Pricing & Getting Work

How to set a tradie charge-out rate from your real costs — the cost-up formula and 1.6-2.2x multiplier, the day-rate maths most people get wrong, the billable-hours trap, charging a margin not a markup on materials, and indicative rate bands.

How tradies win referral work — getting onto builders' preferred subcontractor lists (the vetting, insurance and capability statement), what industry associations and architects do for your pipeline, and community networking vs digital lead gen.

How a tradie sets up and ranks a Google Business Profile — categories and service areas, service-area-business video verification, getting reviews the right way (no incentives or gating), and the local SEO signals that drive the map pack.

How tradie lead platforms (hipages, ServiceSeeking, Airtasker, Oneflare) and Google Ads actually work — indicative lead and click costs, conversion realities, and the free channels (Google Business Profile, Facebook, referrals) to nail first.

How tradies win work on social — Facebook vs Instagram vs TikTok by trade, the 50/30/20 proof-process-people content mix, the consumer-law and privacy rules (image rights, fake reviews, sponsorship disclosure), and turning followers into booked jobs.

How a new tradie builds reputation — acting like a local micro-brand, getting reviews and referrals, why lead platforms are a tap not a strategy, the before-during-after photo habit, and the year-by-year shift from word-of-mouth to owning your channels.

How to handle mates' rates as a tradie — why the ATO taxes you on what you actually charge (not retail value), how to invoice a discount, the boundary frameworks experienced tradies use, and scripts to say no without wrecking the relationship.

Should a tradie specialise or stay general? The earnings premium for qualifying and niching (indicative), when to specialise (after the core trade), the high-premium niches (heat pumps, accessibility, civil, heritage), and a 12-24 month transition playbook.

Why customers choose and stay with one tradie over another — the risk equation and four-value lens, the quiet trust signals before, during and in the quote, the four-step communication that converts a quote, perceived vs actual value, and how reviews and word-of-mouth really work.

Pricing materials properly — trade and credit accounts, the markup-vs-margin trap that underprices tradies (a 30% margin needs a 43% markup), three ways to price materials, protecting margin against mid-job price rises, and how to treat supplier rebates. Guidance only.