1% Response…More talk about Flyers.

Dave and I have been going back and forth. Here's another email and my response:

Hi Steve

Thanks for the reply.

Most of these do have a couple windows that require a ladder and I have already printed the flyers for the 60 units. If the 1% response rule holds then I may not even get a call from this complex. For the other complexes, I am going to go up to one of the office supply stores and have them run of on their copier.

I spent about 2 hours passing them out. Since I don't have anything else going on now, it's not a big deal. I have my 17 year old son working with me too so I will use him a lot more for passing out the flyers when I have more work. I have also accepted a part time job at a local <deleted> but I haven't started yet. Once I start to get enough business, I'll resign from this job and just do the windows. Since I live in <deleted>, I don't expect to get much work in the middle of Winter so I may wait until next Spring to resign. I originally planned to work there a few evenings a week and maybe every other Sunday so I could be covered by their medical insurance.

Regards
Dave

My Response:

Hi Dave:

Sounds good. Right…based on a 1% return, you're going to get a fraction of a phone call. :o)

I wrote a newsletter awhile back that talked about doing some serious numbers. It really is all about numbers. I have folks who have started fresh out of the starting gate and just blanketed their areas with flyers. I mean hundreds and hundreds of flyers. They immediately received calls and the calls kept on coming in because of the massive number of flyers distributed on an ongoing basis. So I have no doubt that if you are able to do some serious numbers in terms of flyer distribution, you might not even have to work that part time job.

That's why I talk so much about hiring some help to assist in flyer distribution. Because if there are a massive amt. of flyers distributed initially and the calls come in, it won't be long before you have no more time for distribution. One of the mistakes I see from folks is that they start off with a bang, but because all of a sudden they stop promoting (due to them being busy with jobs), they wake up one day to an empty schedule. So they basically have to start from the beginning all over again.

The story I related this to in one of my newsletters was about pumping the well. Remember those old fashioned wells? Once you have pumped and pumped and pumped, and got the water flowing, it's a lot easier to just keep a nice even steady on the pump handle to keep the water flowing. If you let go of the handle, the water falls down to the bottom again and you have to start at the beginning and pump real hard to get it up to the surface again. In relation to the window cleaning business, it's a whole lot easier to keep the flow of calls coming in by regularly distributing flyers. It doesn't necessarily have to be a daily thing either. A whopping 2,000 flyers distributed every saturday morning would put your business on the map without a doubt in a relatively short period of time. Anyway…just some thoughts to ponder.

Right…I see what you mean about the winter time. Some of my system owners up north have done a little branching out into commercial glass because commercial customers do want their glass cleaned year round. Just a thought. It might be a way for you to keep busy making money year round. Although I'm not a big fan of commercial, one big advantage is that they will use your services every couple of weeks, every month, etc.

Take care for now and keep in touch for sure. Talk soon.

Regards,

Steve