By Business Type
Marketing for contractors and home service businesses
Your best marketing is the job you just finished. How to turn each one into photos, a review and the next phone call.
· 2 min read
Marketing help for small businesses
Can't afford a marketing agency? Market your own.
Straightforward, do-it-yourself marketing tips for small business owners. One practical idea a week, in plain English, that you can put to work the same day.
Every tip ends with one small job
For example: text your review link to three happy customers.
New here? Start with the six-step path or browse all the tips.
- Get found on Google
- Earn five-star reviews
- Post in one hour a week
- Build an email list you own
- Fix the top of your home page
- Test ads for $5 a day
- Turn customers into referrals
- Take better photos with your phone
Written for owners, not marketers
No jargon and no theory. Every tip is something you can do this week, between customers.
Free or close to it
We start with what costs nothing: your Google listing, your reviews, your email list, your own posts.
Tested in the real world
We run local community groups and client campaigns every day. We share what we see working, and what isn't.
What it actually takes
This is a whole week of marketing.
Not a marketing department. One sitting to write your posts, a few minutes a day to answer people, and a habit of asking happy customers for a review. The tips show you how to do each part.
- 1 hour
- to write and schedule three posts. The one-hour plan →
- 10 min
- a day to reply to comments and messages. Posts that get seen →
- 5 asks
- for a Google review, from happy customers. How to ask →
Your week
About 2 hours total- MonYour weekly hour: write and schedule 3 postsReplies · 10 min
- TuePost 1 goes out: show your workAsk for a reviewReplies · 10 min
- WedAsk for a reviewReplies · 10 min
- ThuPost 2 goes out: helpAsk for a reviewReplies · 10 min
- FriAsk for a reviewReplies · 10 min
- SatPost 3 goes out: be a personAsk for a reviewReplies · 10 min
- SunOff. You earned it.
Channel by channel
Which ones are worth your time? We'll tell you straight.
- FacebookWhere most local businesses should start.
- InstagramFor work that looks good in a photo.
- TikTokReach strangers, if you'll film.
- XOptional for most. Great for a few.
- LinkedInFor selling to other businesses.
- EmailThe one audience you own.
- Promotional productsShirts, hats and things people keep.
- BrandingLook like one business everywhere.
Or start from your kind of business
All business types →Latest tips
All tips →By Business Type
Restaurant marketing you can do between lunch and dinner
Hungry people decide fast. Four free habits that put your restaurant in front of them at the moment they are choosing where to eat.
· 2 min read
By Business Type
Marketing for independent shops and boutiques
You cannot outspend the big stores, and you do not need to. How a local shop wins on what it has that they do not: you, and what just came in.
· 2 min read
By Business Type
Marketing for salons, barbershops and spas
A full book comes from clients who rebook and bring a friend. Five simple habits that fill your chair without discounting your work.
· 2 min read
Getting Started
The 30-minute monthly marketing checklist
Marketing falls apart when it depends on remembering. Run this short checklist on the first of every month.
· 2 min read
Website & Content
What to put on your home page (and what to leave off)
Visitors decide in seconds whether they are in the right place. Five things your home page must answer right away.
· 2 min read
Free tools
Use these today. No account needed.
- Review sign makerPaste your Google review link and print a counter sign or small cards with a QR code customers can scan.Make your sign →
- What should I post today?Pick your kind of business and get a post idea with a caption to start from, or a whole week of three.Get an idea →
- Copy-and-paste templatesReview requests, replies to reviews, post captions and email outlines. Fill in the blanks and send.Browse templates →
- Printable marketing checklistOne page to tape next to the register: what to set up once, what to do weekly and what to check monthly.Get the checklist →
Pick where to start
You don't have to do everything. Choose the one area that would help most right now.
- Getting StartedWhere to begin, and how to keep going when you're busy.
- Social MediaPost less, reach more. What actually works on Facebook and Instagram.
- Local SEO & GoogleShow up when neighbors search for what you sell.
- EmailBuild a list you own and send emails people open.
- Reviews & ReputationEarn more reviews and handle the bad ones well.
- Website & ContentWords and pages that turn visitors into customers.
- Ads on a BudgetTest paid ads without lighting money on fire.
- By Business TypePlans built for restaurants, contractors, salons and shops.
Membership
Stuck on what to do next? Ask people who do this every day.
Members get a private group for questions and feedback, plus members-only playbooks. $99.99 a year — about $8.33 a month.
See what's included