Orange County Entrepreneur Prevents Sites Like Yelp From Stealing Leads

Throughout the early 2000s, online classifieds like Yelp and Angie (formerly Angie’s List) helped contractors reach new clients. Today, they’re more likely to steal them.

Google’s search ranking algorithm typically favors websites with more pages. Classifieds can therefore use their networks of contractor service pages to climb the ranks, monopolizing search results. As they funnel leads away from personal contractor webpages, contractors have to buy their lead-generation packages or lose access to their local markets.

Greg created his startup, Spates Painting, in 2021 to help home maintenance contractors reach customers online without joining services like Yelp or Angie. He marketed his service by creating two Facebook groups now boasting thousands of members. In under two years, his business is on track to make $250,000 in ARR and is expanding into new markets like house cleaning and pet services.