These guides exist so that you can understand, and often fix, your own marketing situation without hiring anyone. Each one is long, practical and built around steps you can take this week. Read them in the order below if you're starting from scratch, or jump straight to the one that matches your problem.
All three are written from a marketing and business point of view. They explain how platforms' official processes work and what to check, but they aren't legal advice.
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The agency exit checklist for contractors
Before you leave any marketing provider, document everything, secure the domain and Google listing, and only then give notice. This checklist puts the steps in a safe order.
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How to read a marketing report without being dazzled
A useful marketing report connects money spent to jobs booked. These five checks let you test any report, including ours, against your own records in under an hour.
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Who owns your marketing? A plain guide to every asset
A contractor's marketing rests on about ten accounts. This guide explains what each one is, what you lose if someone else controls it, and how to check who does.
The agency exit checklist
Start here if you're thinking about leaving a marketing provider, or one has already gone quiet. The agency exit checklist gives a six-step sequence: take stock, find out who controls what, recover in a safe order, send a calm request, give notice, and keep an ownership register.
What you'll learn:
- why the domain comes before everything else
- the 7-day wait Google applies to new profile owners, and how to plan around it
- a neutral request template you can adapt and send
- the five mistakes that turn an exit into a crisis
Who owns your marketing?
Read this if you're not sure what you actually have. Who owns your marketing goes through the ten or so accounts behind a contractor's marketing, one at a time: what each is, what you lose if someone else holds it, and how to check.
What you'll learn:
- the difference between the domain, hosting and email, and why each matters
- why call-tracking numbers are the asset owners most often forget
- where privacy and anti-spam rules come into customer lists
- a simple ownership register you can fill in and review every quarter
How to read a marketing report
Use this when you have reports but no confidence in them. The report-reading guide gives five checks that connect any report to your own job records: calls, booked jobs, cost per job, search terms and baselines.
What you'll learn:
- a worked example of cost per booked job, with a break-even comparison
- how to spot wasted ad spend in a search terms report
- why seasonal trades need year-on-year comparisons
- five questions to ask at your next report meeting
Which guide fits your situation
| Your situation | Start with |
|---|---|
| Planning to leave a provider | Agency exit checklist |
| Provider has closed or stopped answering | Agency exit checklist, then who owns your marketing |
| Not sure what you own | Who owns your marketing |
| Happy with access, unsure about results | How to read a marketing report |
How to use the guides with your team
If someone else handles your office, have them read the exit checklist and fill in the ownership register while you read the report guide. Then sit down together for half an hour. You'll each have spotted things the other missed, and you'll have a single document showing every account, its owner and its renewal date.
Keep a printed copy of the register somewhere safe, along with a note of where the recovery codes for each account are stored. If a key person leaves, or a laptop dies, that one page saves days.
What the guides don't cover
They deliberately leave out several things. They don't cover legal questions about contracts or entitlement, trade-specific licensing, or code compliance. For regulators and registries in your province, our areas page links the official bodies.
When the guides aren't enough
If you've worked through them and several accounts are still out of reach, or the numbers don't add up and you can't tell why, that's when outside help earns its fee. Our services overview explains each stage of a rescue, and the FAQ covers cost, contracts and timelines. Or contact us and tell us where you got stuck; we'll tell you honestly whether you need us.
Frequently asked questions
Can I really do a rescue myself using these guides?
Many owners can do a large part of it, especially when the current provider cooperates. The guides are written so you can. Where several accounts stay locked, or a provider has gone quiet, a structured audit saves time.
Are the guides legal advice?
No. They cover practical control of marketing accounts and how platforms' official processes work. Questions about contracts or entitlement belong with a lawyer.
How current is the platform information?
It was checked against Google's and CIRA's help pages on 2026-10-22. Platforms change their processes, so confirm the current steps on the linked official pages before you act.