Finding local customers online, for Australian small businesses
Every week, people in your area ask online for a recommendation for exactly what you do. LaunchRadar is built in Brisbane to help you find those posts before someone else answers.
Where locals ask for recommendations
- Local Facebook groups: suburb, community and buy-swap-sell groups. The biggest source, but private to outside tools.
- Reddit: city subreddits such as r/brisbane, r/sydney, r/melbourne, r/perth and r/adelaide have regular “can anyone recommend a…” threads.
- Nextdoor: neighbourhood feeds where people ask for trades and services.
- Airtasker: open tasks posted by people who already want to pay someone.
- Bluesky and X: less local, but useful for online services and products you ship Australia-wide.
What to search for
Combine a buyer phrase with your trade and area: “recommend a” plus electrician plus your suburb, “looking for someone to” plus your service, or “who do you use for” plus your service. Search by suburb names as well as the city, because people often write the suburb.
The location problem
Online searches return posts from everywhere. A request for a cleaner in Toronto is no use to a cleaner in Brisbane. LaunchRadar reads where you serve from your website and settings, checks each post for location clues, and filters out posts from outside your service area, so the list stays local.
Facebook groups, done safely
Facebook does not allow tools to read groups, and accounts that scrape get banned. LaunchRadar gives you one-tap Facebook, Nextdoor, LinkedIn and Airtasker searches built from your services and area. They open in your own browser, logged in as you, so you can scan new posts in a minute without breaking any rules.
Replying to a local request
Be specific: say you are local, name your suburb, give a rough price or your next available day, and include how to reach you. Locals pick the reply that sounds like a real person nearby.
Pricing in plain terms
Free covers one business, a weekly email and three leads a week, with no card. Solo is US$19 a month for a daily list. Pro is US$49 a month with a 7-day trial and drafted replies. See pricing.
Related: the phrases buyers use and finding customers for a 3D printing business.
Common questions
How can a small business find customers online in Australia?
Watch the places locals ask for recommendations: suburb Facebook groups, city subreddits, Nextdoor and Airtasker. Search with phrases like recommend a or looking for someone to, plus your trade and suburb, and reply quickly with a clear local offer.
Does LaunchRadar work for tradies and local services?
Yes. It reads where you serve, filters out posts from other areas, and adds search links for Facebook, Nextdoor, LinkedIn and Airtasker that you open yourself. How many leads it finds depends on how often people in your area ask in public.
Is LaunchRadar an Australian business?
Yes. It is operated by Kustom Melts in Brisbane, Queensland. Prices are in US dollars.