The Snake Oil Marketing Budget ~ $1k

[Jeremy]

Well folks, I got on Gotprint.com and this is my budget... Admittedly there will be some things that I already have on hand. Like many of you probably have laying around your office i have a box of flyers that I'll be including with the mailers & using as the hand delivered flyer discussed in the campaign download. In addition to this I will not be ordering anymor business cards as I already have them on hand. Also not included in the budget is variable expenses like shipping on printed materials, chemicals fuel and labor for demonstrations, etc. No on to the brass tacks:

Postcard Printing:
2500 Standard 4"x6" coated, color front & back: $82.40
Letter Printing:
2500 8.5"x11 "flyers" on 100lb gloss book, color front & back: $182.32
Envelopes:
$84.00 for 1000 10"x13" at uline.
Labels:
1000 for 23.00 at uline

This leaves $628.28 for postage...
The flyers have this letter on the front (less targeted than before as its less of an administrative PITA):
Dear Sir or Madam,

In Marine Corps lingo, ‘brightwork’ refers to brass or other shiny metal that must be polished. During my service in the USMC, I spent many a long hour polishing brightwork. In the process, I learned the value of attention to detail and how to work past ‘good enough’ to get all the way to ‘perfect.’ After returning from a tour in Iraq and coming home to start my own business, I named my floor care business Brightwork Inc. to reflect the high standard of excellence I upheld as a Marine.

I’d like to offer you a free demonstration cleaning so you can see the difference that a systematic, thorough approach to floor care can make in the appearance of your place of business. I’ll personally clean up to 2500 square feet of flooring – preferably in one of your high-traffic or problem areas – free of charge, with no strings attached. I won’t try any high-pressure sales tactics because I know that you already understand the importance of keeping your facility clean, attractive, and inviting for your clients and staff, and you’re just looking for the best, most cost-effective way to get it done.

I also know that my work will speak for itself. You’ll immediately see the benefits of the unique system of floor care I’ve developed over time.

Brightwork Inc. carpet care is:

• Fast Drying. My innovative low-moisture system allows your carpet to dry faster, so you can begin to use your rooms again within one to two hours of cleaning.
• Quiet and Convenient: No noisy machine in your parking lot, no hoses in your hallways. My equipment is quiet enough to run without disturbing clients or staff in the next room.
• Cost Effective: My premium cleaning solutions – many of which I’ve developed or customized myself – leave no sticky residues, actually protect carpet fibers, and keep floors clean longer. The low-moisture system also reduces the chance that stains will reappear.
• Satisfaction Guaranteed: I take pride in my work, genuinely appreciate my customers, and meet or exceed their expectations.

As the owner of a local small business, I would truly appreciate the opportunity to meet with you to demonstrate my service, learn more about your floor care needs, and discuss your maintenance plan. I will follow up on this letter with a phone call in the next few days, but if you have questions or would like to schedule your free demonstration cleaning, please don’t hesitate to let me know.

Sincerely,



Jeremy D. Sweetland
Founder and Owner
Brightwork Inc.
j.sweetland@insightbb.com



And this Gift Certificate for a substantial amount of cleaning on the back:

It offers a few advantages: Its big enough for them to bother with calling for it, it coud be a free cleaning for some customers but if you gain the account its worth it and it really isnt that much to do with a rotary, OP or Cimex. I'd gladly give up an hour or 2 of my time and $9.50 in chems for an account that will pay $5k a year or more. Wouldn't you?

Anyway, I'll be getting my mailing list put together the cheap way stealing it from the YP, internet and good old fashioned paying attention to the nice places when I'm out cleaning of taking the kids to a birthday party...
I should be ready to start no later than June.

 

[hogjowl]

Wow ... 2500 s.f. huh ... thanks for sharing this and please keep all of us informed with your results.

 

[Desk Jockey]

I told him the same but he says it really isn't much time for him and if it wins over an account he feels it's worth it.

 

[Ron Lippold]

Wow. good luck

 

[Jeremy]

Of course, you can always adjust the size of the demo to fit your needs. That's the beauty of the Snake Oil Marketing System it's customizable if you have MicroSoft Office or even a free download of Open Office. I just wanted you all to see the actual peice being sent. The gift certificate will be uploaded soon.

And yes I will keep you updated on the sucessses snd failures along the way...

The Snake Oil Markting System is priced so that even Marty wouldn't be able to bitch about the price... It's free!

 

[Desk Jockey]

Marty will bitch because it's free.

 

[hogjowl]

Well, as of this moment, I can see why it's free.

 

[Lee Stockwell]

Sometimes free is overpriced.

:-)

 

[Jeremy]

Wow, way to encourage people to contrubute things of actual value... Sometimes the level of familiarity here is a bit too high. Marty we all know you're suffering from a terminal case of peckerheaditis but you really should consider pulling your head out of your rear long enough to smell the fresh air every now and then.. It's a beautiful day. You aren't going to see your shadow (maybe one of your skidmarks) and have 6 more weeks of winter...


As for it being overpriced it may very well be but that remains to be seen, doesn't it? How about you wait until its been proven to be successful or unsuccessful before you talk about wether it has value or not. Frankly, I could charge for the downloads but chose to give them away as I have recieved so much help from the indusrty at large over the years...

 

[Lee Stockwell]

I was smiling Jeremy. Good job, but you know throwing money at a problem sometimes isn't the solution. The counter-point to that was what I pointed out.

I have a problem with a "fixed" marketing budget for anything. ZERO base it instead. Each dollar spent (for anything) should contribute a measurable amount to PROFIT (not volume). If it doesn't...don't.

Thus if you can measure that $1 spent on marketing brings IN at least $1.01 PROFIT, spend it.

Then incrementally increase that investment while measuring (not hoping) for more profit. If $1k actually DOES yield a net profit why stop there? At that end of the spectrum a "fixed" marketing budget likewise makes no sense.

 

[dealtimeman]

I think it will appeal to many. At the same time I think on your side you are paying a lot for the customer.

Maybe drop it to 500 sqft?


How did you get the 2500 sqft number?

 

[hogjowl]

"Peckerheaditis"?

I was just trying to be a buttwad .... good grief!

 

[Jimmy L]

Marty don't you know all of those "shampooers" have an attitude?

He has a long ways to go before he is even considered to be flying with those old buzzards like Smith and RiCKY.

By golly he might make it to that group if he would drag a carpet scrap from a dumpster and scampoo it with a cimex ........then have the nerve to tell professional carpet cleaners it was clean!

i WONdA wHo dAT wUz?

:shock:

 

[Jeremy]

Don't worry Marty, just 2 oz of Snake Oil will alleviate the symptoms of your illness!

 

[Jeremy]

I think it will appeal to many. At the same time I think on your side you are paying a lot for the customer.

Maybe drop it to 500 sqft?


How did you get the 2500 sqft number?

I figure 2500 square feet is what we can clean in an hour with 2 machines running assuming it's in need of cleaning but not totally hammered... Or in 1 hour if its pretty clean already. Its really only about $5 in chemicals, a bigt of gas & some sweat... I figured that since I am targeting 10k+ sq ft buildings & avoiding 1000 sq ft buildings a 2500 sq ft offer made it "worth their while" to call. A 250 or 500 sq ft clean spot in the middle of thier building's lobby may not be appealing to them...

Like I said, it's something you can change to fit your business, preferred method and/or desire for new customers...

I'll get the gift certificate uploaded in MS Word format for easy editing...

 

[Desk Jockey]

I just wonder if anyone will bite on it? As I told you on the phone we made an offer to 35-churches over the holiday's several years ago and not one called back for FREE cleaning. :shock:

The cleaning was for a much smaller area but my feeling was they didn't believe it was truly free.

Fortunately now we clean for some of them but at the time I was shocked at the lack of response. We were a little worried how we could fit them in our regular holiday cleaning so we carfully sent out only a handful a week. :roll:

So I'm very interested to see how these business respond with a much larger offer.

 

[Jeremy]

So I'm very interested to see how these business respond with a much larger offer.

Me too! shiteatinggrin

 

[hogjowl]

I just wonder if anyone will bite on it? As I told you on the phone we made an offer to 35-churches over the holiday's several years ago and not one called back for FREE cleaning. :shock:

The cleaning was for a much smaller area but my feeling was they didn't believe it was truly free.

Fortunately now we clean for some of them but at the time I was shocked at the lack of response. We were a little worried how we could fit them in our regular holiday cleaning so we carfully sent out only a handful a week. :roll:

So I'm very interested to see how these business respond with a much larger offer.

Was your picture on the flyer?

 

[Jeremy]

Marty don't you know all of those "shampooers" have an attitude?

He has a long ways to go before he is even considered to be flying with those old buzzards like Smith and RiCKY.

By golly he might make it to that group if he would drag a carpet scrap from a dumpster and scampoo it with a cimex ........then have the nerve to tell professional carpet cleaners it was clean!

i WONdA wHo dAT wUz?

:shock:

^ This from the guy asking what product is best to VLM clean a granny pee soaked rag in an old folks home that got indignant when I told him to pull in hoses and do it right... Go give Lincoln Nebraska's inter-link part time counter clerk another virtual HJ with your smooth, callus free, pale white hands.

 

[FB7777]

Jeremy,

What are the successful carpet cleaning operations doing in your area and what methods are they using?

I've known you for quite awhile now, and you're still giving away your services with the rent money to stay afloat?

Seriously dude, either your workmanship sucks, you ain't focused or you creep out your customers

This business is stone stupid to be at the baseline moderately successful at.


And you thought Marty was a peckerhead :?: :mrgreen:


Good luck blowing a grand on a blanket cold offer , personally I'd put on a clean shirt and knock on doors with an offer

 

[Jeremy]

Jeremy,

What are the successful carpet cleaning operations doing in your area and what methods are they using?

I've known you for quite awhile now, and you're still giving away your services with the rent money to stay afloat?

Seriously dude, either your workmanship sucks, you ain't focused or you creep out your customers

This business is stone stupid to be at the baseline moderately successful at.


And you thought Marty was a peckerhead :?: :mrgreen:


Good luck blowing a grand on a blanket cold offer , personally I'd put on a clean shirt and knock on doors with an offer

Honestly Fred, none of them are super successful but there are a couple doing OK locally... At least half of my problem has been laziness & cash flow. I hate doing residential work... Customising the letters took forever and I just hated getting out there and selling face to face... I need to do it more frequently like Steve Toburen always said I should do. I think putting this out there for everyone to watch will make me accountable at least to the people here. So now I won't just find a couple of jobs to keep the lights on and put the marketing materials away until the next time I'm short on cash. My consistency of effort in gaining business totally blows. That's why I have devised this simple "system" to keep me on track.

For most folks (especially newbs), this could signifigantly improve their bottom line if they'll take the time to implement a couple campaigns in the winter months or while they're slow at start up when the time commitment is low impact/opportunity cost. Of course anyone could benefit if they either do not have a system in place or would prefer to put less effort into marketing... Of course, ther is never a guarantee in any marketing effort's success but I think organization increases the chances of success...

Maybe I'm wrong... Maybe I just suck as a biz owner, cleaner and human being... All of which are entirely possible but perhaps I am right and this could be a relatively easy way to get your marketing house in order. I have decided to do just that and thought the fine folks here would like to read about it and if it works maybe they'll try it too... We'll see how it pans out.


By the way, the "Blanket cold offer" is followed by a phone call, a reminder card, and an in person visit... Then It all starts over again. All pre-printed, scripted and scheduled and ready to be taken to the post office. And it's free.. Not free to customers, free to everyone. Not "free" its actually free. I don't even ask for email addresses so I can spam you with special offers (again lots of people said I should at least do that).

 

[dgargan]

Better to do something then nothing at all buttttt, I got to say it doesn't look promising. I have met you a few times and your a smart guy and likable. If your plan doesn't work try this. Put on a shirt and tie along with a smile and start walking in doors face to face. Join a networking group and get 15-20 "free" salesman" on your team. In 6 month this will triple the sales you will get with mailings and will costs a fraction.

 

[Steve Toburen]

This is a tough crowd, Jeremy. Don't let 'em get you down.

Actually I did much the same promo years ago with restaurants but with a twist. We sent out letters to 50 restaurants we wanted to work for. The letter said we would clean all their restaurant carpets for free one time. No hooks, no gimmicks- just with two simple requests:

1) That the decision maker would be there for the first 1/2 hour to watch us work our miracles and ...

2) That they be sincerely interested in having a regular maintenance service plan for their carpets.

We mailed the 50 out and then started doing follow-up phone calls. Of the 50 I believe 11 booked their free cleaning. Of the 11 we did for free one time 10 of them signed up for our monthly Stay Beautiful maintenance plan. Over ten years later when I sold the company 8 of the 10 were still paying us every month to clean their carpets.

Giving it away for free? Or making a smart marketing investment? You decide.

Steve Toburen

PS And yes, Jeremy, you really should be "getting out there". I suggest one Dedicated Sales Morning every week. My new SFS motto for getting commercial work is, "Commercial selling is a process, not an event."

 

[Mikey P]

2500 just sound like to much and most managers are going to be too suspicious to take you up on your offer.
Those that do are most likely just out to screw ya out of a freebie

Make the offer a percentage of what they have. That way you are spending more time on jobs that are worth more $

 

[Steve Toburen]

2500 just sound like to much and most managers are going to be too suspicious to take you up on your offer.
Those that do are most likely just out to screw ya out of a freebie

Make the offer a percentage of what they have. That way you are spending more time on jobs that are worth more $

I hate to say it, Jeremy, but Mikey may be right. For example, headline it with:

"No hooks, no gimmicks- 10% of your carpets cleaned absolutely FREE!"

Then start the body of your copy off like this:

That's right, you pick out the one carpeted area that is your biggest challenge and Brightwork Inc. will restore it to a sparkling new appearance. We only have two simple requests:

And then stick in my two requirements for the freeby cleaning.

Steve

PS Let us know what happens. Remember that "apathy and inertia" are your two biggest enemies in commercial sales. The whole floor maintenance thing is very low on the totem pole of priorities with the average facility manager. So you need to "break through" their fog- the campaign you have outlined just might do it.

 

[Greg Loe]

He did say he was targeting 10k sq ft buildings and up. I would add one sentence to it "Call for details" That would stop someone that only has a small part of the 10k building from getting all of his carpet cleaned for free.

 

[Brian R]

First of all, Lee knows everything... Just ask him. :mrgreen:


Jeremy has a great mind for marketing. I've spoken with him many times over the phone and I've met him in person. Anyone with a new baby is going to be hung up a bit.. .But it's also the reason he is so ambitious.

I think he really has a great plan for this... and you guys should really give it a shot.

I wouldn't do sqft or areas or %s...... I would say clean their reception area, public area, waiting room etc...Whatever is the term for the places you're targeting.

That way, they know exactly what the area is, they get their most public place cleaned up AND you'll be able to really show your work (ask to leave a small sign or business card holder in the office for the public).

I have a great deal of respect for the Jerm man. Don't knock anything until you try it... wthin reason of course.




Now... Read my signature quote and get on it!!!

 

[Desk Jockey]

This is the one we tried several years ago, it bombed so bad at the time, we never tired it again.

 

[Zee]

[quote="Mikey P":1lz6aj64]2500 just sound like to much and most managers are going to be too suspicious to take you up on your offer.
Those that do are most likely just out to screw ya out of a freebie

Make the offer a percentage of what they have. That way you are spending more time on jobs that are worth more $

I hate to say it, Jeremy, but Mikey may be right. For example, headline it with:

"No hooks, no gimmicks- 10% of your carpets cleaned absolutely FREE!" If you do this, than make sure you have a limitation on it- You do not want to go out on a job to find out their sqfootage is 500000 and you promised 10% of it for free.

Then start the body of your copy off like this:

That's right, you pick out the one carpeted area that is your biggest challenge and Brightwork Inc. will restore it to a sparkling new appearance. We only have two simple requests:

And then stick in my two requirements for the freeby cleaning.

Steve

PS Let us know what happens. Remember that "apathy and inertia" are your two biggest enemies in commercial sales. The whole floor maintenance thing is very low on the totem pole of priorities with the average facility manager. So you need to "break through" their fog- the campaign you have outlined just might do it.[/quote:1lz6aj64]

 

[Jeremy]

If you do this, than make sure you have a limitation on it- You do not want to go out on a job to find out their sqfootage is 500000 and you promised 10% of it for free

If I actually gained the contrract to clean that 500K square feet I'd be happy to clean 50k of it free... I'd still come out ahead at a nickle a foot on the first cleaning and with 3 cleanings a year I'd have met my increased revenue goal for the entire year with about 2 weeks of work.