Eric Y.

Eric is a co-founder of Protocol. He reports the stories on this site and talks with the owners behind every business in the Registry.

Owner LifeSep 8, 20262 min read

Addressing the skilled trades labor shortage

Service business owners face a growing labor shortage in skilled trades. New training models aim to meet this demand.

Service ProvidersSep 7, 20267 min read

He Would Have Told Everybody About It

When Luke Holle first started his business, he called his father almost every day. This summer, he finished the biggest job of his life without him.

WebsiteSep 6, 20263 min read

The twenty-minute Google Business Profile most owners never finish

The free listing that two thirds of your customers see first usually has last year’s hours, three photos, and no services. Here is the short version of fixing it.

SearchSep 5, 20264 min read

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.

WebsiteSep 5, 20263 min read

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.

SearchSep 4, 20265 min read

Half of your customers now ask an AI who to call

In one year, the share of people using AI tools to find a local business went from 6% to 45%. Here is what those tools look at before they say your name.

Owner LifeSep 4, 20262 min read

The two photos every job needs

Before and after. Same angle, same spot, thirty seconds apart. It is the most convincing marketing a service business can make, and it costs nothing.

SearchSep 3, 20264 min read

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.

ReviewsSep 2, 20264 min read

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.

VisibilitySep 2, 20263 min read

Apple Maps, Bing, and the directories nobody checks

Google gets the attention, but iPhones route through Apple Maps, Alexa asks Bing, and the assistants cross-check all of them. A mismatch on any one reads as risk.

Owner LifeSep 1, 20263 min read

Your camera roll is a marketing department that never clocked in

The photos are already taken. The jobs are already done. The only thing missing is the ten minutes nobody has.

Owner LifeAug 31, 20264 min read

“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.

VisibilityAug 29, 20263 min read

Word of mouth still works. It just gets checked first.

A referral used to be a phone number on a napkin. Now it is a search of your name, and what comes up decides whether the call happens.

Service ProvidersAug 28, 20264 min read

The husband-and-wife steam cleaners who outlasted the chains in Pembroke Pines

Tony Gomez started Extreme Steam in 2000 with one truck. Twenty-five years later he still runs the wand, his wife Gaby runs the office, and repeat customers still get their free bottle of Spot Out.