Reinvesting and Advertising…news from Deland.

The reason for the e-mail is because I read on the window washing success tips page that one of the guys is writing a blog for you on his business. I would like to do the same for you in light of all of the updates that are coming around the corner for The Customer Factor. I hope this will help get one more thing off your to do list. I don’t mind writing anything for you I owe a lot to you, so if I can spend a couple of minutes to write something I don’t mind.

Thanks for all of the support you have given me the past year and a half. I left home (Utah) and drove to Florida on April 6, 2006. I don’t think I could have made it this far without you. I truly believe in business systems. I did not want to wash windows myself as a career but I would like to manage a business as a career like you did when you started. With that being said I know I don’t have to remind you of all of the phone calls and e-mails I sent you. There is nothing like a mentor with any business.

Anyway…I know that a lot of folks who are members of The Customer Factor and those who have purchased your window washing program ask about marketing a lot. I have also received a couple of calls from folks who have talked to you and asked me for some advice. I don’t know everything but I do know what has worked for me and my company.

Here are some of the things that work for me in my area and the thought process I had for residential marketing. Since I was new to the area and to the business I didn’t really know the area of town that I was supposed to market to. I took a couple hundred dollars and sent out a blanket postcard campaign but didn’t get as many calls as I would like. I actually got my first call when I bought my yard sign and put it in my in-laws yard. We were living in their front room and they are next to a busy road. I landed that job pretty easily and took 20% of that money and re-invested that into a local magazine that advertises local businesses. I didn’t put a display ad in there. Too expensive, but I put a word ad. ($65 a month) Well, the phone started to ring. I got a couple of other jobs. From those jobs I took 20% and invested it into keeping the current ad running and trying to find a similar company that does the same thing.

I found a couple of local companies that mailed to 7 different areas. So I went to those companies and jumped on board with an area. The phone rang from just a 35 word ad. This is the ad I put in everything:

Clearview Window Washing Service
"Windows So Clean You’ll Think They’re Open!"
Window sills, tracks and screens inside and out.
Insured-bonded-licensed. references provided. Call
for free estimates 407-xxx-xxxx

And that was it. I would like to note two things. I am not very good with numbers. So when I opened my free business account with Washington mutual I got two business accounts instead of one. (currently I have four accounts under clearview) One was for my general account where I deposit money, pay myself, buy supplies and so forth. The other was for marketing. That is where I would transfer money to over the Internet when I made a deposit. I figured the more I made the more marketing I could do and the more marketing I could do the more money I would make.

Well, I kept those line ads up every month or week depending on when they sent them. I asked the companies to call me (no contracts) when my ad ran out and I would tell them if I wanted to re-new or not. They had my debit-card on file and it was really easy. The phone call lasted 15 seconds.

I am currently with four different companies that do the same thing. Yes, that means that a lot of areas see my ads four different times from four different sources. How many times have you seen the Geiko commercial? They got the caveman and the lizard. Plus if you ever inquired about car insurance through them they send you stuff in the mail periodically. I think that I would like to follow a multi-million dollar companies ad strategy to the best of my ability, plus Steve you tell us to do that all of the time.

To date I hit almost 200,000 homes every month. I only spend around $1000 to do so. To be honest I am trying to transition over to post cards so I can pin-point neighborhoods that I get a lot of calls from. Plus, some folks don’t see my ads because they are drowned by other ads. But my record amount of new customers for a month was 58. So it does work.

Well, I think I may be writing to long. Steve if you ever want me to write some more or expound let me know. Again, thanks for all of your help. I sure hope this gives another view point on marketing.
 
Best Regards,
 
Deland