Google vs. Facebook Leads: What 21 Years Teaches - Eric Soles, Landscape Pro | Everyday Excellence

Eric Soles quit his corporate job the morning after casually mentioning to his wife that he was thinking about starting a landscaping business. Twenty-one years later, ITM Landscape is one of North Atlanta's trusted names in backyard transformations, and Eric has developed a very clear picture of exactly where his best leads come from. In this episode of Everyday Excellence, Todd Baldwin of Everyday Media Group sits down with Eric for a deep and honest conversation about what two decades in the home service industry actually teaches you about marketing, lead quality, financial discipline, and building a team that lasts. Topics covered in this episode: Why answering every phone call is still one of the most overlooked marketing moves in the trades Google leads vs. Facebook leads: the honest difference in quality and what to expect from each The Facebook autofill problem that generates fake leads and how to turn it off How ITM Landscape received a lead from ChatGPT and what drives AI search recommendations The red flags that reveal a bad marketing agency before they waste your budget Google Ads mechanics most contractors and business owners do not know about Why Google's double daily budget rule matters and what to do about it The financial discipline behind 21 years: knowing your overhead, charging credit card surcharges, and holding your minimum How Eric builds culture inside ITM Landscape and handles hard employee conversations What Eric would tell a 24-year-old starting a service business from scratch Whether you are a landscaper, a general contractor, or any home service business owner, this episode covers the practical decisions that separate businesses that grow from ones that grind without getting anywhere. Find Eric Soles / ITM Landscape: Website: itmlandscape.com Find Everyday Media Group: Website: everydaymediagroup.com LinkedIn: Todd Baldwin | Everyday Media Group Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction and what ITM Landscape does 1:50 - North Atlanta backyard makeovers and the design-install-maintenance model 2:25 - The corporate career Eric left behind and why 5:00 - Quitting his job the morning after telling his wife (the story) 6:45 - What fueled the early years: freedom, prove-em-wrong energy 11:30 - The grind of the first few years: mowing days, selling nights 14:45 - Why answering the phone from day one was non-negotiable 16:00 - How important his wife's MBA background was to the business 27:30 - What separates profitable landscape companies from struggling ones 30:00 - Pricing, overhead management, and holding the minimum 31:50 - The 3% credit card surcharge and why there was almost no pushback 33:45 - How the 2026 season is going and what Eric is excited about 40:05 - Google Ads, Facebook, local service ads, and the full digital mix 40:45 - Google leads vs. Facebook leads: the quality difference 43:00 - The Facebook autofill problem most advertisers miss 49:00 - Eric's experience with bad marketing agencies 52:00 - Seasonal Google Ads strategy: when to run, when to dial back 53:00 - Why you should never cold-pause a Google campaign 55:40 - Transparency and what a good agency relationship looks like 58:00 - AI leads from ChatGPT: what is driving them and what contractors need 01:04:40 - Culture inside ITM Landscape and building the right team 01:08:00 - How to handle hard conversations with employees 01:10:35 - Where ITM Landscape is headed in the next three to five years 01:13:20 - What still excites Eric after 21 years 01:14:10 - One liners: Pressure is privilege 01:26:00 - Final advice for a young person starting their own business #LandscapeMarketing #GoogleVsFacebook #HomeServiceMarketing #ContractorMarketing #EverydayExcellence #EverydayMediaGroup #AtlantaLandscape #ITMLandscape #GoogleAds #FacebookLeads #AILeads #SmallBusiness #BackyardMakeover #ContractorLife #DigitalMarketing