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How to Budget Marketing in 2026 (Without Wasting Cash)
In this episode of Owned and Operated, John Wilson is joined by Sam Preston (CEO of Service Scalers) to break down how smart home service operators should budget for marketing in 2026. They explain why one-size-fits-all marketing budgets don’t work, how to reverse-engineer spend from the number of leads you actually need, and why most companies don’t have a lead problem—they have an execution problem.
This conversation goes deep on gross profit–based budgeting, flexible marketing spend, and the exact frameworks operators use to decide what to scale, cut, test, or deploy in emergencies.
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The skinny
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