About the publisher
Built for the operators
stuck in the bidding war.
Need A Trade was started by an Australian project manager who's spent 16 years inside the marketing of working tradies, and watched the marketplace economics get worse every year. Below is the origin story in his own words, and what it has to do with how this site works.
Antony Loomans
Publisher · Kingscliff, Australia
A note from the publisher
Why this exists.
My name is Antony Loomans. I've been a project manager for almost thirty years. I did my Master's at UTS in Sydney around 2007, and I've worked with tradie businesses — large and small — since about 2010.
The economics of most marketplaces are broken. Google and Facebook costs have increased almost exponentially since they launched. What used to be a cheap form of digital advertising — a way of connecting businesses with their prospective customers — has turned into a hostage situation for both sides.
On the plus side, Google reviews gave good operators an opportunity to showcase their work. But that still comes with its problems.
What I saw working with the trades, in particular, was also a problem for new operators coming into the market. Apprentices setting up had a major, major disadvantage — and a lot of people were gaming the system. I wanted to create a solution that gave both sides an opportunity to connect, that wasn't a race to the bottom, and wasn't about making money from everyone.
So Need A Trade was born. It's part of an ecosystem I'm building to help connect real Australian families and businesses with trades that do a good job — because everyone deserves to get honest work and honest pay.
— Antony Loomans, publisher
What that means for you
No race to the bottom.
This site is for the tradies who don't want to spend another year buying leads against five other operators bidding the same job into the floor. The flyer run isn't a lead-gen subscription. The Code-signing isn't a badge for sale. The Member Profile, when it opens, isn't a ranking auction.
You sign the Code because the Code is congruent with how you already work. You run the flyer because the publisher's editorial trust gets you in front of homeowners who've already been briefed on what to ask. You earn the founding Member Profile because the directory only works if the founding cohort is real.
Honest work, honest pay. The whole platform is built around making that the easier path — not the harder one.
Why flyers, then profiles
The vetting has to come first.
The Member Profile directory at members.needatrade.com.au only works if the founding cohort is real. So we won't launch the directory with a self-serve sign-up form — the marketplaces tried that, and the result is what you see in the search rankings.
Instead, the founding cohort earns its place by signing the Code, passing credential verification, and running a real walked flyer in their suburb. The directory opens with that cohort. From there, every new member runs through the same vetting before they get listed.
Flyers fund the early publisher. Member Profiles are the long-term moat. The Code sits underneath both.
Apply for a flyer run →