From Your Side of the Table

The section before this one belongs to my team. This one belongs to the people we built all of it for.

When I asked our clients to write for this book, I asked for the real thing — not testimonials. Why they chose us, and what almost made them not. What it is actually like working with a company that moves this fast, the good and the disorienting. What they see, from their side of the table, when they compare how we operate to the rest of the industry. I promised their words would run exactly as they sent them — no edits from me, attributed to them, their titles, and their companies.

The founding entry arrived from John Dean, who owns Superior Air Duct Cleaning in western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio. John is not a developer, not an SEO expert, not an AI engineer — which is exactly why his account matters. He watched this industry's argument about our direction from the one seat that counts: the customer's. Here is his story, exactly as he sent it.

John Dean

Owner, Superior Air Duct Cleaning · superiorairduct.com

My CI Web Group Journey

My name is John Dean, and I own a small business called Superior Air Duct Cleaning. We clean air ducts and dryer vents throughout western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio. Like many small business owners, I quickly learned that running a company means wearing far more hats than you ever expected. One minute you're working with customers, the next you're balancing the books, managing employees, fixing equipment, and somehow trying to become an expert in marketing.

For someone on the back side of five decades on this planet, the digital marketing world has probably been the most confusing hat I've had to wear. Just when you think you've finally figured it out, everything changes.

In March of 2022, something happened that every business owner dreads.

The phone stopped ringing.

The company managing my website told me Google's latest algorithm update had crushed our rankings. Their solution? A brand-new custom website that would solve all my problems—for the bargain price of $12,000.

I was scared.

When your livelihood depends on that phone ringing, fear has a way of making expensive decisions seem reasonable. I agreed.

I was promised a three-month build.

Three months became nine.

When the website was finally delivered, I couldn't believe what I was looking at. It was, without exaggeration, one of the worst websites I had ever seen. Twelve thousand dollars was gone, my rankings hadn't improved, and I was left with the familiar promise that "it just needs more time."

It never worked.

At that point, I knew I had to start over—but this time I wasn't going to make another emotional decision.

I became obsessed with finding the right digital marketing partner.

I talked to everyone I could find. I asked other business owners who managed their websites. Some used small local agencies. Others had someone's cousin building websites on the side. The answers were all over the map.

Then I attended an event hosted by an HVAC company generating over $50 million in annual sales. I asked one simple question:

"Who handles your digital marketing?"

Without hesitation, they answered, "CI Web Group."

That immediately got my attention.

Around the same time, I was researching many of the larger marketing firms serving the home service industry. After countless conversations and hours of research, I eventually spoke with Jennifer Bagley and liked what she had to say.

Then something unexpected happened.

I attended a business leadership retreat called BOLD Leadership, where I happened to meet Jennifer's husband Michael. Of all the people who could have been in my group, there he was.

Was it coincidence?

Maybe.

Or maybe it was exactly the conversation I needed to have.

Moving to CI Web Group meant building another website. Normally, that thought would have terrified me after my previous experience.

Instead, the process was completely different.

Within a couple of months, my new WordPress website was live. It looked modern, professional, and finally reflected the company we had worked so hard to build. It incorporated our newly redesigned logo and mascot and immediately felt like the brand we wanted customers to see.

For the first time in a long time, I felt optimistic.

As I continued following Jennifer's webinars and educational content, she began talking about something many people hadn't even considered yet: a low-code website. She believed the future of websites was changing and encouraged clients to start thinking beyond WordPress.

At the same time, something interesting was happening throughout the digital marketing industry.

On Facebook and across various marketing communities, I started seeing other agencies criticize CI Web Group. They rarely mentioned Jennifer by name, but everyone knew exactly who they were talking about.

"The world runs on WordPress."

"AI-generated marketing is going to hurt businesses."

The message was always the same: Jennifer was wrong.

One day, a friend of mine who was also a CI Web Group client invited me to sit in on a call with another digital marketing company. Their goal was simple—to convince us Jennifer was making a huge mistake by embracing AI and moving in a different direction.

I listened carefully.

Then I stayed the course.

While others were busy attacking, I started paying attention to something more important.

I watched Jennifer.

I wasn't a web developer. I wasn't an SEO expert. I certainly wasn't an AI engineer. But I could recognize one thing.

The world was changing faster than most people realized.

Artificial intelligence wasn't another marketing trend. It was fundamentally changing how people searched for information, how businesses were discovered, and how customers made buying decisions.

Of every digital marketing leader I was following, Jennifer seemed to be the only one investing heavily before everyone else understood what was happening.

She wasn't reacting to change.

She was preparing for it.

She wasn't reacting to change. She was preparing for it.

Eventually, something clicked for me.

The resistance I was hearing from other agencies wasn't necessarily because they genuinely believed Jennifer was wrong. Many simply didn't want to make the enormous investment—in time, money, education, and technology—that would be required to reinvent their businesses for an AI-driven future.

Change is expensive.

Staying the same is comfortable.

It's much easier to criticize the future than invest in building it.

What I find fascinating today is listening to many of those same marketers. Six to twelve months later, they're now talking about AI, automation, large language models, and the future of search using many of the same ideas Jennifer was discussing long before it became fashionable.

Sometimes the people who look different today are simply the ones everyone else follows tomorrow.

Jennifer's ability to anticipate where the industry is heading is only one part of the CI Web Group advantage. The other is education.

She has built a culture around teaching rather than simply selling. Through webinars, workshops, videos, and ongoing training, she helps business owners understand not only what is changing but why it matters.

For someone like me—who spends his days running a business rather than writing code—that education has been invaluable.

Technology will never stop evolving. Search engines will continue to change. Artificial intelligence will reshape digital marketing again and again.

I've accepted that I may never fully understand every technical detail. But I've learned something far more valuable.

The right marketing partner doesn't just build you a website. They help you understand where the future is going—and they make sure you're already headed there before everyone else realizes the road has changed.

— John Dean, Owner, Superior Air Duct Cleaning · superiorairduct.com · July 2026

That is John's story, told from the seat every argument in this book is ultimately about. He watched the industry tell him I was wrong. He watched the same industry, six to twelve months later, start repeating what I had said. And he made his decision the way the best operators always do — not by listening to the noise, but by watching what got built. This section is reserved for more voices like his. They will be added here, in the clients' own words, exactly as John's is, in the editions and printings that follow.

Paul Wiese's entry arrived next. Paul appears in chapter ten among the coalition, where I disclosed our relationship in full — the board seat I hold at Trade Rated, the equity, the strategy we shape together. That is exactly why his client-side account belongs here too: nobody sees this company from more angles than Paul does. Here is his entry, exactly as he sent it.

Paul Wiese

Founder, Built by the Trades · Founder, Door Serv Pro

The Client's Side of the Table

I've spent more than four decades in the trades. I've been the technician, the installer, the salesperson, the manager, and the owner. I've built companies from nothing, experienced success, made plenty of mistakes, sold businesses, and started over again. Every chapter taught me something different, but one lesson has remained constant: businesses aren't built by ideas alone—they're built by execution.

When I moved to West Virginia, I wasn't arriving with investors or a corporate safety net. I came with determination, experience, and the belief that if I worked hard enough and surrounded myself with the right people, I could build something meaningful again. That journey became Door Serv Pro, a company that grew into a multi-million-dollar business serving customers across multiple states.

Today, I'm building what I believe is the most important project of my career: Built by the Trades. Our mission is simple but ambitious—to build technology that actually helps contractors succeed. We're creating platforms like Profit Wizard, TradeRated, TrueQuote, ServiceDash, Goose, BudgetGenius, and TradeGames because they're solutions to problems I've personally lived for decades. Every product exists because I wished I'd had it when I was running service trucks, managing technicians, or trying to grow a business.

Because of that background, I don't evaluate companies the way most clients do.

I've worked with marketing agencies for years. I've seen polished presentations, heard every sales pitch imaginable, and been promised the world more times than I can count. Most agencies sell websites, SEO packages, or advertising campaigns. Very few understand business itself.

That was the first thing that stood out about CI Web Group.

Our conversations weren't centered on colors, fonts, or rankings. They were about business models, positioning, artificial intelligence, customer behavior, long-term brand value, and where the industry was heading. They weren't trying to build me a website—they were trying to help build a company that could compete in the future.

Did I have concerns? Absolutely.

CI Web moves fast—faster than almost any organization I've worked with. Sometimes you're still processing one strategic decision while they're already discussing the next several. That pace can be uncomfortable, especially when you're building multiple companies at once. But I've also learned that's part of their advantage. They're focused on where the market is going, not where it's been.

What I've watched over the years is an evolution.

The company I originally hired isn't the company I work with today. They've grown, adapted, invested heavily in AI, and continually challenged themselves to improve. More importantly, they've challenged us. They haven't been afraid to question our ideas, push us toward better solutions, or rethink an approach when something could be stronger. That's the kind of partnership I value.

Like any real business relationship, it hasn't always been perfect. Building companies at this scale creates pressure, changing priorities, and difficult conversations. But I don't judge partners by whether every project goes exactly as planned. I judge them by how they respond when things get difficult, whether they communicate honestly, and whether they're committed to finding the best solution. On those measures, they've continued to earn my trust.

The biggest difference I see is that CI Web thinks in systems instead of campaigns. They're not chasing the next marketing trend. They're building businesses to succeed in a world where AI, search, automation, and customer expectations are changing faster than ever before.

That's exactly the kind of thinking we needed as we built Built by the Trades.

We've trusted them with one of the most ambitious visions I've ever pursued because they understand that we're not creating software for the sake of software. We're building tools that can help contractors become more profitable, create better customer experiences, and build businesses that last for generations.

I've built businesses my entire life, and one thing has become clear to me.

Products matter. Strategy matters. Execution matters.

But in the end, everything comes down to people.

When you find people who challenge your thinking, keep learning, adapt when necessary, and genuinely care about helping you build something meaningful, you don't just hire them—you build alongside them.

That's been my experience with Jennifer Bagley and the team at CI Web Group.

I don't know exactly what the future holds for either of our companies. But I do know we're both trying to build something that outlasts us. That's the kind of partnership worth investing in.

— Paul Wiese · Founder, Built by the Trades · Founder, Door Serv Pro · July 2026