These guides are written for trades business owners who want to understand their own marketing, whether or not they ever hire us. Each one answers a practical question with specific steps, worked numbers or a clear table. They draw on our HVAC marketing work and on official Canadian sources where facts are involved, and they are dated so you know how current they are.
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How to set a marketing budget from your own numbers
A trades marketing budget should come from four numbers you already have: average job value, gross margin, close rate and cost per lead. This guide shows the formulas and three worked examples.
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A seasonal marketing calendar for Canadian trades
Most trades lose money by marketing at the wrong time: too late for the spring rush, too early for winter emergencies. This calendar sets out what to do in each season, by trade group and by region.
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The trade-by-trade marketing playbook
Eighteen trades, one table, and specific notes on each: when demand peaks, what makes a job valuable, how customers search, and where the first marketing dollar should go.
The trade-by-trade marketing playbook
The trade-by-trade marketing playbook covers 18 trades in one table: plumbers, electricians, HVAC, locksmiths, garage door technicians, roofers, eavestrough and siding, foundations and waterproofing, masonry and chimneys, renovators, carpenters, flooring, windows and doors, drywall and insulation, painters, landscapers, fencing and decks, and concrete and paving.
For each trade it sets out the busiest period, what drives job value, how customers search and where the first marketing dollar should go. Then it gives specific notes on each trade, grouped into urgent trades, planned repair trades and project trades.
What you'll learn: whether your current spending matches how your customers buy, and which channel to fund first.
How to set a marketing budget from your own numbers
The budget guide shows how to work out what you can afford to pay for a booked job, using four numbers from your own records: average job value, gross margin, close rate and cost per lead.
It walks through three worked examples (a painter, a plumber and a roofer) with the formulas laid out step by step, then covers the leaks that make good leads expensive: missed calls, slow quotes, no follow-up, and marketing the wrong jobs.
What you'll learn: how much to spend, how to judge whether it's working, and why fixing your close rate often beats finding cheaper leads.
A seasonal marketing calendar for Canadian trades
The seasonal calendar sets out what to do in each season, from late-winter pre-selling for exterior trades to autumn preparation for heating and plumbing emergencies. It includes regional notes for the coast, the Prairies, Central and Atlantic Canada, and the North.
What you'll learn: when to push, when to prepare, and how to build a simple calendar for your own job types.
How to use these guides
The three guides work best together:
- Start with the playbook to see which channels matter most for your trade.
- Run the budget maths to decide how much to spend on them.
- Use the calendar to decide when to spend it.
Then compare the result with what you're doing now. Most owners find at least one thing in the wrong order, and fixing the order usually costs nothing.
Who writes the guides, and how
The guides are written under the direction of Ali Sedighi, MBA, who has worked in digital marketing for 17+ years and has built 150+ live HVAC websites. Where a guide refers to a regulator, a program or a statistic, it links to the official source, and anything that changes often is marked "as of October 2026" so you know to check it.
Worked numbers in the guides are illustrative, chosen to make the maths easy to follow. They are not benchmarks for any trade, and they never come from client records. Replace them with your own figures.
What the guides don't cover
The guides are about marketing and business decisions. They are not legal, tax, licensing or code-compliance advice. When a topic touches those areas, such as anti-spam rules for review requests or who may advertise electrical work in Ontario, we summarise the official position, link to the regulator, and suggest you confirm with them or a qualified advisor.
Beyond the guides
The services pages explain each part of the work in more detail, from local SEO to short video. The areas pages cover the regulators, climate and current programs in each province and territory, as of October 2026. If you'd like to go through your own numbers with a senior strategist, call, text or email.
Frequently asked questions
Are these guides free to use?
Yes. Read them, print them and share them with your team. They're written so a trades owner can act on them without hiring anyone.
Which guide should I read first?
If you're unsure where your money should go, start with the trade-by-trade playbook. If you already know your channels but not your budget, start with the budget guide. If your problem is timing, read the seasonal calendar.
How often are the guides updated?
We review them when something material changes, such as a regional program or a platform rule. Each guide shows the date it was last updated.