Cleaning Business Life

CBL EPISODE # 98 Influencers and FREE Cleanings

Shannon Miller & Jamie Runco Season 2025 Episode 98

What if your cleaning business could gain more visibility for minimal cost—essentially just labor, payroll taxes, and workers' compensation? A wholesale approach to marketing, so to speak.

In this episode, Jamie Runco and I, Shannon Miller, dive into the murky waters of influencer marketing. We explore the idea of offering free cleaning services in exchange for social media shout-outs, analyzing whether these collaborations truly deliver value. Together, we question the elusive return on investment and discuss how such arrangements might blur professional boundaries. Ultimately, we advocate for a more traditional business approach—like monetary compensation or at least discounted rates—supported by clear, written contracts.

As we navigate the rapidly evolving influencer landscape, we examine the impact of social media powerhouses on niche markets like cleaning. We highlight the importance of partnering with influencers who align with your brand values and target audience. Along the way, we stress the critical need for written agreements and ROI measurement to determine whether these partnerships are worth the effort. With trends shifting faster than ever, we explore how learning from seasoned experts can help you avoid pitfalls while maximizing the benefits of influencer collaborations.

Through the lens of post-pandemic realities, we also delve into the ethical aspects of influencer culture and entitlement, particularly in industries like real estate and short-term rentals. Personal anecdotes bring to life the logistical and valuation challenges of offering free services, and we encourage businesses to remain strategic when considering such partnerships.

We invite you to join the conversation—share your experiences and insights as we foster a community of learning and discussion around influencer deals and their impact on the cleaning industry and beyond.

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Speaker 1:

I'm Shannon Miller, your host and cleaning business coach, with over a decade of hands-on industry experience. That's 15 years for 2025. And I'm also joined by my incredible co-host, jamie Runco. Together, we bring you real-life stories from cleaning business owners and guests who have been in the trenches just like you. You'll leave with small, actionable steps that you can implement today to boost your profits and simplify your cleaning business and your life. If you're ready to turn your hustle into a thriving, sustainable business, you are in the right place. Let's dive in. According in progress. Welcome everyone. I'm joined with Ms Jamie, who I haven't seen in like a very long time. For those of, you who don't know.

Speaker 1:

we film like several sessions in one day, so I just literally saw her a half hour ago. Today we're going to talk about should influencers get free cleanings in exchange for some sort of reciprocity? Jamie, give me your thoughts.

Speaker 2:

No, I think that there needs to be some clear boundaries. I don't. I don't think they should get free cleanings.

Speaker 1:

I don't think influencers should get anything for free. They get a lot of product for free from large corporations. They get a lot of meals for free from larger corporation franchises. I've seen good and bad with it, but as far as like getting free cleanings and and I'll give you a shout out really isn't worth the ROI that you're going to get out of it, because you really don't know if this influencer is going to be your demographic. It could just be I'm an influencer because I like sunglasses, or I'm an influencer because I do that special dance, or I'm an influencer because I like Disneyland right, it's just right, no, I, I have to agree with you.

Speaker 2:

And, um, you're talking about, like the, the influencer, going into somebody's home and saying, hey, if I get to record here, I'll, I'll, you know it'll be for free. You know, I'll, I'll you know it'll be for free.

Speaker 1:

No, I'm talking about. An influencer lives in your, your service area, calls you up and says I need to have a deep cleaning. I am so-and-so. I wondering to know. I want to know if you're going to want to trade me giving you a shout out to my you know 600,000 followers and you give me a free deep cleaning. You have to decide whether that's going to be worth it to you or not. In my opinion, I don't. I think that there should be some sort of money exchange where they pay for part of it, so maybe you give them the wholesale price of cleaning.

Speaker 2:

If you want to do it, you don't have to do anything don't have to do anything right and I I agree with you totally and I know quite a few influencers. Um, there's the crazy cleaning lady 2022, or something like that. Um, her name's Samantha, uh, there is Manchukuo, right?

Speaker 2:

yeah, I'm probably butchering her last, I'm sorry I just, yeah, we probably butchered your name, but you know, um amber, uh, she does a lot of uh, e-cloth things. And uh, uh, nicole, with casal cleaners, who's the creator, inventor of the five-in-one cleaner that we now use in our company.

Speaker 1:

So, hypothetically speaking, if one of these guys lived in your service area and called you up and said I have X amount of followers, I'm interested in doing a trade. You give me a deep cleaning and I'll give you a shout out Do you think that's worth it?

Speaker 2:

No, no, I still believe that there needs to be some sort of money transfer. You know it's yeah. No, I don't, I don't agree with that. I think that there, I don't even know that I'm not really well versed with influencers. Influencers, however, I I mean friend wise, yes, but whenever it comes to their business, I know, um, they're still bidding on these jobs. I know that they are. You know they're still bidding on their jobs and making them sign uh waivers about. You know they have. They have their clear boundaries set up, like you know. But, um, the people that I've listed, I know that they're still charging. So I just I would think that would be weird. I don't know, I just think that would be weird to do a to say, hey, I'm this big influencer in the cleaning business and today's your lucky day.

Speaker 1:

If you let me, If you, if I, if I let you in my house to clean up my dirt, I might give you a shout out. So let's look at this a little further. What about if the influencer was a sports figure or someone prominent, like a movie star and or another type of athlete? But how would you feel about them asking you for a free cleaning, because that's a different type of influencer, right?

Speaker 2:

no, I, I still I, you know. It just kind of falls back to this is the way I would think of it. As a lot of realtors, you think, oh, they're going to get bring in a lot more money for me because you know I'm going to.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and it never really works out like that. It never really works out like that. Yeah, sure, my name, you know, my business name, gets tossed around a lot with the realtors because you know, but no, I there's, there's gotta be some sort of transactional something, and, and again, there still would have to be some sort of contract dialed up and and even if it's specific to that that particular client, something needs to be, you know, drawn up on that.

Speaker 1:

As far as, as far as contracts, yeah, Anytime you trade with anybody, it should not be verbal Um, because if you leave it open, open ended, then they you end up getting the short end of the stick all the time. Um, and sometimes you and I were talking about, before we got on the show, how I did some community outreach, which we're not going to discuss here. We can discuss on another show, but it's sometimes those things have to happen. So I took a risk on this individual. Hopefully he'll give me back some of that reciprocity and it will be a good thing. Right, he ended up winning in the end because it was way more sanitary than when I first got it. But so, as far as, like a sports figure, an actor, actress, any other prominent person that we hold in high regard I don't hold any of those people in high regard, but other people might as far as doing that, I think it's pretty ballsy to ask another business hey, can I get something for free Because I'm this influencer and I have this huge audience and I think that you would benefit from it. So if you do want to do this, because you are totally want to do this for this person, because you think it's going to be a good fit, then there should be some key factors to consider before offering your free services. You could actually do a marketing campaign where you're reaching out to influencers in your area, but then it's a gray area because we know home addresses and then it could be considered stalking. So down that road. But make sure that you're offering like.

Speaker 1:

I would not offer a deep cleaning to an influencer. I would just give them regular maintenance, right With the stipulation that they gave you a credit card and that they paid a small wholesale price for something I wouldn't give it to them entirely free, and then I would bullet point what you're going to get out of it. If you don't bullet point, it leaves too much to chance. And the influencers got their house clean. They're not going to think about you twice, they're going to go on to the next shiny object and I'm not saying they're all that way, but it sometimes can be that way and then watching out for red flags in these arrangements. So if you are getting, you know if you've done one thing, because usually it's the cleaning business owner who has to do it first, before we're the one taking the chance, and if they say they're going to do it by a certain deadline, because you would have to have a date and they don't do it. You can call them out, but then it becomes this whole thing on social media. But I certainly would never do business with them again. They'd be 86 for life and then having clear, clear boundaries and expectations.

Speaker 1:

So a lot of times when people are not familiar with the cleaning industry and we've all had this happen is showing up. Well, you're on the schedule to show up. You show up and there's no access to the building. Oh yeah, I went to France. Nobody's home, right, did we trade it? You know, my crew is standing at your door. There's no one to let us in. Oh, I'm really sorry. I'm on the front row of your. It's just like oh yeah, it sucked. So make sure that you're clear about what your policies and procedures are. They still are treated like a customer because you need to hold them accountable. Should they muff it up, right? Um, sometimes I've traded in the past and then the the cleaning tech. They would cancel at the last minute and I'm like dude, I still have to pay the cleaning tech. And they're like oh, I didn't think of that. Like what the person paid the babysitter, right, got her car loaded up, drove her car over your house and now you're saying you want to cancel. That's not good.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, because we're still paying Right because we still have to pay Right. So make sure that if you are going to go down that road, that you are going to benefit to some degree, and it has to be tangible. It's not the. I'm going to give you a shout out. Oh, thanks, michelle, for cleaning my house. It was so great. They didn't name what your business name was, they didn't give your last name, they gave no link, they didn't get a photo, it just they need to.

Speaker 2:

You know, make sure that we're you're you're asking for, maybe reviews, shout outs, tags on social media because, let's face it, social media is just obviously we're talking about influencers. It's huge influence.

Speaker 1:

And I'm looking at the notes and there's actually a thing called influencer marketing. Did you know that?

Speaker 2:

No, but I can see how that is, I know, but I that's a new name to it. You know that, these new names that they're coming out with, all of their marketing.

Speaker 1:

That would be an interesting topic to have a guest on to see how that worked. I'd be really interested. You know, someone who does that Come to Shannon and Jamie.

Speaker 2:

Because I would love to, because I would love to and I do see some of these influencers in the cleaning business that are so they got so many followers and then, after that, you hit a certain point, you start making money from the social media and they'll actually show what their earnings are from you know Some of them will share and they're so thankful and grateful. But yeah, so I could see how that's a influencer marketing and I guess that's just another marketing tool, because I had no idea it was an actual labeled thing.

Speaker 1:

I didn't know that?

Speaker 2:

What is that exactly?

Speaker 1:

don't, don't, uh and then, most importantly, these are things that you need to ask yourself does this influencer align with my brand values and my target audience? There really is no point. If your person is an influencer for the rock band acdc, that probably is not going to be your demographic, because ACDC lives in Europe most of the year. Right, I just right, they're older.

Speaker 1:

Yes, they probably have house cleaning, but it might be different because they own several homes. Right, yeah, make sure and that was just something they just pulled out of my butt, but it's just you know making sure they align with your, your brand and your, your target audience. Sorry, my dog's whining, you know, making sure they align with your brand and your target audience. Sorry, my dog's whining. And looking beyond the follower count, like, what are you going to get out of it? Are you going to get mentioned in a shout out? Do they have an email list? Like, a big thing with me is I have 5,000 subscribers on my email list. That is, it took a while to get there, but I have something to offer now or before, I never had 5,000 people, but it took a while to build that up. I didn't pay for my list. People came over and signed up about that on another show.

Speaker 2:

Oh, Shannon is a great idea to talk about email lists and stuff.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, email lists. We'll put that as a note.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

It doesn't work Right and to toss that pin out of the way and then write your written agreement outlining expectations of both parties. So it has to be a sort of contract, because it is a business transaction, so that you're not getting the short end of the stick. You're going to do community outreach, which is another topic that we can talk about on another day with that. So having an agreement in place keeps it all legit and there should be a default clause where, if they don't follow through with their end, that you can bill them full cleaning charges. Right Transaction, it's a business transaction. So if they like, whatever happens, and they just decide that they're going to just stick it to you, there's a clause in your contract it says if you do not follow, you know, if you are unable to what is it called? I can't think of the Latin name If you're unable to fulfill your end of the bargain cause we've already done the cleaning then we will bill you for the full cleaning at whatever the dollar amount is and put that dollar amount in your contract. So they know what the value of the perceived value is supposed to be, not just this.

Speaker 1:

Hey, it's me Shannon on my Instagram. Look, folks, I got one cleaner and, oh yeah, they don't mention the name or anything else. So make sure that you're getting what you agreed upon and then measure any ROI, so you're actually creating some sort of partnership with them. No, is this person going to recognize you in the grocery store? Probably not. If you went to a large event, you're probably not going to see, you know, recognize their face. But there has to be some sort of tangible ROI. So you would have to decide what that is, to determine its true value.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, roi. For some of those that don't know still, that are just now starting out is your return on investment Right? You're investing in this, then you want to make sure that you're getting something in return.

Speaker 1:

No-transcript yeah, yeah, if you, if you know someone who does influencer marketing full-time and does the exchanges, I'd be really interested in picking your brain and getting you on as a guest for the podcast. There's a lot to marketing. It's like it's a college degree. Every time there's something new to learn I'm like, oh my gosh, I just barely learned this.

Speaker 2:

I feel like it's almost like you're trying to do a pull-up and you don't know how. For those that don't know how to do a pull up, which is me and you're trying to do a pull up and you can't quite get over your chin up over the bar, it's trying to stay one step ahead and it's a lot to take in and digest, because so much is constantly being thrown at us to learn and marketing is there's coming, they're coming out with something new all the time. I mean, look, you just taught us a new word influencer marketing. Right, I just I didn't know there was a label on that.

Speaker 1:

I had no idea until I read it. I was like, oh, influencer marketing Super interesting.

Speaker 1:

Since we're here talking about influencer, let's talk about the ugly side of what potentially you're getting yourself into. So I like to do the pros and the cons. So in 2020, let me get this off of here when everybody was stuck at home get that off. I don't want to report. Okay, there we go. There was a lot of things going on. Everyone started to have to operate at a home. A lot of new things came online. Zoom became a huge thing, like what we're doing now, and then it became this entitlement thing Again. It keeps coming and resurfacing and sometimes influencers would over gauge what their value was. So they would show up to a restaurant with like 52 people and go I want a free tab for me, my 52 people. I'm like what restaurant who's barely scraping by is going to be able to afford to pay for 52 people's meals?

Speaker 2:

especially in that industry at that time, that I mean even now. I would be right now. I just yeah, um again, it's uh, I feel like it's a sense of entitlement, um, and that's not just in this nation, um, it's across, but more so in America. I just maybe my eyes are blinded to what's going on outside of here, but it's just the level of, yeah, the level of entitlement is just astronomical.

Speaker 1:

That. And then there's also the influencer movement that is happening inside of the short term rental market and I'm inside a lot of those groups. I like to keep my pulse on everything, and there's this weird unrealistic expectation, especially like those of you who are on a shore or by a lake or have a themed short-term rental. There is this whole dominance where they reach out through the app and say, hey, I'd like, you know, I'd like to film something here and you know, can I get a discount? Because I'm going to be filming here and we really won't be using the property, but we still want to discount.

Speaker 1:

Blah, blah, blah and I, by the way, I have a million followers or whatever. I've seen a lot of that too. So make sure that when you're picking your influencer air quotes for those of you who are not watching you're picking someone who does really resound with your core values and your brand, not someone who does not. There are a lot of people that I probably would not affiliate myself with only because we don't have the same value system and I. Life is too short to run around and try to promote something that you have no value in it really is I love that integrity and being kind and teaching others to uplift themselves.

Speaker 1:

And not everyone sees the house cleaning industry like that and you can start to see it starting to move along, which gets me excited. It makes me like, oh my God, I can't believe I'm here. Right, me too. But I see it a lot in the short-term rental market where so-and-so has some followings and then they call up, they reach out through the app and they say hey, can I have my wedding here? I know you're charging $20,000 a night, but I only have $3,000. Would you take it out of the consideration of your, your good heart? And I promise we won't leave the place a mess. No, you know, wow, I, you know you're asking for a $17,000 discount. Blah, blah, blah, blah.

Speaker 1:

It's just like this whole weird dynamic of and that many people that's a lot of people right you're having a way or a function, or I know people use short-term rentals for other things in other industries which we will not touch here.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, no, I and um again. I'm sure, just as in the cleaning industries, there's more than likely we could say that those are influencers.

Speaker 1:

Right.

Speaker 2:

Just because you're that person and, like Shannon says, you graced us with your presence and get to stay on my property. Where do I sign up, net, reconsider, think, do they align with what you want to be known as, or um, and and how is this gonna? How would this help with your ROI any you know? And then, lining with, everything's got to really align, like you said.

Speaker 1:

Definitely so. Those are the only influencers I can think of. There's the direct influencers in our own industry, and then there's sports people, newscasters, actors, actresses, I guess, dignitaries, political people, I mean, those would all be considered influencers in a way, politicians.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, well, honestly, now that I'm thinking of it, there's also a lot of influencers, you know, in the real estate market. Whenever we got shut down in 2020, a lot of people had to pivot and had to think outside the box, and this is where all this started coming in, and a lot of it's great, but a lot of it is also, you know, interaction. I don't know that's what it's, just whenever you seen it just really explode. And here we are today with again I'm going to say it again influencer marketing.

Speaker 1:

I'm going to put a post on Facebook to see if anybody actually does it, but I'm sure there's more than one. And there's I mean brands. Brands themselves would have, yeah, yeah, like I would imagine, brands would have some sort of influencer marketing already set up. So there's there's a brand influencer, and then there's individual influencers, and then I guess there would be team influencers. And you're right, the real estate industry changed a lot, and here in Arizona I believe it was partway through last year, in 2023, where they were talking about how you had to sign a contract before you could work with a client, because what was happening and this is not influencer related, it's off topic that customers would come and then they would drive around with this one real estate agent and then the real estate agent would spend eight hours with them and then they would go back to their friend who wasn't available to do the drive-through or whatever, and then sign up and buy from them, and I'm like, well, that's not fair.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, Like what is that?

Speaker 1:

People try to.

Speaker 1:

In every faucet of our society it's normal to try to get the best deal for the lowest price, but it gets to the point where you're taking advantage and it's wrong. So again and we reiterate a lot there make sure that it, whatever you pick, or who at whom ever you pick, aligns with your core values and your brand. There are several brands I've reached out to to be guests on the podcast that I would love to have on. We'll see if they respond or not. And then there's other other cleaning business owners I've reached out to because I like what their business model represents. I think it would be great for them to come on the podcast and talk about the business model, because there's so much to cleaning. I mean you could have there's one individual who only does monthly cleanings that's all she does. I have another individual who only does weeklies that's all she takes on. I have another one who wants to get into, just move out cleanings. There's all of this dynamic that goes on that I think it would be beneficial to the industry as a whole.

Speaker 2:

That's why I'm asking oh, absolutely, and like I say almost every podcast, whenever it comes to this stuff. I'm a geek, I and I just it brings so much joy in my heart. I could sit here and talk literally all day long about it. I know we only do this once a week and we but I really and thoroughly have always enjoyed talking about it. It just it's what excites me, so I'm excited to talk to anybody, to talk to anybody. Reach out to us. Uh, especially that if you're in the industry, um, there's people that are. I would love to talk to some of the people that are just commercial only, um or floors and restoration. There, you know, there's so many different entities of just cleaning and, yeah, I really I'm a geek over this stuff.

Speaker 1:

I love it. Well, that's all we have to say about whether you should trade with an influencer or not, and make sure that that's person or who, or hopefully it's a person and not a product. It's really hard to have multiple masters. I will give you an example. And I love this person still to this day. But we have a magazine here called the Prescott Dog. She had a really awful thing happen to her dog, whom she loved, like I loved my Maxie Poo, and she did not want to have the magazine be a full-time thing like she had had before. So she sold the magazine to another individual.

Speaker 1:

Well, this other individual lived in a different town, so this person lived in my town and the new individual lived in a different town. So the two of them came together and didn't want to lose my cleaning company because we traded. It was a little bit of trade, a little bit of cash, and so they wanted me to still trade and do cash. But they wanted me to have two masters. So it was biweekly, so one cleaning here and then one cleaning here, and I'm like it's not, it's not adding up and no one wanted to pay.

Speaker 1:

The math Right, the math ain't math in, and it just became this whole. So I gracefully said, okay, well, where are we at in our contract cycle? It looks to me that I owe you I think it was three more cleanings, so I'll give you three more cleanings. And the other the new person was still trying to get us to go over to her house, which was 45 minutes in each direction, and she was miffed over the fact that she didn't get to have the cleaning that she had paid for. My, my, my business wasn't with you, it was with another person.

Speaker 1:

So that was a while ago and I bowed out as gracefully as I could. I still love this person to this day. I love her daughter. I've known her daughter a long time. I don't know the new person. I love you too, but it's just. That was the deal I had right. Yeah, no, I didn't change the deal after.

Speaker 2:

It's kind of weird sometimes what people are. Again there goes that entitlement this was a while ago yeah, that's that I mean. You know it just uh, baffling sometimes I how, why would they think that it was okay, like I buy, I buy this. That's where you know your clear boundaries and understanding and everything has to be defined. That's a great example.

Speaker 1:

And there were two. Not only was it two separate locations, the cleaning was more. So, you know, the first person in their home was smaller and then the second person in their home was like 4,500 square feet. I'm like there's not going to be further away and further away. So I'm like, no, it's not, it's not going to work out. But she, she and she actually tried to low ball it and get it for even cheaper, and she lived on a dirt road. So you had to go back a whole mile and a half on a dirt road that you cannot go fast down, because we all know that doesn't happen.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, there's all that dust.

Speaker 1:

So it's just. It was just it wasn't a good fit. So I think that's that's what you should do to make sure that they stick with your brand and they resonate with your values. And if you have done a trade with an influencer, we'd love to chat with you to see how it went and what you traded and how it worked out and, if you're continuing, if they became a regular customer or if it was just strictly a trade.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so many questions, right.

Speaker 1:

This concludes our episode on should influencers get free cleaning in exchange for some reciprocity? If you guys have any questions about this, please reach out. We look forward to seeing you guys Take care.

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