These guides exist because the same three problems come up with nearly every trades business we talk to. Photos get posted without a clear yes from the customer. Before-and-afters don't match, so real work looks fake. And a posting routine that starts strong in spring disappears by the first busy week of summer. Each guide tackles one of those problems with steps you can use tomorrow.
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Before-and-after shot lists for twelve trades
A good before-and-after is two photos taken from the same spot, in similar light, showing only the work. These trade-by-trade shot lists tell your crew exactly where to stand.
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Photo consent basics for trades working in customers' homes
Ask before you shoot, get the yes in writing, keep anything identifying out of the frame, and honour a change of mind. This guide turns those four rules into a routine.
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A 30-minute weekly short-video routine for trades businesses
Most trades companies can post two or three short videos a week with about five minutes of filming per job and 30 minutes of office time. Here's the routine, step by step.
Photo consent basics for trades
Photo consent basics for trades working in customers' homes is the guide to read first. It covers how to ask permission before the job, how to separate consent for social posts from consent for paid ads, what to keep out of the frame, how to write captions without giving away an address, and what to do when a customer changes their mind.
It also explains, briefly and with links to the regulators, why privacy matters when you work inside people's homes, and why consent to photos is not the same thing as consent to send marketing texts. It is practical guidance, not legal advice.
Who it's for: owners and office managers, and every crew lead who carries a phone on site.
Before-and-after shot lists for twelve trades
Before-and-after shot lists for twelve trades gives specific angle sheets for interior painting, flooring and tile, kitchen and bathroom renovation, basement finishing, roofing, exterior painting and siding, landscaping, fences and decks, pressure washing, plumbing, electrical, and windows and doors.
Each list names a wide, a medium and a detail shot, plus the common trap for that trade, such as glossy floors that reflect the photographer or roofs where the neighbour's house sneaks into the frame. It ends with naming, storage and how to turn one matched set into several posts.
Who it's for: crew leads and anyone who takes job photos.
A 30-minute weekly short-video routine
A 30-minute weekly short-video routine for trades businesses shows how to split video work so crews only capture and the office only edits. It includes the four capture moments on site, a minute-by-minute plan for the weekly office block, caption formulas, a worked four-week calendar, a tracking sheet, and adjustments for different Canadian climates.
Who it's for: owners who want to keep video in-house, and office staff who'll run the weekly block.
How the guides connect to our services
Each guide matches one of our services, so you can choose whether to do the work yourself or hand it over:
| Guide | Related service |
|---|---|
| Photo consent basics | Built into every service, especially before-and-after content systems |
| Shot lists for twelve trades | Before-and-after content systems |
| 30-minute video routine | Short video for trades crews |
For deciding which platforms deserve your time in the first place, see platform playbooks.
What we won't publish here
We don't publish follower-growth hacks, engagement-bait tactics, or promises of reach that nobody can actually keep. Platforms change their algorithms constantly, and advice built on tricks ages badly. These guides stick to habits that hold up: real work, filmed honestly, posted with permission, measured by the enquiries it produces.
We also won't give legal advice. Where rules matter, such as privacy, anti-spam or Quebec language requirements, we summarise and link the official source so you can check it yourself.
Want help applying them?
Some owners read all three guides in an evening and have a crew routine running within the week. Others realise the bottleneck is time, not knowledge, and that is a perfectly good reason to hand part of it off.
If you read a guide and think "we'll never find time for that", that's a normal reaction and a useful signal. Look at pricing, browse the FAQ, or call, text or email and tell us which guide felt hardest to put into practice.
Frequently asked questions
Are the guides free to use?
Yes. Read them, print them, hand them to your crew. They're written so you can run everything in-house if you prefer.
Do the guides apply to HVAC companies?
Most of the advice does, but heating and cooling companies have their own seasonal rhythms. Our sister site HVAC.Social covers those in depth.
How often are the guides updated?
We review them when platforms change significantly or when Canadian rules relevant to marketing change. Each guide shows its last-updated date.