What does the perfect marketing team actually look like for a $5M home service company trying to reach $10M?

John Wilson and Jack Carr go head-to-head to build a marketing department from scratch, with Sam Preston judging every decision.

They start with the exact same $5M appliance repair business, zero internal marketing employees, and a $400K payroll budget. Across five rounds, they have to decide who to hire first, what to keep outsourced, when to bring marketing in-house, and what gets cut when the budget tightens.

Along the way, they break down lifecycle marketing, lead generation, PPC, SEO, content, branding, business development, multi-location growth, and why the marketing team that gets you to $5M may not be the one that gets you to $10M.

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In This Episode
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• The first marketing hire John and Jack would make at $5M
• Marketing coordinator vs. lifecycle marketer
• Using your existing customer database to drive more revenue
• How the marketing team changes from $5M to $10M
• When growth requires expanding into new markets
• What should stay outsourced at $7M
• Why PPC, LSA, and SEO may belong with an agency

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Sponsors
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Avoca

See how Avoca helps home service companies book more jobs with AI that handles calls, texts, follow ups, and dispatching without adding more chaos. Book a demo: https://www.avoca.ai/partners/oao

Quick Staffers

Hire trained HVAC and plumbing CSRs without the overhead of traditional hiring. Save $500 on your first placement with Quick Staffers: https://www.quickstaffers.com/

Big Reputation

Get more from your Google Business Profile with Big Reputation. Automate reviews, improve local visibility, and turn more Google searches into inbound calls. Learn more: https://www.bigreputation.ai/oao?utm_source=oao&utm_medium=paid

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Connect
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John Wilson
https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnbwilson1/

Jack Carr
https://x.com/thehvacjack

Sam Preston
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-preston-a682103b6/

Send Us Mail!

More Ways To Connect with OAO

• Start Here
• Owned and Operated Newsletter
• Bonus Videos From John

Leave a Review

John Wilson, CEO of Wilson Companies
Jack Carr, CEO of Rapid HVAC

📌 Disclaimer: Some links may include UTM parameters or affiliate relationships, meaning we may earn a commission if you make a purchase. Episodes may feature sponsors, but all opinions expressed are our own.

Most home service companies think they need more leads. But as you approach $5M, the real problems are often attribution, capacity, booking rates, sales, and fulfillment.

Jack Carr and Sam Preston break down where home service marketing starts to break as a company grows, why cost per lead can be misleading, and how to track marketing all the way to actual revenue.

They also cover Google Ads and Performance Max, AI search, review velocity, and why the next era of home service marketing could extend well beyond Google.

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In This Episode
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• What breaks in marketing around $5M
• Tracking leads all the way to revenue
• Why cost per lead can be misleading
• Using phone numbers and campaigns for attribution
• Matching marketing spend to technician capacity
• Why booking rate is one of the biggest missed opportunities
• When a “lead problem” is actually a sales problem

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Sponsors
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Big Reputation

Get more from your Google Business Profile with Big Reputation. Automate reviews, improve local visibility, and turn more Google searches into inbound calls. Learn more: https://www.bigreputation.ai/oao?utm_source=oao&utm_medium=paid

Service Scalers

Get more high quality leads with marketing built for home service companies. Book a free strategy call with Service Scalers and see what's driving real jobs: https://os.servicescalers.com/go/oao_podcast/referral/podcast

Avoca

See how Avoca helps home service companies book more jobs with AI that handles calls, texts, follow ups, and dispatching without adding more chaos.
Book a demo: https://www.avoca.ai/partners/oao

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Connect
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Jack Carr
https://x.com/thehvacjack

Sam Preston

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-preston-a682103b6/

Send Us Mail!

More Ways To Connect with OAO

• Start Here
• Owned and Operated Newsletter
• Bonus Videos From John

Leave a Review

John Wilson, CEO of Wilson Companies
Jack Carr, CEO of Rapid HVAC

📌 Disclaimer: Some links may include UTM parameters or affiliate relationships, meaning we may earn a commission if you make a purchase. Episodes may feature sponsors, but all opinions expressed are our own.

AI search is changing how homeowners find HVAC, plumbing, and home service companies.

John Wilson sits down with Julie Phan of Big Reputation to break down how ChatGPT and other AI platforms decide which contractors to recommend and what home service owners can do to show up more often.

They cover why your Google Business Profile, reviews, website, service pages, local listings, and overall digital footprint are becoming increasingly important as search moves beyond Google.

John and Julie also walk through how AI evaluates things like location, service type, reputation, availability, and customer feedback, plus how operators can test their own AI visibility and start building an advantage before the space gets more competitive.

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In This Episode
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• How AI search is changing home services
• How ChatGPT chooses which contractors to recommend
• Why reviews matter for AI visibility
• Google Business Profile and AI search
• Building a stronger digital footprint
• Service and location pages that give AI more context
• How to track your visibility in AI search
• Why smaller contractors may have an advantage
• How to start optimizing for AI search today

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Sponsors
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Profit & Grit

Running a $3M–$15M home service business? Profit & Grit helps contractors improve cash flow, pricing, forecasting, and profitability with guidance from an operator who's built and sold a $25M service business. Book your free 20-minute strategy call: https://www.profitandgrit.com

Catalyst | May 3–5 | Akron, Ohio

100+ home service owners and operators. Three days of tactical sessions, real conversations, and learning from great operators.

Grab your seat: https://www.ownedandoperated.com/catalyst

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Connect
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John Wilson
https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnbwilson1/

Julie Phan/Big Reputation

https://www.bigreputation.ai/

Send Us Mail!

More Ways To Connect with OAO

• Start Here
• Owned and Operated Newsletter
• Bonus Videos From John

Leave a Review

John Wilson, CEO of Wilson Companies
Jack Carr, CEO of Rapid HVAC

📌 Disclaimer: Some links may include UTM parameters or affiliate relationships, meaning we may earn a commission if you make a purchase. Episodes may feature sponsors, but all opinions expressed are our own.

What’s working in home service marketing in 2026?

John Wilson and Sam Preston break down Meta Ads, Google Ads, LSAs, speed to lead, call centers, and how contractors can find their next growth channel.

They cover why marketing channels eventually level off, the rise of Meta Ads, Google’s shift toward AI and Performance Max, and why your call center is a critical part of your marketing engine.

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IN THIS EPISODE
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• What’s working in home service marketing in 2026
• Why marketing channels eventually level off
• Meta Ads for HVAC, plumbing, and home services
• Why speed to lead matters
• Turning low-intent leads into booked jobs
• Why your call center is part of marketing
• Google Ads, LSA, and Performance Max
• Testing new marketing channels faster
• Growing through new markets and services
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SPONSOR
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Catalyst | May 3–5 | Akron, Ohio

100+ home service owners and operators. Three days of tactical sessions, real conversations, and learning from great operators.

Grab your seat: https://www.ownedandoperated.com/catalyst

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CONNECT
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John Wilson
https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnbwilson1/

Sam Preston
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-preston-a682103b6/

Send Us Mail!

More Ways To Connect with OAO

• Start Here
• Owned and Operated Newsletter
• Bonus Videos From John

Leave a Review

John Wilson, CEO of Wilson Companies
Jack Carr, CEO of Rapid HVAC

📌 Disclaimer: Some links may include UTM parameters or affiliate relationships, meaning we may earn a commission if you make a purchase. Episodes may feature sponsors, but all opinions expressed are our own.

John Wilson sits down with Julie Phan, founder of Big Reputation, to break down how home service companies can use Google Business Profiles to expand into new markets.

They cover how to choose the right location, how many reviews you need before expanding, Google's verification process, and how to build authority on a new GBP without weakening your existing locations.

John also shares how The Wilson Companies has used GBPs through acquisitions and organic expansion, including a $10,000 acquisition that may have generated roughly $1 million in revenue.

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In This Episode
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• When to open another Google Business Profile
• How to choose your next market
• Building reviews and authority
• Google's GBP verification requirements
• Buying existing GBPs through acquisitions
• Google Business Profiles and AI search
• Why more locations don't automatically mean more leads

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Sponsors
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FieldPulse

Ready to ditch the whiteboard and spreadsheets? See how FieldPulse helps home service companies simplify scheduling, dispatching, invoicing, and more.
Book a free demo: https://landing.fieldpulse.com/owned_and_operated

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Connect
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

John Wilson
https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnbwilson1/

Julie Phan/Big Reputation

https://www.bigreputation.ai/

Send Us Mail!

More Ways To Connect with OAO

• Start Here
• Owned and Operated Newsletter
• Bonus Videos From John

Leave a Review

John Wilson, CEO of Wilson Companies
Jack Carr, CEO of Rapid HVAC

📌 Disclaimer: Some links may include UTM parameters or affiliate relationships, meaning we may earn a commission if you make a purchase. Episodes may feature sponsors, but all opinions expressed are our own.

John Wilson has spent the last decade growing a home service company from $1M to $53M in revenue.

On Owned and Operated, John breaks down what it actually takes to build and scale a home service business, including hiring, sales, marketing, operations, acquisitions, pricing, and everything in between.

Real operators. Real numbers. Real problems being solved in real time.

If you own a plumbing, HVAC, electrical, or other home service business and want to build something great, this show is for you.

New episodes twice a week.

Find Owned and Operated:

https://www.youtube.com/@JohnWilsonOAO

https://www.ownedandoperated.com/

Send Us Mail!

More Ways To Connect with OAO

• Start Here
• Owned and Operated Newsletter
• Bonus Videos From John

Leave a Review

John Wilson, CEO of Wilson Companies
Jack Carr, CEO of Rapid HVAC

📌 Disclaimer: Some links may include UTM parameters or affiliate relationships, meaning we may earn a commission if you make a purchase. Episodes may feature sponsors, but all opinions expressed are our own.

The SBA rules for buying a business are changing in 2026. Here’s what buyers and home service operators need to know.

Jack Carr sits down with Alan Peterson from First Internet Bank to break down the latest SBA 7(a) changes, including how buyers can finance up to 90% of an acquisition, new equity requirements, seller financing, and changes affecting minority investors.

They also cover how sellers can stay involved for up to 24 months after closing, strategies for navigating licensing when buying HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and other skilled trades businesses, and new Quality of Earnings requirements for larger acquisitions.

Plus, Alan explains one of the biggest opportunities for existing business owners: using SBA expansion financing to acquire another company with potentially 0% down when the deal qualifies.

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Inside This Episode
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• Buying a business with an SBA 7(a) loan
• Financing up to 90% of an acquisition
• New 2026 SBA equity requirements
• Seller financing and transition rules
• Licensing strategies for home service acquisitions
• Quality of Earnings and business valuations
• SBA expansion loans and potential 0% down acquisitions
• What buyers should know before making an offer
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Sponsors
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Avoca

See how Avoca helps home service companies book more jobs with AI that handles calls, texts, follow ups, and dispatching without adding more chaos.
Book a demo: https://www.avoca.ai/partners/oao

FieldPulse

Ready to ditch the whiteboard and spreadsheets? See how FieldPulse helps home service companies simplify scheduling, dispatching, invoicing, and more.
Book a free demo: https://landing.fieldpulse.com/owned_and_operated

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Connect
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Jack Carr
https://x.com/thehvacjack

Alan Peterson
https://alanfib.com/

Owned and Operated
https://www.ownedandoperated.com/

Send Us Mail!

More Ways To Connect with OAO

• Start Here
• Owned and Operated Newsletter
• Bonus Videos From John

Leave a Review

John Wilson, CEO of Wilson Companies
Jack Carr, CEO of Rapid HVAC

📌 Disclaimer: Some links may include UTM parameters or affiliate relationships, meaning we may earn a commission if you make a purchase. Episodes may feature sponsors, but all opinions expressed are our own.

What is EBITDA, and why does it matter so much when building, financing, or selling a home service business?

John Wilson and Jack Carr break down EBITDA in simple terms, including how it differs from net income and SDE, what a healthy EBITDA margin looks like, and why buyers, banks, and lenders pay so much attention to it.

They also explain how EBITDA impacts business valuation, why maximizing profit doesn't always maximize company value, and the other financial metrics buyers look at during an acquisition.

Plus, John shares the 50/30/20 framework used at Wilson: 50% gross margin, 30% SG&A, and 20% EBITDA.

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In This Episode
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
• What EBITDA means and why it matters
• EBITDA vs. net income and SDE
• Healthy EBITDA margins for home service businesses
• How EBITDA impacts business valuation
• Using strong financials to access capital
• Why higher EBITDA doesn't always mean a better business
• The 50/30/20 framework

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Sponsors
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Quick Staffers

Hire trained HVAC and plumbing CSRs without the overhead of traditional hiring. Save $500 on your first placement with Quick Staffers:
https://www.quickstaffers.com/

Service Scalers

Get more high quality leads with marketing built for home service companies. Book a free strategy call with Service Scalers and see what's driving real jobs: https://os.servicescalers.com/go/oao_podcast/referral/podcast

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Connect
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
John Wilson
https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnbwilson1/

Jack Carr
https://x.com/thehvacjack

Send Us Mail!

More Ways To Connect with OAO

• Start Here
• Owned and Operated Newsletter
• Bonus Videos From John

Leave a Review

John Wilson, CEO of Wilson Companies
Jack Carr, CEO of Rapid HVAC

📌 Disclaimer: Some links may include UTM parameters or affiliate relationships, meaning we may earn a commission if you make a purchase. Episodes may feature sponsors, but all opinions expressed are our own.