Something You Know… But Aren't Doing

Hi. Jake here.

I talk with a lot of local contractors.

Roofers, painters, plumbers, HVAC techs, real estate agents — people who run honest businesses and do good work.

Something that surprises me is how many of them have almost no online presence at all.

A lot of them get work the old-fashioned way: word of mouth.

A past customer recommends them to a neighbor. Maybe a friend calls them about a job. A referral turns into another referral.

For some contractors, that means one or two jobs a month, just enough to keep things moving.

But during these conversations, something interesting always happens.

Almost every one of them admits the same thing.

Everyone Knows the World Is Online

You can order almost anything from your phone.

Need something? Amazon will have it on your doorstep in two days. You can find pretty much anything imaginable on Ebay.

Even food works this way now.

You press a few buttons on your phone and somehow a burrito appears at your front door. It might not be the hottest burrito in the world… but it's still a burrito that magically spawned.

So when we talk about websites or Google searches, contractors usually agree pretty quickly:

"Yeah, I know everything's online now."

But then the next sentence is usually something like:

"I'm just not really into all that online stuff."

Or

"I wouldn't even know where to start."

Some would even argue "Oh I got a Facebook page though!" and it's updated twice a year and the only likes on the post are from the owner's mom.

And honestly, that's fair.

Contractors Aren't Marketers

Here's the way I explain it to them.

Why don't most homeowners just roof their own house?

Why don't they build their own deck?

Why don't they redo their own plumbing?

Because they're not contractors.

That's why they hire someone who knows what they're doing.

Marketing and online visibility work the same way.

I wouldn't expect a contractor to suddenly become an expert in digital marketing any more than I'd expect myself to install a new roof.

It's just not what they do.

And once I frame it that way, most of them pause for a second and say something like:

"I never really thought about it like that."

The Reality

Today, homeowners don't just rely on word of mouth anymore.

They search.

They type things like:

"roofer near me"

"best plumber in town"

"HVAC repair near me"

And if your business doesn't show up when they search…

They'll never even know you exist.

Even if you're the best contractor in town.

A Simple Truth

Being good at your trade is one skill.

Being visible online is another.

Both matter.

And the businesses that combine great work with strong online visibility tend to grow the fastest.

If you're a business owner who has mostly relied on word of mouth but you're starting to notice how much of the world now runs online, you're not alone.

I have this conversation with small business owners all the time.

If you're curious how your business actually shows up online right now, feel free to reach out. I'm always happy to take a quick look and point out what I see.