Advertising
Spread the word. Let your friends and family know that you have started your own home cleaning business. Ask them to spread the word at work and wherever they go. Personal referrals can help this level get the first customers. Serve the first customers as best you can. These clients can be the make or break base. If you treat them like royalty, they may recommend you to their friends. Word of mouth is the most successful form of advertising for small businesses of this type. Word of mouth can take your business further and also help reduce marketing expenses.
Business referral program: I already mentioned “word of mouth” advertising. Taking this one step further can really help get your business off the ground. Implement a referral program. Pay customers if they refer new customers to you. This can be in the form of cash or free house cleaning services.
Start advertising in local newspapers: Focus on smaller local community newspapers and less on newspapers in large metropolitan areas. The prices will be much more affordable. A local newspaper in the area where I live is distributed to about 75,000 residential customers (not households). A business card size ad in a reasonable location costs about $95.00 per week. You can also work only with classified ads. These ads range from $10.00 per week to around $45.00 per week. If you can, don’t go for the weekly run, look for a monthly or quarterly offer. Don’t try to put too much information in a classified ad. Keep it short, but easy to understand. Example: “Affordable house cleaning services. No job is too small. Free estimates. (123)-555-1234”
Magnetic Signs or Decals for Your Vehicle – If you drive a decent looking vehicle, use it for advertising. If you drive an old, rusty part from the 1980s, skip to the next section. Car advertising can be very effective if you follow a few basic rules. It has to look professional. The message has to be short and easy to understand. Don’t drive like a maniac when you have advertising for your business on your car. Magnetic signs can be purchased for around $75.00. Decals are available starting at around $25.00. Look at other cars with advertising messages for ideas of what to do.
Flyers – You can print beautiful flyers on your home computer, but I recommend spending a little money to have them professionally printed. First design a flyer. Then talk to local printers for prices. You can also check the internet printers like http://www.gotprint.com. 1,000 flyers (color print) at Gotprint.com will run you about $125.00 + shipping. Try to beat that with your home computer. Paper, ink, time, and wear and tear will cost you 2-3 times as much. How to distribute the flyers? Start by hanging flyers on bulletin boards in supermarkets and coin-operated laundromats. Ask store owners in your area if they are willing to display the flyer somewhere in their store (if applicable).
Do not put flyers on car windows at grocery stores and local businesses. It could violate local laws or the owner’s permissions. Rather spend a morning in large residential areas and walk door to door and post the flyers on the front door (bring lots of tape). You can even go a step further and ring the doorbell and drop off flyers in person and mention that you are expanding your services to that area to see if people are interested. DO NOT put flyers in mailboxes, this is against federal law.
Have you ever seen those advertising hangers? Pre-printed door hangers are more or less an extension of hanging flyers on front doors. They are already shaped into a doorknob opening so they can be easily put on a doorknob as you walk by. Look online for the best prices or talk to local printers. We don’t endorse a specific store, but we have seen prices for around 5000 door hangers for $189.00.
Business Cards – Business cards can be a very effective marketing tool. Take a look at different websites on the internet. Often these websites (such as Vistaprint.com or Gotprint.com) have online tools to design your business cards on their website. Always carry business cards with you and use them frequently to market your business. Keep in mind that it’s a bit more cumbersome to reach a large group of people with business cards compared to using brochures.
Internet – Get a good domain name and build a website for yourself. More and more people are looking for service providers online. It starts when you need handymen and doesn’t end with finding a reliable house cleaning service. A website and email address also make a good impression on your business cards. Statistics show that many working women shop for home services online while at work. Purchase a listing online in your local yellow pages. The Yellow Pages are still a great way to advertise your business. The online version on the internet is gaining more popularity as compared to the print version and an online listing will help you get more customers.