of the time did my proposals end up leading to a paying project. Couple this with the fact that you are receiving "blind" requests. For example, "Joseph R. needs Web Design in Boston, MA". No company name, no contact information. Obviously, this is so that you won't just cut out the middleman and contact the client directly, and Thumbtack makes their money. Yes, once you've paid your fees, you get a name, and an e-mail address or phone number, however Thumbtack does no vetting of any kind, and more than once I have found the contact information provided to be bogus. Complaints to Thumbtack are largely pointless. They are quick to point out that they are there only to provide an "introduction" between the customer and the professional, and once you have submitted a proposal, that "introduction" has been made, they feel their job is done.
Thumbtack shows an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, however, they show 82% negative reviews, which appear to be largely from dissatisfied professionals.
LinkedIn ProFinder
In October of 2015, LinkedIn launched a similar service they call, ProFinder. Shortly after launch, I was contacted by a member of the ProFinder team and invited to participate in the new service, as well as asked to share my ideas. I talked with them at length, shared my experience with Thumbtack, and made suggestions as to ways they could improve in areas that Thumbtack had fallen short. These ideas were gladly received, and I was invited to try ProFinder, and let them know what I thought. I was given 10 free proposals, after which I would have to pay. In their favor, where Thumbtack charges the professional for each proposal they submit, with LinkedIn, for service providers and freelance professionals, "your first 10 proposal responses through ProFinder are free to submit so you can get a sense for how the platform and the process works. After 10 proposals, a LinkedIn Premium Business subscription is necessary for unlimited responses to project requests. The Premium Business subscription costs $59.99 per month, or you may wish to purchase annually and save up to 25%." While one of the items I shared with the ProFinder team was Thumbtack's lack of information on requests, here is an example of a request from ProFinder.
As you can see, ProFinder uses much the same, "fill-in-the-blanks" forms as Thumbtack, and thus, the requests look quite the same. They likewise give a 24-hour period to respond and allow only the first five professionals to submit their proposals.
How does ProFinder compare to Thumbtack? As I said, ProFinder gave me 10 free proposals to "try it out". The results, after having submitted those Ten proposals? Four of them still sit "Unread" after anywhere from Seven Months to a Year now, Three of them were simply "Declined" with no further comment from the client, One was "Viewed", and then never responded in any way (again, in spite of Follow-up requests, etc.) and the remaining two responded with, "I'm currently reviewing all of the proposals and will get back to you shortly." (clearly, a canned response, as both of the responses were word-for-word identical). Both of them were six months ago and haven't been heard from since.
So, I've stated the problem. What do I see as the solution? Well, as I see it, the problem is, the customer doesn't have any, "skin in the game". They request the service, they get their responses, and they have no reason to bother responding. It doesn't cost them anything, so why should they worry, right? My suggestion? First of all, customers should be vetted. I'm not talking about anything overly extensive, but I think it is reasonable to expect that they check to make sure that phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and such contact information are valid. If the customer claims to be with, "ABC Motors", then when someone calls the given phone number, it should be answered with, "ABC Motors..." The E-mail address should reasonably have an abcmotors.com address, etc. If the customer is a private individual looking for a Personal site, or for someone to design their wedding invitations, or whatever, they should be able to call and validate that the person named as the point of contact, can be reached. And not just "validated" 30 seconds after submitting their request. Further, Neither side should be going into this "blind". If Thumbtack or ProFinder are offering to match up a Logo Designer with a client seeking their service, is it not reasonable that Thumbtack/ProFinder should KNOW what the average cost for a logo, or website or whatever service? I think that when the customer is filling out their request, somewhere in the process, they should be told, "On average, [service] costs between $X and $Y. Are you prepared to receive, and respond to quotes in this range?" I think that a deposit is also in order. If a person is prepared to pay $500-$1000 or more for a logo, is it not reasonable to ask them to put down $50-75 deposit when they make their request? And when one of the five respondents is hired, that deposit is passed along to the designer to be applied toward their fee. If the customer fails to select one of the five within a reasonable time (say, 72 hours? perhaps 5 business days?), that deposit would be divided equally among the responding professionals. If the customer should choose to hire another professional from outside of Profinder/Thumbtack, their deposit would be refunded, but only after responding professionals had been notified, (Is that not just simple, common courtesy?) and showing proof. (Which would have to be significantly more than simply them saying, "I hired someone else.")
In summary, Thumbtack, and LinkedIn ProFinder are great concepts, however, I find both have a number of large holes, which need to be patched before they can be considered worth investing money in. As I said, I am speaking only from my own experience, however having spent in excess of $1000 in Thumbtack "credits" to eventually land $300-400 worth of work just doesn't make sense. And when ProFinder's ten proposal "test drive" yields an 80% unread/non-response rate, a $0.00 financial return, and a 0% project generation rate, I simply cannot justify the expense of using either service.
Just as a follow-up, the two outstanding projects are now over 8 months old. I have sent multiple follow-up messages, asking the status of the project, asking if I can answer questions, or anything else, and since the initial, “I’m currently reviewing all of the proposals and will get back to you shortly.” responses, I’ve received no replies at all from one, The other, after more than six months, responded, stating they had “had a bad experience…” and weren’t interested in pursuing the project.
Thank you to everyone for your responses. At this point, it has been approximately 3 1/2 years since I wrote the original article. To Follow-up/Recap the status of those 10 free proposals, as of today, September 1, 2021:
TWO (2) are still showing as “In Conversation”. (These are the “I’m currently reviewing all of the proposals and will get back to you shortly.” responses. One of them eventually responded stating they had had a “terrible experience”, and was not interested in proceeding. The other has still failed to respond in any way in over 4 years.)
ONE (1) is still showing as “Proposal Viewed”. (As they have not acted upon the proposal, ProFinder does not allow me to send any sort of Follow-Up message in this case, thus, 4 years later, it sits, pending. I’m sure that this individual has either abandoned the project, or found someone elsewhere to do this work for them.
FOUR (4) are showing as “Proposal Unread”. (Again, as they have failed to act upon the proposal, I am unable to submit any sort of follow-up message. Unlike Thumbtack, as these individuals have not acted upon the proposals, I am not given their names, or any sort of contact information. All I am able to see is their City, and the “Job Title” that comes below their name. If I’m honest, I find it rude, that people on a network for business professionals would submit a request for information from another professional, *receive* said requested information, and more than four years later, not even have the courtesy to look at the proposal they’ve been sent. )
THREE (3) are showing as “Proposal Declined”. (Of these three, two of them responded with identical “Thank you, but unfortunately your proposal is not a fit for my needs at this time.” replies, and the third was a system generated, “Sorry, your proposal was declined by the customer”.)
Based on my experience with Thumbtack, and the “Zero out of Ten” response ratio with the trial proposals, I cannot justify spending money to purchase additional proposal opportunities.
I’ve just come across another site/service called “Bark”, which appears to be very much the same sort of site as Thumbtack or LinkedIn Profinder, but appears to be specific to web design/development. I have not used it, nor do I intend to. I see no point in investing more money into a service that has already proven not to work on two other iterations.