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Marketing my pressure washing service

Mr4213

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Okay I see what you’re saying. But one thing I don’t quite understand is this. It’s like web development. Is there really a need for it? Not really. You can go on fiverr and find a kid in a Pakistan to build the best website you’ve ever seen for $5. Yet why are people able to thrive on this forum doing web design companies?

I think something like pressure washing or the labor intensive jobs are what’s in big demand. No millennial wants to grow up to be a pressure washer or contractor. They all want to be the next twitch and YouTube star or do something online to make money.

Thoughts?

I'm by no means against labor intensive business. I used to run a labor intensive business a couple years ago. I thought it was great, and it was awesome experience and taught me a lot. I also made really good money relative to my age at the time.

Low barrier to entry can be overcome with exceptional excellence. I'm not saying that just because there's a low barrier means it's impossible.

Yeah a few web design guys make good money, what about the thousands of others who are struggling just to get by?

The big point I'm trying to make, is value.

If I see a lot of people doing pressure washing, instead of pressure washing I'd try to find a way to sell to the people doing it. Or I'd try to find a way to make it easier for them to pressure wash. Maybe some new piece of equipment or better designs? Whatever problem I could find, I'd try to solve that instead of just copying what thousands of people are already doing. Copying the masses doesn't solve any problem or create value IMO, it's nothing more than a easy copy that people can start.

Pressure washing just doesn't provide real value IMO. Yes, you can still create a successful business with it if you have exceptional excellence.
 
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broswoodwork

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I see a lot of people doing pressure washing, instead of pressure washing I'd try to find a way to sell to the people doing it
I like this, and it's so true, but you've got to crawl before you can walk; moreover, it's easier to identify a problem to solve when you've been at eye level with the person you're selling it too. May as well get paid, and potentially scale, a simple business while you're concocting a solution to revolutionize the industry, and if the epiphany never comes... well, you've built a national powerwash franchise while you were looking for the carbon filament.
 

Duane

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I'm by no means against labor intensive business. I used to run a labor intensive business a couple years ago. I thought it was great, and it was awesome experience and taught me a lot. I also made really good money relative to my age at the time.

Low barrier to entry can be overcome with exceptional excellence. I'm not saying that just because there's a low barrier means it's impossible.

Yeah a few web design guys make good money, what about the thousands of others who are struggling just to get by?

The big point I'm trying to make, is value.

If I see a lot of people doing pressure washing, instead of pressure washing I'd try to find a way to sell to the people doing it. Or I'd try to find a way to make it easier for them to pressure wash. Maybe some new piece of equipment or better designs? Whatever problem I could find, I'd try to solve that instead of just copying what thousands of people are already doing. Copying the masses doesn't solve any problem or create value IMO, it's nothing more than a easy copy that people can start.

Pressure washing just doesn't provide real value IMO. Yes, you can still create a successful business with it if you have exceptional excellence.

There are tons of million dollar pressure washing companies in every single major city.

Pressure wash somebody's property that has been seriously neglected. The driveway, house, and back patio and you are increasing their properties value. That is 100% solving the problem of a nasty, ugly house and adding value to the property owner.

Sure the barrier to entry is low on pressure washing everyday things like driveways, but what about pressure washing/cleaning concrete tiles on 2-3 story mansion roofs? Your everyday pressure washer can't do that. That's a high barrier niche where your clientele would pay well for you to keep their million dollar homes in good condition.
 

Dan_Cardone

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As far as selling something to people who do the pressure washing, sell them a turnkey marketing solution.

Design a full on marketing funnel along with the ads/sales copy, all materials, and training on how to implement it. Compare it to buying a money printer.

I do this with restaurants and make good money.
 
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DrWumbo

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There are tons of million dollar pressure washing companies in every single major city.

Pressure wash somebody's property that has been seriously neglected. The driveway, house, and back patio and you are increasing their properties value. That is 100% solving the problem of a nasty, ugly house and adding value to the property owner.

Sure the barrier to entry is low on pressure washing everyday things like driveways, but what about pressure washing/cleaning concrete tiles on 2-3 story mansion roofs? Your everyday pressure washer can't do that. That's a high barrier niche where your clientele would pay well for you to keep their million dollar homes in good condition.

So true about adding value to the property, just like doing an exterior paint job or basic landscaping. I did a business center for a guy who sells made-to-order homes and also has rental properties. He was so impressed with the service, he told me that I will be the company he exclusively uses for the properties, which he does about twice a year. I'm trying to get into servicing real estate companies for when they sell/rent out properties
 

John D.

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Maybe you create a nice freebie as an incentive. It would work nicely with the other advice given here.

For example, a free report/flyer/brochure titled '55 Things You Didn't Know You Can Powerwash To Look Awesome Again' or something (wack title 'cause I know nothing about powerwashing).

You can also create it as a .pdf and promote it on Facebook and on other online local communities.

As some members mentioned there are tons of powerwashing companies around.

But if you do this (along with projecting a professional look overall - uniform, tools, the works) it will give you an aura of an 'expert'. Then if you actually do an expert job when they hire you, competitive pricing and word-of-mouth should take care of the rest.
 

Mr4213

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I actually started my own Power Washing business this summer. To say it doesn't provide real value or solve any problems is false.

Businesses need their storefronts to look clean and presentable to clients, removing dirt/oil/gum. Real estate owners need the green mold cleaned from their side of the house to make it look presentable, to prevent HOA/city from getting on their back and issuing a fine, and to make it look good for potential renters. People needs their decks cleaned of tree sap and old stain in order to put down new stain or just have a disgusting exterior that needs to be cleaned

I'm in the process of hiring my first part-time employee. It's not a "Sexy" business and has its own problems, but it does provide value in many different ways. All of the examples above are jobs I have actually done as well. I don't market myself as a cheap service, I target commercial/high end residential where I get paid $100+ an hour. It's a great way to make money, get experience, and even expand into a real business like I'm trying to do
You
I like this, and it's so true, but you've got to crawl before you can walk; moreover, it's easier to identify a problem to solve when you've been at eye level with the person you're selling it too. May as well get paid, and potentially scale, a simple business while you're concocting a solution to revolutionize the industry, and if the epiphany never comes... well, you've built a national powerwash franchise while you were looking for the carbon filament.


It sounds like we are in agreement. I'm not suggesting to the OP not to pursue the pressure washing. It's good experience and it can generate money. It's a great idea if he doesn't know what else to do and wants to take action.

Who knows, OP could do this and then discover some problem within the industry and create a million dollar business from that. Or maybe he'll just outperform other competition and make millions. Anything is possible.

I just want to reiterate to the OP what my point is. Pressure washing is not fastlane unless he's able to skew the value attributes within his pressure washing business. Having exactly the same service as everyone isn't solving anything or creating some value that wasn't already there.

Here's what I mean when I say it doesn't create value (to be fastlane) Does washing someone's house create value for a customer? 100% yes it does. But that value already existed before the OPs business. I can already find hundreds of people who are solving that problem for me. Why is OPs pressure washing business any different from the hundreds of other pressure washers I can find? What values are the OP skewing here? OP won't be creating value or adding value. He'll just be copying a solution that's already been solved for me.

Look at restaurants. Are there million dollar restaurants in every city? Yes. Is it possible to create a million dollar restaurant business? Yes. Is it likely? No. Not unless you're skewing values in the industry (which is hard). Does it have good food? Okay, so do hundreds of other restaurants. Is it fast? So are hundreds of other restaurants. Is it cheap? So are hundreds of other restaurants. Does it have good customer service? So do hundreds of other restaurants. Having a restaurant that does everything the same as every other restaurant creates no value for me because the problems are already solved. I can get fast, cheap and good food already.
 
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DrWumbo

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It sounds like we are in agreement. I'm not suggesting to the OP not to pursue the pressure washing. It's good experience and it can generate money. It's a great idea if he doesn't know what else to do and wants to take action.

Who knows, OP could do this and then discover some problem within the industry and create a million dollar business from that. Or maybe he'll just outperform other competition and make millions. Anything is possible.

I just want to reiterate to the OP what my point is. Pressure washing is not fastlane unless he's able to skew the value attributes within his pressure washing business. Having exactly the same service as everyone isn't solving anything or creating some value that wasn't already there.

Here's what I mean when I say it doesn't create value (to be fastlane) Does washing someone's house create value for a customer? 100% yes it does. But that value already existed before the OPs business. I can already find hundreds of people who are solving that problem for me. Why is OPs pressure washing business any different from the hundreds of other pressure washers I can find? What values are the OP skewing here? OP won't be creating value or adding value. He'll just be copying a solution that's already been solved for me.

Look at restaurants. Are there million dollar restaurants in every city? Yes. Is it possible to create a million dollar restaurant business? Yes. Is it likely? No. Not unless you're skewing values in the industry (which is hard). Does it have good food? Okay, so do hundreds of other restaurants. Is it fast? So are hundreds of other restaurants. Is it cheap? So are hundreds of other restaurants. Does it have good customer service? So do hundreds of other restaurants. Having a restaurant that does everything the same as every other restaurant creates no value for me because the problems are already solved. I can get fast, cheap and good food already.

Yeah, one of the posts where you said "The main reason is that it doesn't provide any real value or solve any real problem for people." is what was confusing. Of course you value skew to be better than the competition.
Values I skewed were
  1. Be early for the job (many people told me they were flaked on by businesses)
  2. Dress professionally. Rubber boots, khaki shorts, fitted and tucked in collared shirt
  3. Mannerisms as in eye contact, yes sir/ma'm, and always being responsive
  4. Easy and simple website that communicates what we do and allows the customer to get into contact with us
  5. Great customer service. I answer phone calls/texts no matter the hour or day, while all other businesses are closed on the weekends or after 5PM
  6. High quality equipment that is always cleaned after each use
 

ChrisGav

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Here’s essentially where I’m at in my life. I’m 21, I know what my end goal is. I want financial freedom by the age of 30. But I have no clue what I’m going to do or how I’m going to get there. I figured I want to take a step in some direction rather than staying idle and just reading/researching. There’s so few things I know enough in depth about to really start something in so I’m thinking on easy entry manual labor kind of services.

Recently I have done personal training for teenagers, currently building one person’s website, and selling things online. However I want to keep moving forward and am really just looking for something to take action on.
Any pointers or other ideas would be great. Thank you all for the love and responses
 

DrWumbo

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Here’s essentially where I’m at in my life. I’m 21, I know what my end goal is. I want financial freedom by the age of 30. But I have no clue what I’m going to do or how I’m going to get there. I figured I want to take a step in some direction rather than staying idle and just reading/researching. There’s so few things I know enough in depth about to really start something in so I’m thinking on easy entry manual labor kind of services.

Recently I have done personal training for teenagers, currently building one person’s website, and selling things online. However I want to keep moving forward and am really just looking for something to take action on.
Any pointers or other ideas would be great. Thank you all for the love and responses

I'm 21 and in the same boat as you! With university starting up, I'm hiring a part-time employee to do some work. I am getting enough traction where I will be making a decent amount of money every week, which will help me become independent. I am also working on creating a product that if enough people value, will be able to generate some money and I will push hard with it, while the power washing is on going. In the next 2 years I will buy my first property, likely a duplex, and rent half of it out while living in the other half.

Power washing itself can scale into a large service business generating a good amount of money. I think continuing to work and scale your own power washing business could provide a good income stream (giving you some freedom) and experience, but I wouldn't stop there. Continue to pursue other ideas and avenues while also growing your current business!
 
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ChrisGav

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I'm 21 and in the same boat as you! With university starting up, I'm hiring a part-time employee to do some work. I am getting enough traction where I will be making a decent amount of money every week, which will help me become independent. I am also working on creating a product that if enough people value, will be able to generate some money and I will push hard with it, while the power washing is on going. In the next 2 years I will buy my first property, likely a duplex, and rent half of it out while living in the other half.

Power washing itself can scale into a large service business generating a good amount of money. I think continuing to work and scale your own power washing business could provide a good income stream (giving you some freedom) and experience, but I wouldn't stop there. Continue to pursue other ideas and avenues while also growing your current business!
Thank you man. Glad I’m not the only young ambitious one!

How did you get your first few customers for power washing? Online? Flyers? Door to door? Would love to know man!
 

DrWumbo

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Thank you man. Glad I’m not the only young ambitious one!

How did you get your first few customers for power washing? Online? Flyers? Door to door? Would love to know man!

It started with friends and family, but as I started to post on Google My Business, Facebook, and running Google Ads, I started to get real customers! If you have't, I highly suggest reading material from Andy Black.

Here is a great thread for you to read Local Lead Gen - Simplified
 

ChrisGav

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It started with friends and family, but as I started to post on Google My Business, Facebook, and running Google Ads, I started to get real customers! If you have't, I highly suggest reading material from Andy Black.

Here is a great thread for you to read Local Lead Gen - Simplified
Thank you I will check that out
 
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advantagecp

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Please start out with professional quality equipment so you can do professional quality work. For example have adequate pressure/volume and use a surface cleaner for flat work. Immediately separate yourself from the small-timers using a $300 Home Depot washer and a wand to clean driveways.
 

glenm

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I started a pressure washing business this season and for anyone to say you are not providing any value is wrong. People throw money at you when you are pressure washing. Run it like a customer service business that provides pressure washing. Answer your phone, network shake hands and kiss babies. Just answering your phone and showing up you will beat most of the people doing it. Don't be the $99 guy price your work to the high end.

What has worked best for me is placing yard signs at busy intersections. Its old school but so are most of your customers. I just do this on the side and from $375 in yard signs I have done just under 8k in revenue and booked about a month out.
 

Mike S

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If you have a local BNI chapter in your area, I'd definitely look into that. BNI teaches and works through word of mouth and referral marketing but in addition to the exposure your business gains you'll get some great training on networking, selling, dealing with other business owners and the value of a great "elevator pitch" These things will all be useful as you gain experience and head towards a fastlane business.
 
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HustleHard

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HustleHard

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As @minivanman said, advertising online will get the most bang for your buck.

I would run a combination of google advertising and door knocking until you can tweak your ads to give you some consistent business.

For me, I find advertising and selling to people that are actively searching for my service is the easiest closes with the highest conversions for my time spent. Build a website, optimize it, post frequently before and after pictures of jobs on google my business, and fill your google business with 5 star reviews and watch the phone calls pour in.

My local service business did the above and we have dozens of 5 star reviews now and are ranked very high in our area on google. Our organic growth is so high we don't even need to advertise and are still growing like crazy.

Is your business a pressure washing business?
 

ChrisV

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Any ideas on how to market this? I've tried printing little ads and putting them around neighborhood doors but I presume most people just throw them away.
maybe they feel too.. pressured?
 
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Chip01

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Yeah, one of the posts where you said "The main reason is that it doesn't provide any real value or solve any real problem for people." is what was confusing. Of course you value skew to be better than the competition.
Values I skewed were
  1. Be early for the job (many people told me they were flaked on by businesses)
  2. Dress professionally. Rubber boots, khaki shorts, fitted and tucked in collared shirt
  3. Mannerisms as in eye contact, yes sir/ma'm, and always being responsive
  4. Easy and simple website that communicates what we do and allows the customer to get into contact with us
  5. Great customer service. I answer phone calls/texts no matter the hour or day, while all other businesses are closed on the weekends or after 5PM
  6. High quality equipment that is always cleaned after each use

This is important. Have a premium service and charge a premium price.

Forget about people telling you this isn’t a Fastlane business etc. That doesn’t matter right now. What matters is you get REAL business experience by taking action and learning to do the things you’re unsure about (marketing/advertising, providing value etc). And you might find a more Fastlane business whilst running this one day-to-day!

As for marketing I think most of it has been covered but I’ll try to sum up what I would do:

Offline
- Door to door (leaving a door hanger/flyer saying you called earlier if no answer)
- Garden/Yard signs (as mentioned previously by a few members)
- Seek for referrals, there’s not much better than word of mouth. Offer discounts or refer a friend schemes
- Tell everybody you know about your business. Drop it in all your conversations. Make sure people know you’re starting out on your own - this alone may be enough for people to tell their friends about you or someone they know who needs your service

Online
- Build a website
- SEO your website
- Google ads
- Social Media Marketing: create a Facebook page, invite all your friends to like it, post all your work (before/after photos), post offers, get reviews, post in local business groups and resell/service groups
- Facebook ads - target people with high incomes in your area, promote a premium/luxury service

Some of these might get you nothing in return. Some might get you lots of calls. The important thing, which I recently learned, is this:

Gaining new customers is the end goal. Each channel you use is the process that leads to the end goal. Why use one (or only some) channels when you can use all of them? This will increase your chances. Yes it’s hard work and time consuming but HUSTLE BABY!!

You could also go into print ads in newspapers etc if the budget allows but i’m sure someone will say how low a conversion rate they have now (if any) but if it’s extremely affordable then why not? It might lead to a few calls and at the very least you get your money back plus hopefully a returning customer each month

In terms of providing value, make sure you provide a professional service (as outlined in the quoted post above) because that will already put you ahead of most guys who don’t know about business.

Think of offering something to each customers too. Maybe some sort of driveway protection product? Give them a free sample to try after your first visit, upsell it the next time you wash their drive.

Sorry for the long post. I think there’s potential here for a good business. Yes a lot of people might be doing it. But not everyone will create a professional looking BRAND that they can franchise our (commandment of Scale).

All the best in your business
 

payingkarma

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As @minivanman said, advertising online will get the most bang for your buck.

I would run a combination of google advertising and door knocking until you can tweak your ads to give you some consistent business.

For me, I find advertising and selling to people that are actively searching for my service is the easiest closes with the highest conversions for my time spent. Build a website, optimize it, post frequently before and after pictures of jobs on google my business, and fill your google business with 5 star reviews and watch the phone calls pour in.

My local service business did the above and we have dozens of 5 star reviews now and are ranked very high in our area on google. Our organic growth is so high we don't even need to advertise and are still growing like crazy.
Can you care to explain a bit in detail? I'm starting (buying) a business and need to hit the ground running... It's a specialty construction niche and need to get the residential clients...
 
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minivanman

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Fastlaners, I hope all is well.

I'm 20 years old. Currently have a job selling construction and industrial supplies but wanted to make money on my weekends and time off. I have been doing odd jobs here and there for people. My next venture I want to pressure wash peoples drive ways, walkways, etc. Any ideas on how to market this? I've tried printing little ads and putting them around neighborhood doors but I presume most people just throw them away. Thinking about just going door to door and asking everyone. Thoughts??

Just so people wanting to pass out flyers understands..... printing up a few flyers and passing them out in a neighborhood 1 time..... that's just the waste of your day, money the paper they were printed on and ink. If you are serious about flyers.... personally I'd have to say, the internet is MUCH faster than flyers..... but if you choose to pass out flyers, have 10,000 printed up. The day after you have them printed up start passing them out and pass them out every day until you are down to your last 1000 flyers.... now reorder 10,000 more and repeat. This is how serious flyer passer-outers (<<< is that even a word? :p) do it. If you are only going to print up 200 or 500 flyers, don't even waste your time.

And do NOT put a rubber band on them :arghh:. You have 20 seconds from the door to the trash can.... don't make them waste 18 of those seconds trying to get a rubber band off your flyer.

Speaking of 20 seconds.... if you choose to pass out flyers, make a CLEAR, easy to read, large type, evenly spaced flyer than can be read within 20 seconds..... and I'm not talking about speed reading.

I don't mind telling these things now because flyers are so 2002ish.
 

GoodluckChuck

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Here's an idea. Go to a neighborhood you want to work in and go to the houses with the most visible driveways and offer to clean it for free. Have a yard sign you put out by the road while you're working.

Maybe choose a busy day of the week like Saturday when everyone is in and out of their home and driving by.

If enough people are you washing the driveway as they drive by, I'm sure you'll pick up some clients.

Give great service with a smile and don't be shy about handing out business cards and asking for reviews.

You might have to wash a few driveways for free but If you choose the right ones you should get some paying customers in no time.
 

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