Hi Peter.
I guess getting back into the trades just the same as when starting out for the first time, and we get this question asked quite a lot really "how to get people phoning me", or how to get work in general.
Basically, advertise, advertise and advertise.
The more people that know who you are, what it is you do and how to get in contact with you the better.
Just sticking a small advert in the local paper generally isn't enough.
Yellow pages book is I think still one of the most popular ways of people finding a local tradesman.
Internet is probably a close second now, so maybe get a small website setup to try and get people searching for a tiler in your area.
Leaflet dropping is probably one of the cheapest ways of advertising, and the good thing about leaflets is that you jog peoples minds into having some work done on their home, like they see the flyer on their door mat and they might think "hmm, bathrooms a bit dated or what have you, or they might have been thinking about doing it themselves, so they decide to call you and you only for a price, unlike waiting for them to make that desicion first, then them looking through the adverts and possibly never getting round to calling you amoungst the dozens of other tilers adverts.
Call as many plumbers and joiners you can find and ask about trade swap work etc can could always possibly net you that one good very very busy guy who fits 2 kitchens a week and dosen't know a tiler to recommend to his customers etc.
Get to know the staff in your local tile shops, and ask to leave business cards in store, but make sure you pop in regular to buy anything, even small cheap stuff, make it look like your busy and can actually bring some form of business to their shop.
Try talking to local estate agents, find out about houses that are in need of a lot of work doing on them, as some will often sell better with just a simple re-tile.
Make an appointment to go see the house, and just run with it while your viewing with the home owner, and say something like "Im looking for a house to buy maybe that needs some renovation, but your home dosen't need as much doing to it as I want to get, but as it happens im a tiler and you'd sell your home much quicker with a kitchen and bathroom re-tile, and it wouldn't cost the earth, and would really bring your old suit upto date"... while it might sound silly, it does work
All in all there's a million ways to bring in the work, if people can actually be bothered to put in the ground work.
