Contractor Training • Spring 2026
Two industry experts reveal the exact playbook for generating qualified leads through Google, dominating local search, and preparing your business for the AI-driven buying shift that's already underway.
Your Guides
CEO, By Media
Eric built By Media from a team of 22-year-olds into a 10-year digital marketing agency that drives over 90% of revenue for its own portfolio companies — including West County Insulation and St. Louis Demolition. He specializes in home services and knows exactly what works (and what wastes money) for foundation repair contractors on Google.
Also joining: Thomas Ross, a 20-year sales development veteran and AEO strategist at Velocity Sales Solutions. Thomas shows how AI is reshaping how buyers find contractors — and how to position your business as the answer before your competitors catch on.
What Changes for You
Whether you're spending $5,000 or $50,000 a month on marketing, these strategies will help you get more qualified leads for every dollar you invest.
You'll know exactly how to set up your Google Business Profile, directories, and tracking — so every marketing dollar you spend is measurable and you know where your leads actually come from.
You'll understand Local Service Ads, search ads, and smart bidding — the exact playbook that took GeoBear from startup to scaling across Southern California on just $5,000/month in ad spend.
67% of Google users now choose AI mode. You'll learn Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) — how to make your business the answer when buyers ask ChatGPT or Google Gemini for a contractor in your area.
You'll know how to shoot, edit, and distribute short-form video content on Meta and YouTube — at a penny per view — so homeowners in your market recognize your name before they ever need you.
Inside the Session
Session Walkthrough
Two expert sessions back-to-back: Eric Brown on mastering Google and digital lead gen today, then Thomas Ross on preparing for the AI-driven buyer shift coming tomorrow.
Gene shares his raw experience hiring and firing three marketing agencies before finding one that actually delivered. You'll hear the hard truth about what separates agencies that produce results from those that just produce excuses.
Eric lays out the $2.2B opportunity and the five mistakes that drain your marketing budget: relying on word of mouth alone, throwing money at ads without a foundation, having no clear strategy, not tracking lead sources, and waiting for slow season to think about marketing.
Your Google Business Profile is now more important than your website. Eric shows you how to claim, verify, and optimize it — including why map consistency across all directories is the key to actually showing up when someone searches for a foundation repair company near them.
Eric lays out the exact sequence: directories first, then Google Business Profile, then tracking, then reviews, then paid ads. You'll learn why $50 per review pays for itself, how to coach reviews that include service keywords and locality, and how short-form video on Meta gets you 100,000 views for just $1,000.
Your website needs a phone number in the top right, a sticky header with click-to-call, and a call to action above the fold. Then Eric walks through Local Service Ads (you can set these up yourself) and Google Search Ads (you need a specialist) — including why broad match is burning your budget and how smart bidding lowers your cost per acquisition once you hit 15-20 conversions per month.
Gene and Eric show you the math: $5,000/month turned into 70 leads and 50 opportunities for GeoBear. You'll learn how to read auction insights, understand when you've maxed out your search volume, and what to look for when vetting a marketing agency — they should show you active client cost-per-acquisition numbers in your industry, or walk away.
Thomas Ross takes the stage to explain Answer Engine Optimization. AI doesn't give you 18 pages of blue links — it gives you one answer. If your business is that answer, buyers don't look for alternatives. You'll learn why AI search creates a fundamentally different kind of lead — fewer leads, but dramatically higher close rates.
Three pillars: AI search visibility, Answer Engine Optimization, and agentic AI activation. Thomas walks through how to create agentic pages on your website that AI can read in milliseconds, how to build authority through Reddit and forum discussions (AI's second-favorite data source), and how to set up AI agents that qualify leads and route them to your phone 24/7.
AI is where SEO was 15 years ago — cheap, uncrowded, and ready for early movers. Thomas shows data from 18 active clients proving the results, then issues a challenge: write down 5 questions your customers ask, type them into ChatGPT, and see if your business comes up. That exercise alone will show you exactly where your gaps are — and where the opportunity is right now.
The Future of Lead Generation
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