1 The base decides everything
Why the system you already have is the engine, and every idea in this guide is the fuel.
Here is how a homeowner really hires, step by step, according to the research:
First they ask people. 74% follow the recommendation of a neighbor, friend or family member.
Then they look you up online. 97% read reviews. 68% will not use a business under 4 stars. 47% will not use one with fewer than 20 reviews.
They compare 3 businesses or fewer and decide in under 30 minutes.
Then they call. Almost half of the calls to home service businesses (48%) are never answered by a person.
If you do not answer, 82% call a competitor. Only 42% leave a voicemail. The rest just disappear.
And the clock is cruel: 55% of customers expect an answer within one hour, and only 20% of owners give it.
Now put it together. Every play in this guide makes somebody say your name or see your sign. That person then checks your Google profile, reads your reviews, goes to your website and calls. If the profile is weak, the reviews are few or the phone just rings, the play died and you never knew.
Your only three jobs: answer fast when a person is needed, tell them about the review in person at the end of every job, and run the plays in this guide. The machine does the rest.
2 Your Google profile: we build it, you feed it
Every yard sign, every neighbor, every Facebook tag sends that person to look you up on Google. The profile (name, category, services, area, photos, map position) is handled by us. There are only two things that only you can do.
1. Ask for the review in person, before you get in the truck
Timing is everything: if they do not pull out the phone while you are still standing there, it almost never happens later. Your system sends the link by itself. Your job is to tell them face to face.
2. Every review gets an answer, and your system writes it
89% of people expect the owner to answer, and 80% are more likely to hire a business that answers all of them. Your system answers every review, good or bad, with your name and in your tone, the same day. You just read them. For a bad one, the answer does not fight: it apologizes and offers to fix it, and you make the call. If you do not like an answer, text us and we change it.
3 Your first 20 jobs are already in your phone
How to pull them out of your contacts without feeling like a beggar.
One idea changes everything: you are not asking for favors. You are announcing what you do now. When somebody's cousin needs what you do, you did them the favor by being easy to find.
The list of 100 names (from the whole family)
One evening, phone in hand. Open your contacts, WhatsApp, Facebook friends. Write every name on paper, in four columns: family, old coworkers and old bosses, people from church and school, and everybody else (your barber, your mechanic, the guy at the parts counter).
And do not stop at YOUR phone: your wife's network counts double (her friends, her work, her family, her school group). If you have older kids, their friends and their friends' parents have houses too. The list belongs to the family, not just to you. Do not skip anybody because "she does not need a fence". She knows nine people who do. Most people think they know 15 people. On paper it comes out to 120 to 300.
The announcement text
Send it to 10 names a day, one at a time. Never as a group text. It is an announcement, so nobody can say no to it:
And stop there. No price list. No paragraph about your experience. Expect a lot of answers and 2 or 3 jobs the first month. The big prize comes later: 100 people now know what to say when somebody asks "do you know anybody?".
The ONE name question
At the end of every good job, when the customer says it came out well, ask for ONE name, not for "somebody":
The word "who" puts the brain to work searching. "Do you know anybody?" gets a polite no. About 1 out of 3 happy customers gives a real name right there. Hand them three cards: "keep one and give two away". A referred customer is worth at least 16% more and stays a customer longer (Wharton study of 10,000 customers).
Thank the person who sent you the job, out loud
The same day a referred job gets booked, text the person who sent it: "Hey [Name], [person] called me because of you. Thank you, really". When the job gets paid, do something concrete: a $25 gift card or $25 off their next service, and tell them what it is for. The person who gets thanked sends again. The one who does not never knew it worked.
The call to your old boss
Anybody you worked for already knows you do good work, which is the hardest thing to prove. Call, do not text: "I went out on my own. If you ever have overflow work, something very small, or something outside your area, I will take good care of it and I will never go around you to the customer". Say that last part out loud: his fear is that you steal customers. This is usually the first paid job of a new business.
4 Every job is a free ad
The 10 to 40 houses that can SEE your work are the best list you will ever have. Same age house, same problems, and they can ask your customer about you.
The sign goes up on day ONE, not the last day
When you shake hands to start the job: "While we work, can I put a small sign in the yard? It tells the neighbors who is making the noise and it helps me keep the price down". The sign says three things, big: business name, what you do in 5 words and phone number. If you have a license and insurance, put it on in big letters. If you do not, leave it off: it is a fine. Real cost: $2.45 to $3.20 per sign with the stake. One owner counted $100,000 in decks from 25 signs. Others report less. It costs $3: try it with 20. A lead for under $5, next to the $91 paid one.
The 10 door walk, the same afternoon
Before you start the truck: knock the 2 houses on each side and the 3 across the street. 45 seconds per door. Learn the line by heart:
Ask your customer first: "do you mind if I mention your name to the neighbors?". Almost everybody says yes, and some are even proud of it. Never knock after 7 pm or on a Sunday morning. If the house has a No Soliciting sign, do not knock: leave the card and move on. If your town asks for a solicitor permit, get it one time. An old rule of the trade is still true: your next most likely customer lives in the three houses across the street and the two next door.
Door hangers on the same street
A door hanger is a flyer with a hook that hangs on the door knob. It does not go in the mail. You hang it yourself, by hand. 500 printed cost $75 to $125. One side: photo of the work, name, phone. The other side, one line that only works on that street: "We just finished the roof at 412 Maple. Free check on yours". Hang them on the 100 to 200 doors around the job the same day, with the truck still there. Honest response rate: 1 to 3% is normal. 500 doors = 5 to 15 calls. Never touch the mailbox (federal crime). Door knob only.
Letter your truck. Forget the wrap.
Vinyl lettering on both doors and the tailgate: $250 to $1,000 one time, lasts 7 to 10 years. About $5 a month for a truck that introduces you in every driveway it parks in. Magnets bend and blow off. A full wrap costs $3,000 to $5,500.
The handwritten card, with the photo, for the doors that did not open
Blue pen, 3 lines: "Hi, I'm [Name]. We did [the work] at your neighbor's, the [color] house. If you ever want a free check: [your phone]". Staple the photo of the finished job to it, printed at the drugstore for pennies. Fold it into the door frame. Nobody else on that street writes anything by hand, and a photo of the house next door beats any flyer. It is slow, and it is the most trusted piece of paper you can leave.
5 The customers who already paid you: year two lives in your phone
Chapter 3 is for starting. This one is for keeping it going: the people who already know you and already paid you.
Upload your old customer list to the system
Name and phone for every person you did a job for who was happy. You pick them on your phone with the link we sent you before launch (if you do not have it, ask us). Our team checks the list and starts your review campaign: they get asked for the review you never asked for, with your name on it. You touch nothing.
NEW customers are different: every job you finish goes through your marketing form (30 seconds, it is on your links page). That customer goes straight into the review ask and the one year referral chain.
The seasonal reminder, for your trade
Every trade has a date when the house needs you again: gutters and roofs before the rains, HVAC before the heat, exterior paint before the cold, landscaping in spring. The system sends this text to your customers from a year ago, the month before. You do not send it:
The job anniversary
Twelve months after you finish, the system sends a three line text: "how is [the job] holding up? Any detail, just tell me". It does not sell anything and that is why it works: the person who answers "all good" is the same one who sends you the neighbor the next week.
6 Church, school and your WhatsApp groups
The places where people already trust you. The tone is "telling my community", never "closing sales".
Church, step by step
Ask the church office for a line in the weekly bulletin: "John Ramirez, member of our parish, opened Ramirez Painting. Free estimates. 555-0100". Almost all of them run it free or for a small donation. Honest: the ad by itself brings almost no calls. What brings work is people seeing you take part. If they charge you hundreds a year for the line, say no.
Ask if you can leave cards on the coffee table after the service.
Tell five people in person every Sunday, with 6 job photos ready on your phone.
Church is a transfer of trust. The people who hire you there recommend you harder than anybody, because it makes them look good. One warning: on church jobs, over deliver. The same network that feeds you can shut the tap overnight.
The school gate
Every parent in your kid's class has a house or has a landlord. And every class has its own chat. Ask a parent you know to add you, post ONE time and be clear, and from then on just help when house questions come up. Sponsoring the team shirt costs $150 to $300 and puts your name in front of the same 40 families every Saturday.
The town and hometown WhatsApp groups
Write to the admin first:
Asking permission is what separates you from spam. Then ONE post: a before and after photo, one line about what you do and where, and your number. One post with permission brings messages in two days. Without permission it brings a block.
7 Facebook groups: win the thread
Facebook is the #2 place in the country where people ask "who do you recommend?", right behind Google. But the value is NOT on your business page. It is in the comments on a neighbor's post.
Build your map: 12 groups, not 50
In the Facebook search bar type your town plus one word at a time, and filter to Groups. Only join groups with posts from the last 24 hours, and only 1 or 2 per day:
"[town] Homeowners" · "[town] Community" · "[town] Neighbors" · "Buy Sell Trade [town]" · "[town] Moms" · "[town] Recommendations" · "[town] Real Estate Investors" (landlords buy repeat work)
In Spanish: "Latinos en [town]" · "Hispanos en [town]" · "[town] en Español" · "Negocios Latinos [town]". Spanish language groups have far fewer contractors inside. If you speak Spanish, that is an unfair advantage almost nobody uses.
Spend the first 30 days as a neighbor, not as a business
The first month: zero posts about your business. Comment to help. Answer questions about your trade. Fill out your PERSONAL profile so it says your trade and your town, with a good job photo as the cover. Post as YOU, a person. Business pages barely get seen for free any more, and many groups block them as ads. The page is for proof: photos, hours, reviews.
Win the recommendation thread. That is the whole game.
Every week somebody posts "can anybody recommend a good [your trade]?". Turn on notifications for your best 3 or 4 groups and answer within the first hour. Four lines in public: your name, that you are local (say the town), one line of proof, and a free check. Then ONE private message, and that is it. Never comment "I sent you a DM".
Why speed wins: in a secret shopper study of 466 service businesses, 95% did not answer within 5 minutes and 40% never answered at all. Getting there first and sounding human beats being big. And fifty lurkers read that comment, not just the person who asked. The proof goes in the comment.
Ask to be TAGGED, not praised
A neighbor tagging you is worth ten comments of your own. Today only 42% trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation (down from 79% in 2020). A tag IS a personal recommendation.
The post that always works: before and after
Take the "before" photo before you set down your tools, on every job, standing where you will take the "after". Every week or two, post a pair with the name of the neighborhood (never the house number) and what the customer got: "no more draft in the back bedroom". It reads like content, not like an ad, and that is why it survives the hard group rules.
8 Nextdoor: get the neighbor to say your name
On Google, people search and you compete. On Nextdoor, a neighbor asks "who knows a good plumber?" and another neighbor answers with your name and your phone number. That spot cannot be bought. You earn it, one recommendation at a time.
Here is what a Nextdoor customer really looks like, taken from a real contractor's page: "Neighborhood Remodeling Heroes 720-451-7487, ask for Heather. They give free estimates!" THE NEIGHBOR wrote that, phone number and all. You write nothing. Your only job is to ask.
Claim the free business page (15 minutes, $0). Search first: Nextdoor may have already made a page for you with the wrong phone number. Claim it, do not duplicate it. Add your area, hours and 6 to 10 real photos.
Get verified as a business. They ask for a document (license, LLC or insurance paper). Have the photo ready. Without this, the page exists but it is mute.
Ask every happy customer for a recommendation, in a separate message from the Google review one, a day or two later: "Would you mind recommending us on Nextdoor? It takes 30 seconds and it is how neighbors find us". People do one thing per message. Never put the two asks together.
Play the year long clock. The Neighborhood Faves award is decided by a vote once a year (the 2026 one closes September 30), and the recommendations you collect all year are what put you on the ballot. One ask a week, every week, is the whole strategy. And since August 2026, Nextdoor cuts the reach of owners who answer "that's me, call me" from their personal account. Promotion comes from your business page, and in the "who do you recommend?" threads the one who names you is your customer, never you. A Denver electrician has won it 5 years in a row.
Forget Nextdoor ads. $100 buys about 5,000 views in a neighborhood and usually zero calls. Spend that on yard signs.
Honest expectation: Nextdoor is a drip that turns into a wall. Ten recommendations in your zip code quietly make you the default answer for that area.
9 The people who hand out jobs all day
A homeowner hires you once every few years. These people place jobs every week. Start with the first three: they need no extra license and almost no money.
| Source | The play | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| 1. The supply counter | One store, the same morning every week. Learn the names. "If a homeowner walks in over his head, give him my card. I'll take care of him and send him back here to buy the material". Buy the counter lunch once a month. | $20-40/month |
| 2. General contractors, through permits | Permits are public. Search "[your county] permit search", write down every contractor from the last 90 days, call early: "I saw you pulled the permit on [street]. I do [your trade], I'm insured, I can start Monday. Do you need a quote?". | $0 |
| 3. Property managers | They turn you down over paperwork, not talent. Reason #1: the "additional insured" endorsement is missing from the insurance. Put ONE PDF together (insurance with the endorsement, license, W-9, prices) and send it to all of them. Promise this: "Text me a tenant move-out and I'll walk it within 24 hours with a price in writing". | $0-50 |
| 4. Interior designers | They pick the painter 60% of the time, and price comes LAST. "I work to spec: you pick color, finish and brand, and I use exactly that. Photo at the end of every day". | $0 |
| 5. Real estate agents | Never money (see the red box). Give them a New Homeowner Checklist with THEIR photo on top and your details at the bottom, as their closing gift. 75% of buyers hire a service within 2 years. | $0-150 |
| 6. Home inspectors | "Send me any report that flags [your trade]. The buyer gets a free estimate within 24 hours. I will never say your report was wrong". | $0 |
| 7. Restoration companies | Insurance size jobs without the wall of certificates: be their subcontractor. They win the claim, you do your part. | $0 |
And the habit that keeps every source alive: close the loop. Text 1, within the first hour: "Got it, I'll call him right now, thank you". Text 2, when you finish: "Done at [address]. The customer was happy. Thanks again". Almost nobody does this. It is the difference between one referral and a river.
Two more doors almost nobody knocks
The HOA vendor list. Do not go to the board. Go to the company that MANAGES the association. One company runs dozens of HOAs, and its approved vendor list is a single list. Same PDF you send property managers.
The utility company contractor network (Trade Ally), HVAC, plumbing and insulation only. Signing up is free, and in several states the customer's rebate (over $1,500 on a heat pump, for example) is only paid if a registered contractor did the work. Search "[your utility company] trade ally" and fill out the application one time.
What to say, word for word
10 Partner trades: trade customers, do not buy them
Other trades are standing inside your customer's house right before the customer needs YOU. Local partnerships produce more customers (25%) than Google searches (20%) or the sites that sell leads (16%). The golden rule: YOU send a customer first, then you ask. A trade, not a favor.
Find your trade. Every card has: partners and why they see your jobs first, one play only your trade can run, and what to type in the group search bar (search for the SYMPTOM, the way a homeowner writes it, not the service). Find your trade below and tap it to open it. The most common trades have a full card, and at the end there is a box with ALL the rest. More than 30 trades: yours is there.
🧤 Insulation
Partners: HVAC (they live in attics and get blamed for rooms your insulation would fix), roofers (they see soaked insulation from above), pest control (rodents wreck it), remodelers (open walls close in days).
Special play: sign up free with your electric and gas utility's Trade Ally network. The utility lists you and, at the top tier, sends you ITS customers. No other trade has a public agency recruiting customers for it. Note: the federal insulation tax credit ended in December 2025. Do not advertise it for 2026 jobs.
🎨 Painting
Partners: real estate agents (every house for sale needs paint before the photos), property managers and HOAs (repaints on a cycle), floor installers (same empty house), drywall and handyman (their repair needs your paint).
Special play: the pre-listing walk. Painting is the only trade that fits completely between the house emptying out and going on the market. Walk every new listing for free for 20 minutes: you note what to paint for the photos and what to skip. The agent keeps the list, and you just quoted standing inside.
🚧 Fencing
Partners: pool builders (a new pool is required by law to have a 4 foot barrier, and they do not build fences), landscapers, deck builders, home builders.
Special play: the pool permit list. Permits are public, and every new one is a fence required by law 60 to 120 days later. Pull it every month and use it to get in with the POOL BUILDERS. Never quote a fence without walking the line: boundary fights ruin fence companies.
❄️ HVAC
Partners: insulation ("it runs all day and never cools" with good equipment is their job, and you keep the customer), electricians (mini splits need panel work), plumbers, inspectors (every report lists the age of the system).
Special play: the nameplate sticker. Your equipment has the factory date stamped on it. On every service call: read the plate, stick on a label with the install year and the likely replacement year, say it ONE time, and put it in your follow up. You are booking a $6,000 to $12,000 job years ahead, for free. Say the year and stop talking.
🔧 Plumbing
Partners: water damage restoration (you get to the broken pipe first, they get the flood: the most even trade there is), bathroom and kitchen remodelers, HVAC, agents and inspectors.
Special play: the drain camera for agents. If you have a drain camera, nobody else sees inside the line. Free or cheap check on listed houses built before 1980, with the result in writing. Many old lines come back needing five figure work, paid out of the sale. If you do not have a camera, use the water heater sticker instead: write down the install year and tell the owner when it is due. Give away two checks. If the agent sends you nothing, the third one is billed.
⚡ Electrical
Partners: HVAC (mini splits and panels: the classic partnership), solar and EV charger installers, plumbers, remodelers.
Special play: the inspection report quote. Inspectors publish a PDF with electrical defects and photos, in the hands of a buyer with a closing date. Offer 5 inspectors this: a written quote within 24 hours from the PDF. Firm price on the small stuff. The panel gets "starting at this much, pending a 15 minute look".
🌱 Landscaping
Partners: fence builders (the fence goes in and the yard is torn up), irrigation, tree trimming (they leave stumps and dead grass), agents (curb appeal before the photos).
Special play: the star on your own route. You are the only trade parked on the same street every week. Every finished lawn: card to the left, to the right and the three across: "We already take care of your neighbor's yard. We come every Tuesday". Customers on streets you already drive are almost pure profit.
🌳 Tree service
Partners: landscapers (they refer you everything high up), roofers (branches over the roof), fence builders (the tree comes out before the fence goes in), real estate agents (a dangerous tree stops a sale).
Special play: after the storm, the same afternoon: the 10 doors with fallen branches, and the photo of the fallen tree in your town groups.
🧽 House cleaning
Partners: agents (move out, listing and move in: three paid cleanings in one sale), property managers and Airbnb (turnovers forever), carpet and window cleaners (same customer, zero overlap), post construction.
Special play: the closing gift. The agent gives their buyer a move in cleaning and buys it from you at normal price (that is what the law asks, chapter 9). You are the only trade where the first cleaning opens a long account: 1 out of 3 becomes an every-other-week customer who stays for years. If you want, the first one can be your gift to the buyer, never to the agent.
🗑️ Junk removal
Partners: property managers and landlords (every tenant move out leaves stuff to haul: repeat volume), real estate agents and estate sales (whole houses with a date), moving companies (whatever the customer leaves, somebody hauls), contractors and remodelers (debris after demo), cleaners (hoarder houses: they clean, you haul).
Special play: investors and flippers. Every house they buy needs a full cleanout, in a hurry, and they buy several a year. Three active investors fill your month. Live in the "[town] Real Estate Investors" groups and answer fast: for them speed is worth more than price.
🏠 Roofing
Partners: gutters (they are on every roof looking at your shingles), solar companies (they cannot put 25 year panels on a 15 year roof: they HAVE to refer), agents and inspectors (the roof is the #1 killer of sales), insulation.
Special play: the pre-listing roof letter. Yours is the only product with remaining life that insurers and banks sometimes ask for in writing. Free inspection on listed houses plus a signed one page letter. Many letters turn into repairs paid out of the sale. Never promise "insurance will cover it": in several states, negotiating the claim for the owner is illegal.
👷 General contractor
Partners: your own trusted subs (you hand out work all week: every sub owes you referrals), agents and inspectors (every inspection report is a remodel list), architects and designers, investors and flippers.
Special play: collect on your network in referrals. Ask EVERY sub you use for one introduction a year to one of their customers. You are the center of the trade swap in this chapter. Use it.
🛠️ Remodeling
Partners: real estate agents (remodel before selling and after buying), interior designers, plumbers and electricians (they hear about the new bathroom dream first), kitchen and bath showrooms.
Special play: the "before you sell" package: surface level bath and kitchen on a FIXED DATE, sold through agents. The agent gets a higher sale price, you get volume with a date on it.
🛣️ Paving and asphalt
Partners: HOAs and property managers (parking lots and private roads on a fixed cycle), builders, landscapers, concrete (they hand off work when the material is not theirs).
Special play: the yearly sealcoat contract per community. Knock on the HOA manager's door with a calendar and a price per square foot: one signature, repeat work for years.
🏗️ Home builders
Partners: land agents, construction lenders, architects, and every sub on your job.
Special play: the jobsite is your showroom for 6 months. Big sign with your name from day one and one progress photo a week in the local groups. People buy from the builder they WATCHED build.
🧱 Concrete
Partners: fence builders (posts and slabs), landscapers and hardscape, decks and pools, general contractors.
Special play: the slab leads to the whole yard. On every driveway or sidewalk, leave the patio or the fire pit quoted before you go: the customer already watched you work and the crew is already there.
🪵 Flooring
Partners: painters (same empty house, days apart), remodelers, agents (floors before the photos), cleaners (after your install).
Special play: the painter and floor guy pair. Sell yourselves to agents together as "house ready in one week": two trades, one call, one date.
🐜 Pest control
Partners: insulation (rodents destroy insulation: you get in first and refer the replacement), roofers (roof entry points), landscapers (colonies in the yard), property managers.
Special play: the monthly contract with property managers. Dozens of units on fixed monthly service: one signature, recurring income for years. It is the trade with the most repeatable revenue on this whole list.
🪟 Windows and doors
Partners: painters (they paint frames and see rotted windows), remodelers, insulation and energy auditors, agents (inspections flag sealed or broken windows).
Special play: the power bill as your salesman. Ask for the summer bill and show the estimated savings with new windows. It sells with numbers, not with fear.
☀️ Solar
Partners: roofers (nobody puts 25 year panels on a 15 year roof: the referral goes both ways, REQUIRED), electricians (panels and chargers), HVAC (home electrification).
Special play: the roof plus panels combo with your roofer partner: one visit, one joint quote, one loan. The customer avoids two separate sales pitches and you two split a big job.
🪑 Decks and patios
Partners: fence builders (same yard, same budget), landscapers, concrete, pool builders.
Special play: the whole yard drawing. Every deck you quote comes with a simple drawing of the finished yard, with your partners' fence and landscaping in it. You close the deck, the rest gets split, and they send it back to you.
🔨 Handyman
Partners: agents and property managers (the punch list from every inspection is your menu), cleaners (they see what is broken before anybody), and ALL the big trades: you send them the big stuff, they hand you the small stuff.
Special play: the inspection list as a package. "Everything flagged, in one visit, fixed price." The big trades do not want those jobs. Take all of them.
🧰 Trade not listed? Open this: ALL the rest are here
Partners: agents and inspectors (the door shows up in every inspection), handyman, builders. Play: a broken spring is pure emergency: answer in minutes and win. Search: "garage door repair" · "spring broke" · "puerta de cochera"
Partners: real estate agents, property managers, parts stores (the counter refers), plumbers (washers and dishwashers). Play: the landlord contract: a flat rate per visit for all their units. Search: "appliance repair" · "washer not working" · "refrigerador no enfría"
Partners: agents (rekeying at every closing: it is routine), property managers (tenant move outs), auto shops. Play: the "closing" package: full rekey at a fixed price, sold through agents. Search: "locksmith" · "locked out" · "cerrajero"
Partners: pool builders (you maintain what they deliver), agents (a green pool kills sales), landscapers. Play: the route by neighborhood: 10 pools on the same streets = almost no gas; use the landscaper's star play. Search: "pool service" · "green pool" · "alberca verde"
Partners: roofers (same ladder, same customer: the natural pair), pressure washing, landscapers. Play: the combo with the roofer: every new roof comes with gutters quoted, and you send back every rotted gutter that gives away an old roof. Search: "gutter cleaning" · "gutters overflowing" · "canaletas"
Partners: painters (washing before painting is required: get them to hand it over), gutters, agents (curb appeal before photos). Play: before and after is king in video: a dirty sidewalk getting clean shares itself in the groups. Search: "pressure washing" · "driveway cleaning" · "lavado a presión"
Partners: house cleaners (they do not carry a machine: they hand you all of it), property managers (every move out), flooring (you clean what they do not replace). Play: the move out package with property managers: carpet plus a flat rate per unit. Search: "carpet cleaning" · "pet stains" · "lavado de alfombra"
Partners: plumbers (the camera finds your work: the most direct handoff), inspectors (rural houses), restoration. Play: the pumping reminder: every tank gets pumped every 3 to 5 years; write down the date and the system reminds you: a customer for life. Search: "septic pumping" · "sewer backup" · "fosa séptica"
Partners: plumbers (they call you from the leak), roofers, insurance carriers through subcontract, cleaners. Play: be the phone number the plumber hands out in the emergency: show up in 1 hour, every time, and the plumber makes you his default answer. Search: "water damage" · "flooded" · "se inundó"
Partners: house cleaners, pressure washing, agents (listing photos). Play: the storefront commercial route: local businesses in a row pay a small monthly fee and give you daily presence on the street. Search: "window cleaning" · "hard water stains" · "lavado de ventanas"
Partners: painters (when paint is not enough any more, siding takes over, and the other way around), roofers (hail damages both), insurance carriers through restoration. Play: after every hail storm, the whole street has the same damage: the 10 door walk becomes a 40 door walk. Search: "siding repair" · "hail damage siding" · "fachada"
Partners: painters (cracked stucco gives away the repaint and the other way around), builders, windows (the sealing gets touched). Play: in Spanish speaking markets (CA, AZ, NV, TX, NM) almost all stucco is done by Spanish speakers: the Spanish groups are your home field. Search: "stucco repair" · "cracks in stucco" · "estuco"
Partners: agents (every closing is a move), junk removal (whatever they leave behind), cleaning (move out and move in: the perfect trio). Play: the closing trio with cleaning and junk removal: one "house ready" package sold through agents; three trades, one call. Search: "movers recommendation" · "moving help" · "mudanza"
Partners: inspectors (the finding that scares the buyer), agents (they need the letter that calms it down), plumbers (leaks under the slab). Play: the free written second opinion: half a page that says whether it is serious or cosmetic; the agent makes you their closing hero. Search: "foundation repair" · "cracks in wall" · "cimientos"
Partners: bath and kitchen remodelers (you are their finish), plumbers (showers), flooring. Play: photos sell this trade more than any other: a Google profile with 30 backsplash photos wins on its own. Search: "tile installer" · "shower remodel" · "azulejo"
Partners: general contractors (your main customer: use the permit play), remodelers, decks. Play: closets and built-ins are the residential door: small, great photos, and the customer shows you off in their group. Search: "carpenter" · "custom shelves" · "carpintero"
11 When you want to pay for customers
One day the free machine fills up and you may want to buy growth. Two honest paragraphs so nobody robs you.
The good option: the Google ads that charge per lead (Local Services Ads). You pay for a real call from a real homeowner, not for a click: about $39 per lead in electrical, $51 in HVAC, $57 in plumbing. In a study of 888 contractors, 44% of those leads book: that comes out to about $233 per paying customer, with an average ticket of $1,826. Note: Google requires a state license, $1 million in insurance and a background check, and it is moving this product into its big console right now. Before you get into it, ask us: setting the profile up right is what decides which leads you get charged for.
A new change, since October 1, 2026: Google announced that a missed call over 20 seconds, inside the hours you declared, can be billed to you as a lead in Local Services Ads. In other words: Google charges you for not answering. Your automatic missed call text answers in seconds, so this change hits you far less than it hits your competition.
12 Pay with presence, not with ads
You cannot outspend the big companies on Google. You can be the only [your trade] with your name on 30 kids' uniforms and in the church bulletin 52 weeks a year. Honest warning: this buys TRUST, not customers this month. Judge it by seasons. Most people quit on day 60, right before it starts working.
- The team shirt where your kid already plays. $100 to $500 per season, with your name on the backs of 30 kids.
- The outfield fence banner. $100 to $350 the first year, seen by the same parents 15 to 20 Saturdays in a row. Giant phone number, one service word.
- Show up. Twice a month in person, where you put your name. The logo alone does not sell.
- Measure once a YEAR. Every channel gets its own catch phrase ("mention the bulletin", "Tigers dad"), and whoever answers the phone asks "how did you hear about us?". Kill the worst, double the best.
More options, if you have time and money to spare
Chamber of commerce: $300 to $400 a year. One controlled study: 49% more favorable, 80% more likely to buy from you. But only if you SHOW UP there twice a month. Pay and never show up and you bought a $365 receipt.
BNI type groups: try before you pay. Real cost: $1,750 to $2,700 the first year PLUS one morning a week. It works for residential service; it fails for commercial and new construction. Visit 3 chapters free; if fewer than 8 members serve homeowners in your areas, walk away.
Shirts beat signs: about $400 put a contractor's name on the backs of 30 wrestlers in front of every parent at every meet. His math: a TV ad costs the same and leaves nothing behind.
Elementary and middle school beat high school: "For what you put in against what comes back, it's huge". And nobody hates the local middle school team.
Lend your shop: offer your shop for the league meetings and the draft. Zero dollars, and the whole league walks through your door.
13 Earn $97 a month for referring us
You know other business owners. That is worth real money every month. The Slate referral program pays $97 every month for every active customer you refer. Fixed, no cap, paid on the 1st, straight to your bank, for as long as the customer stays.
Do the math: refer 3 businesses and that is $291 a month coming back. Your system basically pays for itself. Refer 5 and you have money left over every month.
And chapter 10 just built you the perfect list: your partner trades. Ask us for your referral link.
14 The full weekly rhythm
The short version is in the 1 Page Plan above. This is the detailed one.
Every finished job (20 minutes)
- The review, explained: before you get in the truck, tell the customer IN PERSON: "I'm going to send you a quick text with the link to leave us a Google review. It helps me a lot". The system sends the link by itself. Your only job is to say it face to face, so the text does not land cold. An announced text gets answered. A surprise text gets ignored.
- Ask for ONE name: "Who else do you know who needs this same work?"
- Walk the 10 visible doors. Card at the closed ones, handwritten if you can.
- The sign stays 2 more weeks, with permission. Before and after photo taken.
- If a partner or a source sent it: the thank you text, today.
Every week (about 1 hour)
- Your best 3 or 4 Facebook groups, in the morning and at midday. Recommendation threads get answered within the hour.
- The announcement text to 10 more names from your list of 100.
- One before and after post in ONE group (rotate them).
Every month
- Your same morning at the supply house; once a month, buy the counter lunch.
- The permit list (or pool list, or inspection reports) for your trade.
- Send a real customer to a partner trade, and tell them.
You run the plays. The system catches what they drop.
The website convinces, the automatic text answers when you cannot, the reviews pile up, the follow up never forgets. And if this guide helps somebody you know with their own business, introduce us: we pay you $97 a month for every one who stays.
More Calls. More Reviews. More Jobs.
- Jobber 2026 Home Service Trends Report (1,050 owners, Dec 2025) and Recent Homebuyer Report (800 homeowners, May 2026), getjobber.com
- BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 (1,002 adults) and Consumer Search Behavior 2026 series (1,227 adults), brightlocal.com
- Roofing Contractor surveys 2025 and 2026 (with ROOFLE and myCLEARopinion), roofingcontractor.com
- CallRail, missed call survey (1,000 consumers, Sept 2025) · Invoca Buyer Conversion Report (60M+ calls, 2025) · MIT / InsideSales Lead Response Study (15,000+ leads)
- Housecall Pro Customer Service Report (1,040 homeowners, Oct 2025) · LocalIQ Home Services Benchmarks (3,211 campaigns) · SearchLight Digital, LSA benchmark (888 contractors, Feb 2026)
- Pew Research Center (5,022 adults, 2025) · Schmitt, Skiera and Van den Bulte, Journal of Marketing (~10,000 customers)
- Nextdoor: Q2 2026 investor reports, Home Maintenance Report (1,500 adults) and Neighborhood Faves rules · Meta commerce and spam policies · Buy Nothing Project rules
- Valve+Meter, Speed to Lead (466 companies, secret shopper) · CFPB (RESPA) · NAR · ASHI code of ethics · State adjuster rules
- Sherwin-Williams STIR (designers) · NetVendor and Lula (vendor compliance) · ACHR News (sponsorships) · Youth league rate sheets (Derby LL, Drexel Hill LL) · Schapiro Group study (2,000 adults) · BNI data (self-reported, and labeled that way) · Mike Holt forums
- Sign and flyer costs: A.G.E. Graphics, SignsDirect, DTD, PipelineOn, ThinkFlyers · USPS mailbox rule
- Sterling Sky, controlled Google profile tests (2025-2026) · Nextdoor, 2026 Fave Awards vote and self-promotion rules of August 19, 2026 · CFPB, RESPA (what counts as a settlement service) · Trade Ally programs at Puget Sound Energy, Consumers Energy and Focus on Energy (2026) · FCC/TCPA and carrier rules for A2P 10DLC (2025)
- Jobber 2026 (repeat customers 59%, answer within 1 hour 55% vs 20%) · BrightLocal 2026 (74% only read reviews from the last 3 months; 89% expect an owner reply) · Invoca 2026 (48% of calls unanswered, 70M calls) · Google review policy (no incentives)
- Real threads on r/sweatystartup, r/Contractor, r/smallbusiness, r/localseo, r/Thumbtack, ContractorTalk, Mike Holt, LawnSite and X (Aug 2026)
Made by Slate Systems, August 2026. Numbers we could not verify in their original source were left out on purpose, including several famous ones.