The Trap of Doing Everything Yourself
I was sitting down with a landscaper in Chermside a few weeks ago. Let’s call him Dave. Dave is bloody good at what he does—his retaining walls are straight as a die and his turfing jobs are the best in Brisbane. But Dave was exhausted.
He told me, "I’m spending my days on the tools and my nights answering the same five questions on Facebook Messenger and sending out invoices. I’m missing out on family time, and I’m still losing leads because I can’t get back to people fast enough."
Dave’s problem isn't that he's lazy. It’s that he’s treating his time like it’s free. In reality, every hour Dave spends typing "Yes, we do free quotes" into a phone is an hour he isn't making money on a job site or growing his business.
You’ve probably heard a lot of noise lately about AI and automation. Most of it is technical rubbish that sounds like it was written by a robot for a robot. At Local Marketing Group, we look at it differently. For a small business owner, automation is simply a tool to buy back your time and make sure no customer falls through the cracks.
But here is the catch: if you automate the wrong things, you look like a cold, faceless corporation. If you don't automate enough, you burn out.
Here is how we decide what to hand over to the machines and what you need to keep doing yourself.
The Golden Rule: Automate the Process, Never the Relationship
If a task is repetitive, predictable, and happens the same way every time, it should be automated. If a task requires empathy, deep expertise, or a personal connection to close a high-value deal, it needs a human.
Think about your own life. If you call a bank and get stuck in a phone tree for twenty minutes, you’re furious. But if you send a quick text to a local mechanic asking if they’re open on Saturdays and get an instant "Yes, 8am to 12pm" reply, you’re happy.
The difference? One is a barrier; the other is a service.
Where Automation Wins (The 'No-Brainers')
1. The First Handshake When someone finds you on Google at 9:00 PM on a Tuesday, they are at their most likely to buy. If they send an enquiry and don't hear back until 10:00 AM Wednesday, they’ve already emailed three of your competitors.
You can use tech to get leads onto your list and send an immediate, friendly text message. Something like: "G'day, it's Dave from Dave’s Landscaping. Got your message! I'm on a job right now, but I'll give you a buzz tomorrow morning. In the meantime, feel free to check out our recent work here..."
That simple automation keeps the lead warm without you lifting a finger.
2. Appointment Reminders How much money do you lose every time someone forgets an appointment? For a hair salon in Paddington or a physio in Indooroopilly, a "no-show" is pure lost profit. Automating a text reminder 24 hours before an appointment isn't "impersonal"—it’s helpful. It saves you from sitting around waiting for a client who isn't coming.
3. Chasing Invoices Nobody likes being the debt collector. It’s awkward and it takes up time. You can set up your system to send a polite reminder the day an invoice is due, and another one three days later. It’s not being rude; it’s just business. Most people just forget, and the machine doesn't get awkward about asking for money.
Why Most Small Businesses Get AI Wrong
I see a lot of "experts" telling small business owners to use AI to write all their social media posts or even talk to their customers in deep conversations. This is usually a mistake.
People in Brisbane buy from people they trust. If a potential customer can tell they are talking to a bot when they have a complex problem, they’ll leave. We’ve seen businesses try to automate their business admin too aggressively, and they end up losing that "local" feel that makes them special.
If you’re a plumber, AI shouldn't be diagnosing a burst pipe over chat. But AI should be the thing that takes the customer's address and puts the job in your calendar.
The "Human-Only" Zone
There are three areas where you should never, ever replace yourself with a machine:
1. High-Stakes Problem Solving: If a customer is angry or has a complex, expensive problem, they need to hear a human voice. A bot cannot de-escalate a situation or show genuine empathy. 2. The "Closing" Conversation: For many service businesses, the sale happens during the quote or the initial consult. That’s where you show your expertise. Don't automate the part where you look the customer in the eye (or talk to them on the phone) and tell them you can fix their problem. 3. Your Brand Voice: While AI and marketing automation can help you get the word out, the core stories of your business—why you started, your local community involvement, your specific way of doing things—should come from you.
A Real-World Example: The Morningside Electrician
Last year, we worked with an electrician based in Morningside. He was getting plenty of leads from Google, but he was drowning in admin. He was trying to answer every call while up a ladder. Half the time, he’d miss the call, they wouldn't leave a message, and that was $500 out the window.
We helped him set up a system where: If he missed a call, the system sent an immediate text: "Sorry I missed you, I'm on a job. Was this for an emergency or a quote?" If they replied "Quote," it sent them a link to book a 10-minute phone consult in his calendar for when he was off-site. If they replied "Emergency," it gave them his secondary emergency-only number.
The Result? He stopped losing leads. He wasn't interrupted while working (which made his current customers happier). And he didn't have to spend two hours every night playing phone tag. He didn't change who he was; he just changed how people got to him.
How Much Does This Cost?
This is the part where most marketing agencies get vague. I won't.
Setting up basic automation (like the missed-call-text-back or automated lead follow-up) usually costs between $500 and $2,000 to set up properly, depending on how messy your current systems are. After that, the software to run it usually costs about the same as a couple of takeaway coffees a week.
Compare that to the cost of losing just one $1,000 job a month because you were too busy to answer the phone. It’s a no-brainer.
How Long Until You See Results?
Automation isn't like SEO, which can take months to kick in. You see the results of automation the very first time it handles a task for you.
If we set up a lead capture system for you on a Monday, by Tuesday night you might have your first lead sitting in your inbox with all their details ready for you to call, without you having to do a single thing. You'll feel the relief of "not having to remember" almost immediately.
What Should You Do First?
If you're feeling overwhelmed, don't try to automate your whole business at once. Start with the "leaks."
1. The Missed Call Leak: If you can't answer the phone 100% of the time, get a system to text them back immediately. 2. The Lead Follow-up Leak: If you have people emailing your website and you take more than 4 hours to reply, automate an initial response. 3. The Appointment Leak: If people are forgetting to show up, get automated reminders running.
Once those are fixed, you’ll have more time and more money. Then you can look at the bigger stuff.
The Bottom Line
Most of what you read about AI is hype. You don't need a robot to run your business; you need a system that supports you* running your business.
At Local Marketing Group, we help Brisbane business owners stop doing the $20-an-hour work so they can focus on the $200-an-hour work. We don't care about the technical jargon—we care about how many more bookings you have in your calendar by Friday.
If you’re sick of spending your nights doing admin and want to see how smart tech can actually grow your bank account, let’s have a chat.
Ready to win back your time? Contact Local Marketing Group today and let's talk about what we can take off your plate.