Karter Otte of Pickup Lines Striping

The Kid With The Rattle Can

Karter Otte started out repainting faded parking stalls by hand for extra money in college. Two years later, his striping business did six figures in one summer.

8 min read

A fatal roof fall shows why skylights need a safety plan

A Washington roofer died after falling through an unguarded skylight. The state says the company had not identified the hazard or trained workers on it, a reminder that roof safety checks must cover skylights as well as edges.

Treat utility rebates like a job process, not a discount

With the federal 25C credit ended, some HVAC customers now rely on utility rebates. Contractors need to check each program’s dates, paperwork, equipment rules and payment lag before promising a rebate or carrying the cost.

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  1. How To Be A Big Brother

    Days after Aaron Graves quit his job to start his own law firm, he found out his second child was on the way.

    Service Providers6 min read

  2. The Cowboy Who Designs and Builds Homes That Last

    Alec Calzada wanted to be a cowboy, then a cartoonist. He grew up to be both in a way: riding his own path, drawing worlds on paper, and then building them for real. It all started with the cheesiest photo he'd ever seen.

    Service Providers8 min read

  3. Who Is Luke Holle? The Superboy Construction Story

    Luke Holle is the owner of Superboy Construction, a Lincoln tile company. He started it with one truck and finished the 763,000-tile Pershing mural this summer.

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  4. The shortlist is three names long

    Most people compare three or fewer businesses before they decide. If you are not one of the three, you are not in the running.

    Search4 min read

  5. Most searches end without a click. Your Google profile is the website now.

    About two out of three Google searches end on Google. For a service business, that makes the free profile the front door and the website the back office.

    Search4 min read

  6. Your quote page is your best salesperson. Most sites do not have one.

    People standing in a flooded kitchen do not fill out contact forms. They want a number and a time.

    Website3 min read

  7. Reviews older than three months stop counting

    97% of people still read reviews. 74% only trust the ones written in the last three months. A five-star average from 2024 is not doing what you think it is.

    Reviews4 min read

  8. “I’ll post tomorrow” is the most expensive sentence in home services

    Most small businesses spend one to ten hours a week on marketing. The ones that spend zero are not saving time. They are borrowing against next month’s calendar.

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