These guides are the core of Trades.Help. Each one takes a single job that new trades owners struggle with and walks through it from start to finish, in plain language, with worked numbers and templates you can copy. Read them in order if you are just starting; jump to the one you need if you are already underway.
None of the guides gives legal or licensing advice. Where rules matter, we link to the official source and suggest you check with them. The marketing steps themselves work in every province and territory.
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A DIY marketing plan for your first year in the trades
In your first year, do marketing in this order: be easy to reach, be findable on Google, collect reviews, build a small website, then plan around your seasons. About two hours a week is enough if you keep a call log and stick to one task at a time.
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How to land your first 20 customers as a new trades business
Your first 20 customers usually come from four places: people who already know you, neighbours of your first jobs, your Google Business Profile, and a small number of local connections such as suppliers and property managers. This guide shows how to work each one, with numbers you can plan around.
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How to set up a Google Business Profile for a new trades business
Set up your Google Business Profile in this order: a Google account you will keep, your exact registered name, one honest primary category, a hidden address with a service area, then verification and photos. This guide walks through each step for a trades business that travels to customers.
How to set up a Google Business Profile
How to set up a Google Business Profile for a new trades business is the guide to read first if you are not yet on Google Maps. It goes through ten steps in the order that avoids the common problems.
What you will learn:
- how to choose a name, category and service area that will not get you suspended
- how to hide your home address if you work from home
- what to show in a verification video
- how to ask for reviews with a simple text template
- a ten-minute weekly routine to keep the profile active
If you get stuck partway, our profile setup help can check your work.
How to land your first 20 customers
How to land your first 20 customers covers the four sources that bring nearly every new trades business its early work, and how to plan the number of enquiries you need.
What you will learn:
- a rough way to work out how many enquiries your trade needs for 20 jobs
- how to build and contact your warm list without being pushy
- a neighbour routine that turns each job into the next one
- which local relationships send repeat work
- how to win more of the calls you already get
The written, done-for-you version of this guide is our first-customer launch plan.
A DIY marketing plan for your first year
The first-year DIY marketing plan lays out twelve months of marketing for a solo owner or small crew, in about two hours a week.
What you will learn:
- what to do in months 1 to 2, 3 to 4, 5 to 8 and 9 to 12
- how to plan around your busy and slow seasons
- a simple sum for deciding whether an ad test paid for itself
- which Canada-wide rules, such as anti-spam and privacy, affect small businesses
- the signs that it is time to get help
If you like this approach but want someone checking your work, look at DIY marketing coaching.
Who the guides are written for
They are written for the owner who knows the trade inside out but has never had to find customers alone. That might be a newly certified journeyperson, a tradesperson leaving a larger company after years on the tools, or a husband-and-wife team running a small crew from the kitchen table.
We assume no marketing background at all. Every term is explained the first time it appears, every step says roughly how long it takes, and every cost is shown in plain dollars. If something in a guide is unclear, that is our problem to fix, and we would like to hear about it.
How to use these guides well
Keep a call log while you read. Every guide refers back to it, because the log is how you find out which steps actually bring work in your area.
A few suggestions:
- Do one guide's tasks before starting the next.
- Put the tasks in your calendar like a job, at the same time each week.
- Use the templates as a starting point, but write in your own voice.
- Check your region page, such as Ontario or Alberta, for the local bodies and seasonal patterns that apply to you.
Have a question the guides do not answer? Try the FAQ, or get in touch and ask.
Frequently asked questions
Are these guides really free?
Yes. You can read and use everything in them without contacting us. They are written so that a first-year owner can follow them alone.
Which guide should I read first?
If you have no verified Google profile, start with the profile setup guide. If you do, read the first 20 customers guide. The first-year plan ties both together.
Do the guides apply in my province?
The marketing steps work anywhere in Canada. Rules about licensing, certification and advertising differ by province and territory, so each region page links to the official bodies where you can check.