The last time you heard from me was April 15.
No excuse worth reading, but I had an event to manage, a book to finish, and a website business to run 😃
What pulled me back was a question I read from a fellow copywriter from Ireland, Sam Haycock…
He asked how the people who built real empires, movements, and businesses thousands of years ago managed it without any of the “tools” we now treat as mandatory…
No ad budget bleeding fifty dollars a day
No seven-step funnel duct-taped together with automations
No design software, no AI, in some cases not even a decent pen
His answer was that they had no tools, so they had to get the basics right.
Stand out
Build trust
Stay in people's heads
Get paid
Read that list again with a commercial roof in mind, because I’m not sure there are four words that describe this business better.
Stand out. Most building owners have never had a coating explained to them. They know two things: tear-off and leaks. So the man who walks the roof, shows them the seams, and explains there's a third option isn't competing with normal roofers.
Build trust. Very few building owners hand a stranger a 40,000-square-foot roof. They hand him the small building behind it, or the leak over the office, and they watch. Every contractor I know with a full schedule got there by doing a small job right and being easy to reach afterward.
Stay in people's heads. This may be the one that matters most in roofing. You don't control when a building owner buys. His roof decides that, often in a storm, and usually eighteen months after you first met him. If you talked to him once in the spring and never again, someone else will be standing there when it finally leaks. The contractors who win are the ones who came back. Not once but every year, whether there was a job or not.
Get paid. Bid the job at what the work is worth, not just at the number you think will win. A price cut to buy a job may only buy you a summer of working for nothing and a reputation you'll spend a long time correcting.
Every tool we have now, here in 2026, should be a way to just do those four basics faster and better.
––––
Before I go further, do me one favor.
Hit reply and answer one question: What's the single hardest part of getting commercial roofing work right now for you? Finding buildings? Getting past the gatekeeper? Bidding? Closing? Something else?
One sentence is plenty.
I read every one, and what you send me is what I write about next.
––––
If you're not in commercial roofing, that's a fair reason to step off, and I'd rather you did than get a newsletter that isn't for you. The unsubscribe link is at the bottom, and I won't take it personally.
Respectfully,
Owen Shrock
P.S. This part is only for a slice of the list, so skip it if it isn't you.
If you're an active contractor on the Pathfinders team, there’s a first-time-ever Path to Preferred Workshop on September 1 in Ohio. One day, in a room with the men who, over the past 15 years, have already done what you're trying to do, built around reaching or advancing Preferred Contractor status in the new qualifying year.
Registration closes tonight, and I've got some seats left. Reply to this email and I'll send you the link to check it out.
Partner Spotlight:
CommercialRoofingWebsites.com develops responsive, search-friendly websites tailored for commercial roofers that strengthen credibility, improve visibility, and support better prospect conversations. Now starting at just 97 bucks a month.