[bennymon]

hi folks things have taken a real dive here this is the worst month ive had since i started just over 8 years ago . ive put out my usual 20,000 k leaflets this month and im highly placed on google in all my local areas ( godalming guildford woking ) and also contact old customers . i have noticed there are suddenly some very low priced cleaners with great websites on adwords they may be getting a fair bit of the internet work . i dont want to but it looks like i may have to slash all my prices to compete with them .tomorrow will be my first job for a week and the bills are mounting up . have any of you been affected ??

[M.Acorn]

Try and stick it out mate,I was dead from November last year,and it didn't pick up until March this year.
Not lowered my prices,people around here are considerably lower,and considerably higher,I am sort of sat in the middle,which suits me fine,don't want to get to the point of being vat reg'd so I am happy.
My tax bill will be paid on time for once

[justin 88]

things have slowed down in July for me but have some great work booked in for August. I joined a BNI chapter which has been my most effective form of marketing this year.

[garyj]

You rank number 1 in Google for the organic listings but don't have a Place Page which ranks. More and more people are using Google local and its important to be on there, its far more popular than the Yellow Pages.

[bennymon]

hi gary wh  :)at do i need to do for a place page

[garyj]

Drop me an email garyh6667@hotmail.com or search that address on Facebook.

[AshWhite]

Plus it takes 6-8 weeks to get a place page!

[garyj]

Better get a move one then  .

It takes between a week and a month depends how long the card takes to come through, last one I did was under a week.

[AshWhite]

I had the card in just under a week, but took another 7 to actually get the listing.

[Neil Williams]

Stick with it mate, we've probably all been there and I know I have too.
You read on here about how x,y and x are flat out whilst you sit at home wondering if the phone has been cut off.
There's no rhyme or reason to it, some areas go dead whilst others go shopping mad, in the same way as you'll have 5 days of upholstery requests then not a single one for 5 weeks. (I get it with the leather work for some reason).
As per my posts on Monday, I couldn't win a job unless I wanted to work for just about nothing, yet today in 2 phone calls I gathered nearly £800 of domestic work.
Have you done a letter drop to previous customers? That normally helps us bring in a better % rate of jobs than leaflet drops.

hi folks things have taken a real dive here this is the worst month ive had since i started just over 8 years ago . ive put out my usual 20,000 k leaflets this month and im highly placed on google in all my local areas ( godalming guildford woking ) and also contact old customers . i have noticed there are suddenly some very low priced cleaners with great websites on adwords they may be getting a fair bit of the internet work . i dont want to but it looks like i may have to slash all my prices to compete with them .tomorrow will be my first job for a week and the bills are mounting up . have any of you been affected ??

[Adam P]

will keep your number handy. completed forget about you as have had plenty jobs this week could have passed onto you. do you work weekends as have a few for this one but i'm un-available so may email customers with your details

[Gabriel Nagy]

June was completely dead but got higher on ranks after and a flow of jobs came in this month...august seems to be busy. I think is holidays period..then a lot of people complained about lack of work.

[dave123]

Last month I was turning work down as I was so busy not enough hours in the day. This month I've had more cancellations than I've had all year . I think it could well be that the taxman needs his money at the end of the month and also holidays coming up, so people need to tighten their purse strings .Swings and roundabouts.August I find, is normally a very good month and you never know what's around the corner as Neil says he took £800 of work .

Dave

[clinton]

As some of the above posts have siad its a july n holliday period..

August is usually a busy month so stick in there mate..

[Colin Day]

Today's actually my busiest for this year.... [It would be, the weather's fantastic ]

[Doug Holloway]

Hi Guys

I have been really busy although the phone has been quieter in the past few days.

Some years ago I diversified using the internet and now have a strong presence in different areas and different sectors, like office chairs, etc.

One of my local areas is doing really well and another is dead, but they tend to balance out.

Keep pushing Del. you always bounce back.

Cheers

Doug

[Aquakleen Restoration Services]

Hi Benny,

In your position I would do one of three things....

Firstly I would diversify in to other avenues of cleaning. I do gutter, uPVC cleaning, pressure washing and am going to be door knocking to start a window cleaning side to my business v soon. When carpet cleaning is quiet I usually find I get the other types of work coming in. All you need for gutters is a pair of ladders but obviously youll need a decent pressure washer which can be expensive especially when you dont have the funds!!

Secondly try some door knocking! If I was dead and the bills are a coming in that would be a definite avenue I would pursue especially if you have a number of services to offer people. As long as you dont try and hard sell most people are absolutely fine about you knocking. Just introduce yourself and give them a leaflet and thank them for their time. That way they can see your a nice lad getting off his ass and trying to earn a living. Something that is rare in today's society!

Thirdly write to every single property management company in the yellow pages. I tried this when I first started 7 years ago. I am still doing work for a firm after about 5 years and have made thousands from them over the years! Imagine if you could get 2 maybe 3 companies requiring your services on a regular basis?

Diversifying is one of the best things ive ever done for my business!!

John

[Colin Day]

Diversification is a swear word to some, especially the purists among us. But I agree entirely with John. When the Carpet Cleaning dries up, there is usually a surge in Oven Cleaning for me, and visa-versa... But I can't be pushing the Carpet Cleaning if I'm cleaning ovens can I? Well yes I can and do, because I'm in the customers house already and the sign written van is parked outside.

[Aquakleen Restoration Services]

Precisely Colin! You can always sell your other services to the customer when they see you do a good, compitent job. It's ok being a poor purist if the work isn't there for the carpets but not something I intend to be. It is all about making money!!

[Ian Gourlay]

hi folks things have taken a real dive here this is the worst month ive had since i started just over 8 years ago . ive put out my usual 20,000 k leaflets this month and im highly placed on google in all my local areas ( godalming guildford woking ) and also contact old customers . i have noticed there are suddenly some very low priced cleaners with great websites on adwords they may be getting a fair bit of the internet work . i dont want to but it looks like i may have to slash all my prices to compete with them .tomorrow will be my first job for a week and the bills are mounting up . have any of you been affected ??

Have you experimented with diffrent leaflets  Because one feature of your posts over the year  is I put out 20K leaflets got zilch
First Question when did they last go out to the houses you selected

I month
2Month
3 Month or longer
Does Area Selected usually pull well . How does this distribution compare with last time

New Players are there any .

Looked at one of your cut rice competitors excellent site  colourful are they baitand switch

   And Remember YOu are Competing Against a fleet of Rug Doctors