From Quitting to $1.5M In Less Than 1 Year: How a Deck Builder Turned His Marketing Efforts Into a Lead Engine
Case Study: Decks On Point (formerly known as Clean Cut Construction), a professional deck building and deck repair company in Indianapolis, IN
Table of Contents
In October 2024, a Reddit thread led Carter Oyler to us.
He was 21, running a brand-new decking company out of his parents’ basement, working 100+ hours a week, and living on two referral jobs a year.
He had a brand that no one remembered.
A placeholder website.
A Google Business Profile nobody could find.
There weren’t enough quality leads coming in, and that didn’t give him much choice. He priced low and underbid. It kept him busy and broke.
He was grinding harder than anyone around him, but grinding without a strategy just burns you out. Hustle only matters when it compounds, and at that point, it wasn’t compounding. It was draining him.
Carter was one bad month away from shutting the business down… until he partnered with us.
“When I would meet with the client, it was almost like they didn’t believe me that I was who I said I was, partly because I’m young, but also because there’s no marketing. I had nothing behind me. So it’s just me showing up with my little notepad and just trying to sell from nothing more or less.”
Fast forward 9 months:
- By July 2025, Carter had already topped his total 2024 revenue and raised his 2025 goal to $1.5M.
- The phones went from quiet to multiple leads per day, with a two-week streak of daily calls after the new website launch.
- He appears in the top local results for core deck-related terms.
- He bought a new trailer and upgraded field presence because cash flow supports it.
- He’s booking work from the website and Google Ads, not just referrals.
- He’s out of “every job is a must-win” mode and focused on delivering value at fair prices.
Scaling With Intent
In the fall of 2024, we set a major three-step plan in motion.
We weren’t looking to get Carter back on track. We wanted to put him on a way better path altogether.
Identity first
We turned the brand into one that people could ask for by name. Decks On Point. Short. Clear. Easy to tell a neighbor. Field branding that looks like it belongs on the nicest street in town. A website written in Carter’s voice so homeowners meet the person they will actually work with.
Be findable
Make every lead count
We set him up with tools that handle the follow-up. We can now track every lead with precision, so nothing slips through the cracks. We filter poor-quality leads from high-intent/high-value ones, so every dollar Carter spends on marketing has an ROI that makes sense
You don’t need to be young and restless to make it.
You don’t need perfect project photos.
You need a name people repeat, proof that shows up before the price, a map that favors your streets, and a handoff that answers fast.
When you do this, people find you.
When they find you, they believe you.
When they believe you, they book you.
When they book you, your price holds and you don’t need to compete on price.
When you don’t need to compete on price, the second crew and the winter plan stop being ideas and start being dates.
Turning Point #1: Move From Quiet Phones To A Lead Engine That Doesn’t Sleep
Carter wasn’t losing on craft. He was losing because nobody could find him.
No leads, no trust, no pipeline. So we ripped out the dead marketing engine and dropped in one that doesn’t sleep: a name that sticks, a site that converts, and ads that never clock out. December hit, and while other deck builders were begging for scraps, Carter’s phone rang for two weeks straight.
From March to July 2025, Carter’s business started showing up everywhere homeowners look. His Google profile wasn’t just sitting there anymore; it was actually working.
Calls, clicks, and messages shot up by 767%, and over 1,200% more local homeowners checked out his business.
That means way more people in his area found him online, trusted him, and reached out about building a deck without him chasing leads.
Turning Point #2: From Invisible Online To Found Everywhere Homeowners Look
Before we stepped in, Carter’s business was invisible. His website was a dead brochure, his Google profile was a ghost town, and homeowners saw him as “too new to trust.”
We rebuilt everything:
- Short, sticky brand that homeowners remember: Decks On Point.
- A website that spoke in his voice, with real jobs and a clear next step.
- Google profile tuned to rank, loaded with photos, ready for reviews.
Now, when homeowners search “deck builder,” Carter shows up where money’s already looking. They see proof, not promises. They click, they call, and he books jobs without chasing them.
Turning Point #3: “You Look Young” → “You Look Legit”
Homeowners weren’t saying it out loud, but you could see it on their faces: Carter looked too young to trust with a $30k backyard.
That objection wasn’t about age. It was about proof. So we stacked the deck in his favor:
- A gallery loaded with recent projects.
- Job notes that explained materials, timelines, and processes.
- Branding that matched across the board: truck, trailer, website.
Now, when a homeowner checks him out, they don’t see a kid.
They see a professional running a real business.
The “you look young” objection disappeared, and so did the discounts. Carter started winning jobs at full margin.
Because homeowners could see the process and the past work, they understood what goes into the job.
So they responded better to the price, which means Carter didn’t have to discount to be picked, and the margin came back.
Want A Brand That People Recognize And A Website That Builds Trust With Homeowners?
Turning Point #4: From Referrals Only To Multi-Channel Demand
Two referrals in a year isn’t a pipeline; it’s a business death sentence. Hope had to be replaced with dependable demand, or Carter would be out of business by the end of the year.
We added channels on purpose.
- Facebook to spark quick momentum.
- Google to catch buyers already searching.
- Brand search campaign, so when people typed his name, he won the click.
- SEO to make him look like the real deal online, building long-term trust.
- Local SEO to get him into that top Google box (the local map pack) with the map and phone number, in the spots homeowners click first.
- AI SEO to keep him showing up when people ask longer questions.
- Noise turned into names.
- Names turned into appointments.
- Appointments turned into jobs.
- The phone that once went quiet started ringing like a habit.
We create personalized ad dashboards for our clients so they can see the results without any friction.
Turning Point #5: Replace Winter Fear With A 12-Month Plan
Most deck builders freeze up in winter. Phones stop ringing, cash flow dries up, and crews sit idle. And their business goes into survival mode.
But at Contracting Empire, we always have a plan, even one to beat slow months. We don’t play survival. We play offense year-round.
To make sure Carter meets his new revenue goal, we are going in aggressively with some season-specific offers.
We sell what homeowners care about in the moment.
- “Free design” gets Carters into people’s homes and lets them see the deck before it exists.
- “Book before August 30th” gave early birds 10% off and locked clean timelines.
- “Winter build slots” in December, January, and February will keep the Decks On Point crew working when most deck builders stay idle.
Carter giving us feedback on the offers we’re running for him.
Turning Point #6: Switch Price Shyness To Actual Profit
Carter used to underbid just to win work, which meant no margin, no growth, and no breathing room. That wasn’t a pricing problem; it was a proof problem.
We fixed it by making proof unavoidable:
- Real jobs with clear outcomes right on the site.
- A rig on the street that matched the brand.
- Straight-line estimates that showed process and professionalism.
Turning Point #7: Forget Ops Friction, Think Clean Lead Tracking
- If a homeowner calls from a Google ad, we’ll know.
- If they fill out a form from the website or Facebook, we’ll know that too.
- Every call is recorded, every message is tracked, and nothing slips through the cracks.
Then, once the homeowner signs the contract, the job details automatically move over to JobTread so Carter can manage the build itself without double entry or lost info.
With our CRM systems in place, you can stop guessing where leads are coming from and stop losing them in messy follow-ups. Instead, you can see which ads are paying off, keep the crew busy year-round, and spend less time chasing paperwork.
Turning Point #8: Turn Out-of-Area Noise Into Local, Ready-to-Buy Calls
- We tightened his service area.
- Cut out the wrong towns and neighborhoods.
- Ran ads that only brought in the right homeowners.
Ads leads coming in over the span of 3 weeks.
The very next week, the noise was gone.
Familiar streets.
Shorter drives.
Better fits.
Same ad spend, better jobs, more profit.
That’s what happens when you aim your marketing like a sniper instead of spraying and praying.
Take Control Over your Lead Sources, Intake & Ad Spend
Turning Point #9: The Real Shift From Contractor to Business Owner
The biggest change wasn’t just in Carter’s leads or revenue. It was in how he showed up.
He stopped living job-to-job.
He stopped discounting just to stay busy.
He stopped hoping for referrals and started running a business.
That’s the real win. The shift from being just another deck guy to being the name homeowners trust, the one who controls his market instead of waiting on it.
That’s what happens when you stop playing small and start investing in growth.
25 Oct 2024
27 Oct 2024
15 Nov 2024
13 Dec 2024
Carter closes 1st job generated by the website.
Late Dec 2024
28 July 2025
Almost doubled last year’s sales, and increased the revenue goal to $1.5M for 2025.
11 Jun 2025
27 May 2025
Carter expressed being “mad impressed” with the significant SEO progress.
Apr 2025
4 Mar 2025
April 2025
27 May 2025
Carter expressed being “mad impressed” with the significant SEO progress.
11 June 2025
28 July 2025
Almost doubled last year’s sales, and increased the revenue goal to $1.5M for 2025.
“Spend the money. It’ll change your life. You’ll look back in six months and be like, that was a no-brainer.”
Carter Oyler – Owner of Decks On Point
This is where underbidding ends and market leadership begins
Here’s the truth: most deck builders stay stuck because they think $1k/mo is “marketing.”
That’s not marketing, that’s gambling. And 99% of gamblers lose.
We don’t work with gamblers.
If you’re scared to invest $5k-10k/mo into your business, close this page. We’re not for you.
But if you’re serious about breaking past $1M, if you’re done underbidding and ready to dominate your market, we’ll take you there.
We’ll build you into the deck builder homeowners trust with $30k+ backyards. We’ll make your phone ring year-round. And we’ll give you the system that funds the second crew, the winter builds, and the future you’ve been chasing.
Carter didn’t “get lucky.”
He invested. He committed. He crushed.
This is where underbidding ends and market leadership begins
Here’s the truth: most deck builders stay stuck because they think $1k/mo is “marketing.”
That’s not marketing, that’s gambling. And 99% of gamblers lose.
We don’t work with gamblers.
If you’re scared to invest $5k-10k/mo into your business, close this page. We’re not for you.
But if you’re serious about breaking past $1M, if you’re done underbidding and ready to dominate your market, we’ll take you there.
We’ll build you into the deck builder homeowners trust with $30k+ backyards. We’ll make your phone ring year-round. And we’ll give you the system that funds the second crew, the winter builds, and the future you’ve been chasing.
Carter didn’t “get lucky.” He invested. He committed. He crushed.
If you’re ready to do the same, let’s talk
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