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 inAdvertising spendCampaign spend, recorded to the dollar.
Money outClient-confirmed revenueBooked jobs and values confirmed in review.
VerdictScale, hold, or stop.The decision is written before the next dollar is committed.
The case studies on this site preserve the level of proof present in their source record. If a record stops at a platform lead, this site says so.
Questions owners ask
The answers, before a sales call.
What will this cost me, all-in?
My flat management fee, quoted in writing before launch, plus the ad spend you pay directly to Google. The spend cap for the proving period is set with you against your capacity and job values, so the all-in maximum is known before anything runs.
Do you take a percentage of ad spend?
No. The fee is flat. A percentage fee rewards the manager for spending more, which is the wrong incentive to build into your account.
When will I know if it is working?
The proving period and verdict date are set in writing before launch, matched to how your trade books work. On the verdict date the numbers say continue, adjust, or stop, and I will say stop out loud if that is what they say.
Do I keep the account?
Yes. The Google Ads account, the tag container, and the data are yours from day one. No hostage setups. If we part ways, everything built stays with you.
What if my market is too small for this?
Then I will say so before taking the work. If your market budget is too small to produce useful data inside a proving period, spending it would only buy an inconclusive verdict.
The first decision
Set a bounded first bet.
Before any campaign launches, set the spend cap, proving period, and verdict date in writing.
Talk through the numbers
Free, 30 minutes, no obligation. I reply within 12 hours.