This may be my last year.. I just sent 5000 EDDM to poor people by accident!!!!!

[Moser Brothers]

I tried doing EDDM myself and thought I was sending to $100,000 plus households. I got the first call today, some cheap price shopper a CPA a little $200 job. I gave him $100 off and he said he'd give me referrals if I give him another 10% off. I don't even want to do the job. I went back home and checked the mail routes and I sent them out to $40k to 60k households and 1 route of $90k. I felt like torching my truck. I was depending on at least getting my money back so I can advertise more and buy some donuts top earning Realtors.
I also spent $200 on Facebook and no calls. If I can figure out home to raise some money quick I'll be out of business and I'll tear my carpet out and never speak of carpet cleaning again. Maybe I can sell my HVAC, my Flat screen, my stainless steel appliances and my kidney to raise some capital.


....

 

[Becker]

You gave a 50% discount?

Ouch!

How long ago did it go out?

Maybe when word gets out you offer 50% off you'll be slammed.

 

[Bjorn]

just make Lemonade out of your lemons you just might just find out there is money in the lower end.

There are just as many cheap rich folks too who will nickel and dime you do death.

 

[Shane Deubell]

Yikes, $40-60k a year is poor now .

Those are probably fine prospects but reaching them through eddm is too expensive.

 

[Moser Brothers]

I met a cleaner that also has a moving business, I think I may start one $175 an hour with 3 guys and a rental truck


....

 

[Becker]

I met a cleaner that also has a moving business, I think I may start one $175 an hour with 3 guys and a rental truck


....

you can do $100-150 per hr one man cleaning carpet. more or less.

 

[Moser Brothers]

you can do $100-150 per hr one man cleaning carpet. more or less.

He did a 10 hour day today times $175 a hour. I'm going to network with Realtors anyways, and I have someone to do the move out cleaning. 2 jobs out of one customer at once is better than 1


....

 

[Becker]

A mover needs clients to move, a cleaner just needs clients to need clean carpet.

$175 per hr then paying to others?

Or $175 per man per hr?

 

[Mikey P]

We're you aiming fir $400 to $600 a year family's?

 

[Moser Brothers]

Paying $175 to1 owner and 2 guys, so there's overhead for 2 or 3 people and it's word of mouth


....

 

[Moser Brothers]

We're you aiming fir $400 to $600 a year family's?

I was aiming at $100k plus, but I swear the EDDM tool did a bait n switch on me, or I had a couple beers and screwed it up myself


....

 

[Becker]

Paying $175 to1 owner and 2 guys, so there's overhead for 2 or 3 people and it's word of mouth


....

You can do better cleaning carpets.
Easier on your body, and less insurance claims.

 

[AshleyMckendree]

My highest paying, biggest referral, most appreciative clients are in the 40-80k yr bracket.

 

[Mikey P]

I listened to the Piranha EDDM webinar last night.
They brought in one of their most successful users to share his results.

a 3.5 to 1 return is what he was getting for his three truck biz in Florida which averages 38k a month in total sales.


Sounds like a numbers game a single trucker can't afford to play. Great for a Hagopian or even a five trucker that needs to find jobs under each rock but one rainy delivery day or a mishap like Lyon just had and it's thousands down the drain. IMO if that homeowner doesn't see your piece at least 3 times, it's all for naught.



Lyon, drag a mature relative or friend or some other adult (who does not look like you) into the flooring retailers and walk them around the store pretending to help them shop for carpet or tile, give them lots of advice on how their choice will hold up over time, making sure not to belittle any products there, and get the shop salesperson to interject a bit. Do that once or twice a few months apart, if they ask tell them you offer that service to your customers (helping them make the right choice in a new floor covering.
Also come in and buy a yard of pad and two sticks of tackless from time to time, tell them you're helping a good customer with a small water damage. Don't push your business than just use the opportunity to make your face failure.

Begging for work and doughnuts comes off as a desperate newbie, they want to refer a seasoned vet who knows his stuff.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Are you just bitter because they would give MB and extra discount?

Man was that bitch long or what???

I though it was a good presentation but the informercial was the full court press.

Although I must say I almost signed up for the elitist group for $97.00.......BUT Pariah Marketing just rubs me wrong.

Seriously it looked pretty good. I liked their EDDM, not too keen on the 3-times but I liked how they use different size cards.

While I loved the layout I wasn't keen on the approach. The giant dust mite in carpets? Really? Dust mites are a much bigger problem where dead skin falls, bed, upholstery but carpet??? Not so much.

Mailings Unlimited sounded interesting, Sapphire was gracious to give you so many rewards points and Piranha looked like they have a nice little program at a reasonable price point.

Thank you Sapphire for the Webinar!

 

[Moser Brothers]

Are you just bitter because they would give MB and extra discount?

Man was that bitch long or what???

I though it was a good presentation but the informercial was the full court press.

Although I must say I almost signed up for the elitist group for $97.00.......BUT Pariah Marketing just rubs me wrong.

Seriously it looked pretty good. I liked their EDDM, not too keen on the 3-times but I liked how they use different size cards.

While I loved the layout I wasn't keen on the approach. The giant dust mite in carpets? Really? Dust mites are a much bigger problem where dead skin falls, bed, upholstery but carpet??? Not so much.

Mailings Unlimited sounded interesting, Sapphire was gracious to give you so many rewards points and Piranha looked like they have a nice little program at a reasonable price point.

Thank you Sapphire for the Webinar!

Joe's been milking the dust might thing for 20 years now! I used John Bruan's piece. I'd be happy with a 3 to 1 return. They use to say to mail to the same prospects till it quits working, even if it's 5 mailing and you break even on the last one. Advertising is investing in the future of a client. I you made $400 from a new customer but didn't make any profit the 1st cleaning, and if they spend a couple thousand over the years as a repeat, and reffer you 1 good client that does the same, you did well on the back end over time. Ask Tom, I'm sure a lot of Fortune 500 companies lose money up front to gain a good client, even grocery store have loss leaders to bring people in the store


....

 

[Shane Deubell]

Its real simple, circle 5-10k households and blast that group with everything you have. Unfortunately people are always looking for the magic bullet.

Make that target feel like you are everywhere, while in fact you are only everywhere for those 10k households.
Direct mail, coupon mailers, referral sources, online,social media, signs, smoke signals... whatever else you can come up with/afford.

What ends up happening is guys will tell you to do whatever THEY are good at.
Do 5-6 different things and watch the numbers.

 

[bob vawter]

what's this thing with realtors you got....?
don you know that realtors are one rung lower than car salesmen....no loyalty at all
and jus for your info the demographics that yor shooting for are the new class of broke dick homeowners.....
aim a little lower and you'll hit the well of the entitled that DO have the cash money and the flatscreens as well.....AND you don even havta buy them a donut......

 

[Moser Brothers]

what's this thing with realtors you got....?
don you know that realtors are one rung lower than car salesmen....no loyalty at all
and jus for your info the demographics that yor shooting for are the new class of broke dick homeowners.....
aim a little lower and you'll hit the well of the entitled that DO have the cash money and the flatscreens as well.....AND you don even havta buy them a donut......

Your right Bob, most Realtors are cheap, but I have good ones and good property managers that will pay my vacant rate and refer jobs. I don't know how many million dollar home you have out there in crackville, out here in Cali there's still a few people with money that I do business with



....

 

[Moser Brothers]

I just walk out on the bd ahole, he's rude and acted like the petty $200 he was going to pay me was worth putting up with his attitude , no thanks, I'll go do another $700 job for a greatful client


....

 

[tmdry]

Like Mikey said, 3.5 to 1 is way too low and too much of a risk...38k total for 3 trucks is also low, might as well go in w/ just 2 trucks, a 3 trucker should be in the mid 60ks imo, hopefully not all his marketing is a ROI.

 

[Shane Deubell]

Not really fair to just look at ROI on a targeted ad campaign. The # of leads generated is more important.

What if the guy sucks at sales? or shows up to jobs wearing sweat pants? Can't generate referrals/repeats? Copy Sucks.
Not the ad campaigns fault, this is why you hear such wild numbers.

Our job is to tie all these moving parts together.

Plenty of people run successful direct mail campaigns, they are doing all of the things listed above and doing it over the long term. Not 1 or 2x

 

[idreadnought]

If I was hard up for work or under the gun in any way I would go door to door myself. Print up some postcards or brochures and knock on those doors and talk to people. You will get work. It is tough to do but I promise the returns will come much bigger than the postcard in the mail.

So your paying $175 per thousand to deliver the piece right? Take the same piece and pay someone to deliver it. Pay them hourly and give them a commision on the sales they make by knocking and introducing themselves. Dont be pushy "Hi im Rich from Modern Carpet Cleaning and I I do a lot of work in this area. I just wanted to introduce myself in case you ever need any cleaning done. Our estimates are free, we have some great guarantees and some really good specials for new customers........ And then shut up...... If they so no thanks then say, well take a postcard anyhow, maybe you may need it in the future.....have a great day.... IF they say how much do you charge then you have to sell them. People only ask how much you charge because they don't know the right questions to ask. I assume that they are really asking how good of job do you do, and will I be happy. So I go over our cleaning process and how good the carpets will look when were done and then go over pricing.

First I recommend a postcard because it is easier to keep around than a brochure... Second I know a guy in my market that markets this way exclusively and does really well. He averages a job every hour and a half he is out.

I believe that it is hard for people to choose cleaning companies. Sometimes the task is so daunting that they put off calling anyone. If you show up on their door you have just eliminated the hassle of choosing a person to call.

 

[WillS]

Wealth is created from income coming in from many different sources. Starting a moving business, incorporated with cleaning, etc. might be beneficial. Especially picking up that move-in move-out biz.

 

[WillS]

One of my favorite quotes that I continue to believe in...

"Business opportunities are like buses, there's always another one coming." - Richard Branson

 

[212]

Like Mikey said, 3.5 to 1 is way too low and too much of a risk...38k total for 3 trucks is also low, might as well go in w/ just 2 trucks, a 3 trucker should be in the mid 60ks imo, hopefully not all his marketing is a ROI.

You're saying each truck well over $20k a month?

 

[Mikey P]

If it's a real 3 truck business with THE NEED for 3 trucks, 20k would be a minimum per month to make it worth the headache.



If it's 3 trucks doing 10 to 12k than park tow of them and pick your two best guys to run an effective dual wand unit IMO.

 

[212]

If it's a real 3 truck business with THE NEED for 3 trucks, 20k would be a minimum per month to make it worth the headache.



If it's 3 trucks doing 10 to 12k than park tow of them and pick your two best guys to run an effective dual wand unit IMO.

Running 3 trucks that hard you'd probably have a fourth for backup right?

 

[Shane Deubell]

Monthly changes too much, $200k a year at least.

What's the use of having 3 trucks doing $120k a year each?
So you can say you have 3 trucks. ..

 

[212]

Monthly changes too much, $200k a year at least.

What's the use of having 3 trucks doing $120k a year each?
So you can say you have 3 trucks. ..

Totally agree with that BUT I do have a third truck that sits most of the time, got a killer deal on it and have zero problem with it sitting as backup. 200k per truck is very doable