Hey guys,
I have been racking my brain thinking of how to offer free window cleaning to people and still make a good living. I don’t want donations from people or tips, just fantastic quality service for free. I think it would blow people’s minds if you could pull it off. I just have to figure out how. Any ideas?
Regards,
Mark
Look to donating your time to a civic building??
chamber of commerce??
VFW hall?
Adult day care?
Somewhere you can get some press and get people talking about you
Or run a promo where everyone (rezzy) who gets their winders cleasnsed gets put in a hat and the one who gets drawn out gets their payment (up to a certain amount) refunded?
Pax
You could offer up your time to a charity building.
However most commercial units require some form of insurance requirements - so it’s not always about giving up your time for free.
I’ve always considered doing a resi community charity raffle for free window cleaning.
They pay a nominal fee for a charity raffle ticket and you provide the service free of charge.
I love the idea but a percentage off is better IF you are into giving discounts
It’s weird because when people get something free they somehow get even pickier and it creates a culture of “free”. Now that is a four letter word that I really don’t like to hear 
I have done my share is free cleanings over the years and I wish I had spent that time marketing or cleaning for profit.
The cool thing is that there is no stress, because you are not expecting any money from them when you are finished. Your money will come from another source (need to figure that out yet). You just show up when expected, do an amazing job that will blow their socks off and they say " how can you clean windows for free and still make a living". Trust me, they will tell everyone they can. What a great story.
Are you high? 
I would work for chocolate chip cookies, but cookies will not pay my house note. I need money to pay my bills
… You want to make a good living but never charge a cent? My idea is for you to stop smoking what it is your smoking.
It doesn’t seem like you have really been thinking about it at all because it can’t be done.
Besides, what’s the problem with charging money? Any stress around charging money and expecting payment is stress
of your creation. I’d suggest giving up that racket pronto and go charge money and have a good time.
You would have a great future as a Fish employee!
Jk, all kidding aside, you would have to do a lot of leg work and get sponsorships or to do it as charity on the side of having a full time job.
Maybe he gives a free cleaning with every purchase of a bag of whatever he is smoking/snorting
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Great comments everyone. I expected nothing less from you. The problem is that you have to completely throw out any pre-conceived way a ‘normal window cleaning company’ operates. Basically, you are cleaning windows and making people so happy for nothing in return (from them). Just for the record, I don’t smoke /snort until after my first job of the day (kidding). I don’t do that stuff. You have to think way outside the box here. This could be a revolution in the way we do business (freeconomy). It’s the same great service, but you earn your living from another source of revenue (not the client).
If this is too left field too wrap your heads around. I understand. My clients can’t either. Well some of them.
Talk soon,
Mark
Why do you want to clean windows for free? Who’s windows do you want to clean for free?
2013 World Series Champion
Boston Red Sox
Sell advertising for other companies on your work shirt?
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I cant figure out why you would want to do it for free, I mean it would be awesome to help people out etc. But someone somewhere whether through donation, sponsorship, large savings account, etc - is going to have to pay. A freeconomy would be cool, but its not realistic in many ways - kind of like a perpetual motion machine, people have tried for centuries and it doesn’t work, energy has to come from somewhere, in your case it’s money. [MENTION=3135]diamondridge[/MENTION] has a good idea - sell advertising space on your t-shirts or vehicle etc.
Heres an idea, you could make a “window cleaning for a cause” non profit company and choose a different charity every 6 months. Let people donate whatever they want after service is completed, and other than your basic operating insurance and living expenses - it gets donated to a charity, whether it’s breast cancer, wounded warriors, local homeless shelters. That way you could live, and be doing something good to others at the same time. If you did quality work and I heard that you were reputable - I’d probably be a customer and donate because it would be helping others.
… So, what ideas have you come up with for other sources to obtain money? So far it doesn’t
seem like you have done any out of the box thinking yourself. Do you have any examples
of how this “freeeconomy” has ever worked before? What does “feeeconomy” even mean?
As long as you keep that thinking in Australia, and away from the states. We don’t need to compete with someone that is doing it for free. The bucket bobs are bad enough.
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[MENTION=35890]Bigblue[/MENTION]
Correct me if I’m wrong, I think you’re suggesting something akin to what Gates does with his foundation. Albiet his is on a huge scale, the principle is the same: Doing something that gives back - in your example it would be with window cleaning.
One could look at Logan and Charity Wilders’ company “Clearview Window Cleaning” in Indianna for one such example. Their town does a “clean-up” each year. And Logan cleans downtown business windows as part of the effort. Since Charity is actively involved with multiple local Chambers, it becomes a way of giving back to their community while (literally) making their downtown shine a bit brighter. In doing so, a chain effect becomes possible in that potential clients who don’t currently use the Wilder’s services may be more inclined to do so in the future - because people want to be associated with positives in life. Who knows, perhaps the auto plant there will want to be associated by donating a new vehicle to the Wilder’s company as a way of Honda saying ‘Thanks’ for their community involvement… Or Honda calls to hire Clearview Window Cleaning… I wonder how much money that would be worth?
It would be scary if you could pull it off, because as John pointed out how could you compete with a company providing services for free. Window cleaning is only the tip of the iceberg. Why not all service providers. Once this gets up and running and takes hold here down under i’m coming to the States ;). Seriously though, my thoughts are something along the lines of sponsorship from companies who would benefit from the publicity you would generate (really being proactive with the different types of media). I don’t like the charity idea. I want this to be a true viable business. Provide the best possible service and ask for nothing in return from the person you are providing it for. Imagine seeing a van on the road with a “Free Window Cleaning” logo. Tell me that wouldn’t make your senses tingle. How do you compete with free?
Mabye, I should forget this pipe dream and jump back in the hamster wheel. I’ll figure it out someday.
I like what [MENTION=3135]diamondridge[/MENTION] mentioned. Sell advertising for other companies on your shirts, work truck, website, invoices, etc
Someone beat you to this idea. Joseph Stalin- the father of communism. If you owned a field and made a living off that it now belonged to the govt. you worked for free and the govt subsidized your cost of living. Same thing?? Not really but just as crazy an idea as communism.
