The Sharp Edge Podcast

Welcome to The Sharp Edge Podcast


The Sharp Edge Podcast is a 20 to 30 minute show dedicated to providing practical and actionable marketing and business advice for painting contractors. If you listen to this podcast, you will learn more about everything from marketing to customer service to hiring. We strive to cover both foundational and timely topics.

Your days can be crazy busy and your time is valuable. We hope that you can take away at least one tactic from each episode and be able to apply it to your painting business to help you grow and succeed.

Thank you for taking the time to visit this page and we hope that you enjoy The Sharp Edge Podcast!

Episode 1: Defining Your Marketing Voice as a Painting Contractor

Have you taken the time to think about the personality of your painting business and how it affects your ability to attract and keep customers?

How do you represent your business on your website, through reviews and in the community? Does it represent reality?

Episode 2: What Are Your Google Reviews Doing for You?

Why are your online reviews so important for your painting business? Because customers write feedback and potential customers make decisions based on those reviews.

In this episode, we focus on the importance of having Google Reviews and how to effectively use them.

Episode 3: Customer Service

Without customers you have no business. But when you are being pulled in five different directions it can be difficult to give a customer the time and attention they deserve. It’s important to remember that your reputation is at stake every time you are interacting with a customer or potential customer.

In this episode, we discuss the customer and what they are looking for when it comes to great customer service. We talk about three specific areas of customer service – everyday communication, your employees and the final walkthrough. Take a listen now!

Episode 4: Everything You Wanted to Know about Google My Business

We take a deep dive into Google My Business.

Why do professional painting contractors need a Google My Business (GMB) profile? How do you set up or update your GMB profile? How can you optimize your GMB profile to be found online?

In this episode, we are answering questions about your Google My Business Profile. Here is a link to the Google My Business blog referenced during the podcast – How Important is Google My Business for Painting Contractors?

Episode 5: Pay-Per-Click and Google Ads

In this episode, we are talking about Pay-Per-Click and Google Ads. We provide basic tips and warnings for those who are thinking about starting with Google Ads from scratch. We also address in-depth questions related to utilizing Google Ads and share some experiences to hopefully help you learn from our mistakes.

Episode 6: Recruiting Employees

There’s no doubt finding the right people and hiring them is a hard job. We cover the importance of understanding your potential employees’ wants and needs, why you always need to be recruiting, and why you definitely don’t want to go into the grocery store hungry.

Episode 7: Five Common SEO Mistakes

When we hear painting contractors tell us “My website isn’t working,” it’s usually because of one of these common SEO (search engine optimization) mistakes. Listen to this podcast to learn how to avoid these mistakes, and what to do if you’ve already made them.

Episode 8: Optimizing Your Website for Voice Search

In this episode, Martin and Bekah cover how to optimize your website for voice search. They walk through the difference between voice and text search while providing key examples of how to optimize for both.

Unfortunately, there are a number of “marketing firms” out there that would have you believe that you should pay them a lot of money to help you optimize for voice search. Please don’t give them any of your money. Instead listen today for your answers on optimizing your website for voice search!

Episode 9: How To Avoid Cyber Attacks

Did you know that there were 2,244 cyberattacks per day in 2020? That is one every 36 seconds. You might think small businesses like your painting business are not targets. That’s exactly what cybercriminals want you to think.

In this episode, Martin and Bekah talk about four warning signs you need to watch out for to protect your painting business and yourself from a cyber attack. Listen today!

Episode 10: Three Step Process to be Found and Chosen Online

When it comes to leveraging your website to help you be found and chosen online, you have to think of the steps a potential customer takes to get there. In this episode, Martin and Bekah go beyond SEO and talk about the three-step process that consumers use to find and contact a local service business online. You won’t want to miss this!

Episode 11: A Shake Up in the Local Pack

What is the Local Pack and why does it matter for professional painting contractors?

When it comes to your web presence and search engine results pages (SERPs), it can be easy to confuse the many different elements. In this episode we focus on one of those elements – the Local Pack – and why it’s so important for your painting business.

Episode 12: Google Reviews: How and What to Ask For

Google reviews are often the differentiator between you and the competition in your area. Your customers rely on reading reviews to make their decision on what painting contractors to call. In this episode, Martin and Bekah cover how to ask happy customers to post online reviews for your painting business and what to ask them to include.

Episode 13: Hiring, Technology and Industry Outlook with APC’s Emily Howard

Martin and Bekah had their first guest appearance from Emily Howard, the Editor-in-Chief of American Painting Contractor, and also from the podcast – Paint Radio. Emily covered everything from issues within the painting industry today to creative approaches for hiring to APC’s upcoming TechFest!

Episode 14: Employer Branding and Company Culture

In this episode, Martin and Bekah chat about reframing one of the biggest challenges in the professional painting industry – recruiting and hiring. As an employer, you are competing for employees not just with other painting contractors, but with everyone else who is hiring in your area. That’s what makes employer branding all the more important – it can give you a big advantage in the labor market.

Episode 15: Google Is Changing the Search Experience for Local Services: What that Means for Painting Contractors

Google recently made a change in their search engine results pages that could exponentially increase the importance of actively managing your Google Business Profile (formerly known as Google My Business). It’s likely to significantly reward painting contractors who put the time into optimizing the profile and thoroughly punish those who don’t.

Martin and Bekah dive into what they know about the up-and-coming Google Business Profile and how to best utilize it as a professional painting contractor.

Episode 16 – Want More Customers? Use Their Preferred Communication Method

With so many different ways to communicate with customers, it can be difficult to juggle them all. The good news is that a recent survey sheds some light on how consumers prefer to be able to contact local businesses. The better news may be that the results of the survey show that you can focus on a smaller number of communication methods, especially if you are in a market with older potential customers.

Martin and Bekah walk through the survey results specifically in relation to painting contractors.

Episode 17: Reviews! How Many Is Enough? What Happens Next?

How many consumers read reviews?

What matters most to consumers when they read reviews?

How many positive reviews does a consumer have to read before they will give a business a try?

After reading enough positive reviews to be interested in a business, what do consumers most often do next?

Get the answers to these questions and more! We take a deep dive into the recently released Impact of Local Business Reviews on Consumer Behavior report by Moz, which features a survey they had conducted with 1,300 people in September 2022.

Episode 18: Crank Up Your Facebook Impact By Using the Three E’s

Facebook had 182 million active users in July 2022. Whether you like it or not, your target audience is on Facebook, which means you should be on Facebook. But how do you use Facebook well to connect with that audience?

During this podcast we provide tips and insights on how to leverage Facebook to connect with potential customers by applying the 80/20 rule and using the three E’s. If you’ve struggle to use Facebook productively for your painting business or haven’t started, this episode can help.

Episode 19: How Virtual Sales Increases Efficiency and Creates a Better Customer Experience with Jeff Wraley of Groundwork

Managing lead flow and qualifying leads so you spend time with the potential customers who will be the best fit for your business can be difficult for all painting contractors. That’s especially true in the busy season.

More and more painting contractors are turning to technology to help them increase efficiency and prioritize. Jeff Wraley the Founder and CEO of Groundwork joins us on the podcast to talk about the major benefits of virtual sales utilizing videos. Not only does this approach benefit painting contractors, it also leads to a better customer experience.

If you are considering virtual sales, or if you have in the past but were concerned that virtual sales would be impersonal, we encourage you to listen to the podcast to hear great data and information from Jeff.

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