Maryland roofer site raises questions, and may provide answers

The site www.homerestorationsmd.com and its related sites (check out http://www.billthomasjr.com for an entertaining video clip: Honesty in Marketing -- Clarity Trumps Salesmanship) raise several questions about alternative approaches to marketing and selling construction services to consumers.

In his website, Thomas proposes an on site inspection with a comprehensive emailed quotation (with photos and documentation) rather than a conventional sales call. Some posters on contractortalk.com thought this would be a rather ineffective way to sell roofing services; others thought that the site owner (Bill Thomas, Jr.) is on to something truly effective.

Certainly Thomas' site uses the tools and techniques I've read about for successful search engine optimization (and may be achieving even greater success in that regard through references on contractortalk.com and now this blog.)

But there is a gap and I hope I will find soon a good reason for it. I phoned the number on the website and it rang for I think six to eight times before landing me in Thomas's (friendly) voice mail account. I also emailed him, telling him I planned to report on his business in this blog, and invited his comments.

He hasn't responded in any way; not a return call, not an autoresponder from the emails, nothing.

Of course, I am not a qualified client for roofing services in the Maryland areas he serves so he might have just brushed off the inquiry and declined to consider it seriously. Then again, publicity and references from this blog are significant in the search engine space -- and this blog posting may well appear when anyone tries to search more about his business following the initial website view (a truly likely possibility, since after all he is using high-end Internet marketing techniques.)

There may be good reasons for his failure to follow up and respond and I will revise this posting accordingly if that is the case. And when/if he responds, I'll be able to share some additional observations with you.