In this episode of Local Marketing Secrets, Danny Leibrandt sits down with Tony Ricketts—founder & CEO of LawnLine Marketing—to unpack how he grew one of the most recognized niche agencies in lawn & landscape. Over the past nine years, Tony has scaled LawnLine to serve 200+ companies and surpass $3M ARR, while spinning up two SaaS plays: Crystal Insights (AI call analysis) and AgencyTitan (an operating system for agency fulfillment and management).

Tony walks through the pivotal shift from generalist web-dev projects to a productized, systems-driven model—and why “best known beats best” when it comes to winning deals. He shares the playbook behind niching down, standing up repeatable programs, training sales for message consistency, pricing for value (with clear revenue-tiered programs), and building authority through conferences and vendor partnerships—including the seven-year path to becoming SiteOne’s recommended marketing partner. We also dig into the real bottleneck most service companies ignore: missed calls during business hours, and how AI-graded call data changes both marketing and operations.

We finish with what’s working now (Google Local Services still leading the pack), why solid SEO fundamentals naturally surface in AI answers, and a look ahead at ad inventory inside AI assistants (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, and more). Tony’s message to local operators: invest like an owner, not a bargain hunter; embrace AI or get left behind; and remember that your highest-ROI investment is often your time learning the new tools.

Find Tony on Facebook and LinkedIn by searching his name or companies. If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to Local Marketing Secrets and share it with a friend in home services.

Tony Ricketts, Founder of LawnLine Marketing:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tonyrickettsfl

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonyricketts

LawnLine Marketing: https://lawnline.marketing/

Danny Leibrandt, Founder of Pest Control SEO:

Facebook: https://facebook.com/DannyLeibrandt  

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/dannyleibrandt/   

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DannyLeibrandt   

Website: https://dannyleibrandt.com 

Pest Control SEO: https://pestcontrolseo.com/ 

Local Marketing Secrets Platforms:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LocalMarketingSecrets 

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1TCL0LhZbsJS6mzanqnnT1?si=224075c9fbda42f5  

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/local-marketing-secrets/id1741176782 

Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/e0bb5254-5d6c-4940-8211-085157cc1239/local-marketing-secrets 

Podcast Chapters:

00:00 Introduction to Tony Ricketts

06:34 The Importance of Niching Down 

11:27 Strategies for Competing in a Crowded Market

17:01 Building Brand Recognition Through Industry Events

24:55 Introducing Crystal Insights: AI in Call Analysis

28:04 Leveraging AI for Enhanced Lead Analysis

40:06 The Future of Marketing: AI's Impact

47:27 Final Thoughts

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