How to Make Money for your Estimates

can you get paid to do estimates the answer to that is yes you can get paid to do estimates there's a time and a place and I'm going to try to teach you how to get paid just to do an estimate not to do the job just to go out to a person's house and give them the numbers now it's going to feel a little unnatural and it's going to feel a little ballsy the first time you ask to get paid to do a proposal but once you do it once you get it down you'll be able to do it time and time again and you're going to know when it applies today is a great example I'm going out to look at four jobs two of those jobs are paying me $200 just to come out to their site just to give them an estimate now I want to clarify how I got them to do that and why two out of the four jobs are paying me and not all four jobs so the first thing is the two jobs that are paying me to come out and do the estimate are two jobs that I don't want plain and simple because I don't want those jobs I don't care if I go out to do an estimate for them or if I don't do an estimate for them you will not take the risk of asking to get paid to do the proposal on a job you want hence two of the four of the out of the four jobs only two I'm asking to get paid on the other two I really want those jobs and I'm not going to ask them to pay me to come out because there's always a risk there is always a risk that they're going to turn you down when you ask to get paid now let's talk about the two that I am getting paid to do um one of the jobs is really far away that's why I don't want it and I want to make sure that I'm compensated for my drive time I don't feel like spinning my wheels driving all the way out there to find out that they don't want to do it the $200 they're paying me is going to pay me for my drive time pay me for my proposal and there's something else that I need you to remember the way that you're going to ask to get paid you've got to be extremely professional when you go out there and you have to represent yourself as the expert in the industry without a doubt one of the two that I'm going to go out and do is an attorney this is lo yeah hi L this is Stan with genetic landscaping and Excavating you called me about a retaining wall yes okay so I I have a I I I have an issue with the city St PA they um they uh they issue anate abatement order against my client on that retaining wall okay and I we K it and the hearing is on the 16th of June or July June June 16th okay I was wondering if I get your Che tomorrow is there a way for you to get report to me hopefully by Monday I can generate a report for you on Monday if you want to meet me at the site with a check in your hand for $200 I'll take measurements of your retaining wall I'll get a a complete report generated that day and then I can email it over to you awesome because I I W I want to go do that hearing having at least your opinion in place so that' be great now um Okay so uh uh can we meet tomorrow I can't meet you tomorrow there's a chance that I could meet you today but would have to be right away tomorrow is booked Saturday is booked um okay so yeah right so then uh what I'm G uh what time today I'd have to be right away because it's already 3:30 in the afternoon so yeah okay so I'm going to I'm going to go ahead and you the address well I can write it down so why don't actually you know what yeah just text me the address and then I will text the address to you at that address and then I'll I'll bring a check a letter understanding with me when we meet okay okay and then I'll meet you today as soon as I get the the text message I'll head out to meet you okay wonderful I'll do that momentarily okay thank you all right thanks L bye it's as easy as that as long as you you are the expert in your field people will seek you out and trust me guys you are the expert in your field that's a real phone call that's a real customer and now I really got to fly because it's 3:30 in the afternoon and I have to go meet this customer and get a report generated for them so that they can go to court uh what is it sounds like it's going to be court on Tuesday for them so and that's how it works that was a real life phone call I know you can do it too so go get them love you guys I'm off I got to go meet a customer opion on a retaining wall well guess who's the expert on the retaining walls I am and when they spoke to me on the phone I was able to relay that message almost immediately and they became very comfortable with the fact that I knew what I was talking about and they sought my opinion out as expert advice and yes I am an expert on retaining walls and you're an expert on lawn care you're an expert on mulch beds you're an expert on whatever field it is you work in that you're really good at and you get paid at as soon as you get paid for something you're a professional you need to understand that and there is the opportunity to get paid once you grab grab a hold of that fact and then you start to practice okay but those those phone calls that you get where in the back of your mind you're like I don't really want to drive way out there to do it or this isn't something that I really want to do experiment try to get them to pay you to come out and do it I get paid all the time now to do proposals and I get paid $200 each proposal on jobsare so let's talk about what that $200 buys them it's this is no guesswork to it there's a structured framework that they get for $200 and it's laid out specifically that $200 gets them one site visit one meeting with me at the same time as the site visit accurate complete measurements of their project it gets them a written quote with a line item breakdown of every component of their project furthermore what they gets them is it gets them one follow-up phone meeting and I'm not visiting their site a second time it gives them a follow-up phone meeting only and one revision to that quote if they have any questions if they need a a secondary site meeting that's an additional $200 and any Consulting after that is on top of that so you don't just shoot from the hip and give them just a general go around you are very specific and you have a format and a reason why they would want to have you come out and spend $200 also there is no risk to that $200 the $200 is subtracted from the project fee and I let them know that right away so there's no risk to them when you come out and you give them that proposal if they hire you you take the $200 proposal fee out of their project you're going to find a lot of people are going to go for that not everybody gives free estimates in lawn care and Landscaping if you're in lawn care and you're thinking there's no way I'm going to get somebody to spend $200 well guess what you're wrong because your opinion matters your ability to go out and analyze a lawn your ability to give them accurate and complete up-to-date information an everything that they need to turn their their dirt patch into a lush green lawn is valuable don't underestimate what your knowledge is worth it's worth a lot and I don't care what industry you're in what Market you're in find your Niche hone your way in there and become the leading expert in your field and people will pay you for your opinion love you guys go get them put in the the comments below your experiences with getting paid I want to hear from you what have you done what industry are you in what have you done and how has it worked for you catch you later have a good one my friends [Music]