OWNR OPS Podcast

Hosted by Austin Gray @theownerop

Business EntrepreneurshipInterviews guests

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Episodes

149

Latest episode

Aug 2026

Language

EN-US

About the show

The OWNR OPS Podcast is for land‑clearing and forestry‑mulching owner‑operators who want a real business, not just a busy machine. If you’ve got at least one real machine and you’re stuck under ~$100k/month, we break down the Price–Pipeline–Playbook OS: - PRICE – crew‑day math, bids, and minimums - PIPELINE – Google, Facebook, and follow‑up - PLAYBOOK – weekly scoreboards, scheduling, hiring Real numbers, teardown episodes, and simple frameworks you can steal and install.

Listen to episodes

60 recent

August 21, 202639 min

How to Make Sure Your Land Clearing Ads Are Always Profitable

💰Apply for OPS Accelerator ➡️ https://ownrops.com/accelerator 📞 Quo: Never miss a lead — Quo answers your calls with AI and syncs call summaries straight into your CRM➡️ Get 20% off your first 3 months of Quo here: https://get.quo.com/ownrops Content gets attention. Ads get clicks. But if nobody's following up in the first five minutes, you're paying for leads that book with somebody else. This episode closes out our 3-part workshop series with Jacob Neffendorf of Rise Online Ads, connecting content, ads, and follow-up into one working system. What you'll learn: The signals that tell you your ad creative is fatigued — before your cost per lead spikes The exact rule for killing a dead ad instead of riding it down How to scale ad spend without breaking your results (the 20% rule and horizontal scaling) Why speed to lead — contacting a new lead in under 5 minutes — can 4x your close rate 🔥 Services We Use 🔥We use Jobber to handle our estimates, scheduling, & invoicing➡️ Get 20% off Jobber here: https://go.getjobber.com/ownrops 💰 Bookkeeping: Get 50% off bookkeeping for 3 months with the Home Service Bookkeeping Pros: https://dialedinbookkeeping.com/ownrops 🚀 Get ranked #1 On Google With Stryker SEO: https://stryker-digital.com/?el=oo Want to learn more about starting and scaling your own service-based business?📩 Sign up for the OWNR OPS Newsletter: → https://ownrops.com/newsletter Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more episodes with blue collar entrepreneurs sharing their best insights and growth tips!

August 16, 202650 min

The 3-Part Formula for Land Clearing Ads That Convert

Jacob Neffendorf is back for week two of the marketing workshop series, and this time he's covering ads that actually work. Most land clearing companies are still paying to test creative , Jacob explains why the platforms have already done that testing for you, for free, if you're posting organic content. What you'll learn: The anatomy of a high-converting ad: stop the scroll, tell the story, give a clear call to action Why lead forms outperform landing pages for land clearing ads Real cost-per-lead benchmarks from years of land clearing ad spend ($30–40/lead average, sub-$25 possible) How much you should actually be spending on ads at each stage A live case study: how Jacob turned a 7,000-view organic post into $6-per-lead ad results overnight Jobber vs. GoHighLevel — which CRM setup actually matters (spoiler: pick one and move on) 🔥 Services We Use 🔥 We use Jobber to handle our estimates, scheduling, & invoicing➡️ Get 20% off Jobber here: https://go.getjobber.com/ownrops 📞 Quo: Never miss a lead — Quo answers your calls with AI and syncs call summaries straight into your CRM ➡️ Get 20% off your first 3 months of Quo here: https://get.quo.com/ownrops 🚀 Get ranked #1 on Google with Stryker Digital: https://stryker-digital.com/?el=oo Want to learn more about starting and scaling your own service-based business? 📩 Sign up for the OWNR OPS Newsletter: → https://ownrops.com/newsletter Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more episodes with blue collar entrepreneurs sharing their best insights and growth tips!

August 15, 2026Episode 331 hr 38 min

From Zero to $172k in One Month: JT's First 5 Months in Land Clearing

Five months ago, JT was working a $90K W2 job. Today, he just closed $172,500 in a single month running his land clearing business — and he's breaking down exactly how he did it. In this episode, JT from High Desert Land Works walks through the real numbers behind his growth: from his first $8,000 job to his biggest month yet, why he hired an ad agency instead of doing it himself, and the schedule that let him quote four weeks out while staying booked solid. What you'll learn: How JT structured his week to balance quoting and fulfillment Why he hired help for marketing instead of trying to do it all himself The exact day rate math that kept him profitable even on slow weeks What it takes to go from one machine and one operator to a full crew How speed-to-lead and same-day site visits are closing jobs fast 🔥 Services We Use 🔥 We use Jobber to handle our estimates, scheduling, & invoicing ➡️ Get 20% off Jobber here: https://join.getjobber.com/theownerop 📞 Quo: Never miss a lead — Quo answers your calls with AI, summarizes them, and syncs the call summary and transcript straight into your Jobber Requests ➡️ Get 20% off Quo here: http://quo.com/ownrops 💰 Bookkeeping: Get 50% off bookkeeping for 3 months with the Home Service Bookkeeping Pros: https://dialedinbookkeeping.com/ownrops 🚀 Get ranked #1 On Google With Stryker SEO: https://stryker-digital.com/?el=oo Want to learn more about starting and scaling your own service-based business? 📩 Sign up for the OWNR OPS Newsletter: → https://ownrops.com/newsletter Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more episodes with blue collar entrepreneurs sharing their best insights and growth tips!

August 12, 2026Episode 3251 min

$85K in One Month With Facebook Ads + Land Clearing

Hayden Fake got his dedicated excavator in mid-June. By July, Mountain Mulching had generated $85,675 in confirmed revenue . In this episode, I sit down with Hayden to break down what happened between those two points and the systems he’s putting in place to turn that early momentum into a repeatable business. We talk about how he launched the company, set up his website and Jobber, started running Facebook ads, built lead follow-up automations, established his crew day rate, and learned to confidently sell high-value forestry mulching and fire mitigation projects. Hayden also shares what it was like putting himself on camera for local Facebook ads, dealing with the fear of what friends and people in town might think, and realizing that the reward of marketing your business is much bigger than the risk of somebody giving you a hard time. We also get into: Pricing jobs when every property is different Why Facebook ads work so well for local service businesses Getting over imposter syndrome by doing the work Fire mitigation and selective thinning Building systems instead of relying on hustle Automating Facebook leads into Jobber Why following someone a few steps ahead can accelerate your growth Choosing equipment based on ROI instead of the “shiny new object” Building recurring maintenance opportunities The crew-versus-backlog chicken-and-egg problem Hayden’s goal for August: break the $100K/month mark . 🔥 Services We Use 🔥We use Jobber to handle our estimates, scheduling, & invoicing➡️ Get 20% off Jobber here: https://go.getjobber.com/ownrops 📞 Quo: Never miss a lead — Quo answers your calls with AI, summarizes them, and syncs the call summary and transcript straight into your Jobber Requests➡️ Get 20% off Quo here: http://get.quo.com/ownrops 💰 Bookkeeping: Get 50% off bookkeeping for 3 months with the Home Service Bookkeeping Pros: https://dialedinbookkeeping.com/ownrops 🚀 Get ranked #1 on Google with Stryker SEO: https://stryker-digital.com/?el=oo Want to learn more about starting and scaling your own service-based business?📩 Sign up for the OWNR OPS Newsletter: https://ownrops.com/newsletter Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more episodes with blue collar entrepreneurs sharing their best insights and growth tips!

August 7, 2026Episode 311 hr 7 min

The 3-Step Blueprint to Bulletproof Pricing For Land Clearing Business

If you're pricing land clearing jobs by the day, you're doing it the hard way — and it's capping how much you make. In this episode I break down why day rate pricing is the lazy way to bid, and I walk you through the exact 3-step system I use to build a per-project price I can present with confidence on every land clearing and forestry mulching job. What you'll learn: Why day rate pricing removes your upside and turns you into a hired hand How I combine my crew day rate with my actual production rate to land on a per-project price Why no two acres are the same, and why a flat price sheet doesn't work in this industry How Clear Path's new crew setup and production tracker help owner-operators build their own pricing data over time What's coming next for Clear Path: AI-built proposals, marketing plans, and content pulled straight from your job data Try Clear Path, my AI pricing tool built for land clearing owner-operators: https://landclearing.io/pro 🔥 Services We Use 🔥We use Jobber to handle our estimates, scheduling, & invoicing➡️ Get 20% off Jobber here: https://go.getjobber.com/ownrops 📞 Quo: Never miss a lead — Quo answers your calls with AI, summarizes them, and syncs the call summary and transcript straight into your Jobber Requests➡️ Get 20% off Quo here: http://get.quo.com/ownrops 💰 Bookkeeping: Get 50% off bookkeeping for 3 months with the Home Service Bookkeeping Pros: https://dialedinbookkeeping.com/ownrops 🚀 Get ranked #1 on Google with Stryker SEO: https://stryker-digital.com/?el=oo Want to learn more about starting and scaling your own service-based business?📩 Sign up for the OWNR OPS Newsletter: https://ownrops.com/newsletter

August 2, 202647 min

What Andy Learned From 10-Hour Training With Alex Hormozi

💰Apply for OPS Accelerator ➡️ https://ownrops.com/accelerator It doesn't matter if you're an agency, a home service business, or a land clearing business— the problems are the same. Andy Walker just spent 10 hours in a room with Alex Hormozi and came back thinking completely differently about his business. In this episode, Andy Walker (founder of Stryker Digital) breaks down what he learned from acquisition.com's L3 — a full day one-on-one with Alex Hormozi. We get into moving upmarket, why every service business needs a VSL (video sales letter) before a sales call, the real math behind raising your prices, and why you can't out-grow a business without training your team the same way you train your customers. What you'll learn in this episode: ✅ Why chasing the cheapest customers is killing your margins and your time ✅ How a VSL (Video Sales Letter) can pre-frame every sales call and kill objections before they happen ✅ The real math behind raising your prices (and why it matters more than you think) ✅ How to solve a supply constraint before it costs you your reputation ✅ Why personal branding is now a hiring strategy, not just a marketing one ✅ What separates a $10M/year operator's mindset from everyone else's

August 1, 2026Episode 3051 min

The 3 Types of Land Clearing Content That Gets You Customers

💰Apply for OPS Accelerator ➡️ https://ownrops.com/accelerator Most land clearing guys post once a month and wonder why the phone doesn't ring. The top land clearing and forestry mulching operators post 4x a day — and it's free. In this episode, Jacob Neffendorf (Rise Online Ads) and I break down the exact content system land clearing and forestry mulching business owners need to fill their pipeline — without hiring a marketing team or buying a single piece of gear. You'll learn: 📌 The 3 content buckets that actually convert: Transformation, Education, and Proof 📌 Why 4 posts a day (2 videos, 2 photos) is the new minimum standard 📌 How the algorithm changed in the last 90 days to reward organic content over followers 📌 Why education content (not before/afters) is quietly the most powerful bucket 📌 How to turn 5-star reviews into a content engine 📌 Why a gimbal, drone, or GoPro can actually slow you down 📌 How Clear Path AI writes your scripts and shot lists for you Try Clear Path AI, the first AI advisor and pricing tool built specifically for land clearing and forestry mulching companies: https://landclearing.io 🔥 Services We Use 🔥We use Jobber to handle our estimates, scheduling, & invoicing ➡️ Get 20% off Jobber here: https://go.getjobber.com/ownrops 📞 Quo: Never miss a lead — Quo answers your calls with AI, summarizes them, and syncs the call summary and transcript straight into your Jobber Requests ➡️ Get 20% off Quo here: http://get.quo.com/ownrops 💰 Bookkeeping: Get 50% off bookkeeping for 3 months with the Home Service Bookkeeping Pros: https://dialedinbookkeeping.com/ownrops 🚀 Get ranked #1 on Google with Stryker SEO: https://stryker-digital.com/?el=oo Want to learn more about starting and scaling your own service-based business? 📩 Sign up for the OWNR OPS Newsletter: https://ownrops.com/newsletter Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more episodes with blue collar entrepreneurs sharing their best insights and growth tips!

July 26, 2026Episode 261 hr 19 min

The 24/7 Land Clearing Advisor Trained on $20M in Ad Spend

💰Apply for OPS Accelerator ➡️ https://ownrops.com We built a 24/7 AI advisor trained on $20M in land clearing ad spend — and we're showing you the full demo.If you're tired of guessing on bids, scrambling for leads, and making big decisions alone at 10pm — this is what we built for you. Jacob Neffendorf (Rise Land Clearing Growth) has managed nearly $20 million in ad spend and worked with close to 500 land clearing companies over 5 years. I've spent 3 years building and refining the systems and operations behind land clearing and forestry mulching businesses. We took both knowledge bases and trained an AI advisor specifically for owner-operators in this industry — and today we're pulling back the curtain on it. In this episode, we cover: 📌 The 3 levers every land clearing business needs to pull: leads, sales, and capacity 📌 Why ChatGPT isn't the same — and what makes a guardrailed, industry-specific AI different 📌 A live demo of Clear Path AI answering real operator questions in real time 📌 How to build an SEO-optimized website outline, content calendar, and Google Business Profile strategy using Clear Path 📌 The Founding 100 offer — what it includes and why the price will never be this low again 🔗 Learn more about Clear Path AI: ⁠ https://landclearing.io/

July 24, 2026Episode 301 hr 3 min

Insurance for Land Clearing Explained: Coverage, Costs & Costly Mistakes

💰Apply for OPS Accelerator ➡️ https://ownrops.com/accelerator Most land clearing owners skip the insurance conversation until it's too late — or they get talked into a policy that doesn't actually cover their equipment. In this episode, I sit down with Colin Vaughn, insurance specialist at Christensen Group, to break down exactly what coverage a land clearing or forestry mulching business needs and what it actually costs. What you'll learn: The must-have policies: general liability, inland marine, workers comp, auto, and umbrella Scheduled vs. unscheduled equipment coverage — and how to insure a $100K+ skid steer or mulcher correctly How rented and leased equipment coverage works (and the mistake that leaves owners underinsured) Why your workers comp "mod number" matters and can get you turned down for jobs What to require from subcontractors before they set foot on your job site A real-world budget number for insurance when you're just starting out Colin Vaughn is an insurance specialist at Christensen Group , a 100% employee-owned agency working with construction and land clearing businesses across the country. 🔥 Services We Use 🔥We use Jobber to handle our estimates, scheduling, & invoicing➡️ Get 20% off Jobber here: https://go.getjobber.com/ownrops 📞 Quo: Never miss a lead — Quo answers your calls with AI, summarizes them, and syncs the call summary and transcript straight into your Jobber Requests➡️ Get 20% off Quo here: http://get.quo.com/ownrops 💰 Bookkeeping: Get 50% off bookkeeping for 3 months with the Home Service Bookkeeping Pros: https://dialedinbookkeeping.com/ownrops 🚀 Get ranked #1 On Google With Stryker SEO: https://stryker-digital.com/?el=oo Want to learn more about starting and scaling your own service-based business?📩 Sign up for the OWNR OPS Newsletter: → https://ownrops.com/newsletter Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more episodes with blue collar entrepreneurs sharing their best insights and growth tips!This episode covers general liability insurance, inland marine coverage, workers compensation, commercial auto, and umbrella insurance for land clearing, forestry mulching, and excavation businesses — plus how to budget for insurance costs when starting a business.#LandClearing #ForestryMulching #ownrops #SmallBusinessInsurance #insurance #insurancetips #homeservice #entrepreneur

July 17, 2026Episode 2655 min

How Clear Path AI Solves Production Rate Pricing for Land Clearing

Most land clearing bids fall apart because guys price every acre the same way. In this episode, Austin Gray and Jacob Nettesheim break down production rate tracking — the second half of a bulletproof pricing system, paired with the crew day rates covered last week. What you'll learn in this episode: The 3 types of pricing people in this business — and which one is losing money without realizing it How to track your production rate (acres cleared per crew day) the right way The 3x3 rating system for vegetation, slope, and access, and why it changes everything about a bid How to find your baseline production rate if you're new to the business A live look at the new production rate tracker inside Clear Path AI Why combining your crew day rate with your production rate gets you a confident, accurate bid every time Try Clear Path AI, the first AI advisor and pricing tool built specifically for land clearing and forestry mulching companies: https://landclearing.io/pro 🔥 Services We Use 🔥 We use Jobber to handle our estimates, scheduling, & invoicing➡️ Get 20% off Jobber here: https://go.getjobber.com/ownrops 📞 Quo: Never miss a lead — Quo answers your calls with AI, summarizes them, and syncs the call summary and transcript straight into your Jobber Requests ➡️ Get 20% off Quo here: http://get.quo.com/ownrops 💰 Bookkeeping: Get 50% off bookkeeping for 3 months with the Home Service Bookkeeping Pros: https://dialedinbookkeeping.com/ownrops 🚀 Get ranked #1 on Google with Stryker SEO: https://stryker-digital.com/?el=oo Want to learn more about starting and scaling your own service-based business? 📩 Sign up for the OWNR OPS Newsletter: https://ownrops.com/newsletter