If you’ve ever had lunch with Dr. Clint Muench, you’ll quickly notice he can’t go anywhere in Minneapolis without running into happy patients. That’s what happens when you’ve helped thousands of people get back on their feet — literally. During our recent visit with Dr. Muench, a leading orthopedic surgeon in the Twin Cities, two of his former patients stopped …
Ethan Van De Hey on Humanizing Marketing: Why Being Local and Genuine Beats Any Ad
Doing Marketing Like a Human I first met Ethan Van De Hey a few years ago when guest lecturing at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire. Even back then, his energy stood out. While most students were focused on class projects, Ethan was already helping real businesses grow through social media and lead generation. Fast forward to today, and he’s the …
Why Storytelling and Lead Tracking Are the Ultimate Power Combo
If you can’t trace your revenue back to the lead source, you’re flying blind. The best marketers and the most successful businesses know exactly which campaigns drive results. They understand that marketing is about knowing which leads turn into paying customers, and how to repeat that success. 1. Know Where Every Lead Comes From Before you scale your marketing, you …
Most Home Service Companies Are Failing at the Easiest Part of Marketing — Answering the Phone
Quick Summary: Answer the Phone and Win More Business Most home-service companies are losing leads and revenue simply by not answering their phones even when they’re spending money to make them ring. The Test: What We Found in Bloomington We ran a phone audit on many lawn care and home service companies in Bloomington, Indiana as a way to explore what …
Why We Must Publish Our Work, Even When It Feels Too Basic
When I see teams debating over the right call tracking number or sharing tips in Basecamp threads that never see the light of day, I’m reminded of a simple truth: if it isn’t published, it doesn’t exist. Documentation is about making decisions visible so the next person doesn’t waste time relearning what we already solved. The Ad Astra Softwash Lesson Recently …
The Best Content Strategy For Home Services — Marketing Mechanic Episode 10
The content strategy that generates calls for home service businesses. Stop creating content nobody asked for and start using the Content Factory: Produce, Process, Post, Promote.
Celebrating 35 Years of Friendship with Dr. Alex Sheftel: Lessons on Relationships and Innovation
Celebrating a 35-Year Friendship with Dr. Alex Sheftel When was the last time you reconnected with someone you’ve known since high school? In a recent episode of the Coach Yu Show, I sat down with my longtime friend Dr. Alex Sheftel. We’ve been friends for more than three decades, and our conversation reminded me why long‑term relationships are powerful. Alex …
Honoring Dan Leibrandt: Launching ‘The Complete Guide to Pest Control SEO’
I’ve had the privilege of watching Dan Leibrandt rise to the top of the pest‑control world. As the founder of Pest Control SEO he’s been relentless in helping exterminators dominate local search, and his new book, The Complete Guide to Pest Control SEO, captures everything he’s learned. The video above is Dan introducing his book – it’s the highlight of …
Why SEO Is Dead: A Search‑Engine Engineer’s Blueprint for Real Rankings
If you still think SEO is some magical potion you can sprinkle on your website, it’s time to wake up. In this video, Dennis Yu – the search‑engine engineer who built analytics at a search engine over 20 years ago – calls out the nonsense. He explains why search engines care about real‑world signals like who you are, what you’ve …
The 4 AIs Every HVAC Company Should Be Using in 2026
(Watch the full strategy session with Dennis Yu and Marko Sipila below.) Artificial intelligence has become the latest buzzword in home services. Everyone’s talking about “AI for contractors,” but most of that talk is just noise — flashy software demos with little real-world impact. So, in a recent 20-minute deep dive, Marko Sipila (founder of HVACQuote.ai) and I broke down …
Honoring Shep Hyken: Repurposing Content with the Four-Stage Content Factory
All of this work that could have been done by a human agent can now be done by an AI assistant. That assistant can be managed by an AI apprentice — learn more about the AI HighRise Influence program. This article connects to BlitzMetrics processes including Content Factory, SEO Tree. Each of these concepts has a definitive article that explains …
Why AI SEO Does Not Exist for Local Service Businesses — Marketing Mechanic Episode 9
AI SEO does not exist as a separate discipline. ChatGPT and other AI tools pull from the same data Google uses. Build your entity, create real content, and you will show up everywhere — no special AI optimization needed.