The blog

For anyone reading this in a truck.

Practical. Canadian by default. Northern where it's true. No think-pieces — every post is something you can do this week.

Published

Ten posts. One a week after this.

AI, for people who don't care about AI

People stopped searching. They started asking. What that means for you

Someone needing a plumber used to type it into Google and scroll. More of them now just ask an AI assistant and take the one name it gives back. Here's what actually decides whether that name is yours.

7 September 2026 · 4 min read

What you're actually buying

Why we didn't just hand you a GoHighLevel account

A GoHighLevel snapshot or a DIY builder gives you real automation and a template that says nothing specific. Here's the actual difference — and the system we built to stop ourselves from taking the shortcut.

1 September 2026 · 5 min read

Getting found

Why you're not one of the three names people get when they ask

Most jobs don't come from Google. They come from someone asking a friend. Here's what actually decides whose name comes up — and four things you can fix this week.

17 August 2026 · 4 min read

Getting chosen

Twenty-five years and eleven reviews: how that happens to good people

You've had thousands of customers. You have eleven reviews. This isn't a reflection on your work. Here's why it happens, and what to do about it this week.

17 August 2026 · 4 min read

Not losing the work you have

The four-second rule: what happens in the minute after you miss a call

You're on a roof. The phone rings. You can't answer. Here's what actually happens next — and the fix that takes 20 minutes to set up.

17 August 2026 · 5 min read

Getting them back

Your customer list is worth more than your truck. Where is it?

The list is the most valuable thing in your business — and most trades can't find it. Here's how to build it in an afternoon, and why the CASL clock is already running.

18 August 2026 · 5 min read

Getting found

The town-name test: why your website says "Northern Ontario" and costs you work

Google can't infer your service area from common sense. It reads what's written. Say Callander. Say Powassan. Say the actual towns.

18 August 2026 · 4 min read

Getting chosen

When to ask for the review — the ninety-minute window most trades miss

There's a ninety-minute window after you finish a job where the review ask almost always works. Most tradespeople miss it by days — or weeks.

18 August 2026 · 4 min read

Not losing the work you have

A quiet quote is almost never a no

Silence on a quote isn't rejection. It's a busy person whose quote slipped in an inbox. Here's the three-touch follow-up that gets a yes or a no.

18 August 2026 · 4 min read

Money

Do you charge HST on a deposit?

Yes. HST is due when you receive the deposit — not when you finish the job. Most small trades get this wrong. Here's the CRA's rule, plain English.

18 August 2026 · 5 min read

Getting chosen

Answering a one-star: the four-sentence reply that wins the next customer

When you reply to a one-star review, you're not talking to the person who left it. You're talking to everyone who reads it next. Here's the reply that works.

18 August 2026 · 4 min read

Up here

Shoulder season cashflow: surviving April and November

April and November are the slow months for Northern Ontario trades. Here's why they hit harder up here, and what the operators who stay ahead do differently.

18 August 2026 · 5 min read

Coming

Fifty-two more. One a week.

These are real titles, not placeholders. Ten good posts before launch, then one a week after that. The ones that'll actually get found on Google are the ones nobody else in Canada has written properly.

Getting found

Your phone number is wrong in four places and it's costing you calls coming
Your Google profile is 40% filled in. Here's the other 60% coming
Google Business posts: three minutes a week, and almost nobody bothers coming
Photograph the job, not the truck coming
Why your competitor with worse work ranks above you coming
Hours over the holidays: the setting that quietly loses you December coming
Service area or address? The Google setting most trades get backwards coming
Your Facebook page is your second website whether you like it or not coming

Not losing the work you already had

Nobody leaves voicemails any more. Here's what they do instead coming
The three-nudge schedule that gets a yes or a no out of anybody coming
Why "I'll get back to you tomorrow" loses more jobs than a high price coming
Answering at 7pm: does it actually win work, or just wreck your evening? coming
The comment under your photo from Tuesday is a lead. Go and look coming
How to reply to a price shopper without dropping your pants coming
The one question to ask on first contact that sorts tire-kickers from buyers coming

Getting chosen

How to ask for a review out loud without feeling like a used car salesman coming
Why the bad review is worth more than you think coming
The text you send before you pull into the driveway coming
What a homeowner is actually deciding between when they've got three quotes coming
Your quote is a sales document, not a number coming
Why the second-cheapest quote wins more often than the cheapest coming

Getting them back

The two-year rule: CASL, plain English, for people who send texts coming
The one-message reactivation that pays for a whole year of marketing coming
Seasonal reminders that don't feel like spam coming
How to ask for a referral without making it weird coming
The customers you should fire, and how to do it politely coming

Money

How to price a job so you're still making money in November coming
Good, better, best: the three-option quote and why the middle one sells coming
Deposits: how much, when, and what to do when they won't pay one coming
Getting paid in seven days instead of forty-one coming
The e-Transfer problem nobody warns you about coming
What your hourly rate actually needs to be coming
Six years of receipts: what the CRA actually wants from you coming
Why you should put your prices up, and how to tell your regulars coming
Cash jobs: the honest maths on what they really cost you coming

Hiring and growing

You can't hire because you can't train. Fix the training first coming
How to write down what you do so somebody else can do it coming
Apprentices in Ontario: the supports nobody tells you about coming
Your first hire shouldn't be another set of hands coming
The second truck maths: when it pays and when it buries you coming
What your business is worth if you got hit by a bus tomorrow coming

Up here

Road bans and your quoting calendar coming
Winter work that's actually worth taking coming
Serving five towns from one truck without wasting your life on the 11 coming
Why "we serve all of Northern Ontario" wins you nothing coming
WSIB clearance: the certificate that loses you commercial work when it lapses coming
Licences, tickets and certifications: the renewal list every trade should have on the wall coming
Manufacturer certification lapsed? So did the warranty you sold coming

AI, for people who don't care about AI

What an AI assistant actually looks at before it says your name coming
Structured data, explained without the jargon coming
No, it's not going to write your quotes for you. Here's what it will do coming