We're Service Business Owners Who Run a Marketing Agency
Not the other way around. That distinction shapes everything about how we work.
Jared & Angela Barker
A husband-and-wife team based in Dripping Springs, Texas. We don't just market for service businesses — we run them.
BARKmedia started in 2020. Our first clients were two national DTC brands, and we ran the full spectrum for them — national broadcast campaigns, paid digital, content production, local activations, the works. That same year, we also launched our own home service company: Live Oak Exterior Cleaning, a soft-washing business serving central Texas.
Live Oak gave us something most agencies will never have: skin in the game. We weren't writing strategy decks for contractors — we were waiting for our own phone to ring, dialing in our own Google Business Profile, testing our own ad copy with our own money. We later launched Get Lit Drip, a seasonal holiday lighting company, and ran the same playbook from scratch.
By January 2024, we'd learned something the hard way: the marketing tactics that actually work for home service businesses are very different from the ones agencies usually sell them. So we made the dedicated switch — BARKmedia became a focused agency for home service and other service-based companies, applying the same agency-grade execution we'd built for national brands to a market that mostly gets second-tier work.
That's the story. We're not here because we read a book about contractor marketing. We're here because we've been the contractor wondering why the last agency didn't deliver.
How BARKmedia Got Here
The short version is "we figured out what works by running our own businesses." The longer version has dates.
BARKmedia Launches
We started BARKmedia working with two national DTC brands. Full-service work — national broadcast, paid digital, content production, brand activations, and everything in between.
Live Oak Exterior Cleaning Begins
We launched our own soft-washing business in central Texas. From day one, we were operators — booking jobs, fielding calls, optimizing our own ads, and learning what marketing actually moves the needle for a home service company.
Get Lit Drip Joins the Lineup
We launched a seasonal holiday lighting company and ran the playbook again from scratch. Different market, different demand cycle, same lessons reinforced — service businesses need different marketing than DTC brands or B2B companies.
The Dedicated Switch
By 2024 we'd seen enough. Most agencies serving home service contractors were applying the wrong playbook — too focused on top-of-funnel awareness, not enough on local intent capture. We refocused BARKmedia entirely on home service and service-based businesses, bringing the agency-grade execution we'd built for national brands to a market that needed it.
One Client per Industry, per Market
We work with 100+ service businesses on a 1:1 exclusive partnership model. We still operate Live Oak and Get Lit Drip — which means every tactic we recommend, we're testing on our own businesses too.
Because Most Service Businesses Get Bad Marketing Advice
We've been in your seat. We've sat across from agencies who pitched expensive strategies that wouldn't have worked for our own businesses, and we've watched contractor friends sign 12-month contracts that delivered nothing.
The frustrating part isn't that the advice is bad — it's that the people giving it have never actually run a service business themselves. They learned marketing in classrooms or at e-commerce companies, then applied the same playbook to home services without realizing the buyer journey is completely different.
BARKmedia exists to fix that. We've been the contractor. We are the contractor. And we've decided to bring real, accountable, results-driven marketing to the businesses that the marketing industry usually under-serves.
Principles, Not Slogans
These aren't values posted on a wall. They're decisions baked into how the agency operates — informed by running our own service businesses every day.
One Client Per Market
We don't take on competing businesses. Ever. If you're a plumber in Austin, we won't take on another Austin plumber while you're with us. Your strategy is built for you to win — not to be "fair" across competing accounts.
No Long-Term Contracts
30-day notice. That's it. We've watched too many contractors get trapped in 12-month agency agreements that didn't deliver. If we're not earning our keep, you should be able to leave.
Owner-Operated Service
You work directly with us — Jared and Angela — not an account manager who hands you off to a junior. When you have a question, you're talking to the founders.
Test on Ourselves First
If we recommend a tactic, we've usually tested it on Live Oak or Get Lit Drip first. We don't pitch theories — we share what's working in our own home service businesses right now.
Transparent Pricing
Posted publicly on our website. Two-tier pricing based on industry competition. No "let me get back to you with a quote" — just clear, honest numbers up front.
We'll Tell You No
If we're not the right fit for your business, we'll say so. If your foundation needs more work before paid ads make sense, we'll tell you. Bad advice we don't sell is more valuable than work you don't need.
Want to See If We're a Fit?
Book a free 30-minute consultation and we'll talk through your business, your market, and where you're losing visibility — no pressure, no canned pitch. If we're not the right fit, we'll tell you that too.
Or email us directly: hello@barkmediasolutions.com