Austin Lee never set out to become a marketing entrepreneur. His career began far from digital campaigns and strategy, working in the trades alongside his father, a commercial roofer. Raised around the home services industry, Lee pursued engineering and later built a corporate career in the automotive sector. But his trajectory shifted when he began helping his father navigate a recurring frustration, where he was encountering marketing agencies that promised much but delivered little.
“The misalignment was always the same,” Lee recalls. “My dad just wanted the phone to ring so he could do his job, but agencies kept talking about impressions and ad spend. It was never in his realm of interest, and he was constantly let down.” Out of necessity, Lee began learning about marketing, starting with websites and strategy.
What began as a side effort transformed into a surprising passion, especially as he realized how dynamic and ever-evolving the marketing industry could be compared to the more rigid world of engineering.
“With engineering, the laws of physics don’t change, the marginal room for growth and discovering new things slows down as you progress in the career,” Lee explains. “But marketing is alive. There’s always something new, whether its new AI platforms, social media algorithm shifts, or the ever-evolving consumer trends. There’s constant discovery, and that keeps me hooked.”
As word spread, Lee’s skills were soon in demand among other home service providers. Referrals snowballed into clients, and before long, ORB Tree Service Marketing was born.
Built initially without advertising, the agency grew organically, supported by friends and colleagues Lee brought into the fold, a creative director, a developer, and others who shared both his vision and his background in the trades.
While roofing was his first foothold, Lee saw a unique opportunity in tree service companies. Unlike some home service verticals, which often suffer from oversaturation and minimal accountability, tree care is a highly specialized field requiring certified arborists, technical expertise, and a focus on safety. “Tree service contractors face a variety of challenges,” Lee says. “They’re not just competing for leads, they’re balancing supply constraints like finding qualified arborists, while also needing to communicate their value against less specialized competitors like landscaping companies.”
That blend of complexity created an opening for ORB. “Arborists have this incredible depth of knowledge,” Lee adds. “Every region has different tree species with different needs, and the work itself is high-risk. Our job is to help them convey that expertise to homeowners in a way that builds trust and wins the right kind of business.”
At the center of ORB’s approach is the “Online Ready Blueprint,” a structured process designed to take tree service companies from the ground up to multimillion-dollar growth. Branding is the first step, and Lee is quick to point out that effective branding isn’t about what appeals to the business owner but what resonates with the customer.
“A lot of tree companies lean into chainsaws and aggressive imagery, but the decision-maker is usually a homeowner, often a woman managing her household, who wants to know she’s hiring a company that’s trustworthy and safe.”
From there, Lee’s blueprint expands into website design, online advertising and video production. “The website isn’t just a box to check,” Lee notes. “It informs search ranking, it shapes perception, and it’s the extension of the salesperson who’s in the home. It has to capture nuance and reflect the real language arborists use, and that’s what we strive to do.”
Looking ahead, Lee envisions ORB as the go-to marketing partner for the country’s top tree service companies. “We want to be the best-known marketing company in the tree service industry,” he says. “But beyond recognition, I want us to be a trusted resource. My ultimate goal is to work with the best tree service contractors in the US, but more importantly, with the ones who care about doing the job right, and help amplify their message to the masses.”
For Lee, the impetus of his marketing journey came from the support he offered to his father, and that transformed into a mission: to empower skilled, demanding trades to thrive in the digital era. With marketing proficiency and a fervent passion to craft brand identities, ORB Tree Service Marketing is telling the story of arborists who safeguard homes, landscapes, and communities, one tree at a time.
