EnCircled: An Energy Circle Podcast

A timely voicemail shows Cassandra's commitment to the success of her clients (even during a supply shortage), and Jake and Cory invite Gabe Lieb and Zach Lawrence onto the show for the first-ever outside guest in this season finale. Zach and Gabe discuss the latest in California’s home electrification movement, including the state of rebate and incentive programs, and why what’s happening in California matters to contractors around the country.

Thank you for listening to EnCircled, and stay tuned to our mailing list and weekly webinars to learn when season three begins!

If you've got questions for the Energy Circle team, we want to answer them on the podcast! Email us directly at: [email protected]

Should you pay to have your digital ads displayed all across the internet in hopes of bringing traffic to your HVAC, home performance, or solar website, or should you focus your time on optimizing your website for organic search engine results? We talk with our fearless leader and Energy Circle CEO, Peter Troast about how these two tactics work, when the right time might be to use each strategy, and how these two rivers actually flow to the same ocean. Plus, Cassandra Hutcheson walks us through how seasonal marketing prep is like ordering a pumpkin spice latte in mid-July.

Tune in to the next episode for a special guest talking about using rebate and efficiency programs to market heat pumps and electrification!

If you've got questions for the Energy Circle team, we want to answer them on the podcast! Email us directly at: [email protected]

Are there any shortcuts to improving your website for online search results? Does it really matter if you end up on the first page? How long should it take to start seeing SEO results? What does the acronym "SEO" even mean? Jake Van Paepeghem, Cory Allyn, and Cassandra Hutcheson fire off the FAQs about SEO with one of our search engine optimization specialists, Abby Yolda. Plus, Cassandra walks us through how things have changed in the customer mindset since 2020, using a familiar medium that will have sports fans feeling right at home. 

If you've got questions for the Energy Circle team, we want to answer them on the podcast! Email us directly at: [email protected]

Why do you need good content on your website, and what are some common problems to avoid that will make your content better? Join us for a special round-table discussion with the Energy Circle content team - content writers Cory Allyn, Lily Collins, Emily Silverman, and Jake Van Paepeghem, moderated by our paid search specialist Cassandra Hutcheson. We discuss keyword research, on-page formatting, and the importance of avoiding too much technical jargon. 

Plus, Cassandra gets to ask all of her burning questions related to what it's like to write content for the HVAC, home performance, and solar industries!

Link to the "oddly satisfying" videos of spray foam installation: https://www.tiktok.com/@thefoamboys

If you've got questions for the Energy Circle team, we want to answer them on the podcast! Email us directly at: [email protected]

Local Services Ads have rolled out nearly everywhere, but that doesn't mean they are easy to deploy! Resident LSA wrangler Cassandra Hutcheson is here to share essential insights about this display ad option, and talk Jake and Cory through maximizing local visibility in the digital marketing sphere.

Download the LSA whitepaper referenced in this episode, here. 

Bonus content alert! :rotating_light: Are you dealing with a labor shortage and a fully booked calendar? The team has some tips on how smart customer service can keep leads alive even when you're booking out months in advance.

If you've got questions for the Energy Circle team, we want to answer them on the podcast! Email us directly at: [email protected]

Recruiting has emerged as the primary issue for many sectors, but the HVAC, home performance,  better building, and solar industries are no stranger to issues with finding good help. Jake, Cassandra, and Cory bring in our resident recruiting and candidate experience expert, Caylin Henderson to talk about how you can put your digital marketing efforts to work finding better candidates and securing a capable workforce that allows your business to grow. 

Plus, Cassandra is able to provide some red flags to look out for when dealing with the snake-oil salespeople trying to pitch you a marketing agency that is too good to be true.

If you've got questions for the Energy Circle team, we want to answer them on the podcast! Email your questions to: [email protected]

For many contractors, reviews are the most important tool in showing trust to potential customers online, and for some, a bad review is like a bad spring break tattoo — it happened a long time ago, it won't go away, and it's hard to cover up. In this episode of EnCircled, Jake and Cory chat with Energy Circle local SEO specialists Ian Hammond about the importance of reviews, how Google sees reviews, how to get more reviews for your own business, and how to handle the negative ones when they come (and they will come). Plus, Senior PPC Strategist Cassandra Hutcheson wraps with Jake about your PPC analytics are like a Hollywood call sheet during "Sh*t Cassandra Says". 

If you've got questions for the Energy Circle team, we want to answer them on the podcast! Email your questions to: [email protected]

Have you ever slogged through the process of setting up your own Google Ads account, only to get frustrated with the lack of results? Energy Circle PPC strategist Dora Leav, and Senior PPC strategist Cassandra Hutcheson talk to Jake and Cory about three of the common mistakes they see when it comes to preparing search engine marketing campaigns for an HVAC, solar, home performance, or better building business — including all the football metaphors you could ever need. 

If you've got questions for the Energy Circle team, we want to answer them on the podcast! Email your questions to: [email protected]

Welcome to Season 2 of EnCircled! There have been some changes around here, and we are feeling very hopeful about the year to come. Joining us is Senior PPC Strategist Cassandra Hutcheson with a Rom-Com style take on her interactions with Google Ad Reps, and Senior Content Producer Jake Van Paepeghem and Senior Content Strategist Cory Allyn discuss the state of streaming ads, and which streaming service(s) are the most viable for the HVAC, home performance, and better building industries when it comes to generating affordable, qualified leads. 

If you've got questions for the Energy Circle team, we want to answer them on the podcast! Email your questions to: [email protected]

One of our favorite year-end traditions here at Energy Circle is Peter Troast's ritual of predicting what the next year might hold when it comes to digital marketing in the better building industry. Even after the least-precedented year in modern memory, Josh, Jake, and Energy Circle CEO Peter Troast take the last episode of season one to comb through Peter's predictions for 2021, noting what predictions he got right last year, as well as some other marketing tips and best practices for HVAC, home performance, and solar contractors.

If you've got questions for the Energy Circle team, we want to answer them on the podcast! Email your questions to: [email protected]