TradesTalking

If you're looking for ways to find more work, perhaps because the coronavirus lockdown is being eased, then this episode of TradesTalking is for you. It features Grant from Shake & Speare sharing his top tips on getting started with Google Ads and Google My Business. Have a listen to find out what you can do to help more potential customers find you online, whether you have a website for your business or not. TradesTalking is hosted by Lucy & Stu, and sponsored by Norbord.

This episode of TradesTalking features Shane McCormick, one of the trustees from Band of Builders. Have a listen and find out what you can do to help the charity continue raising money – and awareness – particularly during the coronavirus outbreak. TradesTalking is hosted by Lucy & Stu, and sponsored by Norbord.

TradesTalking is a year old! And to celebrate, we are refocusing the content to share tips and expert advice on how to market yourself as a tradesperson. In this episode, we talk about five things you might want to do to start sorting out your digital presence - particularly as, at the time of recording, the country is on coronavirus lockdown. The tips cover: Sorting out your pictures (organising and filing is all the rage, according to Stu) Getting a website done (we mention Shake & Speare, who can be found here: https://shakeandspeare.com/) Asking your best customers for testimonials Starting/building your Insta and/or Facebook page Analyse last year's customers to see where your business came from In the next few episodes, we'll have experts on talking about everything from Facebook ads to business networking. TradesTalking is hosted by Lucy & Stu, and sponsored by the lovely people at Norbord.

The 11th edition of the TradesTalking podcast features: a TradesTalk Live on the subject of tool theft and what can be done to tackle it, recorded at Toolfair in Manchester, with Wiliams & Co, Toolwatchapp and Van Guard. the Norbord team talking about the 5 reasons why it is the best timber manufacturer and why the company has been nominated for the Builders Merchant Journal award. Do vote for them at: https://www.bmjindustryawards.co.uk/ It also includes a chat about the coronavirus outbreak, which has led to stress and anxiety regarding jobs and finances as well as health. We'll no doubt be recording more episodes on this topic as the situation to develops, so do send us your messages and questions and we'll do our best to get answers. There is a rolling coronavirus post on the TradesTalk website that we are updating every day, with the highs and lows from social media. Do take a look and let us know of anything we should include. TradesTalking is sponsored by Norbord and hosted by Lucy and Stu.

In this special episode of the TradesTalking podcast, Stu talks to Spencer Clark, Glow-worm’s Commercial Director, to find out more about the thinking behind the recent Mystery Trip to Vietnam.  To read more about the trip, and watch PHPI's video highlights: phpionline.co.uk/news/watch-2020-glow-worm-mystery-trip-video-highlights/

Episode 10 of TradesTalking is here! This episode includes: * Photographer Sarah Toon shares her top tips on how you can take better pictures of your work, for social media or your website, using just your smartphone. Sarah gave a presentation on this subject at Toolfair in January and you can watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kZpn07Z62U&t=24s * Norbord's David Connacher talks about the products that can keep builders building even when it is pouring with rain! These include CaberShieldPlus and CaberDek. Check out Norbord's blog on this very topic here: www.norbord.co.uk/news/housebuilders-how-to-get-on-with-the-job-in-britains-extreme-weather/ TradesTalking is hosted by Lucy and Stu, and sponsored by Norbord. Follow @TradesTalk on Twitter, Insta and Facebook.

Episode 9 of TradesTalking is hosted by Lucy and Stu, and is once again sponsored by the lovely folks at Norbord. This episode includes: Grant Robertson from Shake and Speare, giving his top tips on websites for the trades (ahead of a workshop on this very topic at next week's Toolfair event in London). As promised in the chat, here are three websites that Grant says are good examples that fellow tradespeople could follow: https://mpplumbingservices.com - this page is an excellent example of how the face of your company is key to building customer trust. Great series of photos of the tradesperson in action. Plus prices on the site let customers know that they can afford the service they require.    http://www.manchester-electrician.co.uk/ - The opportunities to get in touch easily with the company makes it simple for the customer. You can request surveys and quotes with a short, simple process. Very mobile-friendly, too.    https://demolitionmanbristol.co.uk/ - This is a great example of a simple structure with clearly defined pages for each service that they offer, tagged up for their core location which is great for local SEO (search engine optimisation / making your site attractive to Google).  We also chat to James from Depher about his charity work providing free plumbing and heating services to the elderly and others in need. Do get in touch with James if you can donate (money, time or materials) to his extremely worthy cause. We also talk a little bit about the Williams & Co Tool Angel initiative – do check out this story for more info.

Here is our final #TradesTalking podcast for 2019 – and as it is December it comes with Christmas sound effects AND a giveaway! The episode features: A chat with David Connacher, Marketing Manager at Norbord Europe Ltd, about CaberShieldPlus. An interview with plumber-turned-chef Debbie Thorpe about her recent appearance on MasterChef: The Professionals. A mystery guest tells us the 3 things he can't live without - and if you think you know who he is, tweet us @TradesTalk and he has a Titan grinder to give away to one lucky listener! (CLUE: YOU'LL PROBABLY ONLY GUESS THIS IF YOU REGULARLY TAKE PART IN THE TWITTER CHAT!) TradesTalking is sponsored by Norbord and hosted by Lucy and Stu.    

Here is our TradesTalking bonus episode, featuring Vaughn Wiles and Scott Young from Resideo. Lucy was joined by Vaughn and Scott to talk all things training, including onsite training, YouLearn online training and what Resideo can offer in terms of business development for installers. Find all the #TradesTalking episodes on Podbean, iTunes, Spotify and the TradesTalk website.     

Our hotly anticipated 7th episode is here! The show is hosted by Lucy and Stu and more info can be found on the TradesTalk website or on Twitter @TradesTalk. TradesTalking is sponsored by Norbord so we spoke to David Connacher, its Marketing Manager, for this episode, to find out some of the key benefits of CaberDek. Have a look at www.norbord.co.uk for lots more info. Also on this episode, we chatted to the fantastic Alfie Johnson from Diode Electrical, to find about how the technology will connect electricians with wholesalers. It's due to launch in January 2020, so do take a look now and sign up for updates. Finally, we have another mystery Lyrical Gangster – the trades reading song lyrics in the style of poetry. Who is it this month? Let us know on Twitter, Facebook or Insta and you could win a TradesTalk sticker.

It's finally here! Episode 6 of the TradesTalking podcast was delayed slightly due to an extraordinary number of technical issues (which I think we mention 50 times on the episode, sorry about that!). This episode features: The TradieLadies panel – a discussion about women in the trades, featuring Hattie Hasan, Karen Boom, Natasha Clark-Withers and Katie Smith. Three things I can't live without – featuring Stanley Tabersham. Innovation – talking to Sanjit Dosanjh from Norbord about CaberAcoustic. Lyrical Gangster – which tradesperson is reading song lyrics in the style of poetry? Win a TradesTed sticker! TradesTalking is sponsored by Norbord and hosted by Lucy and Stu.

The August episode of #TradesTalking is here! It is hosted by Lucy and Stu, sponsored by Norbord and includes: AMAZING TRADESPEOPLE! This episode we speak to the hosts of the EGTE podcast. TRADE SECRETS Nicole spills the beans about Stanley LYRICAL GANGSTER Who is it? Guess correctly and you could win a sticker! If you'd like to send us something for the podcast – whether it is a question you'd like other trades to answer or you simply need to have a rant, we have a new #TradesTalk burner phone – 07468 910641.

Please have a listen to the 4th episode of TradesTalking, sponsored by Norbord!  It features some incredibly bad acting from Stu and Lucy as they look at the hot topics on social media this month, including the fundraiser for Simon Antonelli. If you haven't already, please give generously here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/20kforSimon The episode also features: AMAZING TRADESPERSON Electrician Dan Jackson talks about his year of travelling and his plans now he's back in the UK. Check out his video of electrics in India. THREE THINGS I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT – featuring Matt Dripfix One mystery guest reveals a TRADES SECRET about a member of the #TradesTalk community LYRICAL GANGSTER – the trades reading poetry. If you can correctly identify the tradesperson and the song/artist, simply tag us in on Twitter, Insta or Facebook and win yourself a shiny TradesTalk sticker. TradesTalking is hosted by Lucy and Stu. Get in touch via @TradesTalk.

The third episode of TradesTalking, sponsored by Norbord, is out now! It features a look at the hot topics on social media this month, as well as more great interviews with tradespeople, including: AMAZING TRADESPERSON Ben Kennedy from BK Boiler Services, talking about his charity mountain climb taking place this summer. Check out his fundraising page for more info: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/boilerbackpackforas THREE THINGS I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT – featuring James Bruton One mystery guest reveals a TRADES SECRET about a member of the #TradesTalk community The return of the new feature from the last episode, LYRICAL GANGSTER, which presents the trades reading poetry. If you can correctly identify the tradesperson and the song/artist, simply tag us in on Twitter, Insta or Facebook and win yourself a shiny TradesTalk sticker. TradesTalking is hosted by Lucy and Stu. Get in touch via @TradesTalk.

The second episode of the TradesTalking podcast, sponsored by Norbord, was mainly recorded at the Installer event in Coventry. It features: AMAZING TRADESPEOPLE - An interview with Tony Dumble (just hours after being crowned Heating Installer of the Year), Drew Styles, Becky Bates and Ian Briggs. PERSPECTIVES - Our new series looking at mental health in the construction industry features Christina Birch's fundraising climb. Sponsor her here:https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-display/showROFundraiserPage?pageId=1055459 THREE THINGS I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT - featuring Andrew Goldson One mystery guest reveals a TRADES SECRET about a member of the #TradesTalk community New podcast feature (and future award winner!) LYRICAL GANGSTER presents the trades reading poetry TradesTalking is hosted by Lucy and Stu, to get in touch simply follow @TradesTalk on Twitter, Insta and Facebook. The show is sponsored by Norbord.

Welcome to the first episode of the TradesTalking podcast, hosted by TradesTalk's Stu and Lucy, and sponsored by Norbord. In this episode we feature: INNOVATION from The Instant Kitchen Company and its hassle-free service for kitchen refurbs  AMAZING TRADESMAN George Davenport, a plumber from Lewisham, about his charity work in Haiti for Hope Health Action PERSPECTIVES - our new series looking at mental health in the construction industry starts with an interview with Bill Hill, CEO of the Lighthouse Club TradesTalk regular Lee Brown from Peak Heating tells us the 3 things he can't live without One mystery guest reveals a TRADES SECRET about a member of the #TradesTalk community Other supporters of the episode are Big Wipes, Installer 2019 and Plumb and Plumber, a new YouTube series featuring Peter Booth and Andy Cam.