How Do Local Businesses Get Clients in 2026? (It's Not Instagram).

The world is moving rapidly, and a big question looms: how do you get clients as a small business operating in this new world? There are a few key elements required, and the very first thing I need to put across is this: Google is the king of our economy.

91% search for local businesses “always,” “often, or “sometimes.” 0% said “never.”

At the end of the day, when someone needs a local service — whether it’s flower delivery, a plumber, a moving company, or a window company — in most cases they don’t already have an established connection. They’re simply going to Google it. Maybe this wasn’t the case for boomers, but for my generation, that’s exactly what we do.

Back in the day, you might have trusted a friend to tell you which company to go with. Now we have hundreds or even thousands of Google reviews pointing us in the right direction. All we have to do is type “plumber near me,” and suddenly we see dozens of results that are categorized and easy to filter through based on ratings, proximity, and the subconscious factors — how good they look, whether they seem trustworthy, and whether they appear reliable or sketchy.

My clients want photos with BRAND involvement - REAL spaces, real faces and logos.

Bad brands like this just fall into the background with the other 90% of google results.

I think we all fear the same thing when we’re looking for a high-ticket service. If I’m hiring a junk removal company, I’m already resisting before I even pick up the phone. My biggest concern is that the company is going to try to rip me off somehow. We’ve all experienced it at some point. We’ve been overcharged or ended up spending far more than we expected, and now we feel burned. Even if we weren’t technically ripped off, it’s a universal experience to feel like we paid more than we should have — especially with services, where trust is low right out of the gate.

People do a lot of window shopping, and there’s a good reason for it. Think about the last time you hired someone for a multi-thousand-dollar service — a lawyer or a mechanic, for example. Did you just Google it, click the very first link, and go ahead? Of course not. You probably browsed around and made an educated decision about who you trusted the most.

We even do this with smaller purchases like restaurants. When you’re hungry, you don’t just Google “restaurant,” click the first link, and drive there. You look at the name, make a judgment call about the type of food, and decide whether it looks appetizing, clean, and professionally run.

So why are so many service businesses so poorly positioned to build trust with potential clients online?

It comes down to psychology, and it’s something people don’t consider enough. Word-of-mouth is probably the best source of high-quality leads — people who already trust you — but it’s not a source of volume. Google is where volume comes from. Whether you’re running marketing, advertising, or simply making sure your brand is solid, your focus needs to be there. Otherwise, you’re losing to competitors in your area.

Here’s the good news: the majority of local service businesses don’t invest in their brand beyond a logo. They come up with a cool logo at the start, maybe pay a bit of money for it, and that’s it. They have no brand identity, no photo shoot, and no real way to communicate that they’re legitimate.

When’s the last time you saw a business worth tens or hundreds of millions of dollars that didn’t have a strong, consistent brand identity? A brand isn’t just a logo. It’s a differentiation tool. It’s a way to look concrete, defined, and recognizable in a sea of businesses with no identity. When everything else looks the same, a real brand stands out — and that’s the entire point.

If you’re looking to get more clients, this is my strongest recommendation: think about how you can outperform everyone else when someone searches for your service on Google.

There are a handful of ways to do this, and I’ve done them for my own business and for others. We’ve all heard them — search engine optimization, Google Ads, proper web design.

But why bother optimizing for search engines if your website doesn’t look good and you don’t have a distinct brand identity? If you reach the top of Google but your website looks terrible, you’ve optimized for bad results.

The key is combining all of these elements. I run Google Ads for my own business. I invest in SEO. But most importantly, my website looks incredible and has a very distinct brand identity.

The businesses I’ve worked with through brand-focused photo shoots — dozens across the Toronto area — have been able to position themselves properly and actually look amazing online. That’s at least half the battle, and it’s the part most people leave out.

The reason this gets overlooked is simple: photographers sell pretty pictures. They don’t sell ROI. They don’t sell a path to better conversion rates. They don’t sell the idea that you’re going to get more clients.

People think they don’t care about brands, but they do — far more than they realize. We all do. The sooner we admit that as business owners, the sooner we can actually fix the problem.

Marketing and advertising are great, but what about your brand? Are you marketing something impressive, or are you marketing something mediocre?

People don’t know the quality of your service yet. They have no idea whether you’re a good plumber or not. You need to give them some indication of that before they ever contact you. That’s how trust is built — and that’s how you compete.