The future probably isn't your team “using AI.” It's the call getting summarized, the estimate getting followed up and the customer record staying current—without anyone remembering to use it.

You already paid to acquire them. They already know your name. So why are you spending more money chasing strangers while past customers sit untouched in your database?

Before spending another dollar on leads, know what's happening to the ones you already have. A slow month caused by too little demand and a slow month caused by a leaky business look identical from the outside, and they need completely different fixes.

Your competitors probably know everything you know. That's the good news. Because most of them still won't do it on a busy Tuesday.

What if your biggest competitive advantage isn’t something you need to learn? It’s something you already know, and your competitors got tired of doing.

Before you spend another dollar on leads, open ChatGPT. These 25 prompts can help you find the estimates that went cold, calls that should have booked, jobs that may be losing money, customer complaints that reveal bigger problems, and dozens of other leaks hiding in your business.

As AI makes knowledge and answers cheaper, human judgment and discernment become more valuable. What that means for contractors, technicians, and the skilled trades.

You spent good money making the phone ring. What happens when nobody answers? Before you buy an AI receptionist—or dismiss one—figure out how many good calls you're actually losing, what they're worth, and whether AI is the right way to catch them.

I’d already decided I wasn’t stopping. Twenty minutes later, I’d made an 18-month commitment and asked the salesperson for his business card. After 15 years in marketing, it was a good reminder: we’ve gotten incredibly good at everything around the sale. I’m not sure we’ve gotten better at selling.

Roto-Rooter watched its Google Maps visibility fall from 72% to 24%, then spent millions buying leads it used to get for free. For independent contractors, there’s a lesson in that: organic visibility is worth protecting. Here’s how to make your Google Business Profile work harder before you have to pay for the click.

Roto-Rooter used to get most of its leads for free. Then its Google Maps visibility fell from 72% to 24%. Now it's paying roughly $94 per lead—and spending millions more to keep lead volume steady. Two years of earnings calls reveal what changed, and what independent contractors should learn from it.

A surprising LEGO internship reveals something much bigger happening across manufacturing. The best companies aren't waiting for graduates anymore—they're identifying and developing talent years earlier. Parents, educators, and employers who understand this shift will have a significant advantage.

Honey Homes vs. Angi isn't a rivalry — it's a preview of home services after search. Why context, not discovery, is becoming the moat.

Not a single contractor has ever pulled into a driveway and thought, "Man, if only I had some topographical drawing software." So why does so much B2B marketing sound like that's exactly what they're waiting for? A field guide to the twenty-year habit that's about to get worse thanks to AI — and the one rule every marketer used to know.

Everyone thinks the AI revolution belongs to software engineers. But Elon Musk's latest hiring announcement tells a different story. SpaceX isn't just looking for engineers—it's recruiting plumbers, electricians, and skilled tradespeople. The future of AI may depend less on who writes the code and more on who builds the world it runs on.

Concierge medicine is growing as physicians leave insurance-based practices. Here's why the shift says more about incentives, AI, and the future of trusted relationships than healthcare alone.

What happens when you plant pumpkins over a septic field? I have no idea, but I have a hypothesis. This fall, I'm running a very unscientific experiment to see if curiosity (and a little extra nitrogen) produces the best gourds in the neighborhood.

HubSpot built a marketing empire by mastering Google search. Then AI changed how people find answers. What happened next isn't just HubSpot's story: it's a preview of what's coming for every contractor who still thinks marketing is about getting found.

I wasn't expecting one of the best management lessons I'd read to come from Saturday Night Live. But Tina Fey's four rules of improv—agree, "yes, and," make statements, and embrace mistakes—turn out to be surprisingly relevant for anyone running a service business.

Millions of visitors are here for the World Cup, filming the $5 chickens and the gas stations. After 15 years around contractors, I think they're pointing the camera at the wrong thing.