Business cards will not get you much, if anything. I would do a flier (how a lot
of very successful businesses started) on b/w on my computer. Print out
as many as you can and pass them out (not in wealthy areas- they don’t
work for them).
I would literally be on my last $50 in the bank on Monday, go toss out a few
hundred fliers and go into the weekend with $500- MANY times, sadly.
If you need some pointers, message me.
I sure am glad this thread got resurrected, yeah!
Is this a “Ha, Ha!! Made you look!” Thread today? LOL
I have been in business since 1997. Professional flyers with a coupon to save 10% off residential window cleaning and or gutter cleaning. Pass them out in your upper class areas. I had great success doing this!
Dave
Ha me to!
I have had great success with card stock door hangers in upscale neighborhoods. Business cards go into customers hands when I do a face to face. A few days of passing out door hangers and then a few weeks of work; repeat. This year has been great for me for some reason as this same time last year I was almost dieing! I haven’t passed out door hangers in about 3 weeks because I simply do not have the time to with all of the work. Once it slows down again - looking like in about 2 weeks, I will spend a few more days putting out door hangers and calling past customers. It takes time! One particular neighborhood took me over two years to break into but persistence paid off and it is now one of my most profitable neighborhoods now! I always offer 20% discount for quarterly cleans on the spot after the initial clean. I have an estimated 90% success rate with that. Keep at it and it will come to you.
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I disagree, I get stll some jobs from yp
IMO phone book and newspaper are a waste of money, to me there becoming a dead source of leads for the cost, fliers and Cl, hell i actually still have my start up flier design, used to cost me 15.00 to make like 600 of em and they actually worked VERY well
Take out an add in the penny saver. That helped get the ball rolling for me. It’s not cheap though. I have since dropped them. Also get some lawn signs made up. You need to make your Co name be seen all over the place.
Not if your not prepared to handle the work load, It = disastrous
That would be a better problem to have than no work, tbh
Wow Larry I don’t think I would hear that from a guy with a successful biz.
You know how customers are and how fast a bad reputation for not calling back or handle the work load can destroy a window cleaning biz or any service based business in a blink of an eye. so many that used Groupon ect… ended up going by the waste side.
I’m not trying to be argumentative, just making a point. Running out of money will destroy a business faster. There are ways to deal with this “problem” ie hiring someone to answer the phone, scheduling out further, etc. whereas if you don’t get enough customers, you’re stuck. It’s hard to imagine a situation where I’d advise a new business to cut back on advertising out of fear of too big a response. JMO…
I know Larry…
I just think someone new should start slow and work their way up 1-2k to start to make sure ad is working and if its not redo and resend Ad. Then increase the advertizing and hire as needed to keep up with the new the customers. and as you said Larry JMO…
Where are you living? Is it a retirement community sounds like a conservative area. Conservatives are the hardest sometimes. Have you ever used a window cleaner? were you completely satisfied? When was the last time you had professional window cleaner? none of these questions lead to a closed door. Hey hows it going Ive noticed you got dirty windows and a very beautiful home. Im a window cleaner with a new business would you like to see what I can do for you? lots of different approaches. Retired people usually want it done for free but they want it done nonetheless. I would keep trying and the newspaper idea sounds legit. Also make sure to have uniforms.
most of my calls are phonebook and Im ranked highest in my area online for google. but I live in a retirement community so they still use the phone book a lot
I started my company about 18 months ago with nothing. Fast forward to today and the growth has been beyond expectations. I’ve learned a lot during this time but the biggest thing I’ve learned is patience. Nothing is going to happen over night. It takes time and a TON of work. I didn’t have money to pay people to make me flyers, or build my website, or design business cards. Got to grind it out. In the beginning I did some homemade flyers that got me my first jobs. I actually got a handful off craigslist too. Newspaper ad got me one over a month. I’d flyer. I do door hangers now, nice quality and even if you don’t get calls right away, months later you’ll have them trickle in. Best of luck
Hello Folks,
I’m new to the forum and brand new to window cleaning. I still have to set up my business and purchase equipment but I just want to thank you all for the great advice in this tread. As they say you should learn from other people’s success and mistakes. I appreciate the honesty.
business is slow in St Pete right now eh!
10k -30k flyers = income
