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Straight talk for home service owners.

Answers to the questions home service owners actually search, written by the people doing the work.

Getting found AI and home services Running the business Missed calls Reviews and referrals Getting more jobs Content

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Getting more jobs

Can AI actually help you win more work? Yes, if you do it in the right order.

AI can help you win more jobs. But turn on ads before your phone is answered and you're paying to miss calls.

By AK · 4 min readRead the answer

Getting found

7 articles

Getting found

You won't get a pink slip. The phone just stops ringing.

In home services, losing business is quiet. Here's how to spot the drop months before it hurts.

4 min read

Getting found

Homeowners are asking ChatGPT who to call. Will it say your name?

AI assistants are becoming a new front door for home services. Here's how to check whether yours is open, and what to do if it isn't.

5 min read

Getting found

Bing and Reddit: the two places most contractors forget

If homeowners are asking ChatGPT who to call, it helps to know where ChatGPT looks. Two of those places get ignored by most home service businesses.

4 min read

Getting found

Is it the slow season, or did your customers move?

A slow month is easy to blame on the weather. Here's a ten minute self audit to find out what's really going on.

4 min read

Getting found

If your website looks like that, what will you do to my house?

Homeowners judge your work by your website before they ever meet you. Here's what a home service website needs on the first screen.

4 min read

Getting found

The weekly sweep: what your competitors did this week

The businesses that win locally aren't guessing. They know what changed in their market this week.

4 min read

Getting found

Show your work: the craftsman nobody knew

The best work in your town might be invisible. Photos of real jobs are how homeowners find it, trust it and pay for it.

4 min read

AI and home services

5 articles

AI and home services

Will AI take jobs in the trades? Not the way you think.

AI isn't coming to your job site with a tool belt. Another contractor who uses it better than you might be.

4 min read

AI and home services

Take the word "AI" out and the answer gets obvious

Most home service owners aren't confused about their business. They're confused by a word. Drop it, and the right moves are plain.

3 min read

AI and home services

Where to start with AI if you're not a tech person

You don't start with a tool. You start with the moment in your week you wish you could be in two places at once.

4 min read

AI and home services

Which AI tools are worth paying for? The ones that fix a leak you can name.

The best tool for your business depends on where it's leaking. Here's how to tell, and the questions to ask before you pay for anything.

5 min read

AI and home services

Stop telling customers you use AI. Show them results.

Homeowners are getting tired of anything that feels fake. In home services, proof beats buzzwords every time.

4 min read

Running the business

8 articles

Running the business

Every trades company is a marketing and sales company

You got into this business to do the work. But if nobody knows you exist, the work never shows up.

4 min read

Running the business

Should you DIY your marketing with ChatGPT, or hire help?

You can absolutely ask an AI how to market your business. The real question is what your hours are worth.

4 min read

Running the business

How a five person shop competes with private equity

The big, investor backed companies have call centers and systems. You have speed, your face and your town. Here's how to use both.

4 min read

Running the business

Be excellent. Then be seen.

Being great at your craft comes first. But great work nobody can find doesn't pay the bills. You need both, and you don't have to do both alone.

4 min read

Running the business

Marketing agency or growth agency? What to ask before you hire anyone

An agency is just someone who does the work for you. A marketing agency does your marketing. A growth agency helps you grow the whole company. Before you hire either one, ask what you will see in month one, and why they want a minimum.

5 min read

Running the business

Should you sign a 6 or 12 month contract with a marketing agency?

Only if you know exactly what you'll get in the first month and what it costs to leave. Six to twelve month minimums are common, and leaving early often means paying for months you never use. Ask why the minimum exists before you sign anything.

4 min read

Running the business

Who owns your website and Google profile if you fire your agency?

You should, but only if they were set up in your name. Make sure you're the primary owner of your Google Business Profile, the registrant of your domain and the owner of your ad accounts. Your agency should get manager access, never ownership.

4 min read

Running the business

Why do agencies charge a setup fee, and what should it cover?

A setup fee should pay for the foundation: getting your website, Google profile, phone and accounts up to standard before anyone starts fixing the holes that cost you jobs. Ask exactly what it includes, when it will be done and whether you own what it builds.

4 min read

Missed calls

2 articles

Missed calls

We call about 100 contractors at a time. Roughly 85 don't pick up.

If we can't reach you, neither can your next customer. Here's what a missed call really costs, and how to stop losing them.

4 min read

Missed calls

Nobody leaves a voicemail anymore. Here's what to do instead.

By the time a homeowner would leave a message, they've already called your competitor. A missed call text back fixes that.

4 min read

Reviews and referrals

2 articles

Reviews and referrals

When was your last Google review?

If your newest review is six months old, homeowners notice. Here's a simple system that keeps them coming without begging or gimmicks.

4 min read

Reviews and referrals

Word of mouth is great. It can't be your only basket.

Referrals are the best leads in home services. They're also the hardest to count and the first to dry up in a slow month.

4 min read

Getting more jobs

1 article

Getting more jobs

What should a marketing agency do in the first 30 days?

Fix the foundation before chasing more leads. In the first month you should see your website brought up to standard, your Google Business Profile completed, spam calls screened out, every real call answered and every review answered. More leads don't help if the ones you already get are leaking.

4 min read

Content

1 article

Content

One interview, three months of content

You already answer homeowners' questions every day in the driveway. Record those answers once and they can work for you all season.

4 min read

Got a question we haven't answered?

Ask it on your free business audit. If enough owners ask the same thing, it becomes the next article.

Request a free business audit

Find out what's leaking. Free.

A one time setup, then one monthly fee. Month to month. No contract. The number depends on the rung you're standing on, so we give it to you on the call. If you don't need us yet, we'll tell you that too.

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