| I recently sat down with Sam Preston to talk marketing, and one theme kept coming up: if a channel is failing for you, it's almost never the channel. It's the execution. | Someone in your market is printing money with the strategy that is failing you. Your job is to figure out why this is happening. |
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| | Check out these resources before we get started… | Booked Solid is where home service operators come to tighten their marketing. Hosted by Service Scalers. March 3–5, 2026 at my HQ in Akron, OH. Come join me (and plenty of other operators) for an exclusive shop tour at Wilson HQ (RSVP here) Read Homepros' story about Ferguson Ventures' big bet on HVAC and plumbing technology
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| | The Channel Isn't the Problem | Every marketing channel has operators who swear it does not work. PPC. LSAs. Nextdoor. Direct mail. Lead aggregators. And yet, in every one of those channels, someone in your market is generating consistent, profitable leads right now. | When a channel fails, it is almost never the channel. It is the system underneath it. Weak tracking, mismatched messaging, underfunded tests, poor follow-up, or zero ongoing optimization will break even proven marketing plays. | The real divider is fundamentals. | Clean tracking from click to call to booking to revenue. Enough spend to generate real data, not gut feelings. Ongoing monitoring instead of set-it-and-forget-it. Tight alignment between ads, offers, landing pages, and sales. | Get those right, and channels start working. Get them wrong, and everything looks broken. |
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| What Big Reputation Did for My Business | Your GBP should be a lead channel, not a set-and-forget listing. Big Reputation proved that to me. Here's how… | Big Reputation automates the unsexy but critical work that drives local visibility: | Daily, SEO-rich GBP posts Automated review requests and responses Geo-specific content by service area Real-time visibility and ranking insights Direct CRM and job data integration
| No extra work for your team. No guessing. Just results. | |
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| | | | The Infrastructure Behind Every "Winning" Channel | Most marketing channels are simple on the surface and complex underneath. Turning them on is easy. Making them work consistently is not. The moment volume increases, weaknesses in tracking, sales, and follow-up get exposed. | That is why opinions about marketing channels are so polarized. One operator sees steady booked jobs. Another sees wasted spend and blames the source. The difference usually has nothing to do with the platform and everything to do with how leads are handled after they come in. | Channels also demand different levels of maturity. Some forgive sloppy execution. Others do not. The more control a channel gives you, the more responsibility it places on your business to measure, optimize, and respond correctly. Without that discipline, more control just means more ways to leak money. | At scale, marketing stops being about tactics and starts being about infrastructure. Clean data. Clear handoffs. Consistent messaging from ad to page to phone call. Feedback loops that tie spend to revenue. Until those pieces exist, adding new channels rarely fixes the problem. |
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| | | | What the Data Shows | One clear signal is budget polarization. Channels that once worked at low spend now require real dollars to evaluate properly. Sub-$2,500 tests are increasingly meaningless in competitive markets because they do not generate enough data to make decisions. In some metros, even $5,000 per month is no longer sufficient. Operators seeing success are committing meaningful budget early to compress learning time and adjust faster. | Another signal is geographic divergence. Competitive urban markets are getting more expensive and more complex, while rural and secondary markets remain underpenetrated. Operators entering smaller markets are seeing outsized returns simply by turning on channels that have been ignored for years. | Before you go any further, check out my guide on how to generate more leads for your home service business. | In contrast, markets like Las Vegas require significantly higher spend just to be visible, often in the $12,000 to $15,000 per month range. | Tracking maturity is also becoming a differentiator. Businesses that can trace leads from click to call to booking to revenue are able to judge channels accurately. Those relying on call volume alone are drawing the wrong conclusions. | Finally, performance consistency is clustering among disciplined operators. Roughly 80% of accounts referenced were hitting expected lead volume targets, with seasonal fluctuation but predictable outcomes. | The common thread? Ongoing monitoring, feedback loops tied to revenue, and alignment across ads, landing pages, and sales are a must. |
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| | | You Can Make Any Channel Work | Before adding a new channel, fix the measurement. If you cannot tell where a lead came from and what it turned into, you are not evaluating marketing. You are guessing. Call volume alone is not enough. Booked jobs are not enough. Revenue is the only finish line that matters. | Start by tightening the basics: | Track every lead from click to call to booking to revenue Use unique tracking numbers or clear source tagging Review results weekly, not monthly Separate lead volume metrics from revenue metrics
| If you cannot answer "how much revenue did this channel produce," do not add another channel. | Next, make sure the channel is properly funded. Underfunded tests create false negatives. You end up killing channels that never had a real chance to work. | Practical budget rules pulled from the discussion: | Small tests do not produce enough data to learn Competitive markets require significantly higher spend One month at a meaningful budget beats three months of limping along Spend enough to make decisions quickly, then adjust
| If the budget cannot support real data, wait. Turning things on too early wastes money and attention. | Then align everything the customer touches. Most breakdowns happen between the ad and the phone call, not in the platform itself. | Check for alignment across: | Ad copy and the actual service being promoted Landing pages that match the promise of the ad Offers that make sense for the job being booked Phone scripts that reflect what the customer was told
| If the ad says plumbing repair and the page pushes HVAC replacement, conversion drops. If the offer sounds good but the call handling is sloppy, revenue disappears. | Monitoring is non-negotiable. Channels that allow more control require more discipline. Set-it-and-forget-it only works when competition is low. That window is closing fast. | Build a simple operating rhythm: | Review spend and lead quality weekly Pause keywords, placements, or campaigns that do not convert Shift budget toward what is driving booked revenue Keep negative keywords and exclusions updated
| This does not require fancy software. A spreadsheet and consistent reviews are enough if they are actually used. | Finally, stop chasing novelty. Winning operators are not constantly reinventing offers. They find something that works and run it consistently. | Use this approach: | Test offers deliberately, not constantly Measure impact on lead quality and close rate Keep offers that work and increase frequency Focus on follow-up and distribution, not reinvention
| Most "magic" promotions are not magic at all. They work because they are repeated, supported, and followed up properly. | If a channel is failing, do not ask whether the channel works. Ask whether your system is built to support it. That answer usually comes fast. |
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| | | | Why Good Channels Still Underperform | These are the mistakes that quietly limit how effective your marketing can be (even when you choose the right channel). | Building opinions about channels without tracking leads all the way to revenue Underfunding tests and killing channels before enough data exists Judging performance on calls or leads instead of booked jobs and revenue Setting channels live and not monitoring them week to week Letting ads, offers, landing pages, and call handling drift out of alignment Running multiple agencies without a single owner coordinating changes Changing offers constantly instead of running what already converts Assuming "doesn't work" means "cannot work" instead of asking why it works for others
| When marketing feels unpredictable, it is usually revealing weaknesses elsewhere in the business. Fix the system underneath it, and the channel almost always follows. |
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| | Build a Marketing Engine That Fills the Board | Field service software usually forces a bad choice. It's either too lightweight once you grow past a few techs, or so complex it slows the business down. | FieldPulse sits in the middle, giving growing service companies real workflows and real visibility without enterprise bloat. It's a win-win. | |
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| | | If a marketing channel looks broken, it is usually just revealing that the system underneath it is not ready yet. |
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| | |  | Why Your Google Ads Are Burning Cash (And How to Fix It) |
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| Apple | Spotify | YouTube | What do you think about today's "Clicks to Calls" newsletter? | |
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| 👊 John | Disclosure: Some of the content and links in this newsletter are sponsored or affiliate links, which means we may receive payment or earn a commission if you click through or purchase. However, all opinions expressed are entirely my own. |
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