The Site Shed | #1 Podcast For Tradies & Contractors cover art

The Site Shed | #1 Podcast For Tradies & Contractors

The Site Shed | #1 Podcast For Tradies & Contractors

Written by: Matt Jones - Helping Tradies Build Smarter Scalable Businesses
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The Site Shed is a global podcast for tradies and contractors who want clearer systems, stronger strategy, and steadier business growth. Each episode is designed to educate and inform around the topics that matter most in running and scaling a modern trade business.

Hosted by Tradie Web Guys digital agency owner Matt Jones, the podcast dives into real-world conversations on marketing, operations, apprenticeships, technology, hiring, leadership, finance, and more, all tailored to the trades and construction industry.

You’ll hear practical insights, honest lessons, and expert perspectives from across the globe.


Whether you work as a tradie, contractor, builder, electrician, landscaper, or run any service-based business, you’ll find ideas and experiences you can put into action straight away.


If you're ready to work smarter, not harder, The Site Shed gives you the tools, frameworks, and viewpoints to help your business move forward with confidence.

© 2026 The Site Shed | #1 Podcast For Tradies & Contractors Economics Leadership Management & Leadership Marketing Marketing & Sales
Episodes
  • Winning the Big Contract Isn't the Risk. Delivering It Is | ft. Rafael Diaz | Ep. 519

    Winning the Big Contract Isn't the Risk. Delivering It Is | ft. Rafael Diaz | Ep. 519
    Oct 6 2026
    🫱🏻‍🫲🏼 Book a Free Strategy Call with Tradie Web Guys: https://tradie.wiki/tssytMost trade business owners talk themselves out of the bigger job before they even price it. The competitor looks too big, the paperwork looks too heavy, and staying at the size that feels safe starts to look like the smart call. Matt Jones sits down with Rafael Diaz from Diaz Group LLC in Chicago, who started out on his dad's landscape crews and has grown the business from residential patios to City of Chicago municipal contracts, a national subcontractor network and now maintenance contracts in Mexico. His view is blunt: the risk was never winning the contract. It's whether your systems and your leadership team can handle what comes after.Rafael walks through the four checks he runs before bidding on any contract (pricing, understanding the contract, capacity, and leadership readiness), how he breaks a won contract down into crews of vendor partners and keeps quality control across them, why "always hiring" is the only way to have people ready when the bid lands, and the four-step onboarding process every new hire goes through, from field worker to office lead. If you've been circling a tender that feels a size too big, this one will tell you whether it's a real capacity problem or just fear.🎥 Watch the full episode: https://youtu.be/RPY-nZLaY-UKEY CHAPTERS00:00 - Introduction01:09 - Meet Rafael Diaz02:00 - From Residential to Municipal Contracts04:06 - Going International Into Mexico06:16 - Everything Starts With a Vision08:49 - Community Service as a Growth Strategy12:03 - Owner Operator to Business Process Mentality16:05 - Getting Subcontractors to Follow Your Systems20:05 - Breaking a Contract Down Into Crews21:22 - Quality Control Across Subcontractor Crews24:48 - Taking the Model to Mexico31:27 - The Four-Step Onboarding Process34:08 - Field Training and Safety Standards37:17 - Four Checks Before Bidding on a Big Contract41:43 - Always Hiring: Building a Recruitment Pipeline43:12 - Is Your Leadership Team Ready?46:14 - Promoting From Within and Career Paths52:23 - Closing Remarks and ResourcesAbout the Guest: Rafael DiazRafael (Rafa) Diaz is the co-founder of Diaz Group LLC, a Chicago landscape maintenance, vegetation control and snow removal business he started with his brother Ruben in 2007 after growing up working on his father's crews. The business has moved from residential design-build to commercial work, City of Chicago municipal contracts, regional Midwest contracts and a national footprint delivered through subcontractor "vendor partners", and is now six months into its first contract in Mexico. Around the main business Rafael has built an ecosystem of support companies, including Master the How, a training and systems implementation business, and an equipment rental company that helps his subcontractors deliver to standard.Website: https://diazgroupllc.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rafael-diaz-840aba13/CONNECT WITH THE TRADIE WEB GUYS!Website: https://www.tradiewebguys.com.au/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TradieWebGuysOfficial?sub_confirmation=1Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TradieWebGuysOfficialInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/tradiewebguys/LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/company/tradie-web-guysMatt's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamthemattj/If you enjoyed this podcast, please take a moment to leave us a review:⭐ https://lovethepodcast.com/TheSiteShedLove the audio version of this podcast? Subscribe to the link below:⭐ https://followthepodcast.com/TheSiteShed#podcast #thesiteshed #tradiewebguys #commercialcontracts #tradiebusiness #businesssystems #leadership #subcontractors #scaleup Your Next Step:Join Tradie Academy, our free community packed with templates, checklists, and resources shared by podcast guests, coaches, and successful tradies.👉 Join free and grab your next growth tool here: https://tradie.wiki/podFollow The Site Shed:Facebook: The Site ShedInstagram: @thesiteshedLinkedIn: Matt JonesWebsite: thesiteshed.comYouTube: @TheSiteShedIf you enjoyed this podcast and the series, please take 5 minutes to leave us a review:⭐ https://lovethepodcast.com/TheSiteShedLove the audio version of this podcast? Subscribe to the link below:⭐ https://followthepodcast.com/TheSiteShed
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    58 mins
  • Decision Debt: The Hidden Cost Killing Your Trade Business | ft. Matt Jones | Ep. 518

    Decision Debt: The Hidden Cost Killing Your Trade Business | ft. Matt Jones | Ep. 518
    Sep 29 2026

    🫱🏻‍🫲🏼 Book a Free Strategy Call with Tradie Web Guys: https://tradie.wiki/tssyt

    The guest booked for this episode did not show up, so Matt Jones sits down solo to unpack something he sees inside trade businesses every single week: decisions that get stalled for months and quietly cost far more than getting them wrong ever would. He calls it decision debt, every decision you are carrying and not making is not a cost you have dodged, it is a cost you have deferred, and it comes back with interest.

    Matt walks through the five decisions he sees trade business owners stall on most (getting off the tools, putting on more crew, sacking the client who wrecks the week, committing to marketing, and confrontation) and the three-stage cost curve behind every one of them: the interest, the compounding, and the balloon payment where the decision eventually gets made for you, on someone else's terms. If you have been sitting on a call for six months telling yourself you need more information, this episode is built for you.

    🎥 Watch the full episode: https://youtu.be/AYMLRkhMdY4

    KEY CHAPTERS
    00:00 - Introduction
    00:30 - Why This Episode Almost Didn't Happen
    01:03 - The Five Decisions Costing You Money
    02:37 - What Decision Debt Really Costs You
    04:36 - Decision One: Getting Off the Tools
    06:33 - Decision Two: Putting On More Crew
    08:49 - The Real Cost of a Late Invoice
    10:36 - Decision Three: Sacking the Client Who Wrecks the Week
    12:01 - When to Trust Your Gut and Say No
    13:11 - Decision Four: Committing to Marketing
    15:50 - Why One Lead Source Will Burn You
    16:55 - Building a Marketing Ecosystem That Can't Fail
    17:58 - What's Actually Stopping the Decision
    18:51 - Identity: Who You Become at Work
    20:03 - Confrontation: Naming the Real Bottleneck
    21:14 - The Quality of Your Decisions Is Your Business
    21:39 - Closing Remarks and Resources

    Your Next Step:

    Join Tradie Academy, our free community packed with templates, checklists, and resources shared by podcast guests, coaches, and successful tradies.

    👉 Join free and grab your next growth tool here: https://tradie.wiki/pod

    Follow The Site Shed:

    • Facebook: The Site Shed
    • Instagram: @thesiteshed
    • LinkedIn: Matt Jones
    • Website: thesiteshed.com
    • YouTube: @TheSiteShed

    If you enjoyed this podcast and the series, please take 5 minutes to leave us a review:
    ⭐ https://lovethepodcast.com/TheSiteShed

    Love the audio version of this podcast? Subscribe to the link below:
    ⭐ https://followthepodcast.com/TheSiteShed
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    24 mins
  • Stop Trying to Go Viral. Start Building Trust | ft. Dalton Fisher | Ep. 517

    Stop Trying to Go Viral. Start Building Trust | ft. Dalton Fisher | Ep. 517
    Sep 22 2026
    🫱🏻‍🫲🏼 Book a Free Strategy Call with Tradie Web Guys: https://tradie.wiki/tssytMost tradies do not want to be on camera, and most of the ones who try give up when the first few videos get 200 views. That is the wrong scoreboard. Matt Jones sits down with Dalton Fisher from Fisher MultiMedia, a Phoenix video producer who spends 99% of his time getting camera-shy contractors to talk, to unpack why authority content keeps winning through every algorithm change, and why the plumbers, sparkies and builders who show up on video are so hard to compete with.Dalton and Matt cover the top five questions framework, why your first 30 videos will be bad and why that does not matter, the three second hook that decides whether anyone watches a short, and the gear you actually need (a phone, a lapel mic and a $35 ring light). They also get into which platforms convert, why content is a multiplier for your ads and sales funnel rather than a replacement for them, and why the business that stays human as AI slop floods every feed will be able to charge a premium. If you have been meaning to start filming for two years, this is the nudge.🎥 Watch the full episode: https://youtu.be/gpmZRqNCaW0KEY CHAPTERS00:00 - Introduction01:34 - Meet Dalton Fisher02:44 - Why Authority Content Always Wins05:48 - Faceless Corporations vs Local Trust08:15 - Educating Leads Who Are Not Ready Yet11:02 - What Happens After the Ad Click14:34 - Your Boring Jobs Are Interesting16:50 - Passing the Mum Test18:32 - You Do Not Need to Go Viral22:20 - Answer Your Top Five Questions23:59 - Your First 30 Videos Will Be Bad27:52 - Real Beats Polished29:23 - The Only Gear You Need32:18 - Structuring Videos and Hooks38:46 - Which Platforms Actually Convert45:38 - Content Is a Multiplier, Not the Engine49:51 - Why the Future Belongs to the Trades52:22 - AI Slop and the Human Company57:54 - Closing Remarks and ResourcesAbout the Guest: Dalton FisherDalton Fisher is the founder of Fisher MultiMedia, a Phoenix, Arizona video production company that makes content for home service companies and contractors. He shoots most of the videos himself, which means the bulk of his job is directing plumbers, landscapers and other service techs who would rather be anywhere else than in front of a camera. His approach is built around educational content that makes a trade business look real, local and worth trusting rather than chasing views for their own sake.Website: https://fishermultimedia.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dalton-fisher-90334224b/CONNECT WITH THE TRADIE WEB GUYS!Website: https://www.tradiewebguys.com.au/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TradieWebGuysOfficial?sub_confirmation=1Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TradieWebGuysOfficialInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/tradiewebguys/LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/company/tradie-web-guysMatt's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamthemattj/If you enjoyed this podcast, please take a moment to leave us a review:⭐ https://lovethepodcast.com/TheSiteShedLove the audio version of this podcast? Subscribe to the link below:⭐ https://followthepodcast.com/TheSiteShed#podcast #thesiteshed #tradiewebguys #videomarketing #contentcreation #tradiebusiness #socialmediamarketing #authoritycontent #tradiemarketing Your Next Step:Join Tradie Academy, our free community packed with templates, checklists, and resources shared by podcast guests, coaches, and successful tradies.👉 Join free and grab your next growth tool here: https://tradie.wiki/podFollow The Site Shed:Facebook: The Site ShedInstagram: @thesiteshedLinkedIn: Matt JonesWebsite: thesiteshed.comYouTube: @TheSiteShedIf you enjoyed this podcast and the series, please take 5 minutes to leave us a review:⭐ https://lovethepodcast.com/TheSiteShedLove the audio version of this podcast? Subscribe to the link below:⭐ https://followthepodcast.com/TheSiteShed
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    1 hr and 1 min
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