The platforms builders advertise on have quietly handed the steering wheel to AI. Understanding what you still control is the difference between cheaper leads and a burnt budget. AI advertising for builders means the ad platforms now make most of the decisions that a...
Search engines are no longer the only game in town. Builders and trades who understand how AI tools find and recommend local businesses will have a real edge. Those who ignore it will lose work they never knew was available. Something has shifted in how people find a...
Two policy updates in 48 hours. Gemini-powered enforcement now live. 292 million reviews removed last year. If your review process was built before April 2026, it's probably now a liability. For a lot of builders, getting Google reviews has followed a pretty standard...
Start with the hard truth. If your answer to 'what makes you different?' is that you build quality homes, on time and on budget, you sound like every other builder in your local area. Probably around Australia. That is not a unique value proposition. That is a...
Five thousand Australians typed the phrase 'new construction home builders' into Google every month between April 2025 and March 2026. That figure comes from Google Keyword data we analysed and it comes with a striking footnote: searches for that term increased by 900...
Australian consumers are workshopping their build decisions on Reddit before they ever pick up the phone. Builders who understand what is being said there are starting from a different position than those who do not. There is a moment in most major building decisions...
The funniest thing about using AI in your building business is not the time it saves you. It is what happens when you forget to put guardrails on the thing. There’s a builder, let's call him Dave, runs a decent residential building company in regional Queensland...
You do not have to become a digital marketer. But understanding what prospective clients actually look at and why they click away matters. Most builders get their work through referrals. Someone who has seen your work, or dealt with you before, tells someone else....
A real-world audit of Australia's biggest residential builders revealed response times stretching from 25 minutes to never. The research behind the numbers is even more confronting and the opportunity for builders who act on it is significant. In 2018, a team working...
Across Australia’s construction sector, a familiar frustration continues to surface among builders trying to grow their businesses: content. “I don’t know what to post.”“I’m too busy.”“I’m not interesting enough.” These are not uncommon objections. In fact, they are...
In an industry where trust is often hard won and easily lost, builders rarely get a second chance to make a first impression. Long before a potential client calls, emails, or books a meeting, they are already making decisions. They are scrolling. Comparing....
A viral post on Reddit has reignited debate around truth in advertising within Australia’s real estate industry, after users highlighted a stark contrast between a property’s hero image and its actual appearance. The post, shared in the AusPropertyChat community,...
By Aaron Ng, CEO The Good Builder Most builder marketing looks good on paper. Polished imagery. Big promises. Plenty of impressions. But when you strip it back, very little of it actually improves trust, changes perception, or attracts better clients. In many cases,...
Winning a client feels like success. Signing a contract feels like relief. But for experienced builders, the most dangerous moment in a project is not the enquiry. It is the moment you say yes. Where builders really lose money Builders rarely lose money because...
Most buyers don’t wake up one morning and decide to call a builder. They browse.They research.They hesitate. They spend weeks, sometimes months, quietly exploring designs, costs, zoning rules, and feasibility before ever reaching out. This early stage is where the...
For the past decade, residential builders have been sold a simple idea: more leads equals more growth. More impressions. More clicks. More enquiries. On paper, it sounds logical. In reality, it has quietly become one of the most damaging narratives in the home...
For an industry that creates the largest purchase most Australians will ever make, home building has always been strangely anonymous. Cars wear badges. Phones carry logos. Furniture, appliances, even sunglasses proudly declare who made them. But builders? They often...
Online reviews have become one of the most influential forces on consumer decision making. For builders, they can make or break a year of work. What is emerging across the industry, however, is a concerning misuse of review platforms by a small group of homeowners....
In a construction industry crowded with look alike messages, loud promises and short term campaigns, trust remains the one thing that consistently cuts through. That was the central theme of a recent episode of The Good Builder Podcast, where Az sat down with...
When asked how she would spend $1,000 on marketing, most people in construction would immediately think of social media ads or a quick Google campaign. But for Makayla from Lauxes Grates, the answer is very different. Rather than chasing clicks, she would spend it on...
How builders are using hyper local data to design smarter, sell faster, and build where demand is rising For decades, builders and developers relied on local knowledge, sales agents, and instinct to decide where to build. But in 2025, that intuition is increasingly...
In a world of reels, hashtags, and algorithms, it’s easy to think advertising has changed forever. But if you ask the “Father of Advertising”, David Ogilvy, the fundamentals haven’t changed at all. Ogilvy’s classic essay “How to Create Advertising That Sells” was...
When it comes to marketing in the construction industry, few have managed to turn a simple product into a standout brand like Makayla from Lauxes Grates. In an industry that often treats marketing as an afterthought, she has helped transform a niche product into a...
By Aaron Ng If you work in construction you know there are a million frameworks out there. Everyone has a secret sauce. Most of it looks good on a PowerPoint slide and gets forgotten as soon as the meeting ends. But every now and then you find something that actually...
In today’s construction industry, where margins are tight and every marketing dollar counts, directing potential clients to the right digital destination is critical. Yet many builders and trades still funnel valuable traffic from ads straight to their homepage, a...
I worked in the FMCG retail world long enough to know that sometimes the best marketing does not look like marketing at all. Some of the most powerful campaigns I saw actually told customers not to buy. One of the most famous examples came from Patagonia in 2011. They...
Working in FMCG retail taught me to keep an eye on the disruptors. The small operators who refuse to compete on the same terms as the big guys often end up reshaping the market. One of the clearest examples is the craft beer boom. For decades, beer shelves were...
Using Big Sales Events in Construction: Smart Play or Gimmick? We’re used to seeing retailers slash prices during Black Friday. But in August this year — three months ahead of schedule, Oliver Hume dropped a headline-grabbing campaign with discounts of up to $48,000...
Handover is not the finish line For most builders, once the job is done and the keys are handed over, it’s straight onto the next site. But here’s what smart operators know:The period after handover is a missed opportunity if you go quiet. Clients are settling into...
Builders, if you’ve been told you need a complex marketing strategy to generate leads, you’ve probably also been told to pay thousands to an agency to make it happen. The truth? You don’t need most of what they’re selling you. What you actually need is: A solid Google...
“You will have lost a job to someone you know isn’t as good as you… not because of skill, but because they had the rapport.” — Rik Rushton, Insight Personal Development Ask any builder what makes the job hard and you’ll get a list: weather delays, price hikes, clients...
Why This Is a Smart Play Most builders don’t know this, but Facebook and Instagram make every ad campaign publicly viewable. That means you can check what your competitors are promoting right now, their latest house & land offers, knockdown campaigns, display home...
For many builders, hiring an inexperienced salesperson feels like too big a gamble. They don’t know the building process. They can’t answer client questions. They might even get overwhelmed and walk. So, instead, many builders play it safe — opting for consultants...
You don’t need an agency. You need a system. If you’re running jobs, managing teams, and quoting new work, chances are your social media is inconsistent — or non-existent. But in today’s building game, visibility equals credibility. And credibility wins trust. This...
How one Brisbane builder is creating million-dollar homes that are as much art as architecture, and what it means for the industry In a market where many homes follow similar patterns, a small group of builders are changing the game by creating homes that are designed...
We have examined the government’s plan to underwrite housing development in New South Wales. Here is our view on its potential, its limitations, and the questions that remain for builders and the sector at large. Summary The NSW Government’s $1 billion pre-sale...
By Aaron Ng, Founder – The Good Builder For a generation of Aussies, Eagle Boys Pizza wasn’t just a place to grab a feed. It was iconic. A pink eagle mascot. Drive-through pizza. Two-minute guarantees. Aussie humour that punched through the noise. But by 2017, the...
In the world of residential construction, what sets a trusted builder apart isn’t just the finished product — it’s how clients are guided through the journey. Aaron Ng, CEO of The Good Builder, saw this firsthand during his time with G.J. Gardner Homes. “When we...
By Aaron Ng, The Good Builder Summary: Everyone uses the word “trusted” now. But back in 2015, nobody was. That’s when we launched a builder campaign that sparked a shift, and helped a national network rally behind one message that meant something real. ⸻ It started...
By Aaron Ng, The Good Builder Summary: Most builders think brand is a logo or a website. But in reality, your brand is what clients feel when they work with you. Here’s what I learned from one of the most powerful builders’ brand campaigns of the last decade — and how...
Rik Rushton shares why proactive communication is a builder’s greatest asset — and how to do it better. It’s not often you leave a talk at a building industry event and immediately start changing how you run your business. But that’s exactly what happened when Rik...
The Block is back in production, gearing up for another season of high-stakes renos and reality TV drama. It’s one of Australia’s most-watched building shows, and undeniably entertaining (at times). But here’s the problem: it’s not just The Block. We've heard from our...
This Friday, May 30, something big is happening in Brisbane — and if you’re a builder, tradie, or construction pro who’s serious about levelling up your business, mindset, and network, you need to be there. The Level Up Experience hosted by Duayne Pearce is a...
Marketing Doesn’t End with a Post — It Starts with a Face “You’re scared to show your face online. You can’t sell a secret.” — Anthony Kirby, BuildMentor Scroll through most builder Instagram accounts and you’ll see a lot of houses. And barely any humans. But as...
“If you took the logo off those billboards, you wouldn’t know which one was which… Lack of differentiation leaves only one thing: price. And no one wants to play that game.” — Anthony Kirby, BuildMentor Drive down any highway in Australia and you’ll see the same...
It starts with the statement “Not all heroes wear capes…” A tongue-in-cheek superhero moment that quickly transforms into a sharp, surprisingly heartfelt message to the market: the homes are ready, the blocks are registered, the buyers just need to act. This isn’t...
In a landmark move poised to reshape Australia’s property landscape, U.S.-based CoStar Group has agreed to acquire Domain Holdings Australia for A$3 billion (approximately US$1.9 billion). This acquisition, pending shareholder and regulatory approvals, positions...
In the competitive world of home building, where visual aesthetics and architectural design often take center stage, there’s an untapped sensory dimension that could significantly influence buyer perceptions: scent. This was something that Pete and I covered on the...
This one might hit home, especially if you’ve ever thought about scaling your building business or standing out in a crowded market. A bit more about what we talked about on the pod last week. A few years back, I found myself in the middle of a pretty wild experiment....
I don’t know if I’ve chatted about it on the pod yet, but I love getting out for a fish. Not that I catch much… but I’ve caught a few customers in my time. Not everyone wants to talk about marketing, but you probably know me well enough now that I do. I get it though....
You’ve probably heard the story. Back in the early days, Red Bull’s crew supposedly dropped empty cans everywhere, so it looked like everyone was already drinking the stuff. As the urban myth goes, Red Bull’s marketers strategically placed empty cans of their energy...
If you’ve got a display home and you’re not putting it online as a virtual walkthrough, you might be leaving warm leads on the table, or maybe not? Good builder community, let us know! We’re not talking about over-the-top tech here. Just a simple 3D Matterport tour,...
Let’s be honest. Most builders don’t want to muck around with web chat. Feels like one more thing to manage, right? Another distraction when you’re already flat out quoting, running jobs, and fielding texts and calls non-stop from suppliers and clients. But here’s the...
Let me run something by you. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about smart homes. I think I'm just a technology nerd. I'm all about efficiency. Homes can function and do stuff for you… Maybe in the future, Elon can put a chip in your head, and you walk in...
Not everyone gets excited about sponsorships. For most builders, it’s another logo on a jersey, maybe a lunch in a corporate box. Nothing wrong with that, but is that really all it can be? We reckon Ausbuild has a pretty good story here. What’s the story? Ausbuild’s...
We all know that first impressions count. But when it comes to building businesses, most of us think about the first handshake, the first meeting, or the way a display home presents itself. There is a first impression that happens way earlier, and it’s one we often...
If you've ever looked at a QR code and thought, nah, not for me (especially after your personal COVID-19 experience trying to get in and out of venues), you're not alone. On the latest episode of The Good Builder’s podcast, Pete joked about not knowing how to make...
We know that the majority of builders got into the industry because they love building way more than the fluff. That said, there’s a quiet kind of marketing that happens on site. No loud ads, no clever reels, no glossy brochures. Just the way you show up for your...
"Most builders entered the industry because they love building - not marketing," as The Good Builder CEO Aaron Ng pointed out in a recent article. "Many builders struggle with marketing because they assume it’s about making themselves look good." That doesn't have to...
LATEST NEWS
Why more builders are moving procurement out of the inbox and into the system they already run their jobs from. There is a moment most builders know well. The job is mapped out, the costs are still moving, and the plan for the week is clear enough. Then you open your...
A chipped benchtop or a scratched pane of glass rarely stops a job. But across a build, that kind of damage quietly costs both the builder and the trades real time and real money. Here is why it happens, and how Goop Guys' surface protection removes the cost before it...
The Good Builder’s Top 100 report found one franchise network added builds in a year the market lost them. On the podcast this week, James Stroud gives an explanation that has almost nothing to do with the market. Queensland’s hundred largest residential builders...
A single date now sits between a gas-connected design and a knockback at permit stage. The number that decides it is not the contract date. Last updated: July 2026 From 1 January 2027, a building surveyor in Victoria will not be able to issue a building permit...