Great profiles win more jobs. To prove it, Thumbtack partnered with dozens of pros to take their profiles from good to great. Here’s what three of those pros, wedding officiant Kathleen Kraft, house cleaner Paige Rounds, and event DJ Rob Goldberg, learned about building a great profile — what they did right, what they learned not to do wrong and what it means for your Thumbtack profile.
What They’re Doing Right
Here’s what Kathleen, Paige and Rob learned in the process of transforming their Thumbtack profiles — and what you can take from the things they’re doing right.
Using a professional headshot on their Thumbtack profile. Pros with a headshot are at a major advantage when competing for jobs on Thumbtack. It’s the first thing a customer sees after submitting a request — and first impressions matter. “When you’re attached to a huge franchise like I am, people don’t realize how small my operation really is. Now, seeing me, they can connect the dots. Seeing a professional-looking face adds so much legitimacy,” says Paige.
Showing photos of their best, most relevant work. The photos and videos you include on Thumbtack should tell a story about your work—one that your target customers want to hear. Rob, Paige and Kathleen rebuilt their media sections with photos and videos that are high quality, up to date and show off their very best work.
Completing Thumbtack’s Q&A. For most customers, the decision about who to hire requires a lot of questions. Thumbtack gives you the opportunity to ask a lot of these up front in the Q&A section of your profile. According to Sam, “It’s also a good time to explain the details of my experience marrying couples, and to make it clear that I work with everyone — regardless of what you believe in or who you’re marrying.”
Taking a background check. Regardless of whether or not your industry requires licensing, Thumbtack pros with a background check on their profile are more likely to be hired — 44 percent more likely, on average. It’s something that customers look for. For this reason, Paige, Rob and Kathleen renew their background checks (and get new profile badges) every year.
What They’re Not Doing (and Why They’re Right)
Bad habits are hard to break. Here are a few things that Kathleen, Paige and Rob had to train themselves out of in order to grow their business on Thumbtack.
Only asking Thumbtack customers for reviews. Pros with five or more reviews are on average five times more likely to be hired on Thumbtack. If you’re smart, you won’t wait until your first Thumbtack hire to get reviews up on your profile. Thumbtack makes it easy to ask for reviews from past clients when you’re first getting started, and allows you to upload reviews from up to 10 previous jobs.
Leaving it to the customer to follow-up. Customers have a lot on their plate. Make things easy by following up as soon as they reach out. And if they don’t respond? Top Pros like Paige, Rob and Kathleen know to assume that the customer is busy and send them a brief note reminding them that help is a click (or phone call) away.
Never changing their original Thumbtack profile. Odds are, you learn something new about your business every day. Whether it’s your industry, customers, or competitors (Thumbtack has a tool for that), there’s no shortage of new information to take in. If you’re smart, you’ll use what you learn to make your business better — including on Thumbtack. “I’m learning so much in this process — I’m glad that I took the time to update how customers view me,” says Kathleen.
Biggest Before & After Learnings
With a little help, these Thumbtack pros went from having good profiles to exceptional ones. Here are Kathleen, Paige and Rob’s most valuable brand building lessons from the process.
Kathleen: “I knew nothing about Thumbtack when I joined and I sped through my profile. These days my officiating is really taking on a life of its own and I have a profile that supports it.”
Paige: “Our profile is so much stronger now. I wish I’d known how much of a difference changing your headshot or adding new photos could make. My business looks so legitimate.”
Rob: “I spent a lot of time setting up my profile in the beginning but I never made the investment in professional photos. I pulled things from wherever I could. The difference has been night and day.”
What it Means for You: Your Makeover Checklist
Whether you’re making your profile for the first time or revisiting it for the hundredth, here are the main points to hit when perfecting your Thumbtack profile.
- Take a professional-looking headshot. (Here’s how)
- Write or revisit your “About this pro” section. (Here’s how)
- Select photos and videos your customers want to see. (Here’s how)
- Verify your license (if applicable) and get a background check. (Here’s how)
- Answer the questions your customers will ask. (Here’s how)
- Ask previous customers for reviews. (Here’s how)
- Ask current customers for reviews. (Here’s how)
- Check your pro Insights report. (Here’s how)
- Follow-up with your customers. (Here’s how)
- Update your profile as you learn what your customer wants. (Here’s how)
Check out Top Pros sharing their advice on the 10 Things I Wish I Knew When I Started Using Thumbtack.
