Mitch vs paying for leads

Quiet fortnight, calendar half empty, a hipages email offering new leads in your suburb. It is a reasonable thing to consider. The catch is what you are left with afterwards, which is what this page compares.

Rented customers and owned reputation

A lead platform sells you an introduction. If it turns into a job, good. If it does not, you have still paid, and the person was never really yours. The reviews you earn on the platform stay on the platform.

Mitch does the other thing. It turns each finished job into posts and a review request, so your own Google profile fills up with fresh reviews and photos. It does not find you customers. It makes it easier for the ones who already know your name to choose you.

What the platforms say

Prices and rules change often, so ask each platform for current terms in writing.

hipages. We do not quote hipages prices here because we have not verified current ones. Ask for the membership and per-lead terms and work out your cost per job won.

Oneflare. The oneflare.com.au address now redirects to Airtasker, which announced it was acquiring Oneflare. We cover it on the Oneflare page.

ServiceSeeking. Its homepage invites you to list your business and promotes an app to see leads and send quotes. It does not say what you will pay, so ask before listing.

Side by side

A sum worth doing

Your cost per job won is the number that matters, not the price of one lead. Example only: you pay A$300 in a month for leads and win 2 jobs, so each cost A$150 to land. On a A$180 call-out that hurts. On a A$4,000 switchboard and rewire it is fine. Also count the time you spent quoting leads that went nowhere.

The twelve-month view

Pay for leads for a year and you finish with a year of receipts. Run Mitch for a year and you finish with a year of posts and a longer list of recent reviews on your own profile. Neither is guaranteed to bring more calls, and Mitch will not run ads or promise rankings. But the profile is still there when you stop paying.

When buying leads is the better pick

• You are brand new with no reviews and need jobs this month.
• The diary is empty and you need quotes out today.
• You already win a good share of what you quote in your suburb and trade.
• The platform has proven it sends work in your area.

Using both

Many tradies run a platform and Mitch together. A job won from a lead can still be sent into Mitch, and the customer can be sent a Google review request. A review text needs a mobile number and a consent tick, and the Spam Act applies to it. Cut lead spend only after your own enquiries hold up for a few months.