The Level 10 Contractor Daily Podcast

Today's podcast is an interview with Grant Mazmanian from The Pinnacle Group–that's the company that handles hiring for Energy Swing Windows. So let me say this: I know hiring might sound like kind of a boring topic–but TRUST ME… this is a really important episode for you to listen to. This guy Grant has got hiring for remodeling companies down to an absolute SCIENCE, and you are going to believe me after hearing this.

In this episode, you'll hear Rich talk about what platitudes are… why they're so pervasive…  when they're appropriate to use--yes, they are appropriate to use sometimes!... and then Rich is going to walk you through a methodology that he and his consultants use to write marketing with power, precision, and passion.

Today's podcast is an epic "Rich Rant" where he absolutely goes off on SEO companies who charge their clients money month after month after month… but don't even have a coherent plan of what they are actually doing to show their clients. I mean, it makes sense, right–how can you achieve a result if you don't even have a plan to get there? And Rich gives you an assignment–go to your SEO company after listening to this episode and demand that they Show You The Plan!

What do Shaquille O'Neal, Dell Computers, and a fancy pants private equity firm full of Harvard MBAs have to do with each other? Find out today, as Rich shares some fun stories about times when trying to get everyone on the same page and make everyone happy actually HURT productivity and ruined a good thing that they had going. If you want to keep your marketing from crashing and burning and turning into a pile of platitudinal garbage, pay close attention today!

It's Monday, and that means it's time for another installment in our "5 Ways to Monday" series. And as you can see in the title of this podcast, this is the first of a two part series–Part 2 will come out NEXT Monday. Today Rich is talking about managing your company–a topic he readily admits is not really his favorite part of business… but a necessary one, and one that he's got 30 years of experience with. So let's dive into today's 5, which includes something called "Cleaning up the brains" and so much more.

Welcome to another Sunday edition of the Level 10 Contractor Daily Podcast… and as you know, Sunday is the day we stop down to talk about personal development and spiritual topics… and In today's episode Rich challenges you to extend grace, patience, and compassion to the most difficult people in your life.

Every Saturday, we showcase a topic important to you by rounding up the greatest highlights and clips from Level 10 Contractor's ENTIRE podcast run. This week, we highlight pay-per-click advertising, including the dos and don'ts as well as why you should overcome your objection to it. If you're hunting for leads, you can't forego this opportunity.

Most contractors are rushing to grab AI tools without a plan — and they're about to automate mediocrity at scale. In this episode, Rich breaks down the three biggest AI mistakes contractors make and introduces a first-principles approach that starts with identity, not technology. Learn why who you are matters more than which tools you use — and how to build an AI foundation that actually works.

Rich cuts through the noise to deliver real-world sales strategies that actually work. No fluff, no theory — just battle-tested tactics to generate leads, close more deals, and grow your business to the next level.

Today's podcast is all about trash talking your competitors… but doing it without looking like a jerk. I mean, you can't just call out your competitors by name, and tell the world how much they suck…. can you? Rich has a solution for this… he's going to give you two different ways to accomplish this… It's not really about trash talking, it's about making sure your prospects and customers understand the difference between what they'll get from YOU vs. what they'll get if they choose to call somebody else.

Today's podcast is a recording of a call that Rich had with a company in the midwest who RIch had already spent two solid hours on the phone with, auditing their website and explaining in detail why their current website and SEO was terrible, and how Level 10 could help them do it much, much better. But even after two hours, they were… understandably… still skeptical. Their trust with web companies was non-existent, and they needed a real boost to get over the finish line.

If you have a brand ambassador, today's episode is for you! And if you don't–why the heck not? Today, Rich is going to talk about 5 ways to make your Brand Ambassador even MORE effective… get even MORE results… and therefore, be even MORE profitable.

Rich is going to open up about some experiences he had when he first started his company back in 1994 and 95· and essentially, he·s going to throw himself under the bus.

Every Saturday, we showcase a topic important to you by rounding up the greatest highlights and clips from Level 10 Contractor's ENTIRE podcast run. If you're a small business starting out or just want a marketing approach that doesn't break the bank, today's showcase is the episode for you. Today, we showcase guerrilla marketing tactics. These include non-traditional methods to get your name out on the streets and to creatively capture leads by putting in the hours instead of the capital.

Rich recently got a text message from one of Level 10's clients first thing in the morning, asking some questions about their Facebook Advertising campaign. After 5 minutes and a half a dozen texts back and forth, Rich asked if it would be okay to just have a quick phone call on the subject that could be recorded for the podcast; the client consented, and here we are! What Rich thought would be a 10 minute quick chat turned into something closer to 30 minutes–but the information is great and definitely worth your while. And there's a little bonus segment near the end about Rich's all-time favorite marketing tactic–the Big Bill!

On todays episode, Rich Talks identity and what it looks like when it·s actually fleshed out and put into a website in real life. It·s a webinar from 2014 that shows 25 different websites with their attendant identities!

Ah… creativity! Everyone wants to be creative, everyone values creativity…. But how exactly do you become, well, creative? That's the topic that Rich tackles on today's podcast. Rich is going to talk about three sources for ideas: Inspiration--getting ideas from nowhere. Induction: Getting ideas that are borne from other ideas… and third, what Rich calls "Mismatching, which is a way of generating so-called "out of the box" ideas. There is a TON of content in this episode… pay close attention.

Today's podcast is about upping your social media game… and to accomplish that, you have to focus on delivering interesting, relevant content to your followers. Rich is going to walk you step by step how to become "the social media mayor" of your town… by creating and curating hyper local content that you can then post on your Facebook account. Why hyper local? Because people in your town will appreciate you keeping them up to speed on what's happening right there locally. This is a really cool strategy--one that all Level 10 contractors should do.

Welcome to the podcast; it's Memorial Day, and I've got a great episode for you. Rich's grandfather served in World War 2 at the tender age of 16 years old. He's still alive today–he's 97–and he still won't talk about the war. Why? Well, listen to this podcast and find out–and let's remember those heroes today.

Welcome to another Sunday edition of the Level 10 Contractor Daily Podcast… and as you know, Sunday is the day we stop down to talk about personal development and spiritual topics… and today we are going with personal development. Rich is going to tell you the story of the unlikeliest hurdling specialist--yes, you heard me right, hurdling specialist--you know, a guy who jumps over hurdles on a track… who taught him a lesson about not only facing adversity head on… but actually going out of your way to search for adversity, grabbing it by the throat, and owning it. If that sounds a little strong, wait till you hear this story.

Every Saturday, we showcase a topic important to you by rounding up the greatest highlights and clips from Level 10 Contractor's ENTIRE podcast run. This week, we showcase videos and how to use them in your marketing. Videos are a fantastic way to deliver your message, whether it's sharing your company's identity and brand promise or educating your prospects and customers on an otherwise complicated process. You'll even learn today how you can turn your raving customers into stars.

Rich wraps up his three-part Identity series by revealing the secret behind Wall Drug's 20,000 daily visitors: relentless repetition. Using stories, psychology, and real-world marketing examples, Rich explains why contractors must "say it often" to dominate their markets. Learn the power of frequency, consistency credit, accelerated discontentment, and how to "Wall Drug" your market through Facebook, OTT, and organic content strategies.

Today's podcast really should be in the hall of fame--this is GREAT stuff. It's part of our Throwback Thursday series, and is taken from an old webinar that Rich did back in the Monopolize Your Marketplace days called "Finding The Story." Today's podcast is going to get down and dirty and teach you why stories work, how to find good stories, elements of good stories, and where to put them. Then he's going to walk through a ton of examples so you can see how it all works together.

At the FAST Remodeler Conference, Rich unpacked a practical, contractor-focused roadmap for integrating AI into remodeling businesses. Rather than chasing random tools, Harshaw emphasized first-principles thinking, identity-driven marketing, and human ove

Ever been to an In N Out Burger restaurant before? If you're from California, chances are basically 100% that you have… and chances are also close to 100% that you LOVE you some In N Out. But if you're not from California… you may not have even heard of In N Out… and even if you have, you may not have actually tried it before. So here's the question: How good is In N Out's food? Well, if you ask Rich, he'll tell you that despite what all his California friends say, it actually kind of sucks. How is it that his opinion--and it turns out, a lot of Texans' opinions could be so different? Well… as you will hear today, it has a lot to do with selling to friends versus strangers.

Welcome to the Monday podcast–you know what that means… it's time for the latest installment of our "5 Ways to Monday" series… quick, easy to chew nuggets of advice from the master himself. Today's topic: Getting customers to pay higher prices… with a smile on their face. The basic premise is this: People don't actually want to pay low prices… they just don't know what they actually should be looking for… so your job is to help them see and understand.

Welcome to another Sunday podcast, where we delve into topics a little more on the personal development and or spiritual side of things… and I think today's episode will in fact cover both. Rich is going to talk to you about something called Selective Attention, which is where you don't notice things that are literally in front of your face… and show you how by doing this, you might be unwittingly ignoring people all around you that could use your help. This episode is a mash up of psychology, spirituality, and just good old fashioned being a decent human being.

Every Saturday, we showcase a topic important to you by rounding up the greatest highlights and clips from Level 10 Contractor's ENTIRE podcast run. This week, let's focus on what Rich calls your Inside Reality, especially as it relates to your Outside Perception. He will define these terms in greater detail in the clips, but to put it simply here: your inside reality is how great your company actually is–all the things you do differently and why you are superior to the competitors in your industry–while the outside perception is how prospects and customers perceive your company from the outside, regardless of reality. If your marketing is full of platitudes, chances are people have no idea why they should choose you over the next guy. To them, you are all exactly the same. We are going to help you correct this massive problem today.

Rich teaches contractors how to uncover what truly sets their business apart in part 2 of the Identity series. Using real examples — from 172 hardwood dowel rods to six nails per shingle — he walks through the Five Pillars of Identity and the Trust Pyramid, showing how to dig past platitudes and build a compelling, specific case that wins customers before the sales call even starts.

Today's episode is an old ·Monopolize Your Marketplace· webinar Rich did where he goes through some of the most important concepts found in an outstanding book called ·The Plain English Approach to Business Writing· by Edward P. Bailey

I know today's podcast title might sound like some kind of MMA or heavyweight fight… but for good reason! Rich is going to walk you step by step through the TV buy he made on behalf of one of his new clients in Sacramento… Hence, Smackdown in Sac-Town! Last week on episode 222 he showed you how he took the radio buy from $628,000 down to just $350,000… AND got better schedules AND added 2 new stations just for fun… Today he's going to go station by station and talk about how he took a bloated buy that was about 85% body fat and…. For less money… created a lean, mean, TV fighting machine. This isn't theory; this is an after action report on what he actually DID.

Today's podcast is for all you roofers out there… and hey, even if you're not a roofer, listen to this anyway because the concept Rich is going to discuss is pretty darn cool. He's going to borrow the strategy of club memberships that is pretty common in the HVAC world, and bring it over into the world of roofers. Why would he do such a thing? Well… in talking to one of his clients, he realized that if executed properly, a roofer could promise a client that they would NEVER have to pay for a major roof repair or replacement again, EVER… which if you think about it, is a pretty strong value proposition. The key question, then, is "how do you execute it properly?"

It's Monday… which means we're ready to rock and roll with a brand new installment of our 5 Ways to Monday series… and today, we're talking about hyper local marketing. The idea here is to double and triple down on marketing for a relatively small, potentially lucrative geographic area.

Welcome to another Sunday edition of the Level 10 Contractor Daily Podcast; As usual, today's Sunday podcast is going to focus on topics in the realm of self improvement and spirituality. Now you might be wondering about the title today… about God loving the druggies. RIch is going to tell you a story about a guy named Zak who thought that God was looking out for him… but as it turns out, God was actually using him to look out for somebody else.

Every Saturday, we showcase a topic important to you by rounding up the greatest highlights and clips from Level 10 Contractor's ENTIRE podcast run. This week, we take you step by step through what Facebook is, what it does, and different ways you can use it. Rich calls it the Swiss Army Knife of social media. Let's make sure you use every tool it offers.

Rich explains "identity" — the art of communicating what makes your business genuinely different. Using memorable stories about a hidden taco stand and a hotel showerhead, he shows contractors how to replace empty platitudes with specific, vivid language that resonates with customers. This is part one of a three-part series on building marketing that actually works.

Rich is going to talk about a topic that's near and dear to his heart… but that hasn't really gotten much air time on this podcast. And that topic is INNOVATION. RIch has come up with about 15 or 20 different what he calls Innovation Formulas…. Which are practical ways to get your brain started thinking in different directions that it's used to going. Today's episode is the most fundamental, foundational innovation formula of all, and it's called The Magic Wand. Basically, if you could put a magic wand in your customer's hand, and she could change anything she wanted to about you company or your industry, what would she change? Rich will go through several examples for several industries… including yours.

It's another Throwback Thursday, and we're going to dip into the archives for one Rich's old "Monopolize Your Marketplace" Remodeler's Marketing Essentials Webinars… this one on the topic of not just Proximity Marketing… but what Rich calls "Super Robust Proximity Marketing." What's the difference? Well…. Regular proximity marketing calls for sending out a few postcards to the neighbors of your customers. Super Robust Proximity Marketing eats postcards for breakfast. It's a lot more involved, a lot more powerful…. And a lot more effective. Get all the details from Rich, right now.

How's your business doing… financially? I don't mean "Are you having a great sales year?"... I mean, when you dig down into the nitty gritty numbers, is it healthy? Are you doing as well as you should? Are you doing as well as you THINK you are? This podcast is all about getting into your numbers. In this episode, Rich interviews Gary Cohen, Vice President of Certified Contractors Network; They are going to do a deep dive into what kinds of things you should be looking at and measuring to make sure everything is working as well as it should. You'll hear a lot about KPI's… key performance indicators… and something called "the virtuous cycle." This is not the most fun and entertaining episode you're ever going to hear–but it just might be one of the most important for the overall health of your business

It's Monday, which means it's time for the latest installment of our 5 Ways to Monday series… and today, Rich goes back to his roots and talks about copywriting–writing great headlines, to be specific. The headline is the "ad for the ad" so to speak, and is therefore the most important element in any marketing you could write. Rich has a little 5 minute rant on the importance of headlines to start us off… then he talks about headline starters, the headline bank, something he calls "John Smith Headlines," then aggregating headlines, and creating your own headline vault. That's a lot of headlines!

Remember the old TV commercials for AT&T back in the day-- "Reach out, reach out and touch someone?" Well that's the theme of today's podcast. We're reaching into the archives today… this comes from a webinar Rich did back in 2010 in what he then called his "Personal Edge" series… geared then on personal development topics. You'll hear Rich, in his trademark storytelling style, discuss the importance of getting out of your comfort zone to get to know people… so that you can have an impact on their lives… and vice versa.

Every Saturday, we showcase a topic important to you by rounding up the greatest highlights and clips from Level 10 Contractor's ENTIRE podcast run. This week, we review core concepts of Level 10's marketing strategy. This is a great refresher if you've been listening to the podcast, absolutely necessary if you're new to Level 10, and a perfect bookmark podcast you can return to anytime you need the reminder.

Today's podcast is the continuation of last Friday's episode where Rich talked about the Savannah Bananas baseball team. This episode focuses on things you can do to maximize innovation in your company so that you GET NOTICED!

Today's podcast is the continuation of last Friday's episode where Rich talked about the Savannah Bananas baseball team. This episode focuses on things you can do to maximize innovation in your company so that you GET NOTICED!

Today is the day we are going to finally conclude our 5-part Throwback Thursday series on ·The 5 Biggest Marketing Mistakes.· If you missed any of the previous 4 parts, just go back to each of the last 4 Thursdays and look them up! So far we·ve covered

Okay, this episode has a pretty inflammatory title… something about Rich wanting to punch some lady in the face. Before you get too upset, just know a couple of things: One: Rich would never actually punch a lady--or anybody for that matter--in the face. Two: the story has a happy ending, and the punchworthy Christine Cook actually ends up getting complimented very nicely. Three: This is a story about the power of repetition in advertising… ready?

In this episode, Rich breaks down the power of rehash programs—how to revive dead leads and turn missed opportunities into booked jobs. Learn practical strategies to systematically follow up, re-engage prospects, and unlock hidden revenue already sitting in your pipeline. Stop chasing new leads and start maximizing the ones you already earned.

Most contractors sit around hoping for referrals like they're finding $20 in an old jacket. That's not a strategy — that's luck. In this video, Rich breaks down 5 tactical ways to engineer referrals on demand: identity, brand ambassadors, consistent mailings, texting, and making your customer experience shareable. Stop hoping. Start engineering. Watch now.

It's Sunday, so as you might expect, Rich is going to turn his attention today to matters of Personal Development. And today's topic is adversity. This is an old recording dating back to the last week of 2009, right before the decade flipped over to the 2010s. Rich reflects on the preceding decade--and it was a hard one on him… as in… really hard. His business crashed in 2004, and he spent the next 6 years digging out of the rubble. He shares his insights and wisdom in a way only Rich can.

Every Saturday, we showcase a topic important to you by rounding up the greatest highlights and clips from Level 10 Contractor's ENTIRE podcast run. This week, we talk about selling yourself BEFORE you ever arrive at the house for your sales meeting. Don't leave all the work to your salesperson at the last minute; convince prospects that you are the superior company with your marketing. Educate them why you are the best with your website and blogs and mailers and pay-per-click ads, and you won't have to fight an uphill battle on their home turf. Besides, if you pre-position yourself as the only good choice, you will not run into the dreaded sticker shock. In fact, you'll be able to raise prices without a hint of blowback. Why? Because prospects will understand exactly what you are worth.

We're going to go bananas! Savannah Bananas, that is! What's a Savannah Banana? Well, it's the most innovative minor league baseball team in the world, that's what. And Rich is here today to introduce you to them, and get your innovative mind churning out some innovative ideas for your company.