You are a plumber, not a marketer, and you do not have nights spare to become one. So here is the short version of what actually moves the needle for a Melbourne plumber, and what you can safely ignore.
1. Get found when someone needs a plumber now
Most plumbing jobs start with a search like "plumber Reservoir" or "blocked drain Werribee". To show up, you need three things working together:
- A complete Google Business Profile, with real photos and your service area.
- Your reviews on your own site, not just on Google.
- A page for each suburb you cover, so you match what people actually type.
2. Stop renting your customers
Lead platforms have their place, but they sell the same job to several plumbers and the work stops the day you stop paying. Keep one running if you need work this week, but do not build your business on it. The honest breakdown: is hipages worth it and what leads really cost.
3. Get more from customers you already have
The cheapest work you will ever win is from someone you have already plumbed for. A simple win-back text before a season brings them back, no lead fee required.
4. Let AI do the boring bits
The quotes, the follow-ups, the review replies, the website words. A tool like ChatGPT can draft all of it (here are the prompts), if you have the time to run it every time.
The honest bit
Every one of these you can do yourself. The catch is doing them all, and keeping them up, while you are under a house in Footscray. The one you cannot do at all from under that house is answer the phone. BizEdge does one job: every call you cannot pick up gets a text back in seconds with your name and your business, and the caller's number lands on your phone. It is $49 a month plus GST, month to month, and the billing only starts once it has caught your first missed call. Setup is one code on your phone, and it works on Telstra, Optus and Vodafone.