Every guide on this page is a complete tool you can use tonight. There are no calculators, input fields or downloads, by design. Each one sets out the formula in plain words, works through an example with invented numbers you can check, and then gives you blank tables to fill in from your own invoices and ad bills.
The four tools are meant to be used in order. Each produces a number the next one needs.
-
Ad budget worksheet: from the jobs you want to the spend you need
An ad budget for a trades business should be worked backwards: jobs you want, divided by your booking rate, times your cost per lead. This worksheet adds a seasonal weighting and a crew-capacity check, with an example and blank monthly tables.
-
Job value worksheet: what one job is really worth
Average job value is revenue divided by jobs, but the number that should drive marketing is average gross profit per job, split by job type. This worksheet shows the formula, a worked example and blank tables you fill in by hand.
-
Local SEO checklist: 40 lines to tick with a pencil
Local SEO for a trades business comes down to five areas: your Google Business Profile, your website, your listings elsewhere, your reviews and your tracking. This checklist gives 40 lines to score yourself on, a points key and an example of how to read the result.
-
Marketing ROI worksheet: did last year's marketing pay?
Marketing ROI for a trades business is the gross profit from jobs a channel produced, minus what the channel cost, divided by what it cost. This worksheet takes you through it channel by channel with a worked example and blank tables.
1. Job value worksheet
Teaches: how to work out what a job is worth to you after materials and labour, separately for each kind of job, and how much you can afford to pay for a lead.
This is the base layer. The worksheet sorts a year of invoices by job type, takes out materials and direct labour, and shows why a single "average job value" can mislead. It ends with a lead-cost ceiling for each job type: the most you can pay for an enquiry and still make money on the first job.
You'll need: 12 months of invoices, supplier statements, and a loaded labour cost per hour from your bookkeeper.
2. Marketing ROI worksheet
Teaches: how to judge each marketing channel you used last year on the gross profit it produced, not the revenue or the clicks.
You list every channel with its full cost, count the leads and booked jobs it produced, and calculate the return. The worked example covers five channels for an invented landscaping company, including one that looks great, one that barely clears zero, and a pile of jobs nobody can credit. A decision table at the end makes you commit to keep, fix, test or cut.
You'll need: marketing invoices and ad bills for 12 months, your job list, and the gross profit figure from tool 1.
3. Ad budget worksheet
Teaches: how to work backwards from the jobs you want to the monthly ad spend that should produce them, and how to keep that spend safe and seasonal.
The worksheet runs a seven-step formula, then spreads the annual figure across the year using your own seasonal pattern and stops it at the number of jobs your crews can deliver. The example is a Prairie roofing company with a short, intense season. A safety check makes sure you never plan to pay more for a job than it earns.
You'll need: your job value and booking rate from tools 1 and 2, and a recent cost per lead.
4. Local SEO checklist
Teaches: whether your free visibility on Google is set up properly, and which part to fix first.
Forty lines across five sections: Google Business Profile, website, listings, reviews and tracking. You score each line 0, 1 or 2, compare sections by share of points, and fix the lowest first. The example shows an invented electrician whose biggest problem is not their profile at all, but the fact that nothing is tracked.
You'll need: your Google profile login and your website open on a phone.
How the tools fit together
| Tool | Produces | Used by |
|---|---|---|
| Job value | Gross profit per job, lead-cost ceilings | ROI worksheet, ad budget worksheet |
| Marketing ROI | Booking rate, cost per booked job, channel verdicts | Ad budget worksheet |
| Ad budget | Monthly spend plan with safety check | Your ad accounts |
| Local SEO checklist | A ranked list of fixes | Your profile and website |
If you only have time for one, do the job value worksheet. It changes how you read every marketing bill afterwards.
When the worksheets are not enough
The most common reason an owner gets stuck is a blank "source" column: they cannot say which channel sent which job. No worksheet can fix that, but lead tracking setup can. The second most common is wanting a second opinion before cutting or doubling a channel. Our services page lists the paid help that matches each tool. And once your numbers are clear, trades.marketing has trade-by-trade playbooks for deciding which channels suit plumbers, roofers, electricians and the rest.
Every tool on this site is written by Ali Sedighi, MBA, and reflects the arithmetic used in our client work. They are marketing and business tools only. Trades.Tools is not a contractor, and none of the guides give technical, safety, accounting or code advice. If a question goes beyond marketing, you can still call, text or email us, and we will say plainly if it is not ours to answer.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need any software to use these tools?
No. A printer, a pencil, a basic calculator and your own records are enough. If you prefer, you can copy the tables into a spreadsheet, but the worksheets are designed for paper.
Are the example numbers from real businesses?
No. Every worked example uses invented figures that are realistic in shape. Real results from our client work appear only on the results page, named and linked.
Can I share or print these for my team?
Yes. Print as many copies as you like for your own business and your office staff.
Why do the guides keep mentioning gross profit?
Because it is the money a job actually leaves you to spend on marketing and overheads. Measuring marketing against revenue makes every channel look better than it is.