Stop Screaming into the Void and Start Getting Noticed
I was chatting with a cabinet maker in Geebung a few weeks ago. He’s brilliant at what he does—his kitchens are works of art—but he was frustrated. He’d spent his Sunday afternoon writing a great article for his website about how to choose the right benchtop materials for a Brisbane climate.
He posted it, waited, and... nothing. Two weeks later, it had three views. Two of those were probably his mum and his wife.
"What's the point?" he asked me. "I’m a tradie, not a journalist. I don't have time to write stuff that nobody reads."
He’s right. Most small business owners in Brisbane are told they need to "create content." So, they spend precious hours writing tips or filming videos, stick them on a blog page that nobody visits, and then wonder why the phone isn't ringing.
If you’re just putting information on your own website and hoping people find it, you’re basically standing in the middle of the Glass House Mountains and whispering your phone number. No one can hear you.
To actually make money from your expertise, you need to get that information in front of people who are already looking for help. In the marketing world, they call this "content syndication." In the real world, we call it getting your best advice onto other people’s screens.
Why One Great Idea Should Live in Ten Places
Think about it this way: If you spend three hours writing a guide on how to save money on home renovations, that’s three hours of billable time gone. If only five people see it, each reader cost you a fortune.
But if you take that same guide and get it published on a local real estate site, shared in a Brisbane homeowners' Facebook group, and turned into a short tip for a local community newsletter, suddenly hundreds of people see it.
Now, your three hours of work are actually working for you. This is how you stop wasting time and start seeing your efforts turn into actual enquiries.
Strategic sharing is about making sure your business is the one people think of when they have a problem. It’s about building a reputation as the local expert without having to spend forty hours a week on social media.
The "Big Fish, Many Ponds" Strategy
Most business owners think they need to come up with something new every single day. You don't. You need one or two really solid pieces of advice that prove you know your stuff, and then you need to push those out to as many "ponds" as possible.
1. Local Community Portals and News Sites
Brisbane is a city of villages. People in Paddington care about what’s happening in Paddington. People in North Lakes follow North Lakes news.There are dozens of local community websites and digital newsletters that are desperate for good, local content. If you’re an electrician, don’t write about "How Wires Work." Write about "Why Old Queenslanders in Ascot Need Their Wiring Checked Before Summer."
Send that to a local community blog. They get free, high-quality content for their readers, and you get your name, face, and phone number in front of locals who own old houses.
2. Industry Partners (The "I'll Scratch Your Back" Method)
We worked with a landscaper in Carindale who was struggling to get high-end jobs. We suggested he reach out to a few local pool builders and high-end real estate agents.He wrote a short piece on "3 Ways Landscaping Increases Your Property Value Before a Sale" and gave it to the agents to put on their websites and send to their email lists.
Why did this work? The agents looked like heroes providing value to their clients. The landscaper got introduced to people who were literally about to spend money on their homes. It cost him $0 in advertising fees.
3. LinkedIn (For the Professionals)
If you run a B2B business—maybe you’re an accountant in the CBD or a HR consultant in Milton—LinkedIn is your best friend. But don't just post a link to your website. Copy the whole article and publish it directly on LinkedIn.Google likes this because it shows you’re active, and LinkedIn’s system will show your post to people in your network (and their networks) who would never have found your website otherwise.
How to Do This Without Getting Penalised by Google
I hear this a lot from business owners who’ve read a bit too much online: "Won't Google get angry if the same words are in two places?"
Short answer: No.
Longer answer: As long as you do it right, Google doesn't care. They just want to show people the most helpful result. If you’re worried, you just make sure the place that publishes your work includes a little line at the bottom that says: "This article originally appeared on [Your Business Name] and is reshared with permission."
That’s it. No magic tricks required. Google is smart enough to know you aren't trying to cheat; you're just trying to be helpful.
Stop Being a Secret: Turn Knowledge Into Customers
You have a massive amount of knowledge in your head. You know why a certain type of pipe always bursts in the winter, or why businesses in Queensland struggle with certain tax laws.
When you share that knowledge effectively, you build trust. And trust is the fastest way to get someone to pick up the phone. However, you have to be careful. You want to share enough to prove you're the expert, but not so much that they try to do it themselves and mess it up. You need to turn your knowledge into a reason for them to hire you, not a DIY manual.
The Realistic Timeline: When Will the Phone Ring?
I’m not going to lie to you and say you’ll get 50 calls tomorrow. This isn't like turning on a tap with paid ads.
Sharing your content is a "slow burn" strategy. Month 1: You identify 3-5 places where your customers hang out online and send them your first piece of content. Month 2: Your articles start appearing. You might get a couple of clicks to your site or a random phone call from someone saying, "I saw your name in the local newsletter." Month 3-6: This is where the magic happens. Because your name is popping up in multiple places, people start to recognise you. You aren't just "a plumber"; you’re "that plumber who wrote the article about water saving."
By the six-month mark, this strategy usually starts paying for itself many times over in saved advertising costs. You’re building an asset that keeps working while you’re on the tools or at a job site.
Common Mistakes That Waste Your Time
I see Brisbane business owners make these three mistakes constantly. Avoid them, and you’ll be ahead of 90% of your competition.
Using Boring Photos
If you send an article to a local news site and include a cheesy photo of two people shaking hands that you bought for $5 online, people will scroll right past it. It looks like an ad. People hate ads.Use a real photo of you, your team, or a project you finished in a local suburb. If you want people to actually read what you wrote, you have to stop using stock photos and show the real people behind the business.
Writing for Your Competitors, Not Your Customers
I see mechanics writing about the technical specifications of a torque wrench. Your customers don't care about torque wrenches. They care about their car not breaking down on the Gateway Motorway on Friday afternoon.Write about the problems your customers have and the results they want. Use the language they use. If they call it a "whirlybird," don't call it a "roof-mounted turbine ventilator."
Forgetting the "Next Step"
Every time you share a piece of content, you must tell the reader what to do next. "Call us for a free quote." "Download our pricing guide." "Book a 15-minute chat."If you don't give them a direction, they’ll finish reading and go back to scrolling Facebook.
What Should You Do First?
If you’re ready to stop being Brisbane’s best-kept secret, here is exactly what I’d do if I were in your shoes:
1. Pick your "Greatest Hit": Find one thing you’re always telling customers. Maybe it’s a warning or a tip that saves them money. Write it down (or record it as a voice note and have someone type it up). 2. Find 3 "Ponds": Look for a local community Facebook group, a business partner who serves the same customers as you (but doesn't compete), and a local news site. 3. Reach Out: Send a simple email.
"Hey, I’m a local [Your Job] in [Your Suburb]. I wrote a short piece on [Topic] that I think your readers would find really helpful. Would you like to post it? No charge, just a link back to my site would be great."* 4. Repeat: Do this once a month.Is This Worth Your Time?
Running a business in Brisbane is getting more expensive. Fuel is up, wages are up, and lead generation costs are through the roof.
You can keep paying Google and Facebook every time someone clicks on your name, or you can start building a presence that you own.
By taking your best advice and putting it where your customers are already looking, you’re not just "doing marketing." You’re building a reputation that makes people want to call you instead of the guy with the cheapest ad.
It takes a bit of effort to get started, but once your name is out there across multiple local sites, the phone starts ringing more often, and the customers who call are already sold on you before you even say hello.
Need help getting your business noticed?
At Local Marketing Group, we help Brisbane businesses get more phone calls and bookings without the technical headache. If you want to grow your business but don't have the time to figure out where to post or what to write, let’s have a chat.
Visit us at https://lmgroup.au/contact and let’s get your business in front of the right people.