For referral heavy businesses
A second source of clients, so you are not waiting on referrals.
Most referral businesses have no say in when the next client shows up. I run Google Ads that bring in people already searching for you, so your schedule stops depending on who remembers your name.
Two sources of clients
What you get
- 01Search ads People already looking for what you do
- 02YouTube and Gmail ads Your offer in front of the right people
- 03Ads across all of Google Built last, on what the first two learned
- +A short quiz Sorts the ready-to-hire from the just-looking
- Running Google Ads since 2003
- Author of The Second Engine
- Built my own lead-sorting software
Sound familiar?
Three walls you keep hitting.
Your work is good. People send you their friends. That is still not a plan.
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Wall one
Referrals come when they come.
Referred clients are good clients. But you cannot turn referrals up. Some months the phone rings. Some months it does not. You cannot plan a schedule around that.
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Wall two
Ads brought the wrong people.
Maybe you tried ads. Maybe you only priced them out. Either way the worry is the same. Money goes out, and the people who come in are not the ones you want.
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Wall three
You sort the tire-kickers yourself.
Everyone who responds gets the same page and the same offer. So the ready-to-hire and the just-looking all land on you, and you sort them by hand, on your own time.
The real problem is the waiting.
You built a good business. You should not have to hope the phone rings. Change nothing and next year looks like this one: good months, slow months, and no way to tell which is coming.
How it works
Three campaigns. Built in order.
Built in order, so each one starts with what the last one learned.
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Search
Your ad shows to people already searching for what you do. This is built first, because these are the people most ready to call.
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Demand Gen
Built second. Your offer shows up on YouTube, Gmail and Discover, in front of people who look like the ones Search already brought in.
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Performance Max
Built last. It runs across all of Google, using what the first two campaigns learned about who becomes a lead.
Then the quiz.
Everyone who responds answers a few questions. Their answers decide what they see next, so you only spend time on people ready to hire. I built the software for this myself. It is called HelloCarson.
If it is not a fit, I will tell you on the call.
Proof
What this looks like for a client.
He is no longer waiting on referrals.
- 40% of his Google Ads leads closed
- $9,300 average job value
- 50% profit margin
- $28k/week from Google Ads alone
Results vary with offer, market, spend, and whether you follow up on the leads. Your close rate and job value may not be Jeff's, but the mechanism is the same. Results disclaimer.
[REPLACE: Client quote, two sentences. What it was like before, what it is like now.]
Who you would be talking to
A quiet phone does not mean your work is bad.
It means you are running on one engine.
I'm Patrick. I have run Google Ads since 2003. Most of the people I work with run referral heavy businesses and want a more consistent flow of clients.
- Running Google Ads since 2003.
- Wrote "The Second Engine."
- Built HelloCarson, the quiz software that sorts leads.
The $500 validation test
This method started with a $500 Google Ads test. It told a software client in a week what six figures of software could not: whether anyone wanted the thing.
Read the full story, and why it is called Tech GuysThe long version
The Second Engine
How to Stop Waiting on Referrals to Fill Your Schedule.
Referrals are your first engine. They are good, and you do not control them. This book is about building the second one. The one you control.
Get The Second EngineFair questions
Questions owners ask me.
Is this for a business like mine?
It is for referral heavy businesses that want a more consistent flow of clients. If most of your work comes from word of mouth and your schedule swings because of it, this was built for you.
Why three campaigns? Why that order?
Search goes first because those people are already looking. Demand Gen is built on what Search learned. Performance Max goes last, with what both learned. Skip the order and the later campaigns have nothing to work from.
How does the quiz work?
Everyone who responds to an ad answers a few questions. Their answers decide what they see next, so people ready to hire get one offer and people just looking get another. I built the software for this. It is called HelloCarson.
How much will I need to spend on ads?
It depends on your business and your market. Ad spend is separate and paid by you, and it can start as low as $10 a day. We talk through what makes sense for you on the call.
Do you guarantee results?
No. Nobody who runs ads honestly can. What I can do is show you what I build, the order I build it in, and why.
What happens after I ask for a call?
Your request comes to me by email. I get back to you to set a time. On the call we talk about your business, where your clients come from now, and whether this method fits. If it does not fit, I will tell you.
When you are ready
Build your second engine.
The goal is a schedule you can plan. Referrals keep coming. They are just no longer the only thing coming.
Or you can keep hoping the phone rings.
The plan
- Request a call. Tell me a little about your business.
- We map it together. Where your clients come from now, and whether this fits.
- I build it. You own the ad accounts. No retainer.
Rather talk now? Call Patrick at 859-251-8535