Ever feel like you're 'going it alone' in your trade or contractor business? Sometimes it can be tough as a sole trader or small to medium enterprise (SME). Not only are you on the ground doing the 'work', you also have to take care of your marketing, sales, finance, planning and still keep a smile on your face PLUS have some sort of personal or family life. Phew! Despite how you might feel sometimes, you're definitely not alone. In fact, Flying Solo is a community of solo and micro-preneurs tha...
Aug 02, 2016•54 min•Season 1Ep. 43
Sadly, more Australian men die from suicide each year than from cancer. Perhaps even more tragically, construction workers are six times more likely to die from suicide than an accident at work. For our young workers, the facts are that Read More The post TBS146 Talking suicide prevention with Jorgen from Mates In Construction appeared first on Tradies Business Show . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jul 25, 2016•41 min•Season 1Ep. 42
Hug your haters - it's the new way to improve your customer service and get the jump on your competition. Most people hate getting negative feedback or 'constructive criticism' especially when it's about our businesses. One question we get asked a lot here at the Show is "how can I get less bad reviews from customers?" Well, we lift the lid on customer complaints, bad reviews and all the other scary customer feedback you might receive and in fact, talk about why you should embrace your bad revie...
Jul 18, 2016•12 min•Season 1Ep. 41
In less than 15 years Facebook has gone from a college campus social club to a global database connecting billions of people. Like it or hate it, there's a fair chance at least a few of those people are your Read More The post TBS144 Why Advertise on Facebook? appeared first on Tradies Business Show . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jul 11, 2016•29 min•Season 1Ep. 40
They say the only constant in life is change. So why are so many of us so scared of it? It seems one common way to avoid change and the amazing benefits it so often brings, is to get stuck on doing things 'perfectly'. This manifests in the form of control behaviours like clinging to menial and low-value tasks ourselves (think: doing your own bookkeeping or spending hours on designing your own letterhead). Rather than get bogged down in self-fulfilling behaviours that keep us from the real work i...
Jul 04, 2016•25 min•Season 1Ep. 39
Unless you've been living under a rock, you'd know there's a Federal election going on in Australia this weekend. What you might not know is that Michaela happens to be a politics nerd and loves election time and all the shenanigans Read More The post TBS142 Michaela gives an election update with Matt from the Site Shed appeared first on Tradies Business Show . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jun 30, 2016•34 min•Season 1Ep. 38
When we started the Tradies Business Show we hoped that at least a few tradies would listen, get some value and implement some of our ideas and strategies to improve their business and their life. What we didn't anticipate was that people would not only listen, but listen to every. single. episode...! Mike Piercey from Cornerstone Landscapes is one such listener. Not only that, Mike decided to start his very own trade business after hearing some of our rantings. He's gone on to create a successf...
Jun 27, 2016•30 min•Season 1Ep. 37
Today's podcast guest features Nic from popular The Builder's Wife blog. You'd be forgiven for thinking that blogging is kind of old hat. With literally millions of them online these days it's somewhat hard to believe that they have any Read More The post TBS140 Real Tradie Stories with Nic The Builder's Wife appeared first on Tradies Business Show . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jun 19, 2016•30 min•Season 1Ep. 36
What do dentists and tradies have in common? They both get paid to use their tools...yeah, pretty lame but Google wasn't any better for a dentist joke! In today's episode we have a chat with a difference. Rather than Read More The post TBS139 We talk to a former dentist about what it takes to get off the tools appeared first on Tradies Business Show . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jun 13, 2016•58 min•Season 1Ep. 35
What's that smell? Yep. It's your attitude...it stinks! Ok maybe that was a bit harsh but you get the idea right? Sometimes our state of mind gets a bit on the nose and not surprisingly the results showing up in your life can start to look (and smell) the same. We take a look at 3 simple things you can do TODAY to change your attitude and get your results back on track. They might just turn a bad day/week/month/year around and get you on the way to getting off the tools. After all, that's why yo...
Jun 07, 2016•26 min•Season 1Ep. 34
Local area marketing has become high paced, high tech and sometimes high stress! Today's guest joins us all the way from Karratha in remote Western Australia and brings with her a unique perspective on some 'good old fashioned' local area marketing. Read More The post TBS137 Tips to master your local area marketing appeared first on Tradies Business Show . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
May 30, 2016•33 min•Season 1Ep. 33
Love it or hate it, there seems little doubt that Facebook is here to stay! With usage still growing, it's an integral part of our lives. For businesses, it can be confusing and perhaps a little scary as a marketing tool but one thing is for sure, if you're not using it, you're missing out. As far as bang for buck goes, Facebook kills most other strategies so you really need to think seriously about how you're using it for your trade or contractor business. We're not talking 'buying likes' eithe...
May 09, 2016•20 min•Season 1Ep. 32
Cowboys. They're everywhere. At least that's how it seems sometimes when you're running your business and seem to come up against lower priced, less experienced, inferior quality tradesmen. Problem is, the same is true for almost every other industry and the Read More The post TBS135 Technology Update with Clinton from TradiePad appeared first on Tradies Business Show . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
May 02, 2016•29 min•Season 1Ep. 31
If you're in business with your 'significant other' then chances are you've had some sort of disagreement or altercation. The same can be said if you've got long term employees, business partners or key stakeholders that you deal with on a regular basis. It seems to be an accepted part of a long term relationship with another human being that emotions will sometimes get in the way of 'adulting'. Sadly, these dynamics can become so ingrained and so restrictive that relationships break down. Micha...
Apr 25, 2016•37 min•Season 1Ep. 30
Sometimes when I'm alone...I Google myself. It's a bit of a joke but in reality, you should Google yourself (and your business) to see how you rank, what comes up AND whether your site really is mobile responsive. Google has been giving preference in rankings for mobile responsive sites for a while but they're about to tighten this up further in the coming months. This makes it even more important to ensure your website is truly mobile responsive (as opposed to having a dedicated mobile website)...
Apr 19, 2016•13 min•Season 1Ep. 29
Time for another real tradie story! This time we're chatting to Gerard Liddy from Dynamic Business Partners. Gerard works with business owners as their coach and mentor but it wasn't always this way for Gerard (or G Rad as he's affectionately known!). Gerard began his working life as an electrician working for the Brisbane City Council but spent a lot of time around poo. Not because he particularly liked it but he was working within the waste water division at the good old 'poo farm'. As well as...
Apr 12, 2016•44 min•Season 1Ep. 28
There's nothing like politics to stir up some big debate and even bigger emotions. We've steered clear of political debate here at The Tradies Business Show but we thought it was time to man/woman up and stop avoiding this important area of being in business. Rather than just grab your stereotypical, middle aged, middle class, caucasian male member of parliament, we thought we'd talk to the youngest ever member of Australian parliament. Wyatt Roy also happens to be the Assistant Minister for Inn...
Apr 05, 2016•39 min•Season 1Ep. 27
Adam Franklin is the founder of Blue Wire media and the author of 'Web Marketing That Works' and he joins us today to talk about exactly that...marketing on the interweb...that works for tradies! Adam is all about keeping things simple, within your budget and more importantly, getting you results. He's one of Australia's (and the world's) big guns in the online marketing space and speaks at conferences and seminars around the world. He also has built a massive (and we're talking tens of thousand...
Mar 29, 2016•34 min•Season 1Ep. 26
With the easy access to information in our modern age, it can seem like there's almost too much knowledge on how to be successful and achieve your goals. Where do I start? What's the best strategy for me? Am I doing enough? Who do I trust? How do I know if I'm on the right track? Shut up! Get up! And give it a go! No, we're not shouting at you...this happens to be the title of the book written by today's guest on the show. As confronting as these words may seem, this is some of the simplest, mos...
Mar 21, 2016•36 min•Season 1Ep. 25
Plastering. It's right up there with painting...and unblocking sewers as jobs people love to hate. Well, that's Wazza's opinion anyway! If you've been a regular listener to the show, you'd know that Australia's most important tradie is Duncan, Michaela's husband! Recently, Duncan had a plastering job lined up (yes, he's a plasterer) and his subcontractor didn't show up at the last minute...so we donned the tradie clothes and offered to help out! All in the name of content creation of course. (Se...
Mar 07, 2016•8 min•Season 1Ep. 24
Round and round and round it goes, where it stops, nobody knows! For many of us, this is an apt description of our lives. Busily racing from this appointment to that customer to another meeting before rushing home to be late for dinner (again) and then hastily kissing the kids (and maybe the better half) goodnight, only to repeat the whole process the next day. And the next. And the next. With all the talk of productivity, effectiveness and getting sh*t done you'd be forgiven for thinking the an...
Feb 29, 2016•54 min•Season 1Ep. 23
You probably thought about it for ages before you finally took the plunge. Maybe you had a bit of a dabble first, just to test the water? Or perhaps you were one of those people that just dove right in? Apart from trying to come up with as many swimming puns as possible for this post (our guest is a lifeguard), we actually had a great chat to someone who's about to start their first trade business. Nathan is a lifeguard but he's also a qualified tiler who's about to jump into the deep end of bus...
Feb 22, 2016•10 min•Season 1Ep. 22
Employers. Employees. A battle royale. Well, you'd think that's what it was all about with the way some of us carry on! There seems to be a divide between employers, bosses, business owners, whatever you want to call them and employees, staff, workers or team. The amusing part of this is that we all start out as employees and many of us then go on to own our own business and become employers. Somewhere in there, we all lose touch with the others' needs and wants and somehow, end up fighting and ...
Feb 16, 2016•1 hr 16 min•Season 1Ep. 21
Websites. We all have them (or at least you should!) but not all of us get a return from our investment in them. It's tough to know what the 'right' thing is to focus on with your online strategy sometimes. Read More The post TBS124 3 Things you can do to get your website making money NOW appeared first on Tradies Business Show . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Feb 08, 2016•38 min•Season 1Ep. 20
It's been a long time coming but we've finally got Nick May from Walls By Design back on the show. Nick's been a busy boy and as well as updating us on the latest results he's had with his painting business, Walls By Design, he shares his secret sauce strategies for crushing it on Facebook. Nick has been able to generate a 12 times return on investment on Facebook marketing but the best part is he's done it all with almost no prior knowledge of Facebook campaigns. He's also created most of his p...
Feb 01, 2016•50 min•Season 1Ep. 19
If you're a tradie and you're in business you've no doubt spent countless hours and dollars chasing more clients, more revenue and more profit. You've probably also heard the sayings about 'the diamonds in your own backyard'? Well, there's an often overlooked strategy to grow your revenue that is exactly that. Rebooting past clients. If you've been in business for more than a few months you'll have clients who used you once, then you never heard from them again and... let's be honest, you never ...
Jan 25, 2016•24 min•Season 1Ep. 18
It's exhausting. You tell a fib and then you have to remember what you said to whom so you can cover your tracks. Sometimes it's as simple as just glossing over the facts to avoid conflict with someone. Other times it's perhaps a little more serious, like telling a customer that the supplier was out of stock when really, you forgot to order the parts! We take a look at our tendency to fib, lie, withhold facts or whatever you want to call it and how it could be having a serious effect on your hea...
Jan 19, 2016•20 min•Season 1Ep. 17
Stuff. It's everywhere. It's in your closet, your filing cabinet, your garage, your hard drive, your bathroom, under the sink, at the back of the freezer. Worst of all, there's often an abundance of stuff in your head. Many of us accumulate all kinds of stuff in our lives. Both the physical and emotional stuff can become clutter and it's this clutter that often keeps us from implementing new ideas, taking on opportunities, or adding another motorcycle to the garage. Well, you can never have too ...
Jan 11, 2016•31 min•Season 1Ep. 16
These days, Brett Mills can literally do the 'Toyota jump' with joy at the health of his team. There's a strong culture, great work ethic, community spirit and so many more positive aspects that make working at Ken Mills Toyota almost as good as driving off in a new Landcruiser. Well, almost. It wasn't always this way for Brett, who took over from his dad, Ken, quite some years ago. Brett has had to work hard on creating this culture and the results that come from it and in this episode, he shar...
Jan 04, 2016•53 min•Season 1Ep. 15
Ever had a blue with your husband or wife about business? Better yet, do you work in (or on) your business with your spouse or significant other? If you answered 'yes' to the second question then chances are the answer to the first one is 'definitely!' Unfortunately, mixing business with marriage can be a volatile combination so we dragged Wazza's co-host from Throw Buddha On The Barbie into the Tradies studio to share some tips on a happy life and business partnership with your significant othe...
Dec 28, 2015•48 min•Season 1Ep. 14
