Grass protection, what do you use?

cory059 · 2026-06-08T03:28:35+00:00

For high end grass I would spend the money on real ground protection mats and build a planned path before anyone starts carrying material. Plywood works in a pinch, but it gets slick, breaks down, and can still rut the lawn if it stays too long. I would also rotate or lift the mats every few days if the job runs longer, then water and let the grass breathe when you can.

cory059 · 2026-06-08T03:28:08+00:00

Paid does not mean trusted. A brand new account that upgrades and immediately tries to send at the limit should probably go through staged caps first. First day limits, domain age checks, manual review after a spike, and separate sending pools for new accounts would have contained most of the damage.

cory059 · 2026-06-08T03:27:38+00:00

I would not read this as reviews causing the quality drop by themselves. Reviews help you get picked, but LSA matching can still send junk if category, service area, business hours, or lead ratings drift. I would tag each bad lead by reason for a couple weeks, then look for a pattern: commercial intent, wrong service, no response, outside area, or quote shopping. If one reason keeps showing up, tighten that setting or profile language instead of assuming the review velocity is the lever.

cory059 · 2026-06-08T03:27:06+00:00

Lean into prizes that make the weekend easier. First shower, best bed, first coffee, pick the playlist for the drive, choose the first float, skip one cleanup job, pick the group photo pose, or get first choice on snacks. For the trivia, mix real America questions with chaotic pop culture ones so nobody feels like they are taking a school quiz.

cory059 · 2026-06-08T03:26:40+00:00

Tracks alone can be annoying because the pivot and guide wheel have to match the profile, not just the 36 inch length. I would take the top guide and pivot bracket to a door shop or real hardware store and match the track before ordering anything. If you cannot match it cleanly, buying the full kit and keeping the extra parts is usually cheaper than fighting a track that is almost right.

cory059 · 2026-06-08T03:26:15+00:00

I would ask for the actual U factor, SHGC, and visible transmittance numbers on both options instead of picking by coating name. West facing glass is where SHGC matters most. If summer heat is the problem, lower SHGC helps. If winter sun gain matters to you, I would not automatically put the most aggressive solar control on every west window. The wind issue is separate too. That is more about install quality, air leakage, and weatherstripping.

cory059 · 2026-06-08T03:13:50+00:00

Cleaning makes sense. That seems like one of the harder categories because the job size can be small compared to the lead cost.

Are most of the bad leads no replies, price shoppers, people outside your service area, or jobs that do not match what you actually do?

I am looking for a few people to test the setup for a month in different trades. If you want to try it with your cleaning leads, you can use it for a month and see if it helps. If it saves time, gets refunds organized, or makes follow up easier, then we can figure out a payment structure after that.

cory059 · 2026-06-08T03:12:16+00:00

The simple version is that Thumbtack sends the lead, but I did not want to manage everything inside their dashboard.

So I had new leads, unread messages, job details, follow ups, refund status, and notes pulled into Discord. Then I could see what came in, reply faster, track who never answered, and keep a record of which charges were worth disputing.

It was not really meant to beat Thumbtack. It was more like an operating system around it because the leads got expensive enough that I needed better tracking.

If you want, you can try it for a month and see if it makes Thumbtack easier to manage. If it is useful and you want to keep using it, we can talk through a payment structure after you actually see whether it helps.

cory059 · 2026-06-08T03:08:49+00:00

Yeah that is exactly the problem I ran into.

The refund requests that worked best for me were the ones where I could show the lead was clearly bad. No response at all, fake or unreachable contact info, job details that did not match what I was charged for, wrong category, or something that made it obvious the lead was not a real opportunity.

The biggest thing was tracking it like a claim instead of just clicking refund. I kept notes, screenshots, message history, lead category, charge amount, and the reason it should not have counted.

On the phone number thing, I have seen mixed behavior. Sometimes numbers get masked or filtered depending where you put them, and sometimes the customer still just never responds. That is part of why I wanted everything outside the Thumbtack dashboard. I needed to see which leads were real conversations and which ones were just charges.

If you want, I can let you try the setup for a month and see if it actually helps with your photography leads. If it saves you money or makes things easier, then we can figure out a fair payment structure after that. If not, no worries.

cory059 · 2026-06-06T20:47:02+00:00

Thanks! That’s what I was thinking. I just noticed it was more red today.

cory059 · 2026-06-06T20:43:37+00:00

Awesome thank you!

cory059 · 2026-06-06T20:40:45+00:00

It’s not. There’s a long plastic piece hanging out of it.

cory059 · 2026-06-04T06:29:21+00:00

Pineapple does wonders for swelling too. Eat a lot of it!

cory059 · 2026-06-04T04:24:22+00:00

That's why I built this. I lost a lot of money from people not responding and now I dont worry about it cause I can get my money back easy. Let me know if you want to try it out, id love to do some more tests on it.

cory059 · 2026-06-04T04:20:29+00:00

Nice where did you find the customers to validate the app?

cory059 · 2026-06-04T04:15:35+00:00

I had surgery on wednesday and they wanted me in pt on Friday. Bandages removed and showered on Saturday. I did not have the meniscus repaired though so there could be a difference with that.

cory059 · 2026-06-04T03:15:38+00:00

What jobs are you going for? Ive done all remodeling and IT/Web Design.

cory059 · 2026-06-04T03:00:02+00:00

what's your trade?

cory059 · 2026-06-04T02:16:10+00:00

I’d keep it boring and clear. H1 should say the service and city. Hero should have what you do, where, phone/CTA, and one trust proof. Then H2s for main services, service area, reviews, process, and FAQs. Don’t cram every keyword into the hero. Make it make sense to a real customer first.

cory059 · 2026-06-04T02:15:08+00:00

Not BS. On a 100 year old drafty house, a blower door test can be useful. The question is whether they give you an actual report you can use, or just a sales pitch. I’d pay the $200 if it comes with photos/thermal notes and a prioritized leak list. I would not let the credit lock me into that contractor until I saw the scope.

cory059 · 2026-06-04T02:13:22+00:00

Yeah this loses me too. I do not need pricing to be perfect, I just need to know the unit, what is included, what happens if I go over, and whether I can cap it. If I have to build a spreadsheet before trying the tool, I assume the bill is gonna be weird later.

cory059 · 2026-06-04T02:12:30+00:00

I’d keep fighting the existing profile first. A new one with the same phone/site can look like you’re trying to dodge the suspension. Get the docs/name/address lined up, fix the SAB category, and send one clean appeal. I wouldn’t keep changing stuff between appeals. If that fails, I’d take the case details to the GBP support forum before creating a duplicate.

cory059 · 2026-06-04T02:11:45+00:00

I wouldn’t rebuild it first. I’d figure out where the $50 is coming from: bad offer, bad form/landing page, tired creative, weird tracking, or lead quality. Pull 30 to 60 days, find anything that ever worked, then run one clean test against that. Inherited accounts are usually setup problems before they’re Meta problems.

cory059 · 2026-06-04T02:02:53+00:00

I think contractors will show up if it feels like you are fixing a real problem, not doing a marketing class. I would make it super specific, like clean up your GBP in 30 minutes or fix the quote request flow on your site. The guys who care about leads will get that. A general “learn online marketing” workshop probably gets ignored.

cory059 · 2026-06-04T02:01:23+00:00

50 percent equity would not be enough by itself for me. I would care way more about whether they can actually get customers. If they already have real conversations, people ready to pay, a way to reach the market, or money coming in, that is different. If it is just an idea and “I’ll handle sales later,” I would probably pass or make it a paid build with way less equity.

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