Land It Podcast
Welcome to the Land It Podcast!
This is the podcast built for the business owners driving the machines, clearing the land, and getting the real work done. Brought to you by Blue Goat Land Leads, we shine a light on the land services — land clearing, excavation, and demolition — and the business owners who keep it moving.
Every episode brings you real conversations with contractors who’ve been in the trenches — from the jobsite to the office. We talk equipment, business growth, and how to land more work without wasting time or money. You might even learn some golden nuggets you can apply in your business no matter what stage of growth you're in.
No fluff. No sales pitches. Just straight talk with folks who know the grind and have something to say.
If you live for heavy machines and hustle, you’re in the right place. We want to help you land those big goals, land those big jobs, and just LAND IT!
Subscribe now — and let’s talk.
Land It Podcast
How a Land Clearing Contractor Turns $2K Mulching Jobs Into $40K Upsells | Eberly Earthworks
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Justin Eberly of Eberly Earthworks joins the Land It Podcast to talk about building a land clearing, forestry mulching, site prep, grading, demolition and excavation business from the ground up.
Justin spent eight years doing industrial HVAC test and balance work before officially launching his own company in 2025. In this conversation he walks through how he built his day rate from real machine, fuel and wear part costs instead of guessing, why he turned down a large subdivision development job that was already his to take, and the skid steer that died on the trailer an hour and a half from home with a month and a half of work already booked behind it.
The center of the episode is one question Justin asks on almost every job: what is your intent for this property? On one recent job that single question moved a $2,200 mulching quote to roughly $40,000 gross by adding tree removal, stump work, dirt haul, a pad site and a driveway. Host Josh points out it is the same move that separates the land clearing contractors who stay flat from the ones who scale.
Justin and Josh also get into the math of hiring your first employee and why adding three guys can leave you making the same money with a lot more responsibility, when it actually makes sense to travel for a job, how the name on your truck can quietly limit what customers think you do, and why Justin waited six months to invest in marketing and would not do it that way again.
Josh writes about this same playbook in Land It in the Dirt World: Digital Marketing Playbook for Land Clearing, Excavation, and Demolition Contractors, available on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H6698DPX
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:37 Eight years in industrial HVAC before the jump
02:42 The opening that made it possible to leave the job
06:24 A sole operator serving landowners and ranches
09:11 Weather, scheduling and why not to overbook
10:38 Turning down a big subdivision job
13:51 How Justin built his day rate from real costs
16:02 When it makes sense to travel for a job
19:30 Fuel, wear parts and what it really costs to run equipment
21:47 The skid steer that died on the trailer
24:07 The upsell question: what is your intent for this property?
26:57 From a $2,200 mulching job to a $40,000 site prep job
29:12 Why the smaller operator still has a niche
31:26 How to scale from a one man crew
37:16 Hiring to free up time and increase production
39:37 The real constraint on taking more work
43:33 Naming your company so it does not box you in
45:45 Where the business goes in the next five years
50:57 Do not be afraid to invest in marketing
55:22 Half a million views and zero jobs
57:22 Why drone and jobsite footage matter now
59:09 Wrap up
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