How to get local clients without paying per lead

Start with a complete Google Business Profile

A free Google Business Profile helps you show up when people search for your trade in your area. Fill in every section: your trade and the areas you cover, opening hours, a phone number, a link, and as many photos of real jobs as you can. Keep it up to date.

Ask for reviews, every time

Most happy customers will leave a review if you ask and make it easy. Ask while the job is fresh, and send a direct link by message so it takes them under a minute. Reply to every review, including the occasional bad one, calmly and politely.

Turn happy clients into referrals

• Ask each client whether they know someone else who needs similar work.
• Thank them properly. A message or a small gesture goes a long way.
• Neighbours on the same street often notice a job in progress and ask who is doing it.

Build local partnerships

Other trades, builders' merchants, estate and letting agents, interior designers and local shops all meet people who are about to start a project. A plumber, a tiler and a decorator can pass work to each other. Leave a card or a poster with a clear link or QR code, and keep your promises so they are happy to recommend you.

Be visible where you work

• A clean, clearly marked van with your name, trade and one way to contact you.
• A job board outside the property, if the client agrees and local rules allow it.
• A short, tidy social profile with before and after photos of recent work.

Join local groups the right way

Local community and neighbourhood groups are full of people asking for recommendations. Read the group's rules first, be useful by answering questions and sharing photos of real jobs, and do not post the same advert everywhere. Most groups remove repeated adverts.

Show your work with permission

Before and after photos are the strongest thing you can show. Ask the client before you share pictures of their home, keep a folder sorted by job type so you can find a similar one quickly, and use the same photos on your profile and your social pages.

Make it easy to contact you

Put your phone number, a WhatsApp or message link and one clear web link or QR code everywhere. Reply to enquiries quickly. A prompt, polite reply often wins the job before anyone else has answered.

Where GlowUpp fits

GlowUpp is free to join and a profile costs nothing. You get your own link and QR code to share with clients you find yourself; your first 3 jobs from those clients are free, and after that GlowUpp charges 2% of the accepted quote (capped at £250). For jobs from the open marketplace, you pay 2% (capped at £250) only if the client picks you. It is not free forever, but you never pay for a lead you do not win.

Keep track of what works

Ask every new client how they found you and write it down. After a couple of months you will see which of these is worth your time and which to drop, so you can put your effort where the work comes from.

Mistakes to avoid

• Spreading yourself across too many places and doing none of them well.
• A profile with no photos of real work.
• Never asking for reviews.
• Leaving enquiries unanswered for days.