Growing Your Trade Business For FREE

 Andy
Yep. The good old bang for your buck. Plus, we’ve got a free download to go with today’s episode that will give you heaps more marketing strategies to help grow your business, as well as keeping customers coming back to you over and over again. So let’s get into it. 

You’re listening to The Tradie Show. This is the podcast for trade business and contracting bosses like you, who want to lead with confidence, make more profit and create a better lifestyle. 

Ange
We’re your hosts, Andy and Angela Smith, husband & wife team and co-founders of Lifestyle Tradie. Are you ready to have some fun? 

 Andy
Hell yeah! Hey guys, Andy here. Before we jump into this week’s episode, I want to ask you a question. How are you going with your trade business right now? As you know, I talk to a lot of trade business owners and I continue to hear a few things. They’re struggling to find and retain good staff. They’re wondering how to set up systems and structures, and they’re working way too many hours, and they’re actually feeling completely burnt out. Angela and I have been fixing these exact challenges since 2010,  when we started Lifestyle Tradie. And the one thing we know after all these years is, if you keep doing the same thing, you’re going to get the same results. Listen guys, why don’t you future proof your business today? Book in a free strategy session with me so that we can have a chat and work out the best steps for you and your business moving forward. Head to lifestyletradie.com.au to book in time now. Look forward to chatting soon.  

We’ve been in the trade industry for decades now, and we’ve seen many different ways for tradies to market and grow their business. From the good old yellow pages back in the day, to Google ads, as well as the letterbox drops to posting on social media. There are endless ways to get your business name out there to your ideal customers. 

Ange
Um, Andy, you are showing your age mentioning the yellow pages, but you’re right. There are so many ways to market your business. And today we’re going to share what we’ve done over the years in terms of free marketing strategies and also share what tradies are doing now.

 Andy
Yeah, we sold the plumbing business Dr. Drip just a couple of years ago, but I’d have to say our marketing was definitely one of our strong points. We always had something going on and some of which made our competitors very cranky. 

Ange
True. 

 Andy
And it definitely didn’t hurt, Ange, that you came from a corporate marketing background as well.

Ange
Well, Dr. Drip didn’t exactly have the multi-million dollar marketing budgets that I was used to dealing with. So we did have to get creative and put our little hustle hats on to drum up business with the intent to use as little money as possible, or even better still, no money at all to drive customers.

 Andy
Yeah, it’s interesting because marketing is actually something that most tradies struggle with, right? And they think I’m a really great plumber, I’m a great tradie, but I don’t want to do sales. And I don’t know the first thing about marketing. And then some tradies even think, ah, I’ve got enough work for the next 18 months. I don’t need any of that stuff. But I just heard a story from a bloke that mentioned that all of their customers have all of a sudden gone missing. He had 18 months of work in front of him, but all of the customers have decided to put it on hold. And they’ve literally gone from having so much work to having no work and really they’re a little bit up creek and scrambling.

Ange
Yeah. Wow. That’s not good at all.

 Andy
It sure isn’t. And the problem is as a tradie, you spend all these years honing your schools as the technician, you know, you go to TAFE, you spend all these years perfecting your craft, learning how to do things quicker, easier, more efficiently, and you get better and better after years on the job. But the fact is you’re a great technician. It’s a given, right? We’re all great tradies. Whether you’re a sparky, chippy, concreter, roofer, bricklayer, HVAC, solar, whatever trade you are, but now it’s time to focus on building the business and your business is that new craft you need to start looking at perfecting. And that’s been a challenge for a lot of people over the years. 

Ange
That’s interesting. I actually love that way of thinking because I actually don’t think many trade business owners realize this is the new mindset that you need. You absolutely need to do this, before you even get your head around what kind of marketing you need to do to get business coming in the door, you need to have a mindset shift because you’ve got to come at this from a whole new angle or a whole new perspective. 

 Andy
Yeah. You’re shifting really from just being a tradie to really understanding that you’re the business owner, you’re an entrepreneur, and this is a whole other conversation. But let me just say this, whether you like marketing or not. It’s now a skill you definitely need to master. And just like anything, there are different levels and complexity to marketing, but the good thing is you don’t need to be good at absolutely everything. 

Ange
Yeah, valid. Okay. Andy, how about you share what you did when you first went out on your own? And I’d also like to know if this is what you would do if you were in the same position now.

 Andy
Well, that is definitely a great question. Well, firstly, I had a name for myself as a pretty good plumber and I was a likable bloke with a can-do attitude and I was ready to give anything a go. So I made some contacts through the work that I did from my previous boss and friends and family. I mean, we all have a network of family that all want to use you in the early days. So basically I just started with my circle of friends, family, and a few contacts that I had. And I already knew.

Ange
Yeah. So I call that your low hanging fruit. So one of the first things I remember you doing was actually putting that massive banner up on that main intersection in our local area. Do you remember that?

 Andy
Ah, yes. Now I want to preface this story first by saying this, you’ve got to think about who you are trying to work with. You know, our aim was Mr and Mrs Jones’s, you know, the residential people in your local area. And when you want to work with them, how can you find them? Where are their natural movements and what do they do day in, day out?

Ange
Oh, yes. Great point. We were always trying to be different and trying to stand out from the competitors. We were of the mindset, what makes our potential customers look at us over and above others?

 Andy
Exactly, and that’s where this banner came in. You know, a mate’s mum lived on a massive intersection here on the Northern Beaches and every car that lived up the Peninsula of the Northern Beaches pretty much had to pass through this point. So I rocked up one day with a couple of bottles of wine and I asked her, Could I put up this banner for my plumbing business, Dr. Drip Plumbing, obviously with our logo and phone number in huge writing. 

Ange
You know what I love about this? That is actually so simple, but we got so much work from that thing.

 Andy
Yeah, it was incredible because it started off a bit slow at the beginning, but then over time, Phone started ringing off the hook. It seriously set our business up for a massive workload. It was amazing. Um, until the council came knocking, remember that? Yeah, we got about eight months, I think, of that banner, which eight months, who would have thought, like, I thought it might last a week, but we got eight months before someone complained to the council and we had to take it down. But I’m pretty sure it was one of our competitors that went to the council and put in that complaint. 

Ange
Oh, most likely. It definitely made a stand out as the local plumbers to choose though. So it was an awesome execution at the time.

 Andy
Yeah, that’s right. And even with our ads as well in the local yellow pages and the local newspaper. Now, they all complimented each other because when someone needed a plumber, they’d open the yellow pages, they’d go hang on, I’ve seen that banner on the corner of the street. Or they’d go to the local newspaper and they’d go, hang on, that’s that Dr. Drip guy, we’ve seen that banner on the local street. So most people when they ring us, they’d ring us from the local paper or yellow pages but they always talked about the banner. And we did something a little bit different in the yellow pages and in the local newspaper. While everyone was doing black and white, we were doing color. And that’s one thing we always tried to execute marketing a little bit differently than everyone else. Now, I know these cost money and today’s show is about free strategies, but I’m sharing this because the principles across paid or free are really the same. And it’s how we stand out in a crowded place.

Ange
Well, I actually want to add, you were just talking about how things complement each other. And I think it needs to be said that your vehicle signage is actually really important. When you have like three cars on the road, people in the area think you have like five. When you have five cars, you know, like 10.  Yeah. And I think you’ve got like 10. So yet again, because we were up and down the Peninsula all the time. This consistency of just saying the brand, the brand colors, the brand logo. It really does cement your business in the minds of those people in your area. They have such little things, but when you do them in unison, they work really well. So Andy, in terms of growing your business for free, if you were starting Dr. Drip 2. 0, what would you do?

 Andy
I’d definitely find somewhere I could put a banner up. And I know a lot of people would say, where are you going to do that? And yes, you could cop a fine or they could pull it down, but I still think that’s great on a busy intersection. Why wouldn’t you? And I’d probably just start also with the basics of making a few phone calls, you know, giving your friends a call, your families a call, anyone you know in the industry a call, and I’m just letting them know that you’ve gone out on your own. You need their help because everyone likes to help people. So I used to constantly say to people, Hey,  I’m looking for work. If you know anyone, I’d love to be able to help them out. Can you please spread the word that we’re a new business, Dr. Drip, and we’d really want to help whoever needs some plumbing done. But do you know what else I did back in the day that I’d definitely do again?

Ange
Ooh, what’s that? 

 Andy
Well, at the end of every job, I’ll talk to the customer and make sure they’re happy. Then I’d say, Mrs. Jones, we’re a small business. We don’t have a lot of money to spend on marketing. I was wondering if you could do me a favor and they go, Oh yeah, sure. Andy, how can I help? And I go, well, we’ve really just started the business out and word of mouth is such a powerful tool for small business. And I’d love you to tell all your friends and all your family and I’d be available to work for them. And I’d be forever grateful to you. 

Ange
Wow. So simple, right? 

 Andy
Yeah, it was so simple, but so effective. Because people like to help other people. You just have to ask them to help. 

Ange
Yeah. Interesting. I also remember you approached quite a lot of real estate agents back in the day and you’d also had a lot of experience with strata managers from your previous job. So that gave you some great context too, right? 

 Andy
Yes, it did. And I don’t want anyone to think that I did the wrong thing by my past boss. I definitely didn’t do that. I never trot on his toes. I’ve never been a believer of that, but in terms of networking, you know, making sure that you have word of mouth, having authentic conversations with people can be an absolute game changer. There is so much power in a recommendation. I mean, just think about your life, Ange. I know you spend a considerable amount of time at the hairdressers.  Did you find that contact through a recommendation or from a friend or how? 

Ange
Yeah, I did. It was a recommendation from a friend and I’ve been going there for years because trust me as a chick, when you find a hairdresser you like, you never leave.

 Andy
Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Well, I don’t have to worry about that, but you know, why do you go to the one person that you worried that they’re going to stuff up and do a blue rinse? You are now 50. Maybe a blue rinse could suit you. 

Ange
Well, you are worried because it’s a color or a cut you might hate and you can’t actually reverse a dodgy hairstyle, right? And talking about life stuff, it’s so different to purchases. You make candy. Like didn’t our latest purchase come from a recommendation? 

 Andy
Ah, yes, it did. Actually. We bought, I don’t know if you’ve seen them in Sydney on the beaches, up and down the coast, all around Australia. But these new cruiser e-bikes, I think it’s called a Dorotey. My son’s been banging on about one for a long time, so we just purchased one. 

Ange
Yes. So what made you decide to buy that exact brand?

 Andy
Pressure for my kids!  But um, a lot of recommendations too. Isaac was just like, every kid has a Dorotey.  I don’t want anything but a Dorotey. And in the end, a mate recommended a company in the local area that sold them. So I just went there. 

Ange
Well, there you are. The power of a recommendation. 

 Andy
So let’s bring this back to trade. Many customers prefer contacting a tradie based on recommendations. We all know that from friends, family, or colleagues. There is that immediate level of trust and credibility based on their recommendation.

Ange
Yeah, I agree. And this trust is based on the belief that personal recommendations are actually unbiased and they’re motivated purely by sharing what they had as a positive experience. Because Let’s be honest, no one wants to be ripped off, right?

 Andy
Exactly, think about it, when someone recommends a product or a service, it means they genuinely had a great experience. And we know for a fact that most people are quick to tell a don’t work with this company story over a positive suggestion or recommendation. You know, they’re really putting themselves out on a limb when they’re recommending a friend, aren’t they? And they’re hoping that they will get the same experience.

Ange
Yeah, that’s true. So hands down, this personalized endorsement is more effective than any generic marketing message ever. So don’t be shy about telling friends, family, and other people about your business and asking for help to spread the word. They actually will if you ask, especially if they have truthfully had a great experience with you.

 Andy
Yeah, that’s exactly right. But friends and family aren’t the only people to network with. You know, most suburbs and cities have these business networking groups.

Ange
Yeah, that’s true. So business networking all about people meeting in your local area or even your industry and getting to know each other. And then referring each other work if you like them. Now, this may sound a little awkward, I suppose, but it’s not if you go in with an attitude of genuinely wanting to meet other people in your area and see how you can help them. 

 Andy
Yeah. And you don’t normally go in with the aim of shoving your business card down people’s throats and trying to sell them right away, right?

Ange
No, of course not. It’s not supposed to be a hard sell, but there is an expectation that you are genuinely there to get to know people in the room. And perhaps learn something along the way. 

 Andy
You might even want to go to one of those Chamber of Commerce business breakfasts and say there’s a speaker who talks on social media who’s talking about some strategies because you will all learn something at the same time as getting to know a lot of people in your local area. Then fast forward, say you’re a plumber doing a job and the customer says, I need to find an electrician. Do you know anyone you would recommend? Well, sometimes that might’ve been someone you met in the chamber of commerce meeting, and you can actually start referring to each other.

Ange
Well, exactly. But it doesn’t even have to be other tradies, right? Maybe you even met a dentist in the local area and you guys got on great. So who do you think they’re going to recommend next time they hear of someone needing work?

 Andy
I think the moral of this story is if you’re recommending people and they know you’re recommending people, they’re more likely and other businesses to recommend you back. And the story goes on. So when you’re a part of those networks, there’s quite a lot of work that can be passed around between those groups. And that reminds me of a story of my tradie mate, Pete. He owns a painting company and he started going to these networking groups. And I just remember him telling me about the people he met. And one was this lovely lady who worked at the local car dealership. Now he asked her if they had any vans on the car lot as he was keen to buy a new vehicle. She didn’t at the time, but she did speak to one of the guys at the car yard who’d done some searching for him. And guess what? They source a great second hand van for Pete. Now, the moral of the story is he ended up getting a great deal and he’s gone on to buy another four vehicles through this place. 

Ange
Yeah, that’s awesome. All because he met this one lady at a local networking event. That’s great. So I guess he could have easily gone online or headed to here in Sydney, Parramatta Road is like the place to go to source any of your new vans. But because of that simple interaction, like one simple question meant he ended up doing business locally and supporting all these local people. I just love it. 

 Andy
And now that car dealerships post their new work vans on their social media. Once they’ve had all the sign writing done, as well as if anyone asked for a painter on social media, the car dealership always tags my painter mate and sings their praises. Now that’s great recommendations. And this has been going on now for about 10 years. 

Ange
Wow. That’s amazing. And you know what? This actually happens a lot on Facebook, you know, in those local groups. There’s one here where we live called Northern Beaches Mums that’s actually really popular. Or there’s other local suburb groups where people ask, does anyone know a reliable plumber that they trust, for instance? Or they ask for someone to do their lawns or pest control. A lot of home service type businesses get so many referrals in groups just like this. 

 Andy
And I see a lot of these groups on the Northern beaches. And it’s really interesting that a lot of our tradie members, because of their great reputations, when someone asks for that trade, just the locals are constantly tagging their business saying, I vouch for them. I vouch for them. I vouch for them. We use these guys like it’s really awesome stuff. 

Ange
Well, it is because it’s an endorsement from someone else. These groups can be super powerful. I know heaps of our Lifestyle Tradie members are using them too, but you know, there’s even more powerful ways to stand out in groups like this. Do you want to know how? 

 Andy
Yeah, I’d love to know how. 

Ange
Think video.  

 Andy
That’s a good point actually, because imagine if there wasn’t a thread on Facebook group chat where there’s lots of people who are recommending tradies and you came along and you added a video comment. Now I’ve seen this done and I’m telling you now it definitely stands out in a crowded place.

Ange
Well, a friend of mine did this a lot with her service based business. She made these short little videos about her business and videos answering frequently asked questions, literally like a video per question. Then you can just do general business posts with either images of you or the video. And it’s all free, which is even better. You just need to check the rules of the group because some only let you post business posts at kind of set days and times and others actually only let paid members post. But when I say that I’m talking 50 or a hundred dollars for the year. So it’s certainly on the cheaper side of advertising for your target market.

 Andy
Yeah, and beside Facebook groups, there’s always your own Facebook page or Instagram page, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, or heaps of other social media platforms that literally let you post on them for free. You’ve just got to learn how to attract your particular customer. What we call, you want to be attracting your A and B grade customers. And you’ve got to think to yourself, Where are your customers? Who are the customers you want to work for? And what platform do they play on?

Ange
Now, it’s really important. I want to add that your customers will eventually go seeking or looking at your business online and looking at your website or whatever. So let’s not forget updating your Google My Business page or even looking at SEO strategies. Now, most people outsource this kind of thing, to be honest. And as you know, it’s not always free, but if you have the time or inclination to learn, you definitely can. I know someone who’s tripled their lead flow from Google because they’ve got their Google My Business set up right, and they post several images to it every week.

 Andy
Yeah, and another super low cost marketing strategy that a lot of guys forget, it’s just using simple stickers or even tags, and you can put these on hot water tanks or electrical switchboards. It’s not quite free, but I’ll tell you what, it’s pretty close. And when you put these things on tanks, especially hot water tanks that have to be replaced one day, a lot of customers, when they see that sticker, they think, Oh, this is the company that’s installed it. And they always ring you back. As I said, it’s not quite free, but it’s pretty close. 

Ange
Well, I love this one because it creates jobs that we know have high profit margins, right? And they’re emergency work. So in an emergency, who is the customer going to call? 

 Andy
Yeah, that’s right. When you’ve got a sticker sticking in their face and there’s water flowing everywhere because the tank is burst, they’re not really flicking through the internet or going and trying to find someone. They’re just like, hang on, these are guys here, let’s ring them first. It’s a simple process and it definitely helps the opportunity for having future work. 

Ange
And it works. 

 Andy
Definitely works. In fact, Ange, there’s a whole lot more strategies to attract new customers to your business to help conversion and to create repeat business. So they come back time and time again. 

Ange
Oh, that needs to be talked about because this is where the real money is, is in this repeat business. We’ve done a specific podcast all about this cause it’s that important. So I suggest you go back. It’s called the Goldmine Marketing Strategy you’re sitting on. Have a look. 

 Andy
Yeah, and we’ve actually listed a whole lot of these in our free download for today’s episode. It’s the Lifestyle Tradie Marketing Snapshot, and there’s a link to the download in the show notes, or you can head to our website, lifestyletradie.com.au, and you can find it on the resources page. 

It’s Tradie Dilemma Time, where you let us know what’s troubling you within your business, and we give you our best advice. 

Ange
Okay, so today we have a question from Sienna in New South Wales, and Sienna writes, I’m Working on increasing my profit margin for my electrical business. What should I be aiming for in terms of gross profit margin per job? Okay. I think first and foremost, Sienna is the difference between gross profit and net profit. So I appreciate that your question actually talks about gross profit margin. So you’ve been quite specific. This is obviously about how your P and L looks, you know, revenue coming in, cost of goods sold obviously is the expenses for the jobs that you do leaves you with gross profit margins or gross profit I should say as a financial number. Take away your operating expenses, leaving you with net profit. So it’s important that you do look at the top of your P&L. The short answer is when you’re talking about what am I aiming for, I think it’s important to know that regardless of your job, You need to be making profit, full stop.

 Andy
Yeah, definitely. I mean, we, we know that you’re in a business to make money and, and it was a great question about gross profit, but there’s so many variables and gross profit is different for everyone, the way they set up their P and L. And a lot of times we see tradies haven’t even set it up the right way.

Ange
Valid.

 Andy
So I’m going to dive back into net profit to give a figure, because I think that’s a bit more, you know, somewhere where you should be. Now, a lot of people find it hard to work out their net profit every job. But a lot, if I talk to people, they go, well, we aim for 20 percent or 30 percent net profit per job. But the thing is, when you’re looking at 20 to 30 percent net profit per job, you’ve got to run that over a whole year and then make sure you’re making good profit. So obviously over a whole year, I really want to be seeing businesses. I mean, a lot of people that come to me are sitting at no profit, 5%, maybe 10%. But we’re pushing all of the people we work to 20 and 30 percent and beyond net profit. Now, this all comes down to the style of customers you work for, you know, what kind of clients and where you can make high profit, net profit margins, some clients you can, some clients you don’t. Do you do and charge, or do you quote jobs and make bigger money? Do the boys, are they efficient to make sure the job is smashed out fast so you can make money? So there’s a lot around this question. But I think the big thing here is, Sienna, my general assumption is if you’re making between 10 and 30 percent net profit at the end of the year, once all your finances and everything are done, that’s a good margin you should be working towards.

Ange
Great answer, Andy. I hope that’s been super helpful for you, Sienna. All right, crew, look forward to seeing you next week. 

 Andy
Gotcha! Subscribe to The Tradie Show wherever you get your favorite podcasts.  Rate and write us a review or for more information about Lifestyle Tradie, head to lifestyletradie.com.au.