What does it mean to be screened and approved by Service Magic?

Mantych Electric, Inc. on 28th Apr 2010 | View all blogs by Mantych Electric, Inc. at http://watchdogcontractorservice.socialgo.com

I’ll save a lot of time and space by just providing you with an example, and there are many. ServiceMagic promotes Jeff’s Handyman out of Clayton, NC. First let me say that Jeff Blevins is probably a nice guy and may even be a great contractor. I do not know the gentleman; I am just using his relationship with ServiceMagic to make a point.

Jeff’s Handyman is a sm.rated service provider. This means he is a ServiceMagic screened and approved professional as follows:

“ServiceMagic pros must pass our rigorous background screening in order to receive the ServiceMagic Seal of Approval.

· We put service professionals to the test with our rigorous screening process.

· We require state-level trade licensing when applicable.

· Your neighbors rate and review thousands of our service professionals each week, so you can make a more informed decision-one you won't regret later.

· The average rating score of our pros is 4.5 out of 5 stars!

· In the unlikely event that things don't go as you planned, we try to help resolve the situation. Since 1999, we've connected 15 million consumers to professionals and we receive complaints less than one tenth of one percent of the time. “

(Below is the small print enlarged)

“Note: Member service professional information, as described above, is confirmed at the time of the service professional's enrollment in the ServiceMagic Network, and may change or expire over time. While ServiceMagic attempts to maintain accurate and up-to-date information, and confirms changes when notified, we cannot guarantee that profile and screening information is accurate or up-to-date. Therefore, we recommend that before working with a service professional, you verify that information presented is still current and/or acceptable to you. Click here for our terms and conditions. Last updated: 1/22/10.”

Member Since: 2008

State Licensing:

* Not required for work offered, when matched by ServiceMagic.

Insurance:

* General Liability, $2,000,000; 09-02-2010

So what does the ServiceMagic Seal of Approval attached to Jeff’s Handyman mean?

1. That Mr. Blair has paid them $99.00.

2. SM’s claim that, “We require state-level trade licensing when applicable” is a false and misleading statement as it pertains to Jeff’s Handyman. So is the statement under State Licensing, “Not required for work offered, when matched by ServiceMagic.” When searching for electricians in the Clayton, NC area, Jeff’s Handyman came up in the eleventh position through ServiceMagic’s web placement. NC General Statute 87-43 requires one to hold a license issued by the North Carolina Board of Examiners of Electrical Contractors in order to engage, or offer to engage, in the business of electrical contracting. (87-43. Electrical contracting defined; licenses. Electrical contracting shall be defined as engaging or offering to engage in the business of installing, maintaining, altering or repairing any electric work, wiring, devices, appliances or equipment. No person, partnership, firm or corporation shall engage, or offer to engage, in the business of electrical contracting within the State of North Carolina without having received a license in the applicable classification described in G.S. 87-43.3 from the State Board of Examiners of Electrical Contractors in compliance with the provisions of this Article, regardless of whether the offer was made or the work was performed by a qualified individual as defined in G.S.87-41.1.)

There is no license issued in the name of Jeff’s Handyman or Jeff Blair on record with the NCBEEC.

3. SM’s claim that, “In the unlikely event that things don't go as you planned, we try to help resolve the situation. Since 1999, we've connected 15 million consumers to professionals and we receive complaints less than one tenth of one percent of the time“is also a misleading statement but does not necessarily pertain to Jeff’s Handyman. To find the truth about this statement just enter ‘ServiceMagic Complaints’ or ‘Complaints Against ServiceMagic’ in any search engine.

4. Then there is the disclaimer in small print. The following statement is self explanatory. “. . . we cannot guarantee that profile and screening information is accurate or up-to-date. Therefore, we recommend that before working with a service professional, you verify that information presented is still current and/or acceptable to you.” Need we say more?

5. Now about the Insurance. What about Worker’s Compensation. Who pays the personal damages if the contractor or one of their employees is injured on your project? Hopefully the contractor does carry worker’s comp but you will not know from ServiceMagic’s rigorous screening process. ServiceMagic only requires and verifies Liability Insurance. It will be up to you to ask this question.

So, what does it mean to be a screened and approved professional of Service Magic or to hire a screened and approved professional of Service Magic? It means the contractor has been rooked into paying ServiceMagic a fee to be listed as an approved and screened service professional. It means the consumer has been rooked into subscribing to a service which apparently gives them erroneous information on which to make their decisions. Who benefits from ServiceMagic? ServiceMagic.

Keep in mind that the contractors which have been rooked by ServiceMagic are not necessarily bad guys, but ServiceMagic definitely does not guarantee them to be reliable. Anyway, who guarantees ServiceMagic?

by Mantych Electric Inc

New Green Home Trends In 2010

by NewHomesDirectory.com on 28th Apr 2010 | View all blogs by NewHomesDirectory.com

New Green Home Trends In 2010

Although the building industry had a dark year in 2009, Green building seemed to somehow stick out and shine. According to the Multiple Listing Service date, certified sustainable green new homes actually rose the past year in the northern west coast areas like Portland and Seattle. This trend is believed to spread over the U.S. and green building is expected to grow within new home sales. Already new home sales are on a rise from a year ago with March of 2010 seeing the biggest jump in new home sales in 47 years. So what trends can we expect to see in 2010 in green new homes?

1. Energy Monitoring Home Dashboards. The increasing demand for energy efficient homes, the development of a custom web-based display panel within the home, will show real-time home energy use. This sophisticated produced can break down the real time energy use of homeowners appliance, which will help a homeowner change the way they use their electricity. For example the way an electric car miles per gallon indicator encourages the owner to adapt their driving habits, green new homes that offer these Dashboards may encourage homeowners to reach lower energy use. Dashboards will also increase the probability that homeowners of green homes will reach the Energy Performance Score.

2. Energy Efficient Green Home Labeling. Like the miles per gallon label you would find when searching for a new car, energy rating systems for new homes has become popular among legislators. This energy rating system will make it easier for homebuyers to see the energy efficiency of one green home compared to another. Each homes score will be available on the MLS.

3. Lenders and Green Homes Make for a Better Bottom Line. Lenders have come to the conclusion that green new homes are better for their bottom line. By seeing a trend of green home owners being more responsible and less probable to default on a loan, due to the fact that most green home owners are more accountable and likely to place higher value on home maintenance. Green home owners are also less likely to default due to the decrease in energy coast. Lenders are now working to get reduced-rate loans, insurance packages for green new home owners.

4. Less Is More. Back when the housing market was booming, a larger homes lead to greater equity. However since that “bubble burst” this is no longer the case. With energy prices expected to rise over time, and the Federal Reserve likely to raise interest rates during 2010, homebuyers are likely to feel more at ease with smaller new green homes.

5. Water Conservation. Did you know that residential water usage accumulates for more than half of the publicly supplied water? The EPA decided in December 2009 to implement WaterSense. WaterSense specifies that new homes will need to reduce water use by 20 percent than conventional new home. Mandatory energy labeling in Europe already documents the water efficiency.

6. Net Zero Homes. A net zero home is a green home that generates more energy than it uses over a year. This is done by building a fairly small new green home that is extremely energy efficient and uses onsite renewable energy like wind, solar or geo-exchange systems.

Watch Dog Contractor Service Goes Green

Go Green! This seems to be the latest catch phrase on everyone's lips, you know, the trendy thing to do. From the automobile industry to the construction industry, green initiatives are impacting every aspect of our life. But what is green building and is it really affordable?

What is Green Building

• Green Building also goes by the name of sustainable building.
  
• It is a broad term but basically refers to building in a way that is environmentally responsible and energy efficient.
• Green Building aims to construct buildings that are environment friendly and people friendly.
• Green Building aims to impact all phases of construction and the entire existence of the building from design, to build, to clean up, to building operation and maintenance.
• The use of recycled building materials to construct new buildings or the use of all natural materials to construct buildings can be aspects of Green Building but are not all that is involved
• The building is designed so that it will have as little negative impact as possible on the environment.

• High efficiency windows and doors and insulation in the ceilings, walls, and floors increase the efficiency of the barrier between the conditioned space of the building and outside
• Windows are placed in such a way that natural light is utilized both for light and heating and cooling purposes.
• Solar, wind, hydro, or bio power is generated by the building itself (somewhere on site) to reduce the amount of outside energy needed by the building.
• Water is purified and reused on site and water that has not been fully purified is reused for irrigation, or heating and cooling purposes.
• Materials used in the building processes are taken from sources that are easily renewed (such as recycled materials or building blocks made out of dirt).

Is green building affordable?
Simply put, the answer is yes. While many people think that green building costs more than traditional building, this is not necessarily the case. There are many simple and affordable materials that can be used in the building process to make the building "green". For example, something as simple as a programmable thermostat and an HVAC system with a high seasonal energy efficiency rating can be used instead of a traditional thermostat and system. Or, less lighting can be used to reduce the amount of heat in the building so that a smaller chiller can cool the same amount of space. These are just a few examples of "green" building techniques that will add little or no additional cost to the building.
True, more advanced "green" systems and materials may be expensive, however the cost effectiveness of these must be judged on an individual basis.
In addition, once the building is completed, maintenance and operational costs for green buildings will be dramatically less than those of a traditional building. Plus, because green buildings are designed to be durable, flexible, and healthy they are often more easy to finance.

What's the bottom line for you and your business? Whether you are a general contractor, carpenter, electrician, plumber, or HVAC guy, take some time to educate yourself about green building because it is here to stay. Learn ways that you can incorporate "green" design and techniques into your repairs and new installs. If you can do this without raising your prices it will be a great selling point for your business and give you a leg up on the competition. So Go Green, it might earn you some green.

For more detailed info about the affordability of green building, check out this link http://www.pca.state.mn.us/oea/greenbuilding/cost.cfm

A Successful Business is More Than a Good Idea

Good ideas are like babies, someone has one every minute. Yet successful businesses are much more rare. Therefore, there must be more to a successful business than a good idea. I don't mean to over simplify what is a very complicated process, but having a successful business boils down to having three important things:

1. A good idea
2. Capital (money to make that good idea a reality)
3. A good team (good employees, good partners, or both)

1. A good idea. Notice I said a GOOD idea, not an original idea. Henry Ford is famous for building automobiles and Alexander Graham Bell for the telephone but neither of them was the first to have the idea. They were just the first ones to present it in a workable form to the masses. The same is true with any business. If you own an HVAC company surely you aren't the first person in your area to do so. However, you can think of ways to make your HVAC company the best in the area. How you stand out as a company is going to have a lot to do with how long you stay around as a company. So you need to have some good ideas as to how to make your business unique.

2. Capital. You get out of something what you put in. If you put a dollar in the soda machine you get out a soda. If you put a nickel in you get nothing. The same is true with your business. Vehicles, uniforms, lawyers, accountants, computers, cell phones, business trips, tools, etc. These are all expenses that you will incur with your business. If you skimp on these or try to go cheap it will bite you in the butt later. If you can't afford to be in business for yourself then you best save up your money and try again later.

3. People. You need a talented staff who works well together as a team. You might have a guy working for you that can wire up a whole house in thirty minutes. But if he doesn't get along with the rest of your employees then he will end up hurting your business. Or you might have business partners who come up with some of the best ideas. But if they don't have the same goals and visions for the company as you do then it will end up hurting your business.

Whether your business is plumbing, carpentry, electrical, general contracting, painting, and so on, to be successful you need a good idea, money to make it happen, and a good team

How to Compete with Low Ballers

If you sell yourself short, the world won't raise your price. But when everyone around you is selling them self short, how do you keep their behavior from lowering your price? This article addresses practical ways that you can compete with lowballers without lowering your price.

First of all, you know the value of your work. As an experienced contractor you know how cheap you can possibly do a quality job for while still making a decent profit. That means that if someone is lowballing one of two things is the case:

1. They aren't making a profit
2. They are cutting corners to do the job under cost and still make a profit

If number one is true then just sit tight, they won't be able to keep it up long because they will go broke.
If number two is true then just sit tight, people will soon begin to have problems with the work that they did when it starts to fall apart.

Either way they won't be able to keep it up for long. What can you do in the mean time? Here are two suggestions:

1. If you lose a job to a lowballer, keep in touch with the client anyway. Let them know that when they have problems because of the lowballers poor workmanship that they can always call you to come and do the job right (you might want to come up with a less blunt way of saying this).
2. Give your marketing a boost. There are still customers out there who are smart enough to know that if the price sounds to good to be true then it probably is. Come up with new ways to market and advertise your business so that you can find these customers. Social media is a great way to market and advertise plus it is usually free or very cheap.

Make the most of websites like Craigslist, Facebook, and www.watchdogcontractorservice.com. Also, there is a new web based advertising tool for contractors called Home Owner's Playbook. It's like a phone book listing, business card, and website all in one and it is only $89.99 per year when you use promo code watchdog1. Check out the Home Owner's Playbook link on this page for more info.

When to Say No to a Job

I heard a commercial the other day that said that the best words a contractor could hear are "I like your quote," and "you've got the job". For the most part, this is true. However, have you ever been in a situation when you dreaded hearing those words from the customer.
Maybe the job is very unpleasant, maybe it is bigger than what you want to tackle.
Recently, I had a customer who was having a buildup of water in her crawlspace whenever it rained. She had already discussed the issue with another contractor but she didn't like his diagnosis so she called me, this was the first red flag. After looking at the situation I suggested that rather than waste time and money trying to find out where the water was coming from that she install a sump pump in the crawl space to remove the water.
She didn't like this idea. She wanted me to completely redesign and rebuild the irrigation system in her backyard. I knew that this wouldn't solve the problem but I did the job anyway. Her backyard is bone dry now but she still has water in her crawlspace. A month goes by and she calls me again to come out and look at the situation. Again I suggest to her that she should install a sump pump in the crawlspace. Again she refused. Now she wants me to design a drain system under the house. I spent all day today trying to figure out how to do a job the wrong way!
Once I'm done designing and installing the drain system under the crawlspace, she'll still have some water there. Why, because she needs a sump pump installed. After she's paid me a couple of thousands of dollars and I've redone everything that can be redone in a crawlspace, maybe she will admit that she needs a sump pump. But maybe, just maybe, I should have just said NO to the job! Sometimes the headache isn't worth the money.

I Want to be a Plumber When I Grow Up!

If you ask the average 5 year old what they want to be when they grow up, you will probably never get "Plumber" as an answer. As I was working on this article I thought back to my childhood. The first thing that I ever wanted to be was a marine biologist. Then I wanted to be an accountant, then an architect, then an electrician. I guess the older I got the more realistic my career goals became.
The other day I was reading an article online (I can't remember where) that said that many of the people who found themselves booted out of corporate America due to the recent bad economy, were learning trades, like plumbing. I couldn't help but laugh at this. Why? Because it seems that corporate America, for all of their brains, has taken years to figure out something that us contractors already knew: Being a plumber, or an electrician, or an HVAC tech IS a good job!
This fact is something that they don't teach you in grade school. But the fact of the matter is, while a doctor makes good money, so does the guy that unclogs his toilet. A kid can take some community college courses and be working for a plumbing company by the age of 19 making 20-25 dollars per hour if he is ambitious and good at what he does. That means that by the time the doctor finishes med school, the kid who became a plumber will have made about $500,000.00 and will have only spent about $1000.00 on school where as the kid who became a doctor will owe hundreds of thousands in student loans and won't have made a dime.
I'm not saying that being a plumber is better than being a doctor. However, here are a couple of reasons why it is good to be a plumber, especially in today's economy:

1. With many of the oldschool plumbers retiring and not many young people pursuing the career, you will have no trouble finding a job in this field.
2. You don't need that much schooling to get started. You can work as an apprentice with no experience and learn on the job while you get paid or you can take a 1 year course at a community college and be ready to go to work. Of course it will take some time for you to learn to be a master plumber but you will get paid while you learn.
3. Speaking of getting paid, in most places with only 1 year of schooling you can start between $13 and $20. Once you get a year or two experience under your belt you are looking at $20-$25 per hour. Do a little extra studying and get your plumbing contractors license and you can write your own checks.
4. No matter how bad the economy gets people will still need to flush, and you can't outsource unstopping toilets!

I didn't become a marine biologist or an architect but I did install an expansion tank on a guys hot water heater yesterday. It took all of 30 mins and I made $100 even after I gave him a 50% discount for being a repeat customer. That's enough to make a doctor jealous.

Time is NOT Money

I hate to break it to you, but we have been lied to all of these years when we have been told that time IS money. Time is NOT money, in fact it is a million times more valuable than money. Note some differences: 1. You know exactly how much money you have or atleast approximately whereas you have no idea how much time you have left on this earth. 2. If you spend money or lose money you can always earn it back, but once time is gone, it's gone forever. As a matter of fact, take a look at that clock in the bottom right corner of your computer screen. Every time that clock ticks that is another minute of your life gone that you cannot get back. What a sobering thought.

What does this have to do with contractors and the building industry? With the recent downturn in the economy the construction industry took a big hit. Everyone from the small one man remodeling company to the large commercial electrical company took a big hit. Everyone lost money. Fortunately, the downturn in the economy did not cost us anything in the way of time. In fact, with the slow down of construction and remodeling if anything we have more time.

The key is to figure out ways to make that extra time transfer into money. Here are some ideas of ways to take the extra time that you may have because of lack of business and turn it into money:

1. Educate Yourself. Education is more available and affordable than ever. Plus the government is giving all kind of tax credits for adults who go back to college or take up some continuing education. Take some classes that will expand your knowledge of your current trade. Take some classes that will help you learn a new trade. Do an apprenticeship with someone in that new trade and work toward getting your liscense in that trade also. For example, if you are a carpenter, learn to be a plumber as well. If you are an HVAC guy, learn electrical, and etc. By doing this you will be able to make yourself more marketable and you will expand the services that you can offer and the money that you can make.
Take some online classes. Use that time that you would normally spend playing video games or watching TV to Educate Yourself!

2. Start a side business. There are all kinds of side businesses that you can start to make some extra cash. As a contractor, you probably already have pretty good business sense and a truck or a van. Apply this sense and your resources to another small business. That same truck that you use to carry your HVAC tools can be used to haul away someones junk. That pressure washer that you use to clean houses can be used to clean cars. That van that you use to carry your paint supplies can be used to move furniture.
Start an online business. Buy stuff at local auction and sell it on ebay. Think outside of the box!

3. Get caught up. There are so many other areas of your business that often get neglected when you are busy working. For example, your truck or van repairs, maintenance on your tools and equipment office and storage space, your books and financial records, etc. While you have some extra time on your hands care for these things yourself instead of neglecting them or hiring someone else to do it. This will prevent costly breakdowns or high overhead when business picks back up.

Most importantly DON'T LOW BALL, DON'T SELL YOURSELF SHORT! If you sell yourself short the world will not raise your price. It may seem like drastically cutting your prices is a good solution to the problem of not having work. However, your time is still worth the same amount that it has always been. Don't let the economy dictate to you how much your time is worth. If you LOW BALL you will find that you will have to cut corners to get jobs done and this will lead to poor quality work, a lot of call backs, and ultimately a bad rep for your company. It might save you in the short term but it will kill you in the long term.

Do you believe in MAGIC?

The interesting thing about MAGIC is that everyone believes it is magic except for the magician. He knows that it is just illusion. The same could be said for those so called "lead generating" services out there that claim that they can do MAGIC for contractors (we won't mention their names but you know who they are).
The essential problem with these services boils down to sheer logic "If the SERVICE is big enough to get 100,000's of leads every day, then they are too big to check and verify these leads." Translation "you pay for false leads and they make money off of false leads". But really, when we think about it, those of us contractors who have fallen for this, who have believed the illusion, partly have ourselves to blame.
Why? Because our fathers all told us "if it sounds to good to be true then it probably is". The whole concept of just signing up for a service and having someone else do all of the work for you is never a good or workable idea. Half of being a contractor is doing the hands on building and fixing. The other half is the business half, including the marketing.
As contractors we take pride in our work and we take responsibility for it. It is time we take responsibility for our marketing and generate our own leads instead of thinking that is will happen by MAGIC!
That doesn't mean that we have to go from door to door passing out fliers (I've done that and gotten business that way) but there are plenty of free and inexpensive ways to use the internet and technology to market your business and GENERATE YOUR OWN LEADS. What an interesting concept.
Continue to use resources like our FREE website to educate yourself and sharpen you marketing skills and leave the MAGIC for the magicians.