The PlaybookNumbers first. Opinions second.
Every guide here is built on dashboards I can screenshot, from accounts I actually run. When I cite someone else's industry averages, I say so — and I show you the difference.
- First-party dashboards only
- A named business, dated screenshots
- Refreshed with each new real month
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The guides
Free tool · Updated November 2026
Lead value calculator for contractors
Type your average ticket and close rate: what a lead is worth, the most you should pay for one, and the monthly, weekly and daily ad budget for the jobs you want.
Run your numbers →Guide Nº 025 · Published November 2026
How to Get Tree Service Jobs in 2026: Storm Calls, Planned Removals, and What a Lead Should Cost You
How to get tree service jobs in 2026: map listing, Local Services Ads for storm and planned work, a site that sells the estimate, and a 30-day plan.
Read it →Guide Nº 024 · Published November 2026
How to Get Roofing Leads in 2026: Storm Work, Retail Replacements and the Channels That Pay
How to get roofing leads: the map listing, Local Services Ads, a site that sells the inspection and referral partners, ranked by cost, plus a 30-day plan.
Read it →Guide Nº 023 · Published November 2026
How to Get Remodeling Leads in 2026: Qualified Consults, Not Call Volume
How to get remodeling leads that sign, not tire-kickers: Remodeler map listing, Local Services Ads under General contractor, price bands, a 30-day plan.
Read it →Guide Nº 022 · Published November 2026
How to Get Pressure Washing Customers in 2026: Every Lead Source Ranked by What It Costs, Plus a 30-Day Plan
How to get pressure washing customers in 2026: map listing, Local Services Ads, square-foot pricing and the street you are parked on, ranked by cost.
Read it →Guide Nº 021 · Published November 2026
How to Get Pest Control Leads in 2026 (and Turn the First Ant Call Into a Quarterly Plan)
How to get pest control leads: the map listing, Local Services Ads, a page per pest and referral partners, ranked by cost, with the quarterly-plan math.
Read it →Guide Nº 020 · Published November 2026
How to Get Painting Leads in 2026 (Ranked by What a Lead Costs, With a 30-Day Plan)
How to get painting leads in 2026: six channels ranked by what a lead costs, the one-third rule, which LSA job types to run by season, and a 30-day plan.
Read it →Guide Nº 019 · Published November 2026
How to Get Landscaping Leads in 2026: Routes, Not One-Off Calls (With the Only Lead Costs I Can Prove)
How to get landscaping leads in 2026, cheapest first: map listing, pay-per-lead ads, a site that sells the route, referral partners. Plus a 30-day plan.
Read it →Guide Nº 018 · Published November 2026
How to Get Junk Removal Jobs in 2026: Same-Day Calls, What a Lead Costs and a 30-Day Plan
How to get junk removal jobs in 2026: map listing, Local Services Ads, photo quotes by text and referral partners, ranked by lead cost. 30-day plan.
Read it →Guide Nº 017 · Published November 2026
How to Get HVAC Leads in 2026: Repair, Replacement and Maintenance Leads Ranked by What They Cost
How to get HVAC leads in 2026, ranked by cost: map listing, Local Services Ads, a site that asks for the job, referral partners. Lead math per job type.
Read it →Guide Nº 016 · Published November 2026
How to Get Handyman Jobs in 2026: Leads That Stack Up on Your Side of Town
How to get handyman jobs in 2026: the map listing, Local Services Ads with only the job types you want, a site with a minimum charge, and a 30-day plan.
Read it →Guide Nº 015 · Published November 2026
How to Get Electrical Leads in 2026: Six Channels Ranked by What a Lead Costs, With a 30-Day Plan
How to get electrical leads in 2026: map listing, Local Services Ads, referral partners and a site that sells panel work, ranked by what a lead costs.
Read it →Guide Nº 014 · Published November 2026
How to Get Cleaning Clients in 2026 (Recurring Houses, Not One-Off Deep Cleans)
How to get cleaning clients that stay: the retention math, the map listing, Local Services Ads, a site with instant quotes, referrals, and a 30-day plan.
Read it →Guide Nº 013 · Updated November 2026
Contractor Marketing in 2026: What It Includes, What It Costs, and What a Marketing Agency Should Actually Deliver
Contractor marketing, explained by someone who does it: what a trades business needs, in the order it pays, what it costs, and how to pick an agency.
Read it →Guide Nº 012 · Published September 2026
LSA Weekly Budget to Google Ads Daily Budget: The Divide-by-7 Math, the 30.4 Cap and Three Traps (2026)
LSA weekly budgets become daily budgets inside Google Ads. How Google converts them, the monthly cap, worked examples, and three overspend traps.
Read it →Guide Nº 011 · Published September 2026
Got the Local Services Ads Migration Email? Do These 7 Things This Week (2026)
Got the notice that Local Services Ads is moving into Google Ads? The seven things to export, screenshot and fix before the date, plus the week-one checks.
Read it →Guide Nº 010 · Published September 2026
Every Google Local Services Ads Category (2026) — and the Side Door When Your Trade Isn't One
Every home-service Local Services Ads category in 2026, how job types work, and the side door when your trade (drywall, tile, concrete) is not on the list.
Read it →Guide Nº 009 · Published September 2026
How to Get Plumbing Leads Without Buying Them From Lead Sellers
How to get plumbing leads you own: Local Services Ads, the map listing, a site that ranks for emergency searches, referral partners. With a 30-day plan.
Read it →Guide Nº 008 · Published September 2026
Google Business Profile Optimization Checklist for Contractors (2026)
A 31-point Google Business Profile checklist for contractors: what moves map ranking, what does not, and the order to do it. From a #1, 5.0-star listing.
Read it →Guide Nº 007 · Published September 2026
Google Guaranteed Is Gone. Here's What the Google Verified Badge Means for Contractors (2026)
Google Guaranteed ended in late 2025. What the Google Verified badge is, what screening it takes, what it costs, and why it still decides who gets called.
Read it →Guide Nº 006 · Published September 2026
Google Local Services Ads Cost Per Lead by Trade (2026): How It's Billed and How to Get Your Own Number in Five Minutes
How Google bills Local Services Ads, why cost per lead differs by trade and city, four months of real drywall numbers, and a five-minute way to get yours.
Read it →Guide Nº 005 · Published September 2026
How to Get Drywall Jobs in 2026 (With What a Lead Actually Costs)
Six ways to get drywall jobs, ranked by what a lead costs, using four months of real Google billing from a Kansas City drywall company. Plus a 30-day plan.
Read it →Guide Nº 004 · Published September 2026
How to Choose a Local Services Ads Management Company (2026): 12 Questions That Separate the Real Ones From the Resellers
What a Local Services Ads management company should do, what it costs, and the 12 questions to ask before you sign. By someone who publishes his numbers.
Read it →Guide Nº 003 · Updated September 2026
LSA is moving into Google Ads
Google started folding Local Services Ads into Performance Max in August 2026. What changes, what stays, the trade-by-trade timeline — and the exports to make before the old dashboard, and its reports, disappear for good.
Read it →Guide Nº 002 · Published July 2026
What a drywall lead actually costs
Four months of real Local Services Ads data from one named drywall company — every dashboard screenshotted, the slow month included, and the category workaround Google's taxonomy forces on drywall contractors.
Read it →Guide Nº 001 · Published July 2026
Why your contractor website gets traffic but no calls
One drywall company's old site is still in the Internet Archive. Here's what the funnel said the real problem was — and it wasn't the headline. 1.93% to 10.51% on the same traffic.
Read it →New guides land as each real month of numbers comes in. RSS feed →