We are raving about Thumbtack, the latest and greatest marketplace for service providers—we think it’s going to be the next Angie’s List. However, it may take some getting used to because its model is quite different than Angie’s List. Here’s the good and the okay about Thumbtack.

There’s no fee for businesses to launch a profile. There’s no annual membership nor is there any commission on jobs. It’s free to start and free to play. We’ll get to where you pay later in the article.

Like many review platforms (including Angie’s List), businesses need to get a certain number of reviews or recommendations before going live. That’s not the case with Thumbtack. Just sign up. After a couple days of processing, your profile will go live and you’ll be able to start receiving referrals. Of course, reviews do help you get more referrals and get your company chosen by customers.

When a consumer is searching for services they will click on one of the site’s wonderfully curated photographs for say, wedding services (catering, DJ, planning, etc.). From there, they will answer a series of questions that will refine exactly what it is they want. Once they’ve answered all the questions, Thumbtack will email five different service-providers with a request for service. Each company can either decline the request or submit a bid.

Thumbtack is a great conduit when seeking new customers to build lasting relationships with. If the consumer picks you from the initial bids, you’re free to continue working with them at no additional charge. If they come back to you for more services, Thumbtack is out of the picture.

After setting up your profile, Thumbtack will give you two ways to get reviews. First, they give you a link that you can send via email or text as well as post on social media – this link will bring people to your review page. They will also let you input the emails of former customers so you can ask them to review your Thumbtack page. Go get them reviews!

Like we mentioned in our first blog about Thumbtack, we are huge fans of Thumbtack’s site design; how intuitive it is and how it enables people to dial in exactly what they are looking for. It’s very much geared towards customers, making sure that they are connected with the right service. At the same time, Thumbtack is, of course, a huge supporter of thriving businesses. They’ve positioned themselves as a platform that will help small businesses go big as well as help medium-to-large ones continue to be successful. On their main page, they have some inspiring videos of small business owners that were able to make a living doing what they love with the help of Thumbtack.
They’ve found a great balance between focusing on the customer’s needs while providing businesses with the support they need to be successful.

While Thumbtack doesn’t charge commission, annual fees, or membership dues, it’s got to make money somewhere. That somewhere is in the bidding process which they call “pay-per-quote.” If you decide to respond to a request for service, you’ll send a quote to the consumer and that’s when you’ll be charged. Every business must buy credits, which start at $1.67 per credit. If a business wants to send a quote, they must pay with their credits. Each quote depends on the value of the job and the competitiveness in the market. And keep in mind that you will be competing with four other companies. So again, reviews are key.

If you have multiple window-repair locations, each one needs its own Thumbtack sign-in because service requests are sent to that email. We don’t think this is a huge deal, it’s more of a minor inconvenience, but we get it.

There is no way for people to search for your company by business name. In fact, there’s not even a search bar on the site. Thumbtack chooses the business they think best fits the needs of the customer based on the questions they answer. We think this is a very interesting and innovative way to go about connecting people and service, but it’s different. It switches power from a business’s marketing aptitude to Thumbtack’s algorithms. But remember, once you get a lead or new business, you have the opportunity to keep them, commission-free, for life.
We will be monitoring Thumbtack as we incorporate it into our WebPunch services. We’ve got our best and brightest Reputation Defenders digging away, getting to the bottom of this new tool we’ve quickly come to love. Get started on Thumbtack today and you’ll be on your way to getting more reviews and more business. WebPunch is here for you if you need any help with Thumbtack and for all of your online reputation needs.