Lee Rowley - Marketing & Strategy

03/09/2026

We're done threatening. This podcast is happening.

But you get to pick the logo.

So mysterious blue?

Cyber green?

Meltdown red?

Our future is in your hands...

WHICH PODCAST LOGO?

We're done threatening. This podcast is happening.

But it's up to you to pick the final logo.

So what'll it be?

Mysterious blue?

Cyber green?

Meltdown red?

Our fate is in your hands...

03/06/2026

Something interesting is happening before buyers ever talk to a builder.
They’re talking to AI first.

A recent survey from John Burns Research & Consulting found that 66% of consumers have already used AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity to research homes or communities.

And they’re not just asking basic questions.

People are using AI to:
🔎 Understand the home buying process
🏠 Explore neighborhoods and communities
⚖️ Compare builders, features, and options

Which means something subtle is changing in the building process.
By the time a buyer talks to a builder, they may already have:

🏠 A floor plan in mind
💵 A price range modeled
⚖️ Trade-offs explored
🔗Several communities shortlisted

That’s a pretty big shift in how housing decisions get made.

In other words, AI may now be the first consultant in the homebuilding journey.

Not the builder.
Not the agent.
Not the sales center.

AI.

Curious what builders are seeing on the ground.

Are buyers actually showing up with AI-generated floor plans or research yet?

Source: John Burns Research & Consulting, Sept 2025

03/02/2026

Most business owners think tighter ad targeting = better results.

We tested that.

Same ad. Same budget. Same offer.

Only difference was targeting.

Ad A: Hyper-specific audience. Age, gender, income, interests, behaviors.

Ad B: Broad. 35+. United States.

That’s it.

Result?

Broad targeting dropped our cost per landing page view from $0.55 to $0.15.

That’s a 73% reduction.

Same creative. Same offer.

So what changed?

Three practical things:

1. The algorithm is better at pattern recognition than we are.
When you stack interests and demographics, you’re guessing.
When you go broader, the platform can actually optimize based on behavior.

2. Smaller audiences get expensive fast.
Limited pool = higher frequency = ad fatigue. That drives costs up whether you notice it or not.

3. If your message is clear, you don’t need to micromanage the audience.

When the offer is strong and specific, the system can find the right people.

When the message is weak, targeting has to carry the load.
Most local businesses I see in these groups are trying to fix targeting when the real issue is the offer or the messaging.

If your ads feel expensive, it’s not always because “Facebook doesn’t work.”

Sometimes it’s because the signal isn’t strong enough.

Anyway, thought this test was interesting.
Happy to answer questions if anyone’s running ads right now.

02/09/2026

AI came for my job.

I spent a decade as a copywriter. Stayed in my lane. Did well enough that I never had to chase clients.

Then came ChatGPT, Claude, and a flood of “good enough” copy. Clients rushed to replace writers with tools. And honestly? In many cases, it worked.

Not brilliantly. But well enough to change the game.

I moved into creative marketing strategy, agency-side, working on Google AdMob. That’s where things got… illuminating.

Here’s the part most business owners still don’t see:

People are now using AI to evaluate and choose local service businesses.

Not just search engines. Not just ads.

AI.

And if your business doesn’t show up clearly, credibly, and consistently in those systems, you’re quietly losing customers. No alerts. No warnings. Just fewer calls.

I’ve partnered with Alex McDowell at A3 Innovation to help fix that.

We help businesses make AI work for them, so they’re not completely dependent on Google ads to be found and trusted.

If you run a local service business and want people to find you, trust you, and choose you in an AI-driven world, let’s talk.

a3illc.com