Most tree guys don’t fail because they suck at the work.
They fail because they chase too many tactics with too little force.

A Facebook boost here. A new logo there.
A website build, but no traffic strategy.
Referrals? Sometimes. Door hangers? Maybe.

Everything sounds good - but nothing gets done well.

This week’s issue isn’t about doing more.
It’s about doing less and doing it on purpose.

Nicolas Taleb wrote about something called the "barbell strategy" in his book Antifragile.

While most financial experts preach diversification, Taleb says spreading things evenly is garbage strategy. Instead, you should load up the barbell: super-safe investments on one end, high-risk/high-reward on the other, and avoid the mushy middle completely.

This same concept will revolutionize how you think about marketing your tree service.

Left side of your marketing barbell: Rock-solid, traditional methods that have worked for decades. Truck lettering. Referral programs. Local networking. Insurance company relationships. These are your "government bonds" boring, reliable, steady ROI.

Right side: Cutting-edge digital marketing. Advanced Google and Facebook campaigns. SEO that actually works. Marketing automation that nurtures leads while you sleep. These are your "high-growth stocks" bigger risk, massive potential upside.

The dangerous middle: Half-hearted digital efforts. Cheap DIY websites. Running Facebook ads with zero strategy. Trying to do everything yourself. This is where most tree service owners get stuck and where businesses go to die.

Here's what most owners do wrong: they dabble. A little bit of everything, master of nothing. They'll spend $500 on a mediocre website, $200/month on random Facebook ads, and wonder why their phone isn't ringing.

Pick a side. Go hard on proven traditional methods while you're building your digital muscle. Or lean into modern marketing if you're ready to scale fast. But stop wasting money in the middle.

→ TCI EXPO 2025. Nov 6-8 Are you going?

Tree service owners everywhere are making the same fatal mistake.

They'll spend $300 on a basic website template, $150/month on Google ads they set up themselves, $50 on some random Facebook boost, and $200 on truck decals from their buddy's print shop.

Then they wonder why nothing's working.

You're being scattered.

That $700/month you're wasting on mediocre everything could fund either a killer referral program that doubles your word-of-mouth business, OR a properly managed digital campaign that brings in qualified leads every week.

But you can't have both. Not yet.

I watch tree services try to do "a little Google, a little Facebook, a little direct mail" and end up with a little bit of nothing.

Pick your barbell. Master one end before you touch the other.

The companies crushing it aren't doing more things. They're doing fewer things better.

→ Want us to look at your marketing and show you how to get an extra 3-5 jobs per week? Book a $100 consult. Refundable if it's not worth 10x that. All you have to do is ask.

Written by Jacob Hastings
Head of Growth & Client Strategy at Growth Ring Media