Conversations That Convert

Rick Storlie breaks down the website maintenance services checklist most builders skip after launch. THE PROBLEM: → Builders launch a beautiful site, then walk away→ Nobody tells you maintenance doesn’t stop at launch→ The site quietly loses visibility while you’re busy running jobs THE SPEED CHECKLIST: Sub-three-second mobile load time Page caching for near-instant loads CDN setup (Cloudflare) fo...

Rick Storlie explains why most builder websites are built for the wrong buyer. THE PROBLEM: → Websites are built for buyers ready to talk→ Only 3 in 10 visitors are at that stage→ The other 7 are still researching — and bouncing THE PARADE OF HOMES LESSON: Model homes drew dozens of visitors who weren’t ready to buy A plan book and plat book gave them a reason to engage Leads jumped from 2-3 a wee...

SCALE YOUR CONTRACTING BUSINESS & DOMINATE SALES Brandon Fuchs of the Elite Builder Society breaks down his system for business coaching for contractors. WHO HE COACHES: → Home service business owners→ Remodeling contractors (general-contractor style)→ One-on-one, not group programs THE DATA-DRIVEN SYSTEM: Record every single coaching call Mine problems, questions, and solutions Feed solutions...

Three builders reveal exactly how to grow a construction business, with real margins, real numbers, and no fluff. THE BUILDERS: → Kelly Anderson, Ironwood Custom Builders (Salt Lake City)→ Jason Radford, Radford Building Company (Durham, NC)→ John Van Laeugen, Joe's Carpentry (Ontario, Canada)→ Russ Stephens, Association of Professional Builders THE NUMBERS: $67,000/year from paid pre-construc...

STOP CHASING LEADS Rick Storlie and Eric Fortenberry (founder & CEO of JobTread) reveal how construction CRM software plus Render's LiDAR scanning tech turns a cold lead into a priced budget in under an hour. THE PROBLEM: → 10 hours per lead to build a scope and budget→ Close 5 of 10 leads? That's 50 hours gone→ A full work week wasted before a contract is signed THE ECOSYSTEM: Project...

Russ Stephens of the Association of Professional Builders breaks down this year's construction industry statistics with Rick. THE MARGIN NUMBERS: → Referral-heavy builders post lower margins, not because of the leads themselves→ Top performers reinvest 3-4% of revenue into marketing→ 25% gross margin needs roughly a 33.3% markup, with a 15% fixed expense ratio→ Owners should target 5% of reven...

Rick sits down with Muhammad Rohan, BLC's in-house search specialist, to break down generative engine optimization and why AI recommendations now matter as much as Google rankings. THE BIG SHIFT: → Top-of-funnel searches dropped 25% in 4 years→ 75% of AI Overview citations still come from top-12 organic results→ AI now narrows a homeowner's shortlist before they pick up the phone SEO vs AE...

THE 25% UPSELL: HOW OFFERING HOME IMPROVEMENT FINANCING DRIVES LARGER PROJECTS Larry Collins of HFS Home Improvement Loans joins Rick to explain why remodelers who offer financing to customers close bigger, more profitable jobs. THE CORE INSIGHT: → Homeowners spend about 25% more once they see an affordable monthly payment→ Almost no remodeler asks a lead if they're paying cash or financing→ T...

YOUR WEBSITE ISN'T DONE JUST BECAUSE IT'S LIVE Alexandre Godinho (A.G.), BLC's lead website developer for 3 years, walks through what actually goes into a construction website that keeps performing after launch, from first mockup to ongoing maintenance. SECURITY & BACKUPS: → Wordfence firewall on every build → SiteGround server-side blocking → Daily cloud backups, stored off-host →...

THE AI ADVANTAGE: COLLEGE CITY VS. THE COMPETITION Jeremy Hussey breaks down how AI in construction search is already sending remodelers real, high-intent leads. THE WAKE-UP MOMENT: → Jeremy's first AI-referred lead: "Wait, what? That's crazy" → Rick's data: ~70% of remodeling leads now touch AI search → Why an AI recommendation feels like a referral, not an ad HOW COLLEGE CI...

Rick and Dru break down how AI search engine optimization is reshaping the building industry. THE BIG SHIFT: → 1 person used to build your website→ Now it takes 4 specialists→ 75%+ of home buyers use zero-click AI search WHAT AI ENGINES ACTUALLY REWARD (EAT): Experience: show the proof, not the claim Expertise: teach, don't just tell Authoritativeness: what others say about you Trust: the resu...

MacArthur Homes grew online leads 30%, onsite visits 52%, and sales 24% using AI, an OSC, and smart automation. THE REAL NUMBERS: → 42 leads/month in 2025→ 60 leads/month in early 2026→ 70–80% of calls convert to qualified appointments→ ~100% show rate for calls and model home visits HOW THE AI + HUMAN STACK WORKS: AI chatbot engages and qualifies the lead Paige monitors and intervenes when the bo...

STOP CHASING. START SPECIALIZING. Jason Jewison of Personal Pride Porches & Decks shares how niching down from general remodeling to porch and deck specialist changed their leads, revenue, and operations in six months. THE NUMBERS: → Revenue up from $2.5M to projected $3M in one year → Average project size: $20K → $27K → Mix shift from 50/50 to 60/40 decks and porches in six months → Backlog n...

STOP CHASING SMALL TICKETS Michael Willson built Mr. Honey-do into a $2.5M handyman business in Lake Tahoe. Then realized the model was unsustainable. Here's how he rebuilt it around larger remodeling contracts. THE TURNING POINT: → Hundreds of invoices per year for $150–$2,000 jobs→ 15 employees, chaotic scheduling, shrinking margins→ Realized bigger wasn't better; profitable was better T...

BREAKING DOWN THE BUYER'S WALL: NEW HOME SALES FOR BUILDERS Roland Nairnsey (nearly four decades in new home sales, author of Mastery of Selling and Mastery of Negotiation) joins Rick Storlie to break down what's actually working right now. AI IN THE SALES PROCESS: → 20,000 leads in a single builder's CRM (mostly untouched)→ AI placed ~4,000 calls automatically→ 137 leads requested hum...

STOP BEING A QUOTE SHOP Ryan Groth from Sales Transformation Group reveals the complete sales training for contractors system that removes founders from sales and builds high-performing teams. THE BRUTAL STATS: → 50% of salespeople are weak→ 75% of sales managers untrained→ Only 7% are truly elite→ You're missing deals you don't know exist BASEBALL DIAMOND PROCESS: Home → 1st: Identify + s...

HIDDEN GEM TO MARKET LEADER IN 13 MONTHS S. Brown Construction: what social media for construction companies looks like when done right. $300K+ design-build remodeler, small market of 100K people. THE PROBLEM: → Built luxury but looked like $5K handyman online→ Zero link clicks month one→ Digital presence didn't match craftsmanship→ Invisible = replaceable 13-MONTH STRATEGY: Educational conten...

FROM 0 TO 1,400+ CLICKS IN 5 MONTHS Social media case study: Bathrooms of Charleston competing against cheap one-day bath companies in commoditized market. THE PROBLEM: → 92 posts = 0 link clicks→ Posting demolition and construction photos→ Selling pain instead of outcome→ Busy but not productive THE SOLUTION: ✓ Lifestyle videos (completed luxury bathrooms)✓ AI talking head videos (4x higher save...

CONTRACTOR COACHING SYSTEMS THAT SCALE Danny Kerr from Breakthrough Academy shares proven systems that helped 2,000+ construction companies grow successfully. THE SHIFT YOU MUST MAKE: → Solo contractor = manage projects→ Growing company = manage PEOPLE→ Completely different skillset required GSR: GOAL SETTING & REVIEW ✓ 30-minute weekly accountability meeting✓ Three components: numbers, strate...

Paid Estimates for Contractors with Marti Amos Marti reveals paid estimates for contractors strategy: charge $500-$5K upfront instead of free quoting. PAID ESTIMATES RESULTS: Leon (Melbourne): 7 out of 7 deals signed Started $1,500 → raised $3K Hayden (Wellington): 7 months no work 60 days → $4.1M landed Paid for every estimate WHAT TO CHARGE: $500-$5K action plans $8-25K feasibility studies GOLDE...

Construction Accounting: Clean Books with Erin Andrews Erin reveals how construction accounting transforms messy books into confident decisions. GREAT AUNT BERTHA PROBLEM: → Builders short-cut on bookkeeping→ Friend's mom does it→ Doesn't know construction accounting Results: - Overpay/underpay tax- Can't get loans- Can't project cash flow- Don't know overhead DIAGNOSTIC: - Cur...

Realtor Referrals: $600K+ Pipeline with Brandon Williams Brandon reveals how to build a realtor referral pipeline generating $600K-$800K annually while spending under $500/year. THE NUMBERS: Revenue: $1.2M (2025) From Realtors: $600-800K (50%) Marketing: <$500/year One agent: $400K alone THREE STRATEGIES: #1 Walk & Talk ($150) 1-hour home inspection without report Identify issues before for...

Profitable Construction Business: 3 Habits with Paul Atherton Paul Atherton reveals what separates highly profitable builders from everyone else. HABIT #1: GP PER WEEK METRIC Gross Profit Per Week = Forecasted GP ÷ Weeks of Billing Start: $4,000/week 50% done: Drops to $3,200/week Impact: Net profit 10% → 2% Leading indicator = course correction possible Team bonused on crushing this number HABIT...

Contractor Coaching: Mindset & Pricing with Brad Huebner from Hammer & Grind Brad reveals the ego suppression, pricing breakthroughs, and stress tests that transform craftsmen into business owners. THE MINDSET TRAP: Brad's realization: "Other companies doing what I do are having success. So it's not the business model or demographics. I'm doing something wrong." Peopl...

Virtual Assistant for Contractors: Chris Fox's $75K Transformation Chris Fox (Fox Construction) reveals how he replaced a $75K office manager with 4 specialized virtual assistants while increasing professionalism dramatically. THE TRANSFORMATION: $75K office manager → 4 VAs in same budget: - Controller - Office manager - Bookkeeper ($1,800/month agency) - Marketing ($475/month, 20 hrs/week) PR...