Cleaning Business Life

CBL Episode #84 Marketing 101-"Unlocking Growth Through Proven Cleaning Business Strategies"

• Shannon Miller and Kimberly Gonzales • Season 2024 • Episode 84

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Ever wondered how to turn your small cleaning business into a thriving enterprise? Look no further. This episode promises to arm you with proven marketing strategies specifically designed for cleaning businesses. We kick off by unveiling how a simple Facebook business profile and powerful before-and-after photos can revolutionize your social media marketing. Jamie shares her firsthand success stories, from leveraging local chambers of commerce for networking to quirky yet effective tactics like using a mop bucket to attract attention. Discover the ripple effects of community engagement, whether it’s through a ribbon-cutting ceremony or a feature on local TV.

But the journey doesn't come without its challenges. House cleaning businesses often face hiccups like unreliable contractors and struggles with credibility. In this engaging discussion, we delve into the strategic investments necessary for growth, from maintaining a professional website to possibly setting up a brick-and-mortar location. Hear about the value of patience, structured business planning, and the critical importance of not giving up just when you're on the brink of success. Jamie shares personal anecdotes, emphasizing how mentorship and incremental progress can make or break your business.

Lastly, we talk about the relentless dedication required to build a lasting legacy in the cleaning industry. Learn why having no plan B and committing fully is the key to creating a sustainable, independent operation. We explore the drive to hit major financial milestones and the necessity of continuous learning, research, and networking with industry peers nationwide. This episode is a treasure trove of practical advice, motivational insights, and human-based marketing strategies that emphasize the irreplaceable value of personal interaction. Tune in to uncover the secrets to elevating your cleaning business and securing a legacy for future generations.

Don't forget to apply for a full scholarship of the SSPCBA, sponsored by Klean Freaks University.com. Winner will be announced 11.29.24    https://forms.gle/aVMS7GpLSkEsaoBM7

Up your cleaning game, join over 6000 Cleaning Business Owners most of whom are located here in the United States.  

It can be crowed when trying to figure out who you are going to learn from

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Questions? Feel free to reach out!

Shannon Miller: cleaningbusinesslife@gmail.com

Join my FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1583362158497744
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIjMz_-9YyiFvNVIgb61iYg

To order All-Natural Cleaning Products: www.purevergreen.com
See Shannon's latest courses: www.KleanFreaksUnversity.com

Speaker 1:

So that we can get the audio out of here. This is. We're talking all about marketing, so it's Basic Marketing 101. The very first thing that Jamie was talking about was her business profile on Facebook, so let's recap that real quick for the audience out there.

Speaker 2:

So, yeah, you were asking me what's the number one thing? And it's actually two things. And it's actually two things. So, having a business profile on Facebook, your social media marketing, showing befores and afters, lots of pictures I like to see befores and afters. Yeah, they do. They want to be able to know that you're going to take something and make it clean and something that they didn't think would ever be clean, and you've turned it into this beautiful, I don't know. I've seen them come to tears, I've seen people in tears and it's very heartwarming. And then, um, the chamber.

Speaker 1:

Um, the chamber has been so huge for me um would be um one in the same as your social media profile yeah, networking um a lot of the local businesses follow me um realtors, a lot of realtors.

Speaker 2:

uh, follow me Um the? Um realtors association has actually you know, because they follow me has actually asked me to start um cleaning for them or my company yeah, so, um, there there's so many things has usually either monthly or quarterly meetings, where they're in-person meetings.

Speaker 1:

So you're in front of all of these people and that is a great opportunity for you to speak in front of the key people that the real estate agents aren't going to necessarily be your clients. It's the people that they know who are going to be your clients their buyers and their sellers and their sellers.

Speaker 2:

Um, sellers, they want their house to be spruced up before, uh, it goes onto the market. Those are called make readies. Yeah, Make ready. And uh, yeah, yeah, but, um, you know putting being able to support, uh, my son's. You know sports activities? Um, he plays football, right, or is it baseball? He does both, he does both, he does it all.

Speaker 1:

He does karate, baseball, football. He's my only. So, um, yeah, what, what's how? What's worked for you, though? Um, I have.

Speaker 1:

I've joined the chamber commerce for many years. I've been on off, on off, on off, um, for that, I actually have not honestly been to a chamber meeting. I want to say, since covet I just have had so much going on, and for me to facilitate, you know, dragging two kids with me to a chamber meeting was a little little daunting. They're older and wiser now so they don't have to be, you know, held all the time. So I am considering adding that back into my agenda next year. And plus, if you go to chamber meetings in fourth quarter, it's fun because there's more festivities going on and people are very generous at that time, so that might be a more of a key opportunity. But the mop bucket is a great method that Jamie learned inside of the Structure Scale and Profit Cleaning Business Academy, and it's a great way to have people come to you instead of you having to go to them, and because people are like, what are you going to do? You're going to clean up the meeting, like, yeah, ha, ha, ha, right, yeah, right.

Speaker 1:

I used to bring my feather duster, but then I used to lose all my feather dusters and those things are not deep no, they're not, and after you lose one or two, you're like maybe I should not have them, you know, brought with me. Or you can attach them to the mop bucket and you need a designated mop bucket with the stickers on it. Getting yourself on TV is a whole little mini class that we're going to actually have released next year, and it talks about how to get yourself on your local television stations and what you can do to get there going to be more beneficial to you. Yes, we have a whole segment of people who don't want to interface face-to-face. The speaking industry is a face-to-face industry still, so I highly recommend that you get in front of people. People want to like, know and trust you.

Speaker 1:

We're seeing things that most house guests don't see, so it's important that you're considering where your time should be spent and if you're not comfortable public speaking, make yourself comfortable speaking or hire in someone who is. If you have the budget for it Initially, you're bootstrapping it and you're going to have to do the marketing yourself Unless, of course, you know you are lucky enough to be a trust fund baby and you have all of these funds so you can hire out to all of these things that are beneficial, that help you know, segment your time, but networking, and then what's the number three for you to market for bait. These are all just basic strategies that are all mentioned in. There's a video on my YouTube channel, I believe.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, no, there is my youtube channel, I believe. Yeah, no, there is. So I want to say I'm going to tell you, whenever you join your local chamber, as part of being coming a member, you're allowed to have a what's called a ribbon cutting right. That's a big promotion, it's a huge, especially in a small town like a small area like this. You get and whenever that happens, they make it a big deal.

Speaker 1:

So you know, you call an office or brick and mortar office. You just did it right there in front of the chamber office. I did I did.

Speaker 2:

I called in all of my people that totally support me and was like, let's do this, my people that totally support me and was like let's do this. And uh, you know, a lot of people from my church showed up, um, my family, um, all my cleaning techs, uh, all the chamber people. So there is a big, huge group and there's people that are also designated to go to these ribbon cuttings and that are a part of the board in the chamber and when that happens or at least in our area you get put into the local newspaper. You get put into the local newspaper, and not only just the local newspaper, but you also there's a quarterly newsletter from the chamber that goes to so many people's mailboxes. So there there's a.

Speaker 2:

You know, that's part of that's part of what you pay into the chamber to have that happen is those ribbon cuttings. So that's I. I'm like I said that's part of what you pay into the chamber to have that happen is those ribbon cuttings. So that's I mean, I'm like I said, that's huge. I'm huge with the the chamber. That is where you probably should start off very first.

Speaker 1:

Right, and Jamie's a member of five different chambers in her area.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and some have worked out and some have completely been a flop and it's just total. It is. It's just total, it is. It's a loss of money. But I don't look at it as a loss of money. Um, I look at it like there was nobody. Nobody's going to know that you exist if you're not out there saying, hey, we are here, we are here, look at me, look at me, look at me. You have to have, I want, I want eyes on me. I have it on the I. Here's another one. Get something, whether it be a magnet or something, on the back of your windshield that says that you are a cleaning business owner. On the back of my car, it says that I am licensed, bonded, bonded and insured. And then, um, it has my website and it has my phone number on there. Um, if you don't have a website, just a phone number is fine, but get the word out. And, um, a good way to. Once I had that on there, I started hanging out at the local Starbucks.

Speaker 1:

That was key and I started realizing.

Speaker 2:

I started realizing. People started recognizing me at my bank. I had a pink and black steering wheel cover that I put over on my steering wheel and whenever I drop off checks at the bank, they knew me before I was going there every day, but before this they started knowing me as the pink steering wheel lady that owns that cleaning business.

Speaker 2:

You know that cleaning business, the pink steering wheel lady, and it evolved. It evolved from there to where I'm like hey, wait, whether they like it or not, whether you like pink or not, I mean it's not. It just ended up being my persona and that I went with it and people saw me at Starbucks. It grew from there and I asked you always ask whenever how did you hear about us? Right, either it's by referral, you know they're going to tell you oh, I've had so many people tell me you're always at Starbucks. Hey, it works. There's at Starbucks, hey it works.

Speaker 1:

There's my marketing. The key point that Jamie is getting to, that she hasn't directly told you, is the fact that frequency matters. We are so overstimulated as a population by these these things that you have to be able to get people's attention. And because she is very rural, everybody knows that that's Jamie, just by default, because she's hanging out over there getting the wifi default. Because she's hanging out over there getting the Wi-Fi from Starbucks while she's doing her thing. In between A double take, lunch coffee, whatever and then she's got the Wi-Fi there because everybody knows you can get Wi-Fi at Starbucks.

Speaker 2:

I'm guilty of doing it myself.

Speaker 1:

I'm like in between, not wanting to go all the way home, and I'm like, where is there what? Staples has it, and starbucks. So I know that if I'm in proximity to one of those, I can at least siphon off the wi-fi so I can finish doing what I needed to do but it is right, that's a pro hack.

Speaker 2:

Small little things that have worked, and I see it work for other people too. I can see that working for other people.

Speaker 1:

These are just good.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, these are just ideas and you take them and make them into your own and take all these ideals, take these ideas that we're giving to you and make it your own and run with it. Yeah, because this is a great industry to be in.

Speaker 1:

It is.

Speaker 2:

It is. It's a great industry, my favorite industry. Yes, it's a great and it's I don't know. I get all jazzed up for it, right.

Speaker 1:

And then you had mentioned a website, and there's a lot of reasons why you need a website and I know people go, oh my God, I don't have the money for a website. But it proves permanence when you have a website, it proves legitimacy, it proves that you're in there, that you've hung your bell out, so to speak, to let people know that you are a legitimate business, instead of a fly-night where it doesn't have a website or um, doesn't a lot of wrong things, um, dealing with contractors down in phoenix? Let me tell you.

Speaker 2:

Whenever you're answering, whenever you're in the mom and pop groups on your social media, you'll see people getting tagged left and right. But whenever you come up and say, hey, you can get a hold of the office at, give them their number, give them your number, or go to my website. It looks like you are professional. I'm like, oh wow, she has a website and everything. It looks professional. It looks like you have. What is that saying that you say all the time Skin in the game yes, it looks like you have skin? What is that saying that you say all the time skin in the game yes, you have like you have skin in the game, and that you're taking this serious and you look more professional?

Speaker 1:

yeah right, you do you. It gives you legitimacy into what you're doing and a lot of people don't. Still to this day, even though we were considered essential, even though we're actually a line item on the budget. Now you're starting to see that more than ever. Unfortunately, the house cleaning industry also attracts unsavory individuals who are looking for quick cash.

Speaker 1:

Case in point, with the vendors that I had to walk through with someone this week. She hired in vendors who were supposed to provide two people for a percentage of the job. One person shows up. She's like hey, I'm here on the job with your person. Where's your other person? Oh well, all right. And so then a teenager shows up to try to help out clearly a daughter of someone, so she doesn't know how to clean. She's just there because you know, her dad yelled at her right. So there she has one and a half employees, or maybe one and a quarter employees when this person promised her to. And the reason why she hired out is because Phoenix is 77 miles from where I'm at and she was trying to make it easy on her crew who was already up here, and then it ended up being like a nightmare situation. So now she's going to have to. They've threatened to sue her.

Speaker 1:

I'm like they didn't finish the job, so your contractors have to finish the job to get paid. It's just anywhere that you're a contractor If you don't finish the job, you don't get paid. That's just how it works. So, yeah, there's a whole dynamic to what I'm talking about. So, giving yourself legitimacy, having a website, it when you get big enough, you may want a brick and mortar. I think I see a lot of people shifting back the other way. I had a brick and mortar for years. I saved myself 28 to 32 grand on average without having a brick and mortar. But there's other companies where it's beneficial, especially if you're like in Dallas. Right, People want to know that you're legitimate and real and providing a brick and mortar location psychologically tells them hey, this person takes us seriously, they have to pay rent or they own this building, so that does help.

Speaker 2:

It does. Yeah, I agree with you. Psychologically they want, and it depends on your area. It really depends on your area of whether or not you can just totally run this out of your office or, like I do, out of a storage. I would love to have a brick and mortar um. I would love to have a brick and mortar um. My next stop is um. As a matter of fact, we'll talk about this later um is getting um a billboard. And these are little steps. I. I didn't get like this overnight. These are I. This is just. If I got a big job, a one-off job, I would invest it into my company and I just kept investing it and investing it, always, always, always. Little bitty steps. You got to have a little bit of patience and a little bit of baby steps, but you got.

Speaker 1:

You know, so that and it's a mindset thing too. I remember when I first had to buy business cards and I spent $150. I'm like $150? I can't believe I spent $150 on business cards. I better get lots of business. And in reality, when I had Castle Keeper Cleaning, I mean I spent over six figures a year on just marketing and lead options and all that other stuff. So yeah, it's crazy, but it's a mindset and it doesn't take long, yeah, and it takes time.

Speaker 2:

It takes a lot of patience and uh little baby steps, and there's ways to do that, and having a, a mentor, really, really helps. Um, especially with, uh, the structureit Cleaning Academy is what helped me get to where I'm at. It's all about making these structures in place for your business and without that, I think I would have just bootstrapped it and, honestly, I may have just flopped over and I was like, oh okay, that ain't working, you know, but I did see there was some there, there, there's a market here for this. And I just like I said, all the time it's like you're mining for oil. I'm like, oh, that's not it. You're sitting there plucking around, plucking around, nope, nope. But you're right.

Speaker 1:

You know you're right there onto something right I'm not sure if that's how everyone minds for oil. She was um poking a hole for those of you who are not watching um, but yeah, it's. There's drilling that has to happen and they have to drill pretty deep. It's like drilling for a well as something that's relatable as well. And there are there, the company here. There's only two companies in our area in northern arizona. They are a whole 18 months behind. So if you buy a house or if you buy property, it's going to you're going to wait 18 months to have your well drilled and there's no guarantee that, because you're paying by the inch, how if you're going to get water or not. So, and there's only two companies in town.

Speaker 1:

I'm like but it's a dollar investment. I'm like I don't, I don't know, I don't know, cause you always look for when you become an entrepreneur, then you become a serial entrepreneur, so you're always looking for avenues of what that next opportunity is going to be for cashflow, in addition to what you're already doing. So but yeah, mining for oil is very important and sometimes you hit oil and sometimes don't.

Speaker 2:

Right. I was also taught that you know people are three feet away from success before they throw in the towel. Right, can you imagine being so close, can you imagine only being three feet away and just you're right there, you're right on the edge and, and just you know, thrown in the towel and a lot of people, I see a lot of people doing that and where is that from?

Speaker 1:

is that from a book I know you have mentioned it before who said that I can't remember who said that. I don't know, I just it's just something that I've heard it too, and I'm trying to recollect where I've heard it too, and I'm trying to recollect where I've heard it from.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, no, I don't remember. Yeah, that's a quote that I heard and it's always resonated with me and and just it's kept me going and maybe it can help somebody on here. Keep going, just know that you're we're all three feet away from success and you know, are you going to throw in the towel? Are you going to keep going?

Speaker 1:

How bad do you want it? And you're going to. If you want it bad enough, you'll figure out a way to go around it and move on over that boulder, and then the next time a bigger boulder, and then you're like, well, this one isn't as traumatic as the first one, so, and then the bigger boulder comes, and then multiple boulders come, and it becomes this whole. Like you know, it doesn't affect you as much, and that's when you grow as an individual as well, and I think that a lot of people get into our industry because it's easy to get in but it's hard to stay in. So you have to have that structure in place to make those systems work. And even even way back in the day, I mean, I had to try to figure out how to make it happen because we didn't have Facebook groups.

Speaker 1:

No Right, and you learned how to pivot every time we have to pivot. Even this last year we've had to pivot twice. I'm like OK, this isn't working.

Speaker 2:

And it is like you said. It's how bad do you want it? Right? And I'm going to tell you that I am hungry for it and I will make this work. There is no plan B. This is all or nothing. I, you know, I want to leave a legacy to my, my child. This isn't a? Um fly by night thing.

Speaker 1:

This is I'm all in. You're building something, it's not?

Speaker 2:

yeah, this is I'm all, or it's all or nothing for me. So, um, I just hope that this can resonate with somebody out there, and I hope that this helps you um become successful, you know sorry, I keep getting ideas.

Speaker 1:

All these downloads are coming, so while you're talking to me, I'm like writing things down because I'll forget, right.

Speaker 2:

And then I'm like what?

Speaker 1:

was I trying to remember. So I think yes, you'll hear me preach it from my soapbox all the time you are creating something that you can make as a legacy for your client not your clients for your family, or that you can sell on a later date. And when you have a legacy that's there for your family, you have a fully. I'm not talking about you're out there sweat equity, working in the business to try to make it happen. I'm talking about you get a quarterly paycheck while everything runs like a well-oiled machine. That is the goal and I've seen some businesses really expand Someone.

Speaker 1:

I saw someone in one of the groups and she had a $7 million business. I looked this just virtually unheard of, but she clearly has done it. I'd like to see the P&L. But what you say and what is actually real are two different things. But I was like, wow, $7 million business, she must have like a hundred cleaning techs, right, at least right, it has to be a big, well-oiled machine and you can. It's easily attainable if you get the. You know. And that happens too. Yeah, it does. It's unusual to hear of a $7 million a year business. What is normal now is a million dollar, seven figure, yeah.

Speaker 2:

That's almost honestly. The million dollar mark is almost the new 500 or a hundred. I seriously that's where we're at nowadays. Uh, that's not honestly. That's not without. I feel like I can hit that very. I'll be there Very soon. The goal, my goal, my personal goal in years is I would like to hit the 3 million mark and there's a lot of things that need to take place before that happens. I know that's not going to happen overnight and I know I need to oil up my machine and tinker around with it and I'm literally creating something from nothing. I knew nothing of this industry and I've learned a little bit as I went along, but I made sure to hire a mentor and a coach and take all these classes and researched, and it's all about researching and researching. I have, I have books on what is this? The best known made service, the ultimate marketing guide I'm right now for myself. A goal for myself is learning how to market for this business.

Speaker 1:

And another one. What was the first book? Let's go back to the first book. It was the best made. It's the best known, made service by it's all by Ray Malowski.

Speaker 2:

How do you spell Malowski, m-a-l-o-s-k-e A S K Y K I For those of you who are listening and you can just get that off Amazon.

Speaker 1:

There's no affiliation or anything like that. And then no book I'm actually getting ready to dig into myself and then I have this is market marketing and it's really hard to get the paperback of that. So I am proud of you because it took me a while to find one.

Speaker 2:

That's a hard back.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I got a hard back, too Hard to find when they don't come up all the time. They're, like some, coveted thing, yeah, no, it's like yes, yes, um, you know a lot of research, a lot of research and and.

Speaker 2:

Um, yeah, and this is like this. This is networking, and we're researching together and coming up with good ideas and bouncing them off of each other, and that's how this goes. That's how all of this goes, like, hey, is this working for you? What's working for you, what's working for you in your area? Um, what's working for you, what's working for you in your area? Uh, a lot of networking. Um, and not just here, but across America. Uh, you know, mostly across America.

Speaker 1:

I can't tell you how many friends that I am with that are not just in my area. Um, I talk power of the internet.

Speaker 2:

I talk daily to people that are in the commercial industry of cleaning, in the residential sector of cleaning and I don't know. I surround myself with a bunch of of people that are who I want to be like. That's that's who I have surrounded myself with, is people that I would love to be like one day and learn separation right and learn from them and learn what worked for them and what didn't never work for them. You know, I just that's how I do it.

Speaker 1:

And, yeah, having someone be in the thick of it or have been in thick of it in the recent future, or have a lot of experiences in business per se, is way better than getting information off of the internet. You really don't know where they derived it. You don't know if it's AI generated. You don't know if that experience is really real. But a lot of times, getting someone who is a mentor whether that's through me or somebody else, you're you're tapping into all of the blunders that person has made. I mean, that's the reality of it. I have a lot of mistakes. I've pivoted and pivoted again and we've moved down this road. I'm like, okay, this isn't working and giving yourself enough grace to go in the other direction if it's not going. And keeping track of your numbers, knowing if you're getting any ROI off your marketing is so important. Like I just mentioned, I spent 150 bucks when I first started out on business cards. I didn't know that I should track those business cards. I mean, it's not even really a market, it's a tool. It's not really marketing, but at the time I thought it was and I was like I want my 150 bucks back. So you have to make sure that you're following up and you're seeing if you have any ROI.

Speaker 1:

I pulled an ad out last November and they asked me if I was going to renew and it was for all of the you know, the TV at the big O tire stations or whatever. Yeah, the commercials. I've had the same one up there. I haven't gotten any ROI off of it. It was 650 bucks for four locations, nothing. I mean I haven't gotten anything and I did it because he smooth talked to me I had an extra 650. I'm like, okay, this might be an extra layer. And then, you know it's, he tried to like convince me that I needed to carry on and I'm like I don't really see the benefit of it. Yeah, because you know he gets on top of it. I understand, but if it's not working it's not working. Like marketing that doesn't work. Are shopping carts or the back of your receipts at your grocery store or those little menus in restaurants never work.

Speaker 2:

Oh yeah, I've had people ask me to put my ad in the back of those magazines and it's like, yeah, well, no, I kind of been told to stay away from it and I'm sitting there trying to think when was the last time I actually picked up one of those and looked at the back of it?

Speaker 1:

Oh there.

Speaker 2:

I'm going to call that cleaning company. I have not. I consider those cosmetic too. I will say that radio advertising. You're not going to see an ROI on that immediately. That is getting your name out there and it's going to who's that cleaning company? Who's that cleaning company that I keep hearing on the radio? That is going to take a little bit of time, but I'm a big person. On trading for services. As a matter of fact, we are trying to get a thread going in our local mom's group for trade for services. I said we need to start doing a trade for services and seeing who needs what and how can we help each other out here, because I think bartering has lost it's impact on us and it, it, um. I seen somebody asking for trade for services and I was I. I let's make a thread of this. So a bunch of us are getting together and go to make a thread of um, trading for services and uh.

Speaker 1:

That's brilliant. We actually have a trade association now and it's a membership based thing and I it's not cheap. It's like 150 bucks a month and I'm like, yeah, I don't know, I'm not, it's not hitting me the right way. If it was like 25 bucks a month, I could consider that for admin costs or whatever. Yeah, but it's still new. I think it only has so many members. I'm like I don't, I don't know, for $150.

Speaker 2:

I'll watch from the sidelines and see how that works for you for a couple of months and if I see something that works, then I might think about dipping my toe in. Like I said, my next avenue is I actually took a picture of it so I could show you where it's located at. I'll show you later, but is what? Is it? The opposite side of the highway.

Speaker 1:

Oh, the letter, cleanup the billboards.

Speaker 2:

I'm like I don't understand, I'm like what is that off the side of the highway?

Speaker 1:

Something so simple.

Speaker 2:

Billboards. Yeah, that's a nice little small one, it's a you know um, but those can be pricey and the graphics alone is at least two grand it can, and I called and checked into it.

Speaker 2:

There's a person that's local here. He wanted $1650 just for the logo, but the placement of where this could be, and it's only rented for the month. Placement of where this could be and it's only rented for the month. So the placement is that's where. Um, you know, let's see what the roi was. Uh, for, the one that I wanted was more, was like 2 000 bucks so expensive.

Speaker 1:

We have a couple of them here in my town and they're like I've called because they come up every once in a while. It's like $10,000.

Speaker 2:

Just starting right out the door. It was $3,600 for one month, Right. I'm like oh, ow, ow ow, I know, but the placement of this other place is kind of know, kind of off the beaten path and I've seen it available forever, the one that I wanted. You know, there's a T-Mobile that just moved in and I guess this person is really getting people to sign up and he took the billboard T and he took the billboard. T-mobile took the billboard Because they're going to cut the funds for it?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and you know they do. And some of these people have their sponsors and you know so Different art pages.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so that's the basic coverage of what you need to get started. A lot of people we see them inside the groups I'm not getting they they have. They don't understand oftentimes or they don't realize marketing takes time. It takes a lot of effort, so you can either sweat equity or buy out. And sweat equity takes more effort because you have to learn all the nuances of what is required and it's time consuming. So you're paying for it with time instead of money. When you're paying for the service, make sure that you get someone who is reputable.

Speaker 1:

No longer are the days of when we hired an ad agency and they're like how much do you have to spend? You're like 50 grand, and they go in the back room and jump up and down. You know they're like, how much do you have to spend? You're like 50 grand, and they go in the back room and jump up and down. You know, yeah, I did a sell. Yeah, what are we going to do? We'll come up with these backups and we'll just waste all this time.

Speaker 1:

A lot of people are DIYing it and there's a lot of ad agencies now just for marketing. We're starting to see those pop up for cleaning businesses. Use caution, and I'm not saying to discount all of them. They should have some knowledge of the cleaning industry. What is frustrating to me is they pop in because now this is the new hot thing and they have no knowledge of how any of this works or what is involved. So then they present you with these ideas that sound great, but in reality they they don't have, they're not in touch with the cleaning business industry, and then they're just. You know. It's frustrating because you see them, they're on your Facebook feed all the time.

Speaker 1:

I'm right here, I got this, I got that, and you want to make sure that it's legitimate, that it can work. That's why I always recommend doing sweat equity first, to kind of learn what works and doesn't work in your market. All marketing works to a certain degree. Some of it you get results and some of it you don't. But you have to layer your marketing or it's just not going to work and don't not market.

Speaker 2:

We all have to. Yeah, yeah. I see a lot of people saying oh, how did you get your clients Word of mouth? I'm sorry, but word of mouth is only going to get you so far, right?

Speaker 1:

And then things like COVID happened. It's really bad because nobody knows who you are, because your people who are afraid, who give you word of mouth, are like cloistering in their house, sequestering Sorry, not cloistering, sequestering inside their home, because it's like fear, fear, fear. So there's that dynamic too. So make sure that you are layering all of your marketing and you're consistently marketing, whether that's on your social media, whether that's in person, whether it's networking, whatever you choose to do, make sure you're consistent and you're doing it all the time. Will it be immediate? Because I see this too in? I'm not going to name the name of the Facebook group, but they get in. They have a certain software and I'm not kidding, I blew 150 grand. How do I get clients? I'm like did you not network?

Speaker 2:

or did you not do a single thing that was in that? Uh, your program right, you have to do, you have to, you have to put in, have to put a little effort in here, but most people don't want to engage because, again, I reiterate, we are a human based business.

Speaker 1:

We are not automated, we are not AI, we're still trust-based. People want to see the smile on your face, they want to be greeted with a good morning or a hello, and I hope that it stays this while way, for a while. I don't know what the future of AI and house cleaning industry will be, but right now we're still that way and it still requires you priming the pump for that Right. I agree, yes, so that was a very short lesson on Marketing 101. If you want to see the full video, it is featured, I believe, on my YouTube channel. I believe it's called either bootstrapping or marketing on a shoestring. I'll add the link into the show notes and I will see you shortly, miss Jamie. Thank you so much, thank you Bye.

Speaker 1:

Bye.

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Jamie Runco

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Shannon Miller

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Kimberly Gonzales

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