Phil Risher argues home-service businesses blame Yelp for poor results when the real problem is sloppy strategy. Most don't track performance, spread ad spend randomly, or respond to customers. He says disciplined measurement and optimization can deliver a ten-fold return on investment.
Everyone hates Yelp until it starts producing revenue. The issue isn't the platform, it's the strategy. They don't track, they have scattered spend all over the place, they don't respond to messages. Once we started measuring, optimizing, and then doubling down on what was working, Yelp turned out to be profitable. Literally a 10x return. That's the real lesson in home service. It's not about liking platforms, it's about making the platform work for your business.
