The most this can cost
Before launch, the all-in maximum for the proving period is written down: fee plus ad spend. Hoping has a budget and the budget has a ceiling.
Demand capture
Google Ads management for local service businesses.
Search campaigns structured around the jobs worth buying, not the clicks easy to report.
- Month to month
- You own the account
- Spend cap and verdict date in writing
- Conservative attribution
What is included
Work that creates a decision trail.
- Account structure around real services and locations
- Search-term control, call tracking, and landing-page feedback
- A written proving period, spend cap, and verdict date
What this costs
Known before launch.
Two numbers, both known before launch. My management fee is flat and quoted in writing: not a percentage of ad spend, so the fee does not grow just because the budget does. The ad spend itself is paid directly to Google, from an account that stays in your name. Month to month, no lock-in.
The working detail
What the work actually consists of.
- Call and form tracking verified before the first dollar of budget moves
- A negative keyword list built before launch, typically 500 or more terms, so the budget does not pay for searches that can never become jobs
- Single-theme ad groups, so the ad a customer sees matches what they actually searched
- Search and Performance Max campaigns run on separate budgets, they do not share a pool
- A build spreadsheet you review before anything publishes, no surprises
- Search terms checked daily in the first week, then on a fixed review schedule
- A monthly review where you confirm which enquiries became booked work, and a Ledger that says where the evidence stops
The Payback Window
A defined maximum downside and a dated verdict.
Every engagement gets a proving period with a spend cap and a verdict date, set in writing before launch. Proving periods are set per trade, because a drain-cleaning call and an insurance roof replacement do not pay back on the same calendar.
Long enough to be fair
The window is matched to how your trade actually books and pays. Long enough for a true answer, short enough that a wrong bet stays small.
The day hoping ends
On the verdict date, the Ledger says continue, adjust, or stop. If the numbers say stop, I will say stop out loud. That is the deal.
How I stay accountable
Measurement is the spine. Return is the promise.
The report does not stop at the platform. When booked work can be confirmed, it is reconciled in a monthly Ledger. When it cannot, the reporting says where it stops, under the attribution standard.
The Profit Ledger
A monthly answer, not an activity report.
Money outAdvertising spendCampaign spend, recorded to the dollar.
Money inClient-confirmed revenueBooked jobs and values confirmed in review.
VerdictContinue, adjust, or stop.The decision is written before the next dollar is committed.
Each case study keeps the proof level of its source screens. If a record stops at a lead, this page says so.
Questions owners ask
The answers, before a sales call.
How quickly can it start working?
The account usually produces enough tracked enquiries to read within the first two weeks, but fair judgment needs a full proving period, matched to how your trade books and pays. That period is set in writing before launch.
Do I need a website for the audit?
No. A website, a landing page, or a tracked call-only setup all work. The audit tells you whether advertising is worth doing at all, and if it is, where the first dollar should go.
What happens on my website?
Very little, and I show you my working. I recommend changes that improve close rates and lower cost per lead, but the landing advice is delivered as documents and calls, not a project billed back to you.
Start here
Three numbers are enough to start.
- What the last marketing attempt cost, all-in
- What a booked job is usually worth
- How many jobs you can take on now
Send what you have. A missing number is not a blocker. Working it out is part of the audit. No contracts, ever. I reply within 12 hours.
Send the numbers
What is happening with your advertising?
Spend, leads, and what you suspect is going wrong. I reply within 12 hours.