It may surprise you to know they are going online. As frustrating as this might be for most drywall hangers, it is true today and becoming even more true each day. What does this mean for today's drywall contractor? Depending on how you have secured jobs in the past, maybe nothing. However, it could also mean a massive change to how you do business.

Drywall Repair Jobs
The housing boom began tailing off in the latter part of 2005, and as is common 18-24 months after a boom, home improvement begins to boom. This typically translates into an incredible amount of drywall repair and other drywall jobs. Houses begin to settle, drywall cracks, you know the drill. While these jobs pay less and you require more of them to make it worth your time, having these repairs done are of huge concern to new homeowners. They bought a brand new house and they intend for it to look that way for as long as they can.

Who is Finding These Online Drywall Jobs?
The demographic of people who have built these new homes are pretty tech-savvy. They are 30-45, use email everyday, and have internet connections they use regularly. Recently, a report was published stating that people who do not use the internet look at houses for two weeks before contacting a real estate agent. People who are connected usually look for 6 weeks before contacting an agent. There is so much information available online that the typical online consumer is going to be more educated, well-armed with prices, and know exactly what they want.

This is a more educated consumer than in years past. So not only will they have a better sense of your job, but they are also likely to tell you how much joint compound to use, which texturing they want, and which gypsum quarry they want their rock to come from. Crazy as it sounds, get ready. But the real concern here is for the contractor who doesn't have an online resource for finding consumers.

Tapping into the Web
Let' be clear about one thing: there is never going to be a time when contractors stop getting jobs from referrals. Good customer service and craftsmanship will never go out of style or out of use, and people will never stop talking to friends, family, and neighbors. So rest assured that building a good reputation and doing quality work will always win out over any marketing scheme.

However, as people move into other parts of the city or out of state, and new people move in, you need to depend on more than just referrals for new drywall jobs. We live in a very transient society, and those homeowners new to your area need help, too. Given the amount of searches online for "drywall contractors", "drywall companies", "drywall installation" and the like (7500 searches in December 2006 alone; not typically the hot time of the year for drywall jobs), the numbers are showing that many people are finding their drywall work online, both homeowners and contractors.

The Brass Tacks
The issue is that someone is winning the work of the online consumer in your area. That contractor is building his reputation and his client list off those consumers, instead of you. This is not to say that you need to get all the jobs he is getting, but you need to get your fair share.

Without an online presence how are these consumers going to find you?

You have but two options: build yourself a solid website, which can be an expensive and often ineffective venture, or you can use ServiceMagic. What's great about ServiceMagic is that you only pay when you receive a lead. If you pay for an expensive yellow page ad, you are not guaranteed one phone call.

ServiceMagic will build your own personal webpage and market you to homeowners in your work area who are looking for the kinds of work that you do. If you do drywall jobs, you only get drywall leads. No more people calling and bothering you about work you don't cover. When SM contacts you, you are ready to go to work. Now you can still do your good work out in the field and be confident that online consumer are going to find you. That's less work on you. Isn't that how it should be?