Posts tagged "window cleaning directory"

Some Results…

hi steve

just a quick note to say you were right. your marketing works anywhere. 250 flyers out and already received 6 inquiries   3 jobs so far . more on the way . lovely result. more to come
regards
randy

My Response

Hi Randy:

That’s great.  Right, the numbers will always work overall.  Occasionally (on rare occasions) when you don’t do enough numbers, you might have a weak response.  The reason is that quite simply a window cleaner may already have the area (where you are distributing flyers) locked up. Or the neighborhood may have been burned by a previous window washer.  So prospects in that neighborhood are kind of hesitant on calling another one.  But again though…this can be overcome by just making sure you do enough numbers all the time.

1000 is a good round number.  This should give you 10 calls turning into 7 or 8 jobs.  It works like clockwork each and every time as long as you’re marketing to your target market.   

And definitely, as you said, "more are on the way". This is just the beginning.  Take care for now.  Have a profitable week.

Regards,

Steve

10,000 targeted flyers…

Steve, I am trying to put together 10,000 flyers to distribute to targeted communities. Needless to say, this is an overwhelming task. Any suggestions as to how to expedite the process? What are others doing?

Ivan

My Response

Hi Ivan:

Ah…sounds good.  10,000 is a real solid number that’ll generate phone calls, activity, jobs, etc.  Make sure though that you do some of those 10,000 in a repeat fashion. In other words, don’t distribute all 10,000 to 10,000 different homes.  Pick 2 to 4 neighborhoods and really nail ‘em multiple times so you get the best results.  

Using one neighborhood as an example, if you start off with flyers, calls will come and then neighbors will begin to see you in their neighborhood with your signage, so it generates great awareness for your company/service.  In 3 to 4 weeks, hit ‘em again with another round of flyers. All this time, you’re gaining a presence in the neighborhood.  A few weeks after that, you’ll want to do another round of flyers or maybe even a postcard mailing using the carrier route method I discuss in chapter 7 in my manual.

Keep up the repetition and you’ll soon lock down a neighborhood.  To top it off, make sure you collect references from satisfied customers in all the different neighborhoods you do business in.  So for example, if you’re giving an estimate to a prospect in XYZ Development, make sure to insert into your estimate package 2 or 3 references (w/phone numbers) that you’ve collected from satisfied customers living in XYZ Development. This carries a lot of weight when trying to capture a prospect in a particular subdivision if the prospect sees the names/numbers of successful customers that you’ve serviced in the same subdivision. 

I hope this helps.  Take care for now.  Talk soon.

Regards,

Steve

When’s the Best Time for a Push?

Hey Steve,

In the past I have made some good money just cleaning gutters in October, November, December, so much so I am considering pouring all of my marketing efforts into that until Spring, of course letting people know I clean windows as well.
When do you think is a good time to start, first I will send a card to all my current clients, then start flyering all the tree filled neigborhoods in October I think, and if I can get the cash together do some direct mailing in November and December possibly even January and February.

Thanks again,
Aaron Swanson

My Response:

Hi Aaron:

Good morning. 

I think the time to start promoting gutter cleaning is right now.  We are about to hit a busy, busy time.  So now would be the perfect time to get the word out.  I would do a flyer distribution in 2 to 3 ideal tree filled locations within the next week and then go back and do ‘em again the 2nd week of october.  This should give you plenty of profits to invest in a postcard campaign or two also.  But again though, focus on just a few areas.  The biggest mistake I see people make is they try and cover too many areas.  I’ve had the biggest results come from repeatedly hammering  home my message to the best locations instead of spreading myself all over town.

Man….$1000 a day is just super.  Great job.  The only way to really make this kind of income consistent is with other people working with you.  With the proper training, they’ll make you a bunch of money.  That’s the only way I know of to consistently rake in that kind of money though on a regular basis.  We can all have individual profit days like what you described, but to do it day in and day out would require each of us to be superman.  )  It’s rough to keep that kind of pace going. 

It sounds like you’re ready to get yourself a system (game plan) going.  Have you ever listened to michael gerber’s emyth seminar tape program? Do a google search for "emyth seminar" and I’m sure you’ll find it. Great stuff.  But it’s important for all of us to create some kind of system for our business where we can have those $1000 days every day.  There’s no reason why we can’t.  I’m sure there are plenty of houses in your area that can support your services, especially when you throw gutter cleaning into the mix.

Anyway…I got off on a tangent.  )

Another service I would really, really recommend that you offer this time of year is christmas light installation.  You already have the ladders.  I charged a flat hourly on this.  So my hourly was $45 per hour to hang lights.  And I’d throw in a couple hours extra to cover the take down in january. Since you’re a member of The Customer Factor, use the personalization feature provided to prepare a letter to your customer base.  When you’re logged in, click on the "total" customer link in the navigation area, "check all" customers, and scroll down to click on the "personalize it!" button.  Then create yourself a personalized letter with a "new services" announcement.  Include gutter cleaning and christmas light installation.  If gutter cleaning isn’t necessarily a new service for your company, then the letter can focus more on "it’s that time of the year again" or something similar.  Know what I mean?  But using the personalization feature will allow you to easily print letters for all your customers with one click. 

I will say though that regardless whether it’s "new services" or a "it’s that time of the year" approach, I’d make an attempt throughout the year to stay in touch with each of your customers.  Just a "How are you" kind of letter.  I mailed out 6 to 8 greeting cards per customer per year.  The reason for this is because not only did these cards generate direct business, referrals, and customer goodwill, but when I then sent out a special announcement offering a new service (it might just be an old service repackaged as "new"), it makes it an easier sell because I kept in touch throughout the year. If you only stay in touch with the purpose of selling something, it’s a bit more difficult to make the sale. 

Anyway…prepare right now.  We are about to come up on the money season.  Next to march/april/may, the upcoming months are real profitable, so get yourself a flyer distribution out there, create a personalized letter announcing your services, and have fun!  Let’s see if you can turn a few more days into $1000 days.  )

Take care and have yourself a great day.

Regards,

Steve 

Back in Action…

Hey All,

It’s been awhile since I posted to the blog simply because The Customer Factor has taken huge chunks of time. Whew…who knew that creating videos was so time consuming? One whole day for a little 7 to 10 minute video between writing the script, creating the vid, editing it, and producing it.Anyway…as many folks know, we temporarily closed The Customer Factor to new member signups for the last few weeks so that we could spend the proper time on new videos. And now we’re back up and running again where new members can signup. Some window cleaners have told me over the last few weeks that they’re anxiously waiting to get started with it, so about an hour or so ago, The Customer Factor is back in action and accepting new member signups.  

Oh…and you can check out a new, updated demo video on the site at http://www.thecustomerfactor.com. We’re always doing regular updates and upgrades to the software based on member suggestions, so the demo videos tended to get outdated rather quickly. But this one is hot off the presses and ready for viewing.

And finally, now that my window cleaning software is reopened, I’ll be able to get back to posting some quality content for all of you pertaining to window cleaning. I’ve received a bunch of window cleaning related emails and questions over the last few weeks, but again, as stated above, I just haven’t had the time to post ‘em to the blog.

Take care and have a wonderful day.

Steve

Does “Hits” mean more Window Cleaning Business For You?

Hi Steve,

I’m going to be setting up a website and I want to be doing something fancier than what Barbara offers,  the Yellow pages has offered to make me a website included when I post onto there site, they do a decent site and the say they will guarantee me 30-60 hits (my choice) through google or whatever onto my site for $50(30 hits)-$150(60 hits) accordingly for the site and clicks…(on top of advertising costs)

Thanks for any help and direction you may have through this new territory.

Aaron

My Response:

Hi Aaron:
 
Good morning.  As a quick side note before beginning my email, barb can do anything you want.  So there are no limitations.  What you may have seen within her website packages are simple websites to keep the costs down for window cleaners, but she’s got all kinds of abilities to get fancy and all the necessary software to make any site based on what a person wants.  Regardless though, whoever you use, make sure it’s a quality search engine optimized site. 
 
Speaking about search engine optimized (SEO), keep in mind that just because someone may guarantee "clicks", that doesn’t mean they’re targeted clicks.  Clicks are worthless unless they’re clicks from prospects interested in your window cleaning business. 
 
An example.  Let’s say the phone company does specific adwords advertising for your business (they won’t) using the term "window cleaning business".  Someone in hawaii clicks on the ad.  That’s a click to you.  But is it really targeted?  No.  Since obviously someone in hawaii isn’t going to use your service.  Another example is if the phone company does advertising using the keyword "window cleaning".  Someone clicks on the ad, but they’re looking for window cleaning "supplies".  So yes, it’s a click.  It’s just not a targeted one since they’re looking for supplies. 
 
So the first question I would ask the phone company if I were you is how are those clicks generated, what keywords are used to generate those clicks, and how targeted to your service are the people clicking.  Keep in mind that "clicks" sounds great.  But it’s not always cracked up to what it should be.  I could buy 10,000 clicks to my website right now for $29.00.  10,000 sounds great, right?  But they are extremely untargeted and probably have no interest in my service, product, etc, so at the end of the day, what’s it really mean?  Just a bunch of wasted traffic to my website.  That’s why when I advertise online, I use specific keywords so that when someone lands on my website, I know they have at least an initial interest in what I’m offering.  
 
Is that an extra $50 a month or $150 per month that the phone company is asking for?  Or is that for the whole year?  Personally I wouldn’t do it.  I’m not sure how all the particulars work, but if you get a website with them, you’re locked into their service.  I’m sure they’re not going to build you a website and give it to you so you can host it elsewhere.  I would go ahead and build a website as a standalone so that you have the flexibility to move it to wherever you want to.  Get your own hosting company or since you’re a member of my window cleaning software, The Customer Factor, you can host your site with me if you want.  It’s up to you.  But at least this way you’re not locked into hosting and not locked into one company. 
 
Plus by working on it yourself, you can search engine optimize it with your own meta tags and everything.  This’ll generate your own targeted clicks.  At no cost I might add.  You’ll have full control.  I doubt you’ll be able to modify the meta tags on the site since the site will probably be owned by the phone company.  You’ll have limitations.  Just some thoughts to think about.
 
Take care for now.  Have a good day.
 
Regards,
 
Steve

Reply:

Thanks Steve, You Confirmed my fears that I was apt to overlook for simplicity sake and some slick sales on there part.
This is great as I was about to do it, but now feel more geared to get it up myself with a designer.

Aaron

My Response:

Hi Aaron:
 
Good morning.  I appreciate your comments.  Right…I think it’s best to run it yourself.  As mentioned in my last email, "clicks" aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.  It sounds good in a sales presentation, but mostly it’s just window dressing though.     
 
On a different note, there is a general lack of understanding by many window cleaners on search engine optimization and what it takes to get a website indexed and ranked in the search engines.  I get a bunch of questions on this process regularly.  So I was thinking of putting together some free videos to provide folks some education about this subject.  All of my sites are ranked on the 1st page of google for multiple keywords.  So I think I can help other folks achieve these same type of rankings with their websites.  Stay tuned for further news.  I’ll keep you posted.  Thanks again for your comments.  Have a great day.
 
Regards,
 
Steve
 

Some Motivation to “Build” your Window Cleaning Business…

Most of us don’t really need any motivation to build our business with crews. We see the potential of how lucrative our businesses can be if we bring on quality help. But for those of you who may not see the big picture, here’s an email I received yesterday from a window cleaner that might just give you the jump start you need:

Hi Steve,

Severn

Higher Prices for Dirtier Windows?

Hello steve!
 
My name is lafe wilson and I have a question for you!  When your giving bids to people, I was wondering do you charge more for for really soiled windows such as cobb web infested/ dirty window tracks, and high ,uneven ground to place your ladders?  compared to regular jobs where the people have there windows cleaned on a regular basis?  (such as my parents!)  where the windows are generally pretty clean!  These are some of the things i’ve been encountering in my business and i was just looking for some friendly business advice.  I figure i’am in the ball park of bids but,  i don’t want to over charge them either.  
 
thank you for your time!
 
lafe wilson

My Response:

Hi Lafe:

Good morning.  I charged the same regardless how dirty a window was unless it was a construction cleanup job.  It was more trouble than it was worth to go around the house and look up close at each window to determine dirt/cobwebs, etc.  It was faster to just look at the front of the house for example and say "ok, there are 10 windows, so let’s multiply it times my per window price and move on".

With that said though, my pricing for upper windows was certainly more than the lower windows due to the extra time spent on ladders. I generally upped the per window price by $2 for each window on the 2nd level. But pricing differently depending on how dirty each window was? No…I didn’t do that. There is no exact science to bidding though as I’m sure you’re aware.  But the key is to make sure the estimate is presented properly. If you don’t present it properly, then all you can do is go in on price which is what most window cleaners do.  And you never want to build a window cleaning business based on price.  The window cleaners who do this are always desperate for the next job and the next job and the next job.  So don’t be afraid to have higher pricing than your competitors, but if you do, make sure your presentation is top notch as I mentioned. 

Take care.

Steve 

From the Email Bag…

Hey All…

Ah…another glorious week in the window cleaning biz.

I’ve been a bit lax on posting to the blog lately because we’re in the middle of creating some mighty cool new features for The Customer Factor and some revisions to 3 Bears Window Cleaning Directory. One thing I learned from being online is that revisions, edits, and additions are constant. Also the beginnings of a window cleaning forum are taking shape.  So please stay tuned. 

Ok….today, I just reached into the ‘ole mail bag to see what came up. Um…a couple of interesting emails…

Email #1:

Steve,  we ran into tree sap and a lot of paint overspray, so really we have to charge more if there is a lot of scraping correct? I ‘ll reread ch 8 tomorrow on our day off.  I made more money than i did working for my other job this week.  We had a lot of people asking if we could do their windows today.  So, we are almost booked for next week.
jason

My Response:

Hi jason:

Good morning. Unless it was really excessive, I didn’t charge more.  Because I figured i was scraping the window anyway.  I did that for each window I cleaned.  So it was part of my window price.  Another note is that you really don’t want to estimate a job and have to look at each window really close.  I mean you don’t want to say, "ok, this window has sap, so it’s $7.00.  But this window is fine, so it’s $5.00".  Know what I mean?  It’s easier to simply look at the overall job and hit it with a price without looking at each individual window.  I would lower the per window price if I saw a small bathroom window and I would raise the per window price if I saw any oversize windows, but I didn’t raise or lower pricing based on the amount of "stuff" that might need to be scraped off of a window.  The exception of course is if it was a construction cleanup job with stickers, stucco, etc. on each window. 

Congratulations on being booked up for a week.  That’s great.  Soon you’ll be booked up 3 to 4 weeks or more.  That’s quite a feeling to know that you can control your income like that.  Just make sure to take continuous action on your marketing or you will see a dropoff a bit in your first year.  So keep pushing during your first year in biz.  Take care for now.  Have a good weekend.

Regards,

Steve

Email #2:

michael here from md. we have really started to crank this window biz up. we have been tossing flyers 3 to 4 times a wk. sometimes we toss 1000+ other times 500-800. been getting alot of calls. my question was about postcards. roughly, what is the cost to mail out 1500 postcards? im talking rough price with cost of cards and all? i want to start getting the postcards in the mix. what is the best way to mail these cost and ease wise?

thanks, michael

My Response

Hi Michael:

It’s good to hear from you.  A good rule of thumb is about $270 per thousand for both postage and the cost of the cards.  You can get cards from psprint really reasonable.  I would buy 5000 at a time because you can get a great price break with a 5000 postcard purchase. 

And for postage, if you use the carrier route mailing method as described in my manual, I think that’s currently 21 cents per postcard mailed.  Dick Tudor at Smart Mail did all my mailing for me though, so he would know the exact specifics and costs.  His contact info. is in the manual. He’s the resident expert on the type of mailings we need to do in the window cleaning business for maximum results.  I actually had my postcards shipped directly to Dick from psprint.   So all it took was a 10 second phone call that went something like this: "Dick let’s get a mailing out to carrier routes 67 and 73".

And that was it.  Dick would bundle up the postcards and ship ‘em out.  Each home located in the route would receive a postcard.  So it’s very easy.  A nice autopilot system.  There is some initial research required though to determine what areas are your target areas.  You obviously don’t want homes that are not in your target market to receive postcards.  Anyway…you should contact Dick and pick his brain on this.  He has software that can determine route numbers in any city in the U.S.  You can certainly use a local direct mail house if you want to.  Just make sure that you don’t buy the "extras" they usually want to sell you like mailing lists for example.  Carrier route mailings work w/o mailing lists.  Each postcard is addressed to "Postal Patron". And as mentioned, each home in the route will get a card. 

Hope this helps.  Take care for now.

Regards,

Steve