I don’t want to just call anybody out of the paper due to a bad experience with a rouge trader type. The reason I want to use this guy is I trust him not to rip me off and to charge me a fair price. I know the search engines better then most and I know how to lever every ounce of search power out of them but I still can’t find any mention of his details on line.

You need to make it easy for people to find you

If I’m having difficulty finding him who else wants to use him and cant, Like me they have lost the slip of paper that was stuck on the fridge with his contact details on it. How much business is this guy loosing due to not having any sort of listing online (even a free one).

If you have any sort of business you need to have a web presence. New businesses see it as a must. If you have been in business for a while you may not see any reason for changing. The reason to change is if you have built a loyal customer base who are happy to recommend and use you time after time you need to make it easy for them to find you.