The Level 10 Contractor Daily Podcast

Today's podcast is a fun little story about Daniel, the world's friendliest McDonald's employee. Rich accidentally found this guy while grabbing a burger one day… and was so impressed, he decided to enshrine the guy by putting his story on the podcast. This one is short, but man is it good.

10 Kick Butt Ads that are killing it· from 5 Level 10 Clients! Enjoy these great commercials - and consider using Level 10 To write and produce your own TV and Radio Messaging!

OTT advertising used to be too expensive for most contractors. Now the economics have changed. Rich Harshaw explains how streaming television can deliver targeted reach, meaningful frequency, better tracking, and stronger integration with your existing marketing. Learn what CPMs really mean, why premium inventory may be overpriced, and how to decide whether your company is ready for OTT right now.

It's Sunday; that's when Rich turns his attention to topics having to do with personal development or spirituality--or sometimes both. Today's topic is leadership. In the early 2000's, Rich compiled a list of leadership tips. Today is part 2 of last week's "Leadership Tip."

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 our advertising on the road and discuss billboards–when to use them, what to buy, and what to put on them.

Today's podcast is all about Guerrilla marketing, a topic that Rich brings up from time to time… it's all about marketing tactics that take more time than money, and are perfect for companies who are just starting out… and as you'll hear, they're also good for companies who have been around for a while. It's all about the mindset. Like sending out Coconut mailers. Yep, you're about to learn about THAT.

If you want to see the world through John Smith's eyes, you have to see the world through John Smith's eyes… and on today's throw back Thursday podcast, Rich is going to show you how to get inside John Smith--your prospect's--head… and then write headlines that capture what he's thinking and put them on paper. Or a screen. Anyway, in the ad. Rich says that HEADLINES do 75% of the lifting in your marketing… and what he calls "John Smith Headlines" are one of the most effective ways to write headlines. If you're a marketing student, this is a great podcast for you!

How would you like to develop a cult following in your business… along the lines of Walt Disney, Apple, or Chick Fil a? I'm talking about "irrational loyalty" where people just LOVE to give you their money? That's what Rich is here to talk about today… with lots of good ideas and stories to illustrate them.

10 Kick Butt Ads that are killing it· from 5 Level 10 Clients! Enjoy these great commercials - and consider using Level 10 To write and produce your own TV and Radio Messaging!

In honor of Labor Day, stop losing your best employees! We revisit a popular 5 Ways to Monday YouTube video.Rich reveals 5 proven strategies to motivate your remodeling or home services team without breaking the bank. Learn why growth can outpace culture, the power of random appreciation, and how a $60 cash gift created legendary loyalty. Perfect for contractors struggling with burnout and retention issues.

It's Sunday; that's when Rich turns his attention to topics having to do with personal development or spirituality--or sometimes both. Today's topic is leadership. In the early 2000's, Rich compiled a list of 101 leadership tips… and called it "101 Leadership Tips." Then he expanded it to 168 Leadership Tips, but never changed the name. So today he'll cover the first half of this list--84 tips to be exact, and then next week he'll cover the other half.

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 round up a few clips to remind you just how powerful a tool Facebook can be. You've heard Rich talk about social media and specifically Facebook on the podcast… about a million times. And for good reason! It's a really great way to get in front of… well, just about every prospect you could ever hope to sell something to.

A window contractor in Indiana reached out to Rich recently looking for some advice and assistance… he wanted to take the principles of IDENTITY and turn them into ads to run on TV. Rich, of course, jumped at the opportunity to help, and that's what you're about to listen to today. Listen and learn as Rich skillfully asks questions, elicits information, and then masterfully turns the raw data into interesting, relevant, and engaging stories. He makes it look soooo easy. This episode is all "roll up your sleeves and get to work" and zero fluff.

Today's podcast is a gem from the archives… and is a must-listen for anyone who is really into the science and art of marketing. Rich covers a topic he calls "the educational spectrum," which is a way to quantify how ready a prospect is to buy… and then adjusting your messaging to say the right things at the right time. Rich gives example after example after example on this webinar… so you will understand the concept loud and clear… and more importantly, you'll be able to use it as you create marketing for you company. Remember, this is ThrowBack Thursday… so you will hear some references to "Monopolize Your Marketplace" and other terms that are a bit outdated. But the concepts are still as relevant as ever!

Want to convert more raw leads into appointments? Want to close more of those appointments, and for more money? Want to successfully rehash your sit-no-sales? Then listen up today. Rich is going to share with you some updated thoughts on his Wall Drug philosophy…. Which is essentially "hit them with a million marketing messages as fast as you can." Wall Drug is like marketing on steroids, and what he's talking about today is like THAT on steroids. Which is either like a double dose of steroids, or steroids squared, depending on how your math works. Regardless, this is unbelievably great stuff, sure to make a big positive impact on your marketing results.

AI is the greatest thing since sliced bread, right? Not so fast. Rich wants to talk to you today about the dangers of AI when it comes to marketing… and will do so by comparing AI to, well, sliced bread. Sound weird? Wait until you hear about the mysterious 4-armed roofing installer.

Time to put on your overalls and straw hat, grab a pitchfork and jump in the tractor. Today we are talking about farming! Actually, not the "get up at 5 am to milk the cows" kind of farming… but the "consistently nurture your prospects along with advertising until they finally need what you sell and they automatically call you" kind of farming. Rich is going to tell his world famous Wall Drug story, talk about something he calls "accelerated discontentment," and once that foundation is built, give you 5 ways to use farming in your marketing.

Welcome to our Sunday podcast, and as is our way of doing things, instead of hard-core marketing, Rich is going to share a softer message… this time about families. And I'm gonna tell you, this is good stuff. Rich throws himself under the bus for some of the things he's done wrong in his life as it relates to families… and tells a really cool story about someone else who threw himself into the ocean--okay, he willingly walked into the ocean… he wasn't thrown in--to help somebody else's family.

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 collect the best examples of lessons learned elsewhere.Our podcast is the ONLY daily marketing podcast just for contractors but that doesn't mean we can't learn valuable marketing lessons from other industries. In fact, Rich loves to pull outside industry examples to better illustrate his strategic and tactical principles.

Have you ever heard of the Power 100? It's a ranking of the Top 100 CEOs that is published each year by Greg Cumming, and his company called, well Power 100. The list only includes CEOs of independently owned companies–no private equity, no roll ups, no franchises. These are CEOs who are running uber-successful remodeling companies with eight and nine figures of revenue, and profit margins well into the double digits. What makes them so successful? What are the traits that set them apart? You're about to find out, as Rich interviews Greg on today's podcast… and they discuss answers to those questions, and so much more. There is a TON of gold to be mined here, today, folks… so take some notes if you can.  

It's Throwback Thursday, so I headed over to the archives and chose this gem for you today. You know how Rich is always talking about communicating with Power, Precision, and Passion? Well this webinar is called "100 Power Statements" and it's pretty much exactly what the title would suggest. Rich has written 100 headlines that are, well, powerful… and he's going to read through them and give some commentary on HOW and WHY they are powerful. If you're a serious student of writing copy… creating an identity… or just killer marketing, this one's going to be a lot of fun for you!

Want to get the great results that come from canvassing without having all the hassle of recruiting and managing a canvassing crew? Well do we have a treat for you! Today Rich is going to talk about what he calls "Micro-Canvassing," and no, we're not talking about hiring a bunch of short people to knock on doors. Nope. We're talking about scaling the process down from a van full of guys to just one person… and instead of sending him out to knock doors cold, Rich is going to give you some ideas on how to grease the wheels before he ever knocks a door--to give him a better chance of actually making an appointment. This idea was the forerunner of the Brand Ambassador… and has great applications for the Brand Ambassador program.

Today Rich exposes a giant, fraudulent shell game many SEO companies play with their clients. It's called "Let me show you a bunch of web traffic and clicks so you think we're doing something productive but then fail to show you any actual leads." Or something like that. Seriously, this is great info–stuff you absolutely need to know… and after Rich exposes the ruse, he'll explain how to create Quality Traffic… which leads to the only thing that really matters… which is LEADS. And oh by the way–he'll show you to know EXACTLY how many organic leads you are getting… so you don't have to guess or take it on blind faith.

Today's podcast goes a little bit outside the normal marketing topics… but not too far. Rich is going to give you 5 great ideas about how to increase employee morale. He's worked with a lot of really great companies over the years, and he's cherry picked some of their best practices for keeping employees motivated and happy.

It's another Sunday podcast, and today's podcast is all about perspective. You're going to meet two very different people with two very different stories--David, and Jack. Beyond that, I don't want to give too much away.

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 are going to discuss the brand ambassador program. What's a brand ambassador? To keep it simple, a Brand Ambassador is a young person who goes into customer's homes after you've completed their project, gives them a gift, walks them through completing online reviews, and then uses a very specific formula for getting upsells and referrals. The Brand Ambassador also does some door-to-door canvassing around your customers' neighborhoods and finds even more new customers for you. If you don't have one yet, you'll demand one after listening to today's episode.

Rich shares how AI can help home service and remodeling companies generate 200–500 leads a month—warning that isolated AI tools aren't enough. He unveils the Contractor Command Center, an integrated AI marketing system, and previews his live Operation Lead Surge event in Nashville on October 2, sponsored by CallRail and G4 Marketing.  

It's Throwback Thursday, and today's episode is all about customer service, and creating "Raving Fans." Six main points will be covered: educating your customers, communications, how you look, doing something unexpected and memorable, dealing with problems, and getting your team to buy in. And trust me… you're going to love the story in the middle about Joe The Installer. This is hard-core Level 10 Stuff.

On today's episode, Rich is going to talk in detail about Identity-based blogs·what they are, why they·re important, and what you can expect when you start to integrate these into your website and SEO.

On today's podcast, Rich answers questions from a client about TV advertising, including: should you be on HGTV? Which local news programs should you choose? What about OTT? And should you try to save the 15% agency commission by buying it yourself. Rich, let the answers fly!

Today is Monday, so that means it's time for the next installment of our "5 Ways to Monday" series--very popular, I might add… and today we're going to be talking about Confirmation Bias. Rich is going to define confirmation bias by telling his famous "Holiday Inn Express Showerhead" story… then talking about the Trust Pyramid… then show you how each of the segments of the Trust Pyramid actually ARE the pillars of Confirmation Bias. Rich makes it all easy to understand and extremely relatable to your business.

It's another Sunday podcast, and today Rich is going to introduce you to the late, great Jim Rohn. If you're not familiar, Jim Rohn was one of the most well known and beloved motivational speakers with a career spanning from the 1960s to the early 2000s. Rich has recorded a short introduction… Then, he's hand-chosen 10 clips from one of Jim's most popular all-time audio programs, The Art of Exceptional Living.

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 are going to set aside any discussion on marketing… our usual fare… to talk about taking care of business, specifically how you are perceived in the marketplace, what your employees would say about you, when your practices annoy your customers, and finally, if you are thinking about the future of your business without tying yourself down.

Well, not everyone is ready to be a Level 10 Client-Partner… like the owner of the company who you'll hear on the podcast today. Rich speaks with Miguel, the owner of a startup Exterior Remodeling company in Minnesota. It's a small company, and they don't have a lot of money for marketing… so what should they do? Well… Rich explains how SEO works, how to do it the right way… and then encourages Miguel to try a little DIY SEO. It's not guaranteed to work, but it's guaranteed to get them doing the right kinds of things. Stay tuned to the end for Rich's fly fishing analogy… it makes a lot of sense.  

It's Throwback Thursday, and today we are getting in the wayback machine and travelling to 2015 to a webinar Rich did on the topic of Pay Per Click advertising. As you listen, keep in mind that this is a few years old, and some of the specifics about how we do PPC have changed… but the overall message is still on-point.

Yes, I know, the podcast title is a little vague today–small town contractors ONLY? What is Rich up to? What is he talking about? Well… he's talking about RADIO… and some of the MASSIVE success we have had recently with small town contractor clients. How massive? You're about to find out.

Personality! It's important to make sure that your personality SHINES through when creating advertising, especially for radio and TV. Today's podcast is proof that you can have any personality you want that fits your company… AND still communicate your identity, loud and clear. This one is going to blow you away.

Everybody wants more repeat business, right? I mean, if somebody comes back for round 2, that means that a) they must have liked you pretty good the first time, and b) that's gonna be a really low lead cost! Bonus! But the truth is… even though contractors want and love repeat business, the overwhelming majority of them…. (yes… you….) to next to nothing to proactively cultivate it. So instead of just waiting for old customers to indiscriminately wander into your showroom--or call you, or whatever--let's make an effort to get them back. Like on purpose. And that's what RIch is here for today… to inspire you and show you how to do it. Giddyup!

It's Sunday, and that means that Rich turns his attention to things that are focused on either personal development or Spiritual… Imagine this: You're on a mountain with 8 teenage boys; you're their adult leader for a backpacking trip. The sun is hot, the mountain is steep, and the packs are heavy. Some of the boys start to dehydrate, and ultimately falter. They can't go on. What do you do? Well, as you're about to hear, finding your superhuman strength and pushing forward despite the challenges not only gets you to the top of the mountain, it gives you a kind of respect in the eyes of those boys that can't be earned in ordinary situations. Leadership is about being the bigger and better man--or woman, as the case may be--and Rich is going to demonstrate that on today's podcast.

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 head out on the plains like our ancestors before us to go hunting… hunting for leads that is. Lead generation is crucial, especially to a growing company. If you aren't sharpening your arrowheads and practicing your aim, you're likely to go hungry. Today, we get you fed.

It's Random Friday–that's where RIch gives you a bunch of little bite-sized marketing nuggets that weren't BIG enough to warrant their own podcast, but that were important enough to mention somewhere–and that somewhere is right here on today's podcast! Topics covered today include "a million billboards," TV ads with lots of writing on them, negative advertising, SEO that works, and a story about the prodigal (marketing) son–a company that left, and is now coming back.

Welcome to our Throwback Thursday podcast, and today we are truly going to throw it WAY back, all the way to 2003. A little context will be needed here… in the mid to late 1990's, Rich and his partner (at the time) started their marketing consulting business and became very successful in just a few short years. Then, in 2000, they started a new company called Y2Marketing that recruited, trained, and supported marketing consultants all over the country. It was a way to expand their reach, and help more clients… while also helping what turned out to be over 1,000 consultants  become successful in their own marketing consulting businesses. This recording is a training that Rich did for a group of about 25 or 30 of those consultants in Seattle in 2003. The training mostly isn't about marketing, it's about having the right mindset to be successful in business. He tells an epic story here about a woman who was literally handed, on a silver platter, everything she needed to be successful in the business, and yet somehow still managed to fail. Wait until you hear what she did AFTER she failed… it will blow you away. So many great nuggets in here--you're going to love this.

Today we're going to go off the beaten path for a minute and Rich is going to tell a fun little story about the origins of his company, and how he got his first Roofing client–a $50 million company in Fort Worth. That sounds pretty impressive, especially considering he was only 27 years old at the time. Actually, not very impressive at all… just wait until you hear what a complete disaster led up to getting this client.

Today's podcast is a review of a direct mail letter that was written by the owner of an electric company that was being sent out to people who had recently moved into a new home. Smart idea, right? Well, yes… except the letter wasn't executed very well. The letter suffers from "the curse of knowledge," where the person reading the letter knows FAR less about electrical stuff than the guy who wrote the letter… and so they pretty much have no idea what he's talking about--it goes right over their heads.

Everybody loves a good surprise, right? Not the kind where a person jumps out from behind a corner and causes you to pee your pants… I'm talking about the kind where you find a $20 bill in your coat pocket that you forgot about… or when somebody does something nice and unexpected for you. THAT kind. On today's podcast, Rich is going to build a case for creating a "surprise" budget in your business and consistently giving gifts to your customers. What!?! That sounds expensive you might be saying! And you might be right. But you might be wrong.

It's Sunday, and that means that Rich turns his attention to things that are focused on either personal development or Spiritual… and today… It's personal development. The episode is called "the long hard road," and comes from a webinar that Rich did many years ago that… more or less… tells his own story. And the story he's trying to tell is that success is NOT an overnight endeavor. It takes long, hard patience.  

Today we steer away from content creation and strategy to focus on the fundamental knowledge for successful marketing, namely: knowing your numbers. Unless you know the numbers behind your business, you're likely to fail at your marketing endeavors, either spending too much money or not spending enough to grow your business into the Level 10 giant you desire.

On today's podcast, Rich shares one of his classic stories that everyone--and I mean everyone--always remembers. WALL DRUG. It's a story about consistency, frequency, and repetition of an advertising message. Even though the story itself is about billboards, the principle applies to all forms of marketing and advertising.

In this Throwback Thursday episode, Rich revisits a webinar exploring how small "Davids" can outmaneuver big "Goliaths" in business. Through a real client story involving wasted media spend and a failing website, Rich unpacks the Level 10 Mindset: radical self-awareness. Know your strengths, surround yourself with experts for your weaknesses, and don't let small distractions cost you major opportunities.

Contractors, why is a $20M business still broke? Gary Cohen, EVP of CCN, breaks down why net profit — not revenue — is the only number that matters. We cover the 3 levers CCN pulls first with struggling contractors, the "Primal Selling System," and why discipline separates profitable owners from the rest. Plus: details on CCN's Elevate 2026 conference.