Marketing a cleaning business properly is necessary if you plan on being very successful, or having any success at all.  Of all the business types out there I would say that the most common business I see are people starting cleaning businesses.  In fact, I would think that this is one of the easiest businesses that you can start and make a living at.

However, there is a huge difference with making a living with a cleaning business and owning a successful cleaning business.  Yes, if your idea of success is paying the bills, and saving a little for vacations, retirement and your kids’ college tuition then you are successful.

If your idea of success is owning a cleaning business that has 30 employees and allows you the freedom to travel or other luxuries in life then that is also success.

I am sure that you can see these two ideas of success will require two different types of marketing campaigns.  You can use the same types of marketing, but to have a greater success and get to the point where you have others working for you then you will need a more aggressive marketing plan.

Marketing a Cleaning Business:  Types of Marketing

When you are first starting your cleaning business you will most likely need to be very frugal with your money management.  Throwing away money on test marketing may not be something that you have bargained for.  If you have a decent sized marketing budget then feel free to skip down to the other methods of marketing.

Marketing a Cleaning Business with Cold Calling

Without a doubt cold calling is one of the most hated forms of marketing and instils fear in many people.  At the same time cold calling is one of the best ways to find new clients and find them fast.  Of course this method is more for commercial cleaning companies than residential.

There are two types of cold calling.  Picking up the phone or knocking on doors.  If you happen to feel more comfortable with one method over another then go ahead and use that to get more clients for your cleaning business.

Cold calling on the phone will require that you get past the gate keeper and talk directly with the owner or manager in charge.  You will have to find out if they currently have a cleaning business or how they clean their establishment at the moment.  From there you will need to explain why they should give your services a try.

The method is similar if you are going to knock on the door of a business.  The difference being you are hopefully able to chat with the owner or manager for a few moments and possibly even get a trial contract with them.

Going to the door does mean wasting a lot of time is you get there and the person you need to speak with is not available.  This is the chance that you take.

I have used both methods and I can say I have had more success with the phone, but that is just me.

Marketing a Cleaning Business:  Websites and Online Marketing

Marketing today always means having an online presence.  In most cases this is in the form of a website, but can also be a blog, or information inside of a free business directory.

You can build your own website or hire someone to build one for you, but more importantly than having a website is having traffic to that website.  This will require you to list your company in as many free business directories as you can, and to write and promote articles at a rate of one article per week.  Join my weekly newsletter to learn how to do this and many other tips and tricks for marketing a cleaning business.

Other ways of marketing a cleaning business online is with pay per click advertising or with banner ads on websites that are already targeting your perfect client.  Both methods can be done through Google adwords.  You can also use a ppc or pay per impression on Facebook.  Then instead of showing up in searches you would show up on pages for people that you are targeting.

Marketing a Cleaning Business: Networking

This method works best for commercial cleaning companies as most people that are at networking events are businesses and therefore would be your target prospect.  Of course most people at networking events also own houses and have clients that own houses so don’t be shy if you are a residential cleaning business.

I have had success with all types of networking events.  I belong to meetup.com and also go to some other functions.  I have tried BNI and the Better Business Bureau as well as well as the local Chamber of Commerce.

Other ways of networking your cleaning business is just by talking with everybody you know and meet anywhere.  People in line ups at the grocery store, or coffee shop or anywhere else you might be in a line waiting for something.

Marketing a Cleaning Business: Mail

There are two ways of marketing a cleaning business through the mail.  One is with bulk mail and the other is with direct mail.  Bulk mail is when you create a marketing piece that will go to everyone within a certain postal code or zip code.  If you are marketing a commercial cleaning business you would pick commercial areas to send your mail to.  While if you are marketing a residential cleaning business you would send your mail to residential areas of your town or city.

Direct mail is when you have a list of buy a list of names and addresses and promote directly to that list.  This method costs more but in most cases creates a higher rate of success.  Providing you have a list of contacts that is worthwhile mailing.

The least expensive way to do this is through the use of a postcard.  In fact postcards get a better response in most cases since one of the biggest challenges of marketing through the mail is getting your envelope opened.

Whether you use a postcard or a letter of some sort you will want to make sure the letter has the ability to sell your services or get people to take action in some way.  The action the reader takes might be to call, email, or just to visit your shop or website.

Whatever that action is you need to focus your whole message on that final action.

The method of leading people through your marketing message and taking action is called copywriting.  This is a skill that is very much worth learning.

Marketing a Cleaning Business:  Other Types of Marketing

Other ways you can successfully get more business with your cleaning business is with signs, radio, TV, yellow pages, coupon books, and joint ventures.

In all cases you need to be able to get your message across to the end user.  If you cannot create a proper message then there is no method that will get you any business.  Think for a minute that if you meet with someone and you speak in a different language and there is no way for them to understand what you are doing then they will not hire you.  Yes, that is extreme but the same is true with all marketing, a yellow pages ad will work as long as people reading the ad decide to use you over everybody else on the page.  After all they want a cleaning company of they would not be there.

This is true on every level of your marketing.  Check other articles on the site about copywriting or join my free newsletter that will help you with your copywriting skills.

Thanks for reading marketing a cleaning business.