Receive Payments from your Listing!

Payment Facility Coming Soon!

We are pleased to announce our latest upgrade to RealTrades being implemented next month (August).

Soon you will have the ability to accept credit card payments from all your customers within your listing!

Having talked to a lot of tradesmen, credit card acceptance is still a hurdle for small businesses.  

Some tradesmen report that they only run a website so they can accept credit cards, others say they still only accept cash, deposits or cheque.  

All that is required to accept payments will be a PayPal account which can be setup free (see their website for details). 

The payment facility will be available to all listing levels and the fees will be tiered, the higher the listing level the cheaper the fees.

Updates Released

The upgrades to the site have been implemented and we are now working on testing.

If you are having trouble viewing pages on the site, please clear your cache (CTRL+F5) and if that doesn't work then go to Tools / Clear Browsing Data - and clear your cache from there.

Why would you want to list on any other directory?  They certainly are not this good looking!

Thank you for your patience over the last few days, there have been a few dramas but all in all the transition has been smooth.

My apologies for the backlog of listings to get through as it is the EOFY, I can't promise the quick turnaround that I normally do.

RealTrades Bumper Stickers

A Shout out to Peter of Chamblain Painting for his suggestion of a bumper sticker.

I will start designing it now!

Upgrades almost done!

We are happy to announce that upgrades to the site are almost complete.

A whole heap of new features are being rolled out and should be complete by early July. 

Some of the Features:

• Details page for all listings levels, including Free listings!
• New Summary Details design making it easier for customers to click on your listing.
• Tabs in the Details pages removed and an improved design to showcase features.
• Scroll bars for pictures, videos (3), and preferred suppliers/membership logos.
• Improved Claim Listing page and Advertise with Us page
• Customised Social buttons for every detail page
• Review score posted on every details page
• Improved website SEO means your reviews will get seen on search engines

We are extremely excited about these new roll-outs and believe they will enhance the usability of the site.

What's the catch?  The catch is that these improvements are not cheap and as a result the prices of paid listings will be increasing.  

Don't worry, if you have already claimed your listing before 1 July any upgrade in your plan will be charged at the old rate, and of course the Free listings will remain forever Free!

Simply send us an email with your details and we'll sort it all out for you.

Maintaining Your Reputation

A recurring theme I come across when talking to tradesmen about business is the lack of willingness to advertise.

Many tradies have spent thousands of dollars on major media portals such as the yellow pages and newspapers with limited success and are unwilling to venture back into advertising.

A general consensus is that while the phone is ringing they are busy, and as long as it doesn't stop, money does not need to be spent on marketing.

What is often not taken into consideration is that reputation is playing a part in keeping your phone ringing and like a building without maintenance, your reputation can fall into disrepair.

Social media tools can be used to keep in contact with customers, expand your network and provide a rich database of reviews of your work.  It does not have to cost you thousands.

Running your own business takes a tremendous amount of time, energy and commitment and tradies will often state how they simply do not have enough time in the day to manage a Facebook page, send a tweet or update their google+ page.  

How long does it take to snap a picture at work of your latest project or ask a customer to give you a like or leave a comment on your business page?  If you can do any of these things then you are already on your way to looking after your customer base and maintaining your reputation.

Improving your Online Presence

Most businesses now have an online presence whether they like it or not.  Searching for your business name will bring up a myriad of directory sites all listing your credentials.

If you want to truly harness the power of Internet marketing you need to be proactive in keeping information accurate.

Think you don't need to worry about Internet advertising?  Think again!

Almost all searches done on the Internet are to pre-qualify a business before calling them.

Customers are already reviewing your business online, you can either ignore them or take control and use social marketing to your advantage.

Practical Ways to Improve your Online Presence

Search for your company name and see which directories you appear in.

If the directory offers a free listing and looks like a reputable website, claim your listing and update your information. When a customer leaves a review you will now be informed and can act quickly if the review is not favourable.

Set up a free Google+ page, your business will then appear to the right of the page on a search.  Add your logo and customise your page to make it more personal.  If you don't have a logo, take a photo of yourself or your employees.

Start a business page on Facebook and/or Twitter.  Customers that search for your business and have multiple avenues to research are much more likely to pick up the phone and call you.

Actively engage with your customers on the job and ask them to review your work.  Anyone in the Property Industry can review you on realtrades.com.au.  The more reviews and comments you generate will greatly enhance your reputation.

Implement a review system on your website if you have one.

Engage with your customers when they leave reviews on your website or on Facebook and provide feedback.

Directories are full of one hit wonder reviews (usually written by the business themselves).  Customers are savvy to this and their eyes will glaze over when reading them.  Actively seek out reviews on every job.  Not only will you get honest opinions about your work you will gain valuable insight into your business model and greatly improve your chances of referral.

Need help?  Send us an email or give us a call and start optimising your online presence today.

The Importance of Customer Reviews: Infographic

The folks over at MyReviewsNow have published this handy Infographic highlighting the importance of Customer Reviews.  Many Thanks.