$120K signed in his first full month. 76% close rate.

Busy on referrals. No way to grow past that.

Juan Martinez has been a contractor for over 15 years. He started as an electrician, moved into carpentry, and eventually built MLA Contracting into a general contracting business specializing in kitchen and bathroom remodels, plus a commercial side building restaurant kiosks.

In his words: "I stayed busy, but I wasn't able to grow. Personally I could stay busy, but in order to expand or to make anything happen any more than just keeping myself busy, it just wasn't there."

His work came almost entirely from word of mouth. People knew him, trusted him, referred him. But referrals have a ceiling, and Juan had hit it.

Month-to-month. No lock-in. Put your money where your mouth is.

Juan came to us through a referral. What made him pull the trigger was the terms. In his words: "When you told me it's month to month, I'm not going to hold you to anything. I'm like, all right, well I like that. Put your money where your mouth is. I'm all about that."

He'd never worked with a marketing agency before. He treated it as a trial. "I really didn't have any expectations. I kind of put you on as a trial basis to see what you could do for me." No long contract. No commitment beyond results.

Video ads that made homeowners feel like they already knew him.

We built Juan's system around his biggest strength: his presence on camera. He's confident, knowledgeable, and comes across as someone you'd trust in your home. So we leaned into video ads showing his work and his personality.

The ads were targeted to homeowners in the Corpus Christi area looking for kitchen and bathroom remodels. We set up a qualification form, automated follow-up messages, and a CRM so Juan could see every lead from first click to signed contract.

The instant follow-up was key. Juan said: "Once a client hits that get-a-quote button, you're sending messages instantly. I really like that." His leads were warm before he even picked up the phone.

First full month: $120K signed. Then a $76K job stolen from a competitor.

Juan started in September 2025. His first full month was October. From the interview: "For October we did a little over $120,000 is what we signed on." All from ad-generated leads.

His close rate from ads was 76%. For context, most contractors close 20-35% of their ad leads. Juan was closing more than three out of four.

One story stands out. A homeowner had already gotten quotes from another contractor and was about to hire them. But Juan's video ads kept showing up on her Facebook. She called him anyway. In Juan's words: "She goes, I'm not psychic, but there's something that's drawing me to you and I have to have you give me a bid. And we took that job from the other guy. It's a $76,000 job we took away from the other guy."

The video ads weren't just generating leads. They were building trust before Juan ever walked through the door.

Juan runs a remodeling company, not hardscape. The system works across trades.

MLA Contracting does kitchens, bathrooms, and commercial buildouts. Not hardscape. But the system is the same: targeted ads, pre-qualification, automated follow-up, and a CRM that tracks everything from first click to closed contract.

To date, Juan has closed over $295,000 in revenue from roughly $6,300 in ad spend. That's a 46x return. He's cherry-picking residential leads because the volume is high enough to be selective. He's also landed a commercial opportunity through an investor looking at 20 restaurant conversions.

We focus on hardscape because that's where our deepest expertise is. But the pre-qualification system and ad strategy work for any contractor selling $20K+ projects. Juan is proof of that.

When asked if another contractor should work with us, Juan said: "Give him a shot. What do you got to lose? The value that you get in return is pennies compared to what you have to pay."