Making Money For Dummies (And In a Crowded Market)

[Stubbers]

Great thread @IceCreamKid did you read Joe Polish's Piraña Marketing course? I believe that's all about carpet cleaning marketing?

I'm a one man operation offering services that the homeowner needs up here just outside Toronto. Flyers/direct mail do not really work as 3 times a week a free newspaper comes out and it ram packed with flyers, and every time the posts delivered flyers are in with them and most people throw them away as they are swamped/fed up with marketing material. In your area are there lots of free papers with flyers galore or is it just a Canada thing?

SEO is what works for me - by fully knowing the niches I offer I can write from the perspective of the homeowner, addressing the issues, problems and needs and through this they call me. Content is king and by covering all angles on the website for a local business it's easier to outrank any competition by adding more content.

Here's a tip that is my key to getting 90% of calls booked ... Answer the phone when they ring! Seriously if you miss the call or it goes to answer machine and you need to call them back later on in the day they may have found someone else, they might not be home or they might be busy. Pick up the phone as it rings ... Sometimes it's a pain when really busy but I pick up give some chit chat then sell...

 

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[jules 98hustle]

For those who are struggling with a Service business idea but one that is profitable like carpet cleaning Suggest reading 202 services you can sell for big profits, by James Stephenson.
Could do with updating but nevertheless great book.

 

[Sheps]

My reading list is daunting already and the more time I spend here the worse it gets.

 

[ilrein]

My reading list is daunting already and the more time I spend here the worse it gets.

Isn't that the most beautiful problem? Spend more time executing and less time theorizing, you won't have such a huge list.

 

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[Trevor Chaumont]

Hey there @IceCreamKid,
I've been doing a lot of research about starting a carpet cleaning service since I read this post. My area is expecting a 20k+ population boom in the near future and I think now is the perfect time for me to make the jump. I have a couple of questions though, my first being what can I do, if anything, to combat the possibility that more and more people go from carpet to tile or wood paneling? I guess I could also offer the option of cleaning tile or panel floors, which may not make as much money but could be a good option to offer.

 

[seab]

I just wanted to send out a massive thanks for everything I have read in this thread. Really helped in solidifying what I am going to do with my own local service business.
I am not in the same market, so not creating some carpet cleaning copycat.

Just wanted to thank you @IceCreamKid for everything!

Another thanks out to this whole forum and @MJ DeMarco for writing your book and helping me to change my thinking. This thread and a few other threads on this forum have helped me to change my thinking which is helping to change my life.

 

[Hallsy86]

@IceCreamKid Are you using HWE with a truck mount or VLM cleaning? Even used vans and truck mounts are pretty expensive from what I've seen around here. I'm thinking I might start out doing VLM and work up to the truck mount.

 

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[JaxAttacks]

1. My cleaning solutions are a proprietary mixture made from multiple ingredients that I buy in large quantities to save money. I don't even tell the employees what's in that stuff. The primary cleaning agents in it are the acid from beets and carbonate salt. I also add hydrogen peroxide to act as an oxidizer for protein stains. HP makes the carpet really POP when it becomes bone dry. You have to be careful where you use HP though because it can bleach the carpet if used incorrectly.

Why did I choose to use a proprietary mixture instead of something that can be bought off the shelf? So that I can advertise that nobody has what I have to offer. Unique=special=higher perceived value=higher price=higher profit margins.

The stuff at Home Depot is consumer grade and doesn't really do a good job IMO. Rug Doctor is junk. Weak cleaning solution, low suction power, weak all around. You have to go to a carpet cleaning supply store in your area if you want to find stuff that makes the customer say WOW.

I wouldn't recommend buying in large quantities when starting out because you haven't even validated demand in your area yet. Your initial goal should be first to validate demand in your area. That would suck if you bought huge quantities of cleaning products and spent $50k on some fancy van then later realized that the market doesn't support what you have to offer.

2. 175 RPM floor buffer. You can probably get one used on Craigslist for $200. That machine will serve you well for 90% of the jobs. After you've built up a stack of cash, add a steam cleaning/HWE machine to your arsenal.

The golden duo is to use both a buffer and steam cleaning machine together. This allows you to charge more because it gives you a deeper, more thorough clean.

Agree That most consumer carpet cleaning products are cheap. But, one of my all time favorite products happens to be a spot remover called Folex. (It may partially be because i have OCD, lol.) Ever tried it? It's freaking fantastic. Seriously one of a few products I rave about.

 

[CoolAV8R]

"Most _____ are terrible marketers in my experience."


That's applicable to every type of business owner, including marketers.

Tis true! DK says that "every business is in the marketing business." Marketing in of itself is a process and it's where the focus should be. Master the marketing!

 

[Kevin90]

@IceCreamKid

What are your thoughts on the window cleaning biz?

What I see...

1. Opportunity - Just like carpet, windows are everywhere (residential and commercial).

2. Low start up cost - Seems like professional grade equipment/supplies will run a couple hundred bucks.

3. Competition - From what I gather, most local window cleaners lack the marketing, biz dev, and overall professional skills discussed in this thread.

One of the bigger downsides...

In Ohio, the winter season lasts from mid November to the end of March. My uncle is in the biz and has another service job in the off season. But when the spring/summer season hits, he is slammed with work and constantly has to turn down biz since he is a one man show.

 

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[Ikke]

With consumers, they often assume that a higher price means higher quality. This is the primary reason why I charge sky high rates. It's actually easier to get customers in my niche with higher prices. Weird, but true.

I have experienced the very same.

I once purchased 100 pieces of a product which after delivery proved to be below my expectation. I tried to sell them off for cheap but nobody bought them. I quintupled (increased by fivefold) the price and it started selling. It even sold so fast I ran out of stock. I purchased another 500 pieces and even sold 50 to another online retailer which covered the purchase of my total stock.

The higher price made the consumers assume they were a higher quality and that made them buy.

 

[jazb]

@IceCreamKid

What are your thoughts on the window cleaning biz?

What I see...

1. Opportunity - Just like carpet, windows are everywhere (residential and commercial).

2. Low start up cost - Seems like professional grade equipment/supplies will run a couple hundred bucks.

3. Competition - From what I gather, most local window cleaners lack the marketing, biz dev, and overall professional skills discussed in this thread.

One of the bigger downsides...

In Ohio, the winter season lasts from mid November to the end of March. My uncle is in the biz and has another service job in the off season. But when the spring/summer season hits, he is slammed with work and constantly has to turn down biz since he is a one man show.

The guy that cleans our windows, we pay him £10/month. hes comes monthly. he is a family friend.

He does a good job, but my god is this guy lazy. 1 man team. zero business acumen whatsoever. just collects money whenever, sometimes forgets to do the house....or he will clean it twice in 1 month. will stop working midday because he can't be bothered.

he is sitting on a goldmine. he could put the systems in place ready for expansion, increase customer acquisition through marketing, start hiring people, more vans etc. could have an army of cleaners all over the city.

his leg is bust too, so he is royally F*cked if it gets bad enough. thats the problem with a 1 man team.

It all comes down to MJ's book. the slowlane, the fastlane is a mindset thing more than anything else. and this guy is most certainly on the sidewalk.

you could do what he does and become fastlane.

 

[cutthroughstatic]

Perhaps he would be interested in learning how to roll profits over into passive investments. In a few months I'll start a progress thread outlining how I invest in stock options for monthly cash flow. Stock options are F*cking phenomenal bro. They give you so much control if you know how to adjust your portfolio correctly.

The whole thread is filled with gold.

But I am curious to learn more about this. I have traded options myself quite a bit but have not found any success whatsoever with it.

Thanks

 

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[IceCreamKid]

Sorry for not responding to a bunch of your questions guys. Once in a while I like to unplug from the world so I can focus solely on my projects. This results in me not engaging in conversations unless they're absolutely necessary. High leverage activities only.

But I am curious to learn more about this. I have traded options myself quite a bit but have not found any success whatsoever with it.

The info bomb will be dropped in a few months.

In the meantime, research everything you can on selling theta. Selling theta is what tips the probabilities in your favor so that you can become the casino thanks to the elements of time decay and implied volatility(IV).

This is gonna sound crazy to everyone, but you can actually gamify the entire process with the use of math and probabilities thanks to the elements of theta, standard deviation, and implied volatility. You don't even need to look at a chart because you can trade solely based on the numbers. There was a lady on TastyTrade with a $300M portfolio and she admits to not using any charts. The entire process was mathematical, leaving nothing to the subjective eye.

This is how most people progress:
1. They hear a stock tip on tv or the news. They buy the stock. Mediocre results.
2. They dabble with shorting stocks. Mediocre results.
3. They hear about options and are immediately intimidated by it. They dabble with buying puts/calls, perhaps some covered calls(which are very risky imo) then lose some money and call it quits. As far as I can tell, it's impossible to win long term solely buying calls and puts.
4. A few persevere and finally have that light bulb moment where they realize that selling theta is the key that tips the odds in the trader's favor. They begin trading based on numbers rather than gut feel. Crazy game I tell you. It's like a money printing machine.

Do the research and focus, focus, focus. Cut out all the BS fat.

 

[Andy Black]

Sorry for not responding to a bunch of your questions guys. Once in a while I like to unplug from the world so I can focus solely on my projects. This results in me not engaging in conversations unless they're absolutely necessary. High leverage activities only.


The info bomb will be dropped in a few months.

In the meantime, research everything you can on selling theta. Selling theta is what tips the probabilities in your favor so that you can become the casino thanks to the elements of time decay and implied volatility(IV).

This is gonna sound crazy to everyone, but you can actually gamify the entire process with the use of math and probabilities thanks to the elements of theta, standard deviation, and implied volatility. You don't even need to look at a chart because you can trade solely based on the numbers. There was a lady on TastyTrade with a $300M portfolio and she admits to not using any charts. The entire process was mathematical, leaving nothing to the subjective eye.

This is how most people progress:
1. They hear a stock tip on tv or the news. They buy the stock. Mediocre results.
2. They dabble with shorting stocks. Mediocre results.
3. They hear about options and are immediately intimidated by it. They dabble with buying puts/calls, perhaps some covered calls(which are very risky imo) then lose some money and call it quits. As far as I can tell, it's impossible to win long term solely buying calls and puts.
4. A few persevere and finally have that light bulb moment where they realize that selling theta is the key that tips the odds in the trader's favor. They begin trading based on numbers rather than gut feel. Crazy game I tell you. It's like a money printing machine.

Do the research and focus, focus, focus. Cut out all the BS fat.

Great video.

Line I heard and love:

"Winners keep moving forward, they don't stop to fight."

 

[Bigguns50]

@IceCreamKid .... Obviously, there's a connection between mathematics and Wall Street.... Jim Simons.

 

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[Stanley Mala]

 

[cutthroughstatic]

In the meantime, research everything you can on selling theta. Selling theta is what tips the probabilities in your favor so that you can become the casino thanks to the elements of time decay and implied volatility(IV).

Thanks for the reply. Are you covering your selling of the calls by buying the actual stock? Or no?

If you don't want to get any more in depth at this time, that is okay. I am just intensely curious now because I am like the trader you described. Except I started in the fool's gold land of penny stocks before I traded legit stocks and then dabbled in options.. I haven't lost a ton but I have never made enough from a trade to justify the time/risk involved in it.

I have a friend who follows Warren Buffet's principles as a value investor - he focuses solely on a company's fundamentals and the amount they pay in dividend. Great long term strategy... but you have to be able to invest a good chunk up front to really see the effects of compounding interest paid through reinvesting dividends.

 

[Thrive]

Hey IceCreamKid!
I don't post much on this forum in recent times, but I do like to keep tabs on everything that is posted here and I've just got to say this thread is one of the best I've seen posted because of the new doors you've opened to my eyes, the forum members and this whole forum.

Usually the forum has taken the "Internet/Tech" side of business, and while that may not be a bad thing, it is certainly limiting to the business ideas and conversations held on here.

I recently noticed a need in my neighborhood and in surrounding neighborhoods that requires the replacement of a certain house fixture. Until those items are replaced, those houses look like they're beginning to be trashy.

However, I am totally unsure where to start researching direct response marketing (making a damn good flyer). Are there any articles, people or books you would recommend I look into?

Also, how do you handle the leads you receive and then the actual transfer of money (Square+Ipad, maybe)?

The need I'll be solving will most likely be a one-time-thing, not especially expensive, and easy to fix. It would seem to me that there wouldn't be a need for a contract or paperwork of that kind, but it might just be me being ignorant.

Thanks!

 

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[IceCreamKid]

However, I am totally unsure where to start researching direct response marketing (making a damn good flyer). Are there any articles, people or books you would recommend I look into?

Also, how do you handle the leads you receive and then the actual transfer of money (Square+Ipad, maybe)?

Perry Marshall. Dude is a genius. He focuses mostly with online marketing, but uses timeless direct response marketing tactics.

80% of the customers pay by check. Most of the clients are old rich people with a net worth of $5M minimum. In the Bay Area, $5M isn't really much to brag about. A lot of old people are still afraid of giving out credit cards so they still pay by check.

The remaining 20% pay by credit card and a Square reader+Android is used in those situations.

 

[jazb]

Quick questions:

How many employees have you got and how are you delegating it out?

I'm assuming someone takes in an order via phone...then the jobs get scheduled. what management is in place? i imagine it can be annoying dealing with employees in this biz because THEY are the product. they might net you $300/day but you start asking yourself if its worth having an actual product which makes the same return.

 

[IGP]

@IceCreamKid great posts. Thanks for all the nuggets in here!

Just recently I have had the opportunity to purchase a carpet cleaning business. It's an established company 15+ years old with tons of existing customers. They have a positive cash flow of a couple hundred grand, but the owners do not know how to market in this day and age. As a result, the company has been declining in revenues for the last few years.

The reason it was of interest to me is that marketing is my bread and butter and there is little doubt I can turn it around. I was most likely going to pass on the opportunity as it has a lot of moving parts (15 employees and several additional services offered other than carpet cleaning) and I hate to buy business with declining revenues.

However, after reading this entire thread I am reconsidering my options. So, I just wanted to say: Thank You!

 

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[OVOvince]

in regards to direct mail marketing, what are the steps to go about for getting a good looking, professional mail piece designed and created? i have the service business model, benefits, features etc all that set up. i have read various marketing articles, slides, and guidelines from credible people, so I have a good angle to attack with to bring out desired emotion from the clients. i am almost confident in that part in regards to this idea i have even though i haven't launched yet.

my question is regarding creating the mail piece. where do i go? i dont have graphics design skills, i dont want to hire multiple freelancers with different skills to do a job that it may take 1 person. for example copywriting and graphics design. can i not find a person or company that does both? these days marketing companies i try to find only do online marketing. where are the people that create these types of advertising i need to get done? is it worth pursuing them or is there a different route?

what do you think i should do?

 

[OVOvince]

btw as always, good thread man. thanks a lot

 

[IceCreamKid]

in regards to direct mail marketing, what are the steps to go about for getting a good looking, professional mail piece designed and created?

If you look around your area, the larger print shops offer all of the services that you need. The one I use took care of the graphics design, delivery routes, and printing/mailing for me. The only work done on my end was sending them the payment.

i have read various marketing articles, slides, and guidelines from credible people, so I have a good angle to attack with to bring out desired emotion from the clients. i am almost confident in that part in regards to this idea i have even though i haven't launched yet.

I try not to assume that I know what will get a response from the market. I can't tell you how many times I thought, "This will for sure get leads!" only to be dumbfounded by the low response rate.

Your mindset going into this should be something like, "I am going to do a bunch of split tests. Long ads and short ads. I'm going to start small with my ad spend in the beginning and after I find the most effective mail piece, the name of the game is to nail and scale".

Demographics matter a lot in this niche. I'm Asian so don't call me racist, but I'll be straightforward with you: Don't send carpet cleaning mailers to Asian neighborhoods. You might as well flush some cash down the toilet.

If you want to be super specific with your targeting then aim for the white neighborhoods where the wives stay at home, drive Tesla vehicles, and wear Lululemon yoga pants. I know that's a really random way to target customers, but trust me on this...after you have a few thousand clients in your database, you start noticing trends.

The customers you want:

• have large libraries in their large homes
• drive Tesla vehicles
• skinny white ladies who stay at home. I honestly don't think I have any customers who are both obese and wealthy.
• have housekeepers/maids
• outsource a ton of their activities: gardening, pool, heating and air conditioning, etc
• biz owners
• have college degrees

Customers you don't want:

• People on welfare(Their carpets are usually trashed because they don't own the property therefore they don't give a shit about spilling soda on the floor and leaving it there)
• Ghetto neighborhoods
• Customers with multiple large TV's throughout the house and large movie collections
• Areas with small homes
• blue collar neighborhoods

 

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[Brootal]

Awesome thread ICK!

Curious to know; if you were to start a service business like this from scratch and didn't have the skill (carpet cleaning, tiling, law service etc..), would you learn the skill first and do the jobs yourself? Or jump right into hiring your first employee while you focused on the marketing and business side of things?

 

[OVOvince]

If you look around your area, the larger print shops offer all of the services that you need. The one I use took care of the graphics design, delivery routes, and printing/mailing for me. The only work done on my end was sending them the payment.


I try not to assume that I know what will get a response from the market. I can't tell you how many times I thought, "This will for sure get leads!" only to be dumbfounded by the low response rate.

Your mindset going into this should be something like, "I am going to do a bunch of split tests. Long ads and short ads. I'm going to start small with my ad spend in the beginning and after I find the most effective mail piece, the name of the game is to nail and scale".

Demographics matter a lot in this niche. I'm Asian so don't call me racist, but I'll be straightforward with you: Don't send carpet cleaning mailers to Asian neighborhoods. You might as well flush some cash down the toilet.

If you want to be super specific with your targeting then aim for the white neighborhoods where the wives stay at home, drive Tesla vehicles, and wear Lululemon yoga pants. I know that's a really random way to target customers, but trust me on this...after you have a few thousand clients in your database, you start noticing trends.

The customers you want:

• have large libraries in their large homes
• drive Tesla vehicles
• skinny white ladies who stay at home. I honestly don't think I have any customers who are both obese and wealthy.
• have housekeepers/maids
• outsource a ton of their activities: gardening, pool, heating and air conditioning, etc
• biz owners
• have college degrees

Customers you don't want:

• People on welfare(Their carpets are usually trashed because they don't own the property therefore they don't give a shit about spilling soda on the floor and leaving it there)
• Ghetto neighborhoods
• Customers with multiple large TV's throughout the house and large movie collections
• Areas with small homes
• blue collar neighborhoods

hey man thanks a lot. you are right about split testing. i have done this in the past and still generated a response, so i thought a tweaked and professional looking piece of mail would do better. appreciate the heads up on the print service shop, that one was driving me crazy.

last question, does your print shop have an audience targeting service in which they prospect specific types of people to receive the mail?

for example, let's say I wanted to send mail to only lawyers that have bad google or yelp reviews? can they scrape out businesses in a certain city like that?

 

[IGP]

last question, does your print shop have an audience targeting service in which they prospect specific types of people to receive the mail?

The answer to that is going to be no, but you could certainly hire someone to write a script to scrape that data for you.

 

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[Andy Black]

The answer to that is going to be no

And that's a good thing too. You don't want it to be too easy to do whatever you're thinking of...

 

[IceCreamKid]

Awesome thread ICK!

Curious to know; if you were to start a service business like this from scratch and didn't have the skill (carpet cleaning, tiling, law service etc..), would you learn the skill first and do the jobs yourself? Or jump right into hiring your first employee while you focused on the marketing and business side of things?

If I was starting from scratch, I’d probably apprentice for another company first just to see if I even like the niche. There’s nothing worse than trying to grow a company in a niche that you have absolutely zero love for. It’s like Chinese water torture. Learn on someone else’s dime first then quickly decide if you are going to move forward with the biz.

Here’s a 10,000ft above view of how I’d recommend you plan your attack:

Level 1
Learn the actual skill(carpet cleaning, tiling, lawn service,etc). Preferably learn from someone already in the trenches because you can seriously damage carpet if you don’t know what you’re doing. For example, some high pH cleaning solutions will actually bleach rugs but work well on carpet.

Level 2
After you learned the skill, proceed to launch your own biz to your friends and family. Your circle of influence. Get feedback from them. Find out what can be improved. You’re not spending money on ads yet. Tweak the product/service based on criticisms and compliments.

Level 3
Set up a customer support system. Start picking up the phone and call strangers. Ask what they liked/didn’t like. Strangers will be far more brutal than friends and that’s a good thing.

You want to continually tweak the product/service according to market feedback. Your goal in this level is to create good will with your base of customers so that you can get testimonials in the next level.

Set up a split test. Long ads vs. short ads. You’re still not spending much on ads. Only testing.

Level 4
Now you’re scaling your advertising budget. Still try to keep the ad budget low. Check the math and analyze ROI. Tweak, tweak, tweak, until you eventually hit something that really clicks.

Level 5
Aggressive expansion. Scale the paid advertising. This is where the real fun begins. Expand the customer support team, staffing, consider expanding to an office if necessary.

Create routines, schedules, and lines of communication for the team(E-mail, Skype, FB messenger, etc). Try to keep the expenses to a minimum. Don’t be stupid by buying t-shirts and coffee mugs with your logo. You may be tasting success at this point, but don’t think you have arrived just yet.

Focus and discipline are the keys in this level. I’ve seen too many people lose everything after they let their ego get in the way. It’s not time to party and go crazy yet.

Level 6
Legacy. Think about investing profits back into the biz for further expansion or invest in other vehicles. Next year, I’ll be discussing how to correctly invest in stock options for weekly cashflow. There is definitely a right way and a wrong way to do that. It will be in the INSIDERS section of the forum though.

Line up CPA, accountant, CFO, set up bank accounts better, insurance, etc. Cross your t’s and dot your i’s.

Set up tax planning, estate planning, etc

Level 7
Liquidation event. Throw a party with lots of pizza. Don’t buy a Ferrari/Lambo unless you own an asset that produces enough monthly cashflow to pay for it. Weekly/monthly cashflow is the key to wealth that lasts for multiple generations.

Level 8
Create more stuff. Invest in more stuff. Innovate. Donate to some non-profits or even start your own.