First, a little reminder about how others work

One entity owns the Top 2 lead gen companies

Cost per lead is expensive, even when the membership is free

Your competitors bought the same leads so you'll have to bid to beat them

Leads can be "tire kickers"

Purchased leads aren't available to you right away

If you're not constantly active on their sites, you miss leads

You'll spend too much time searching for leads and away from jobs

It costs a lot of money for visibility on these sites and to build your reputation

They do not provide data to help you grow - their data helps them grow

You're paying mostly for their teams and overhead

Lead gen is not their focus

Services that you don't need are always part of the package - lots of bloat

Inexperience with your industry because they work with too many others

Goals are different than yours - they're more about building your brand

Data they collect is not helpful to your growth

Methods aren't simple because they are incentivized to do more than you need

You won't be working with the same person/people each time

You just want more jobs while they just want to refine your online presence