Marketing for tradesmen: the done-for-you agencies and coaches compared with doing it yourself

How we judged them

We looked at four things, all from public sources: what the company actually sells (coaching, done-for-you marketing, software), what it publishes about price and commitment, what customers say on Trustpilot and elsewhere, and who it is plainly built for. Where a figure is not public we say "not published" rather than guess. Every figure is in the sources list and the individual reviews.

We have not bought any of these programmes. The point of the comparison is to help you decide which kind of help you need before you book the call.

The three kinds of help

Nearly everything sold to tradespeople as "marketing" is one of three things:

• Coaching: someone teaches you to run the business, including marketing, and you do the work. Trade Mastermind, TradeCoach, Off The Tools Alliance and Trades Freedom Club are coaching.
• Done-for-you: an agency runs the marketing itself, usually ads or a website. Leads For Trades and Stone Systems are done-for-you.
• Software: a tool runs one part of the marketing automatically. Growth Bull is software.

Coaching is the most expensive per month and the broadest. Done-for-you costs ad budget on top of fees. Software is the cheapest and the narrowest, which is why it is where most firms should start and why coaches tell their clients to set it up anyway.

The comparison at a glance

The table was extended on 1 October 2026 with the agencies reviewed in the second batch: Welch Marketing, Digitool, Sketch Trades, One Base Media and Yell Business. The directories and lead platforms (Checkatrade, MyBuilder, Bark, TrustATrader, Which? Trusted Traders and what happened to Rated People) have their own roundup: the best lead generation for tradesmen in the UK.

Trade Mastermind

Best for: owners who want to build a large trade company and can fund a multi-year academy.

Trade Mastermind is the biggest name in the list. Joseph Valente won The Apprentice in 2015, built a large boiler business and founded Trade Mastermind in 2020; the limited company dates from 2017 under an earlier name. It sells three "7 Figure" academies for boiler, renewables and construction businesses, built on a 12-step system from business plan to exit, and the way in is a £97 plus VAT Discovery Day in Peterborough. Academy fees are not published; finance is offered up to £15,000.

What it does well: the Trustpilot record, 1,364 reviews at 4.8, is far ahead of anyone else here, and the reviews praise the trainers. What it does not: the price is not public until the day, and Trustpilot's summary notes that some attendees felt pressured by the pitch at the end. Skip it if you are a sole trader whose problem is being found on Google. Full Trade Mastermind review.

TradeCoach

Best for: owners who want a priced course on pricing, systems and getting off the tools.

TradeCoach is Daren Henderson, who his site says built and sold a £2m driveway and landscaping business. The Off The Tools Programme is £6,000 on demand or £9,000 with four one-to-one calls and 12 months of access; a Done-For-You package is £15,000 plus VAT. Trade Coach Ltd is registered in Scotland.

What it does well: the prices are on the website, which is rare, and the 24 Trustpilot reviews are all five-star (4.7 TrustScore). What it does not: 24 is a small sample, and there is no published guarantee. Skip it if your gap is marketing rather than running a bigger business. Full TradeCoach review.

Off The Tools Alliance

Best for: owners who want ongoing monthly coaching and a community rather than a one-off course.

Off The Tools Alliance is Wayne Bettess's membership, sold in three tiers: £197 plus VAT a month for training and community, £297 plus VAT with a monthly one-to-one call, and £997 plus VAT for the Mastermind tier. There is a free Skool community of about 500 members and a long-running podcast. Off The Tools Limited is registered in Dunstable.

What it does well: transparent tiers, an easy free way to try it, and 26 Trustpilot reviews all at five stars (4.7). What it does not: the minimum term is not published, and it coaches you on customer acquisition rather than doing it. Not to be confused with TradeCoach's similarly named programme. Full Off The Tools Alliance review.

Trades Freedom Club

Best for: owners who want a year with a coach from the same background and like a refund promise.

Trades Freedom Club is Craig Wilkinson, a joiner who built and sold a construction firm. The Inner Circle is 12 monthly live sessions, a library of plans and a WhatsApp line to Craig; the price is not published. The Skool community is £99 a month, and the club also builds websites from £6,000. The company was incorporated in July 2024.

What it does well: the boldest guarantee in the market, a full refund if your business has not grown 100 percent in 12 months. What it does not: no published programme fee and no Trustpilot page that we could find, so the evidence is the call and the podcast. Get the guarantee terms in writing. Full Trades Freedom Club review.

Leads For Trades

Best for: high-ticket home improvement firms with a sales process and an ad budget.

Leads For Trades is Alex Jenkins's agency, trading through Alexander James Enterprises Ltd, running Facebook, Instagram and Google Ads for trade and home improvement companies. Starting ad budgets are typically £800 to £1,500 a month, with the management fee quoted on a call. Its case studies are lofts, windows, resin drives and garage doors, and it claims more than £100 million of leads generated.

What it does well: a track record in exactly the trades where paid leads pay off. What it does not: no published pricing and no Trustpilot page we could find. Skip it if you cannot fund the ad spend or answer the phone during the day. Full Leads For Trades review.

Stone Systems

Best for: US contractors who need a website, text-back and follow-up built for them.

Stone Systems is Kai Stone's company (if you searched for "Stoke Marketing", this is the business you meant; no company of that name is connected to him in public sources). For $297 a month with no contract you get a 10 to 20 page website, automated text follow-up, missed-call text-back, a review funnel and basic SEO, built in 7 to 10 days. Add-ons such as Google Ads have no published price.

What it does well: a lot of done-for-you for the money, and no contract. What it does not: Trustpilot is split, 4.1 from 143 reviews with 75 percent five-star and 23 percent one-star, and the one-star reviews are about support after signup. It is built for the US; a UK trade should ask about UK numbers and data rules first. Full Stone Systems review.

Growth Bull: the do-it-yourself option

Best for: doing the review and ranking part yourself, automatically, before or alongside any of the above.

Every coach in this list will tell you to get more Google reviews and to know where you rank. Growth Bull does those two things without you remembering to. Review Builder connects to Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, FreeAgent, HubSpot or Pipedrive and sends one text and one email asking for a Google review after every paid invoice. It costs £69 a month, there is a 7-day free trial, and there is no contract.

Complete Growth at £129 a month adds Rank Map, which scans a grid of points around your town and names who holds number one for your trade, so you can see the map pack (the box of three businesses with a map at the top of Google) change as reviews come in; Keyword Tracker, which follows your search positions; and AI Visibility, which asks ChatGPT, Claude and Google's AI who they recommend in your town and shows whether you are named.

What it does not do: coach you, build you a website, run your ads, or promise a result. It is the narrowest thing on this list, by design. For a wider look at review tools, see the best review automation tools for UK businesses.

How to choose

If the phone is quiet and your Google listing has a handful of reviews, start with the software. It is £69 a month, it runs from invoices you already send, and you will know within a couple of months whether more reviews and a better map position bring enquiries. Nothing else on this list is cheaper to test.

If the phone rings but you are still on site every day, quoting at night and unable to take a holiday, that is a business problem, not a marketing one, and a coach is the right purchase. TradeCoach and Off The Tools Alliance publish their prices; Trade Mastermind has the deepest review record; Trades Freedom Club has the strongest guarantee. Pick on fit and on how much you want to spend before you know the number.

If you sell high-ticket work, have someone to answer leads, and can spend £800 or more a month on ads, a lead generation agency such as Leads For Trades adds volume organic work cannot. Run the reviews tool alongside it, because a prospect who clicks your ad reads your reviews next.

And if you are a US contractor with no website, Stone Systems is a cheap way to get one built; read the one-star reviews first.

Whichever way you go, the reviews are the common thread. Try Growth Bull free for seven days at growthbull.io/signup, or book a call with Tom and we will tell you honestly whether you need more than a tool.