Contractor Secrets

What's up good people! As some of you may know, the 31-Days of Value challenge was born on this podcast. Since then, it's evolved into a new vision - Stronghold. New name, new vision, same powerful content. Here's the first 7 days of the audiobook - listen one day at a time - implement the ONE action - don't miss a day.

If you want to read along, grab the ⁠Kindle version here

What's up good people! As some of you may know, the 31-Days of Value challenge was born on this podcast. Since then, it's evolved into a new vision - Stronghold. New name, new vision, same powerful content. Here's the first 7 days of the audiobook - listen one day at a time - implement the ONE action - don't miss a day.

If you want to read along, grab the ⁠⁠Kindle version here

How do you go from ZERO clients to building a marketing agency serving 200+ businesses? In this episode of Contractor Secrets, Tanner Mullen sits down with Lucas Jensen, founder and CEO of Forward Media Marketing, to break down how he built his agency, generated massive results with Facebook ads, and helped painting contractors grow their businesses.

Lucas started his marketing agency in his parents' basement in 2020, struggling for five months without landing a single client. After borrowing $500 from his dad to register the business, he eventually signed his first painting contractor for $597.

That first client changed everything.

With just $2,500 in Facebook ad spend over four months, Lucas helped that contractor generate nearly $200,000 in sales. That success opened the door to more painting businesses, eventually helping Forward Media Marketing grow into an agency serving over 200 companies.

In this conversation, Tanner and Lucas discuss what it really takes to build a successful marketing agency, how Facebook advertising can help painting contractors generate leads, and why curiosity, innovation, and strong relationships are essential for long-term business growth.

They also dive into PaintCon 2026, a major networking and educational event for painting contractors, and share how surrounding yourself with successful business owners can completely change your perspective on what's possible.

Facebook Ads can be a powerful marketing tool for painting contractors looking to generate leads and grow their businesses.

Lucas Jensen shares how his first painting contractor client generated nearly $200K in sales with a $2,500 Facebook advertising investment.

Join Lucas Jensen, Tanner Mullen, and other industry leaders at PaintCon 2026 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

📅 November 18–22, 2026

🌐 https://paintcon.com

🎟️ Promo Code: DRIP20 — 20% off tickets (subject to current availability and terms)

**CHAPTERS:**

00:00 – Lucas Jensen's Marketing Agency Success Story

01:27 – Tanner Mullen Introduces Lucas Jensen

04:14 – How Forward Media Marketing Started

09:14 – How Lucas Landed His First Painting Contractor

12:41 – $2,500 in Facebook Ads Generated Nearly $200K

14:56 – Scaling a Painting Contractor Marketing Agency

16:31 – The Facebook Video Ad That Changed Everything

18:28 – Growing a Marketing Agency to 200+ Clients

20:05 – Why Marketing Innovation Matters

23:14 – What Is PaintCon?

26:10 – How a Painting Contractor Grew From $800K to $5M

31:18 – PaintCon Speakers and Business Networking

34:56 – PaintCon 2026 Event Details

Start your Free 14 Day Trial for Routemize - https://routemize.com/

Coaching Session Signup: https://calendly.com/dripjobs/breakthrough

Purchase the 31 Days of Value and build an EMPIRE:

https://www.amazon.com/31-Days-Value-home-service-businesses/dp/B0FQSH32X7

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2v0D0SNSBofqJJE6zApEE1

Dripjobs Demo: https://calendly.com/dripjobsteam/dripjobsdemo

Gusto: https://gusto.com/i/tanner269

OpenPhone: https://openph.one/referral/8Kc17aq

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/173750747824373/?ref=share

Follow me on Instagram: http://Instagram.com/officialtannermullen

#PaintingContractor #PaintingBusiness #ContractorSystems #PaintingBusinessGrowth #ContractorSecrets

What's up good people! As some of you may know, the 31-Days of Value challenge was born on this podcast. Since then, it's evolved into a new vision - Stronghold. New name, new vision, same powerful content. Here's the first 7 days of the audiobook - listen one day at a time - implement the ONE action - don't miss a day.

If you want to read along, grab the ⁠Kindle version here

How do you build a painting business that runs without you? Justin Georgopoulos explains the systems behind his $6.5M painting company and how his team sold and produced $300,000 while he spent 11 days away in Greece.

In this special episode of Contractor Secrets from the Routemize launch party, Tanner Mullen welcomes Justin Georgopoulos, founder of High Five Painting (formerly 519 Painters) and Trade Launch.

Justin breaks down how he built a painting company where he no longer needs to personally handle estimates, customer calls, project management or payroll.

Instead, his business operates through four key departments:

→ MARKETING: Consistent inbound and outbound lead generation

→ CUSTOMER SERVICE: Dedicated appointment setters, fast responses and structured follow-up

→ SALES: Trained closers, commission-based incentives and profitable pricing

→ OPERATIONS: Project managers, production handoffs, crew scheduling and accountability

We also cover:

How his team handled $300K in business while he was away

The structure behind a $6.5M painting company

How they generate approximately 100 estimates per week

Their 10-call follow-up cadence over three days

How they structure and compensate sales reps

Their 60–70% gross profit pricing targets

How AI helps match painting crews with the right projects

The organizational chart behind the operation

Why profit matters more than revenue

How to get off the tools and stop being the bottleneck

Justin also shares examples of how other painting contractors have implemented these systems through Trade Launch.

The takeaway: Growing your painting business shouldn't mean creating a bigger job for yourself.

Build the team. Build the systems. Create a business that can operate without you.

🎙️ Contractor Secrets with Tanner Mullen

Subscribe for more conversations about scaling a profitable painting business.

Start your Free 14 Day Trial for Routemize - https://routemize.com/

Coaching Session Signup: https://calendly.com/dripjobs/breakthrough

Purchase the 31 Days of Value and build an EMPIRE:

https://www.amazon.com/31-Days-Value-home-service-businesses/dp/B0FQSH32X7

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2v0D0SNSBofqJJE6zApEE1

DripJobs Demo: https://calendly.com/dripjobsteam/dripjobsdemo

Gusto: https://gusto.com/i/tanner269

OpenPhone: https://openph.one/referral/8Kc17aq

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/173750747824373/?ref=share

Follow me on Instagram: http://Instagram.com/officialtannermullen

#PaintingContractor #PaintingBusiness #ContractorSystems #PaintingBusinessGrowth #ContractorSecrets

What's up good people! As some of you may know, the 31-Days of Value challenge was born on this podcast. Since then, it's evolved into a new vision - Stronghold. New name, new vision, same powerful content. Here's the first 7 days of the audiobook - listen one day at a time - implement the ONE action - don't miss a day.

If you want to read along, grab the Kindle version here

Getting comfortable in business can be more dangerous than failure. In this episode, Tanner Mullen explains why business owners start playing small after they've finally built something worth protecting.

When I started my painting business, I knew almost nothing.

I was hungry.

I asked questions.

I took risks.

I figured things out as I went.

And that's what I've been reflecting on lately.

Because there's an interesting thing that happens as your business grows:

You finally have something to lose.

The same person who was willing to risk everything to start the business can slowly become afraid to make the decisions required to keep growing it.

In this episode, I get into:

→ Why getting comfortable in business can be dangerous

→ Why business owners start playing small

→ Remembering who you were when you started

→ Scarcity vs. service

→ Purpose over profit

→ Why your “why” matters when things get hard

→ Walking away from an $80K job

→ Starting a painting business with my father

→ Why your business was born from risk

→ Learning to operate in uncertainty

→ Why the nature of business is constant change

→ Making bold investments and decisions

→ The responsibility that comes with leadership

→ Building a business that can keep promises without you

→ Putting service ahead of self-preservation

→ Preparing your business before the next storm arrives

CHAPTERS:

00:00 A Different Contractor Secrets Episode

01:45 Looking Back 10 Years

03:19 Purpose Over Profit

04:32 Scarcity vs. Service

05:35 Why Your “Why” Changes Everything

07:20 The Reason I Started My Painting Business

09:07 Walking Away From the Safe Path

11:06 Remember Who You Were When You Started

12:17 Faith Requires Action

13:13 Why Business Owners Stop Taking Risks

14:03 Business Is Always Changing

15:24 The Pressure of Leadership

16:49 Where Are You Playing Small?

17:27 The Danger of Getting Comfortable

18:40 Learning to Thrive in Uncertainty

19:45 Make the Bold Decision

21:33 Prepare Before the Storm Comes

22:58 Stop Making It About You

24:24 Operate With a Servant Mindset

25:13 Business Is Bigger Than You

Your business was born from risk.

You believed you could create something that didn't exist yet — and you acted on it.

Don't let having something to lose make you afraid to keep moving forward.

Don't get comfortable.

Don't play small.

Remember why you started.

🎙️ Contractor Secrets with Tanner Mullen

Start your Free 14 Day Trial for Routemize - https://routemize.com/

Coaching Session Signup: https://calendly.com/dripjobs/breakthrough

Purchase the 31 Days of Value and build an EMPIRE:

https://www.amazon.com/31-Days-Value-home-service-businesses/dp/B0FQSH32X7

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2v0D0SNSBofqJJE6zApEE1

DripJobs Demo: https://calendly.com/dripjobsteam/dripjobsdemo

Gusto: https://gusto.com/i/tanner269

OpenPhone: https://openph.one/referral/8Kc17aq

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/173750747824373/?ref=share

Follow me on Instagram: http://Instagram.com/officialtannermullen

#PaintingContractor #PaintingBusiness #BusinessMindset #Entrepreneurship #ContractorSecrets

Painting contractors spend thousands generating leads — but how many painting leads are lost because nobody answers the phone, follows up, or properly manages the sales pipeline?

In this episode of Contractor Secrets, Tanner sits down with Katie from Tech Brush Works to break down one of the most overlooked parts of growing a painting business: what happens AFTER the lead comes in.

Answering the phone isn't just an administrative job.

It's part of your sales process.

Katie explains how her team helps painting contractors answer calls, follow up with leads, organize their CRM, revive old opportunities and create a better customer experience before the estimator ever walks through the door.

We cover:

→ Why answering the phone is a sales function

→ The hidden cost of missed painting leads

→ Why old leads aren't necessarily dead

→ How to systematically follow up by phone, text and email

→ Why your CRM should tell you what's happening in under a minute

→ Turning cold leads back into appointments

→ Why contractors shouldn't be answering every call themselves

→ The difference between answering calls and creating a customer experience

→ When overseas VAs make sense — and where Katie sees limitations

→ Why premium painting companies need a premium customer experience

→ Getting your business phone off your personal cell

→ Delegating the phone without losing control

→ How better follow-up gives contractors their time back

CHAPTERS:

00:00 Why Answering the Phone Matters

01:19 Meet Katie

01:58 From Corporate Customer Experience to Painting

03:38 The Gap Katie Found in the Painting Industry

05:02 Customer Experience as a Service

06:06 Fixing the CRM & Reviving Cold Leads

08:59 How Homeowners Prefer to Communicate

09:39 Your Pipeline Is Gold

10:33 Reviving Months-Old Leads

12:44 Why Old Leads Aren't Dead

15:18 Stop Letting Leads Slip Through the Cracks

16:20 Who's Answering Your Phone?

17:32 Overseas VAs vs. Customer Experience

20:08 Why Communication Matters

21:35 What Premium Brands Get Right

22:53 The Experience Has to Match the Price

23:39 Who Should Manage Your Phones?

24:58 How Outsourced Phone Answering Works

26:36 Get Your Business Off Your Personal Cell

27:15 Tanner's Biggest Phone Breakthrough

28:02 Getting Your Time Back

29:14 The CEO Shouldn't Manage the Phones

30:45 How to Work With Katie

The big takeaway:

Generating the lead is only the beginning.

If nobody answers quickly, follows up consistently and creates a great first impression, you're potentially wasting opportunities you've already paid to generate.

Build the system.

Work the pipeline.

Create a great customer experience.

And get the phone off your plate.

🎙️ Subscribe to Contractor Secrets for more conversations about building and scaling a profitable painting business.

Contact Katie: www.techbrushworks.com

Start your Free 14 Day Trial for Routemize - https://routemize.com/

Coaching Session Signup: https://calendly.com/dripjobs/breakthrough

Purchase the 31 Days of Value and build an EMPIRE:

https://www.amazon.com/31-Days-Value-home-service-businesses/dp/B0FQSH32X7

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2v0D0SNSBofqJJE6zApEE1

DripJobs Demo: https://calendly.com/dripjobsteam/dripjobsdemo

Gusto: https://gusto.com/i/tanner269

OpenPhone: https://openph.one/referral/8Kc17aq

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/173750747824373/?ref=share

Follow me on Instagram: http://Instagram.com/officialtannermullen

#PaintingContractor #PaintingBusiness #ContractorMindset #BusinessGrowth #Leadership #ContractorSecrets

Your painting contractor mindset could be the biggest thing holding your business back. Joel Mercado breaks down the limiting beliefs, leadership habits and systems that keep painting contractors stuck.

In this special episode of Contractor Secrets from the Routemize launch party, Joel explains why changing your business often starts with changing the way you think.

From struggling to make payroll to building multiple businesses, Joel shares the mindset shifts that helped him stop focusing on what couldn't be done and start taking action on what could.

We cover:

→ Fixed mindset vs. growth mindset

→ The limiting beliefs keeping contractors stuck

→ Why higher prices can mean fewer headaches

→ Transferring your skills to your employees

→ Why you shouldn't try to fix everything at once

→ Focusing on one problem for 30 days

→ Why expanding too quickly can hurt your business

→ Motivation vs. discipline

→ How to scale from $1M toward $5M

→ Why people and systems need to come before growth

→ Developing better leaders

→ Why self-leadership comes first

→ Getting 1% better every day

CHAPTERS:

00:00 Routemize Launch Party

01:27 Meet Joel Mercado

02:24 Fixed vs. Growth Mindset

03:35 From Nearly Losing a House to $2.5M

05:31 Destroying Your Limiting Beliefs

06:53 Empower Your Employees to Sell

08:21 Stop Competing on Price

10:13 Don't Expand Too Quickly

11:33 Focus on One Thing

13:13 How to Stop Feeling Overwhelmed

14:04 Get 1% Better Every Day

16:55 Why It's Easier to Win Today

19:24 How Joel Pushed Through the Struggle

21:26 Motivation Is Temporary

22:10 Discipline & Consistency Win

22:43 How to Scale From $1M to $5M

24:25 Leadership Starts With You

25:48 The Law of the Lid

27:43 Become a Student for Life

28:48 Final Message

The biggest takeaway:

Your business can't consistently grow beyond your ability to lead it.

Change the way you think.

Focus on one thing.

Develop your people.

Build the systems.

Stay disciplined.

Then grow.

Start your Free 14 Day Trial for Routemize - https://routemize.com/

Coaching Session Signup: https://calendly.com/dripjobs/breakthrough

Purchase the 31 Days of Value and build an EMPIRE:

https://www.amazon.com/31-Days-Value-home-service-businesses/dp/B0FQSH32X7

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2v0D0SNSBofqJJE6zApEE1

DripJobs Demo: https://calendly.com/dripjobsteam/dripjobsdemo

Gusto: https://gusto.com/i/tanner269

OpenPhone: https://openph.one/referral/8Kc17aq

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/173750747824373/?ref=share

Follow me on Instagram: http://Instagram.com/officialtannermullen

#PaintingContractor #PaintingBusiness #ContractorMindset #BusinessGrowth #Leadership #ContractorSecrets

After 4 years running a remodeling business, Joe Altobelli is spread thin, worn down, dealing with slow cash flow, and considering going back to work for someone else.

In this episode of Contractor Secrets, Tanner sits down with Joe and breaks down what he would change if he were rebuilding Joe’s business from the ground up.

The biggest recommendation?

Simplify.

Instead of trying to sell and fulfill every type of remodeling project, Tanner makes the case for niching down into residential painting and building a business around one repeatable service.

They break down:

→ Why general remodeling can be incredibly difficult to systemize

→ The advantage of specializing in one service

→ Why repetition creates better systems

→ Sales, marketing, production & administration

→ Why painting can create a faster iteration cycle

→ How Joe could transition into painting

→ Using subcontractors when you're getting started

→ Why the owner doesn't need to do the painting

→ Building a business around your strengths

→ Creating predictable marketing and sales

→ How specialization makes training easier

→ Why focus matters when you're trying to build momentum

→ Tanner's “burn the boats” approach

→ Building a business around the life you actually want

CHAPTERS:

00:00 “I’m Considering Working for Someone Again”

01:14 Meet Joe Altobelli

03:51 Why Joe Is Burned Out

05:50 The Problem With General Remodeling

08:09 You’re Not Starting From Zero

09:08 Why Niching Down Matters

10:11 The 4 Pillars of a Business

11:11 Why Tanner Recommends Painting

12:03 The Simple Painting Business Playbook

12:59 Can Painting Work in a Cold Climate?

13:55 You Don’t Need to Do the Painting

15:09 Why Specialization Makes Marketing Easier

17:00 Building a Repeatable Business

21:56 Starting With Subcontractors

24:53 Joe’s Bigger Reason for Building a Business

28:27 Fear, Risk & Starting Over

33:39 Turning Fear Into Action

34:58 Should Joe Keep Taking Remodeling Jobs?

35:17 Why Tanner Says “Burn the Boats”

37:35 Final Advice

Joe has already spent four years learning how to work with homeowners, sell projects, manage construction and deliver great customer experiences.

The question isn't whether he has to start over.

It's whether simplifying the business could finally allow him to use everything he's already learned.

Start your Free 14 Day Trial for Routemize - https://routemize.com/

Coaching Session Signup: https://calendly.com/dripjobs/breakthrough

Purchase the 31 Days of Value and build an EMPIRE:

https://www.amazon.com/31-Days-Value-home-service-businesses/dp/B0FQSH32X7

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2v0D0SNSBofqJJE6zApEE1

DripJobs Demo: https://calendly.com/dripjobsteam/dripjobsdemo

Gusto: https://gusto.com/i/tanner269

OpenPhone: https://openph.one/referral/8Kc17aq

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/173750747824373/?ref=share

Follow me on Instagram: http://Instagram.com/officialtannermullen

#PaintingContractor #PaintingBusiness #PaintingSales #PaintingLeads #ContractorSales #ContractorSecrets