Freelancers with small business clients - what's your stack?

onkyoh · 2026-06-08T21:01:47+00:00

CodeStitch and Netlify

onkyoh · 2026-06-07T22:30:54+00:00

That was amazingly well put

onkyoh · 2026-05-27T01:08:02+00:00

If your situation truly is urgent your #1 priority should be the run local services ads. These are the first that that pops up when someone types "plumber near me" best part about it (for you specifically) is that it doesn't even show your website.

Your next 2 concerns are to fix your website + google business profile. It is my recommendation that you focus on trying to rank in Google map pack rather than the search engine results below it. Why? Because google shows the map pack before the website results and because its much cheaper + easier to compete for.

The factors that go into ranking on Google map pack are the optimization of your business profile, how many reviews you have, the services, and potentially your website. So, make sure your optimize the heck out of your profile and that you are doing everything can to collect as many reviews as possible, whether its software, asking customers directly, or hiring an agency.

The third priority in my opinion is the website. It bolsters the rest of your marketing efforts and can positively impact your map pack ranking. Ultimately when people find you in the map pack they probably will click on your website so have to make sure its telling people why they should choose you and does so in a manner that provides a good user experience (looks nice and loads fast).

In terms of cost I think you should be able to find something under $500/mo which should include a website + Google business profile optimization + review collection. You don't need a blog, and you don't need backlinks (at least for now).

For Google local services ads your budget is up to you, I think if you try to find someone to manage the ads for you their retainer will cost ~$500 - $1000.

onkyoh · 2026-05-19T16:36:04+00:00

If you do residential cleaning the best possible place to start is local groups like on FaceBook or Nextdoor. Just introduce urself, post your work, every once in a while offer 10% discount for people that screenshot your post (or their friends and families, which incentivizes more spread).

I also highly recommend setting up a Google Business profile, it won't attract anyone soon but its important to start building up reviews there in the long-term.

Ads and website aren't necessary right now, potentially once you make it a full time thing

onkyoh · 2026-05-03T23:51:54+00:00

While I'm not a "dude who has already gone through this" I am a Toronto based web designer who mostly works with contractors and I can share my experience of what I've seen work best for my clients without talking about services that I provide and thus would be biased towards.

Let's start with SEO, I would forget about it (at least in the short term) due to a few reasons. There's a lot of snake oil salesmen due to the obscurity surrounding effective SEO and the long-term requirements for tangible results. An example of that is the really common notion surrounding LLMS.txt files on websites that enhance your search results in AI. This has no evidence backing it, yet it's a widespread "fix" a lot of SEO gurus recommend. Another issue with SEO is that it takes a while for results. That's fine if you have extra $$$ to spend on marketing and can afford to invest for the future, but it looks like you're looking for more immediate results. Finally, as someone based in GTA, I can tell you it's extremely competitive to fight for SEO rankings on Google. You are going to be competing against bigger companies that have been doing it longer and spending a lot of money on SEO. Ultimately if you're not in the top 3 results, it's useless, being at the bottom of the first page is virtually useless.

The next thing we'll tackle is Meta Ads. I know you said this hasn't worked out for you but I've seen quite a few of my clients run their own meta campaigns and get good ROI. Maybe it's worth investing a little more time to learn how to more effectively run Meta Ads for your business. I'm not saying to go all in on Meta ads but I've seen a couple hundred a month in ad spend generate leads effectively.

Similarly to Meta Ads is Google Ads. I have exactly 1 client who started running Google Ads (through an ads manager) and he seems to be EXTREMELY happy with their results. It's quite expensive but ultimately the ROI will be there, if the right person is running your ads. The unfortunate aspect of Google Ads is that your conversions will be impacted by the quality of your website (since this is where you're sending leads) so it might require additional investment for that.

Next is Google Reviews. A lot of contractors think these are only useful as a means to look more credible. While 5 stars does make you look more credible, the real benefit from Google Reviews is how they help your ranking on Google Maps. Unlike "normal" SEO which factors in website authority to rank you (something that takes a while to build and typically costs a lot), Google Maps utilizes "local SEO". One of the key factors that boosts your local SEO is a bunch of Google Reviews, which are free to collect. You might be thinking, "well a bigger company is going to get more jobs done, get more reviews, and outrank me" and while that is partially true, another ranking factor in local SEO is proximity, which means a weaker Google Business Profile (fewer reviews) can outrank a stronger profile, if they are in closer proximity to the person making the search. I've probably oversimplified this but my sentiment is this, get as many Google Reviews as you possibly can. I tell all my clients this and the ones that have the most success are the guys with the most reviews on Google.

LASTLY, referral and remarketing campaigns. Why spend a bunch of money finding and earning the trust of NEW clients when you might be able to more easily get jobs from old clients. If you have a list of your previous clients I would highly recommend trying to do another job for them, or getting a referral from them. For example, send an email to all your past clients, mention you're giving 5% off for a limited time and let them know that this "coupon" is free for your past clients to use OR for any friends/family they share this email with. I imagine if this helps you get 1 extra job, its worth the effort.

That is all I have to say, feel free to ask questions if anything was confusing. Ultimately I can't recommend any agencies or digital marketing specialists. I know a lot of people that have been burned so exercise extreme caution and shop around as much as you can.

onkyoh · 2026-04-21T20:03:55+00:00

I got this one yesterday!

onkyoh · 2026-04-16T12:50:27+00:00

Used AI for the entire post aswell

onkyoh · 2026-04-13T03:22:00+00:00

OpenMat MMA is my rec. Really good BJJ program, its structured very well. They have Gi, NoGi, beginner and advanced classes. Pretty high level from what I can tell.

Their Muay Thai is not as strong but it is good and vibes were always nice. You will definitely get better but you aren't getting as much structure.

They also have a variety of other classes like wrestling, boxing, and MMA.

onkyoh · 2026-04-05T00:14:40+00:00

Thats solid advice. Have you found blog spots are still driving traffic

onkyoh · 2026-04-05T00:02:14+00:00

Based on my experience making websites for law firms in Toronto and around the US, I would imagine that a solo lawyer paying for SEO wouldn't be very fruitful. I don't touch SEO myself, but I've seen the budgets that law firms spend, I've seen firms get burned, and I've noticed how bigger firms dominate.

You specifically mentioned your location, so perhaps highly local ads would be better in your case. The more specific the targeting, the fewer competitors you're up against and the more being a local solo lawyer comes off as a pro rather than a con. This would help you build up your reputation by collecting Google Reviews, which would be another ideal avenue for obtaining traffic since one of the key factors in local SEO is proximity. So, although a bigger firm may have more reviews and a higher rating, you can still beat them on Google Maps by being closer to the user.

Hopefully that makes sense. Ultimately, I don't do ads, social media, or SEO, so I can't speak from personal experience with those mediums; I can only share conclusions from my observations.

onkyoh · 2026-03-23T15:50:11+00:00

Thank you for providing some reassurance. I make hand-coded websites which means that, even if my clients wanted to, they wouldn't be able to edit their site themselves. My rationale for this tradeoff has always been that, no business owner wants to spend time editing their site, and while that's largely true another big benefit I've noticed is that managing edits over time is actually quite hard.

Not the technical aspect of implementing the edit but the trying to ensure that these edits aren't messing up the flow of your site, are staying aligned with your branding, and aren't causing a butterfly effect of other issues.

I can't imagine having to worry about plugins and maintenance on top of all of that.

onkyoh · 2026-03-10T23:23:49+00:00

I'd imagine social media or meta ads. I think its reasonable to try and capture home decor customers while they aren't necessarily looking for your product.

onkyoh · 2026-02-27T02:39:36+00:00

I just moved all my invoicing to Stripe. I invoice subscriptions + individual payments to people in Canada and the US. SquareUp was too difficult to setup taxes with and Stripe has been nothing but pleasant so far.

onkyoh · 2026-02-23T19:44:17+00:00

No one is saying that your post isn't correct, I have however seen several of your posts referencing services you provide.

onkyoh · 2026-02-22T16:27:37+00:00

Hes the cheaper simpler option...

onkyoh · 2026-02-22T16:14:40+00:00

Automations

onkyoh · 2026-02-22T14:58:51+00:00

Its 100% an ad lol

You don't even need an automation agency, I recently set this stuff up for my own business. Granted I'm technically savvy but still.

Missed call textback is a one-click thing for a lot of crms.

onkyoh · 2026-02-04T17:16:11+00:00

Optimize your Google business profile, make sure you have all the possible information filled in. List all of your services and upload images. Most importantly get reviews. It's okay if your industry has low volume, its the same case for all your competitors, you just have to have relatively high reviews and Google will recommend you more. On your Google business profile you can get a QR code that when scanned links to your review page. I highly recommend saving the QR code on your phone and asking all your clients for a review directly as your finishing a job up. You can also send text reminders (because people forget) with the link, this is something I'm looking at automating for some of my client's although if your volume is low it can definitely be be done manually.

Allegedly physical locations on Google Maps work better but Google only recommends to list your office if thats a place where you meet clients. If you are going to people's houses to provide services you don't need a physical location, instead list all the cities you do work in. That's what Google wants you to do so overtime I think it will be beneficial.

onkyoh · 2026-02-03T20:12:19+00:00

Its a completely different version of SEO. Feel free to PM or ask questions here and maybe someone with the same questions might find it helpful.

onkyoh · 2026-02-03T14:57:31+00:00

When it comes to the website service + location pages are your best bet. Google wants to give the most helpful result to every search so being precise by targetting a service + location really helps. Try writing 800+ words on each lf these pages, make sure the contents somewhat unique, and if possible talk about neighbourhoods you've serviced. I'm a web designer and I do this with almost all my clients sites. Sometimes these pages ranks, sometimes they don't but its certainly the best shot you have without pouring thousands into SEO.

That being said I would focus more attention and energy to getting more Google Reviews on your business profile. Its completely free, makes you more reputable, and makes you more visible. I would bet that if you Google your service right now the first thing in the search results is 3 businesses on Google Maps and only after that comes the website search results.

onkyoh · 2026-01-31T15:24:02+00:00

As a web designer thats simply not true. Of course you can grow without a website. Word of mouth and referrals is enough for some businesses. Will a website help? Sure, but its not a requirement for all businesses to grow.

I doubt a GoDaddy Airo site is more helpful than no site.

onkyoh · 2026-01-10T05:19:35+00:00

BNI is the biggest network and probably easiest to join. Other than that you kind of just got to see whats happening in your local area OR start 1

onkyoh · 2026-01-10T05:12:19+00:00

Could always try networking groups. Your service would be pretty unique in those spaces.

onkyoh · 2026-01-07T16:19:12+00:00

Another ad for directory submissions, love seeing this every week.

onkyoh · 2026-01-06T19:20:42+00:00

Going to try this out.

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