When you are starting a home cleaning or organizing business, marketing can be very confusing! Here are some easy to follow free (mostly) marketing ideas to get more clients.
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The Organizing Company Back Story!
I saw the best post yesterday from a gal who is a Facebook friend from my town (not sure how we got hooked up, but glad we did!)
Here is what she posted…
God is working peeps!! Have you ever had a dream in your back pocket and you keep it there for YEARS bc of the millions of reasons you talk yourself out of it instead of just going for it?? WELL, I have. I have been struggling to find my calling and keep a job because this whole time I’ve been ignoring what I’ve wanted to be when I grow up. I've felt empty, lost … I just can’t stay where I’m not happy. So I left a job and was praying out loud in my car and I said God I just want to decorate+ organize houses! That’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. Well, I've never heard God this direct, that loud thought in your head that wouldn’t go away but I heard it – go clean houses. No joke… I laughed and said NO, I said decorate not clean lol. I’m not cleaning houses, you misunderstood. The thought didn’t go away so I went with it, getting humbled along the way. Well I now work for an amazing company Housekeepers of Trinity and love it! And met the most amazing women who I shared my dreams with and she said run with it! So I did it! My business is “Home Refresh.” To sum it up I decorate, organize, declutter, shop, etc. If I didn’t listen to that go clean houses I wouldn’t have this opportunity right now. Crazy how it all works out. Happy dance!!!
Nicole Jowers, Home Refresh Style + Organization
What I love about Nicole is that she jumped right in! She got things set up, even though she didn't know what to do and is already getting clients. So let's give her a hand with her marketing (and maybe help you figure some things out along the way too!)
Branding Your Organizing or Cleaning Company
First off, you want to remember that it is MUCH easier for people to recognize what you do if you have “Organizing” or “Cleaning” in your business name!
Nicole did a great job with this, naming her company “Home Refresh Style + Organization”.
I have seen companies named after the street they grew up on, their pets, etc. which makes it harder for someone to glance at it and see right away what the person does.
Visual Branding
The next important thing is to have a logo and branding for your company. Nicole took a run at this and has a great concept… “I did the nautical knot and navy and white as my thing “tying it all all together”.
Profile Picture
That said, you need to have an easily recognizable, stand alone profile picture that you can use for your Facebook, Instagram, etc. Here is the avatar that Nicole did… WAY too small to be seen and recognized in social.
I think her thought was to get as much in there as she could, but it becomes just a wee little blank picture when it is small on the screen.
Make sure you have a large, plain avatar picture that online users can start to recognize immediately! A good size to make this is 1200X1200 so you can use it everywhere. Remember that most of the sites use a circle, so you want to center it in the middle!
Your Social Media Page or Group Banners
Most social media sites (Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin) and your website allow you to have a “banner” across the top. You want this to be super professional and clearly state what your business does (your tagline).
Here is Nicole's first run at a banner…
Hmmmm…. style and organize is okay, but does this really say that she is going to come to your house, clean it up and get you organized?
Here is a banner that would let them know, right off the bat what services Nicole offers…
You can make this yourself in Canva (a free design tool) by choosing the size, “Facebook Cover”.
What you always want to remember is that they don't care about you or your company at all, they only care about what you can do for them!
Also, humans are not all that imaginative, you want to give them ideas of things that you can help with, not just assume that they will be able to figure anything out!
Bonus Facebook Hack: This picture is clickable so you can put a description in there telling how to contact you for a free quote!
Home Organizing or Cleaning Website
The next thing you want to think about is getting a website. This does NOT have to be hard!
For most small biz owners who are not doing huge blogging projects, I recommend Squarespace.
They have a whole bunch of great templates, allow you to easily take payments and are super for non-techy business owners.
Here are some pages you might want to have…
- Home (front page)
- About Us (why you are a good organizer and cleaner, mostly about them, not you!)
- Prices (more about this in a wee bit)
- Befores and afters
- Blog
- Contact Us
Should You Put Pricing on Your Page or Website?
Okay, let's call a spade a spade, people want to know about how much something will cost before they contact a company for services. That said, you don't have to have your pricing set in stone to give them an idea of the cost!
You can do an hourly rate like $25 an hour and then give them some examples of the time it would take to do a project (most kitchens take about 2 days to clean and organize, plus the cost of containers).
You could give examples of past jobs (working with a gal on her ebay inventory took us 3 full days and cost about $500).
I KNOW, every job is different but if you give them an idea and then offer a free quote for their project, you will get more REAL enquiries than if you just let them guess.
Social Media Posting
One of the things that holds up biz owners from doing social media is the fear of “doing it wrong”. So let me just start by saying, there is no WRONG way to do social media.
There may be things you find that get more likes or that bring you more clients, but since it is free, it is great to post everything you can think of to give it a chance!
Here are some ideas for your posting…
Pictures of Befores and Afters
If I had an organizing company I would ask EVERY client if they minded if I shared before and afters (without mentioning their names!) You can even offer a free bonus like an extra hour or free containers if they let you… win-win.
And not just the total projects, I would do drawer by drawer, or counter by counter.
Show expensive, fancy homes and ones where you do Dollar Store containers. This is because if you only show all fancy homes, your ideal clients might see themselves, and if you do all Dollar Stores, you might not get those big, pricey jobs that are amazing!
The reason people love seeing these is the “transformation” and the dream that you can help them go from chaos to calm in their home!
Show Your Favorite Kind of Client
Say you ADORE cleaning kitchens, then show lots of kitchens. Or you have the greatest organizing solutions for home offices, then use pictures of those kinds of jobs.
It is easy to see what kind of projects we are focusing on, home office or closets.
Remember, marketing is like wishing for your best customers. If you show all closets, but like doing kitchens, you will be super successful at something you don't like as much!
Show The Messes, But Not All the Time
As humans we also are drawn to train wrecks! We just can't look… so it is totally appropriate to show a messy space from time to time, but make sure to balance that with some great afters too!
What To Say In Your Posts?
Here is another area where business peeps get nervous. What are you going to say?
Here are some examples of things you can talk about that will spark interest AND get comments and likes…
- What is your biggest messy area in your home?
- If you could wave a magic wand and have one room clean, which one would it be?
- How long does it usually take you to clean up after your kids every day?
- My 5 favorite unique storage containers from the dollar store!
Facebook Lives and YouTube Videos
Video is HUGE! People love to watch videos and there are stats saying that 75% of videos are watched on mobile (phones).
With that in mind, you should try and keep your videos to less than 20 minutes for Facebook and YouTube. For Instagram, you should do short videos that are super entertaining.
Now, I am not talking about “fancy” videos with editing and captions. I am talking about showing befores and afters. Do a quick tips about how to organize or clean.
No one wants to watch commercials, they want to watch real people with great information to share!
Should You Do Lives or Recorded Videos?
I personally do recorded videos and then post them because I batch a lot of my content (make a bunch of videos and publish them over time). I post them to YouTube and then share them to Facebook because I get ad revenue on my YouTube.
Facebook prefers if you upload videos right to Facebook (they show it to more people).
Both Facebook and Instagram will notify your followers if you start a Live video, with a bonus that you can talk to people in the comments.
I KNOW, it feels like there should be a “perfect” solution that will work the best, but really it is what works best for you. Oh, and the things that you WILL DO!
For example, if I said I was going to do Lives but only recorded one because I am busy, I would be further behind than if I just did my daily recorded videos that I KNOW I can do!
Should You Be In Your Videos?
One last thing about videos! You don't have to be in videos, but it does help if you are in there at least part of the time.
Here is a video to help you with videos!
Example Social Media Posting Schedules
Here are two example posting schedules, one more realistic, and one super aggressive…
“Normal” Posting Schedule
- Sunday – Video about organizing kitchen
- Monday – Picture post, before & after
- Tuesday – Quote about cleaning
- Wednesday – Picture post, messy space
- Thursday – Tip about organizing
- Friday – Live video with a cleaning/organizing tip
- Saturday – Longer post with 3 tips in it
“Aggressive” Posting Schedule
- Sunday – Video about organizing kitchen – Post about cleaning
- Monday – Picture post, before & after – Live video about storage
- Tuesday – Quote about cleaning – Taco Tuesday tip about how to store food
- Wednesday – Picture post, messy space – Tip for cleaning
- Thursday – Tip about organizing – Throwback Thursday, funny old cleaning ad
- Friday – Live video with a cleaning/organizing tip – Post about organizing
- Saturday – Longer post with 3 tips in it – Live video of a messy house
Sharing GREAT TIPS
One last thing before we go… there are a lot business owners who worry that by sharing their tips and ideas that everyone will use the tips and not hire them.
For SURE, there are a million tips out there on the internet already and some people (your clients) still can't get a grip on how to organize or clean.
If you are the person telling them amazing things to do, they will look to you to help them in real life too!
Referral Programs
One last suggestion for (almost) free marketing to get started! Have a referral program where, if someone recommends 5 people to you, they get a free hour of cleaning or 10% off their next job.
Have business cards made up and give them to your most friendly or bossy customers and friends to hand out!
Read this to learn more about referral programs!
Organizing or Cleaning Company Marketing FAQs
As I was writing this, Nicole was sending over questions! YAY! So here are some things to think about when you are starting your marketing or social media efforts!
Should You Use Your Own Picture or A Company Logo On Social Media
If you are doing a business, for sure have a recognizable logo. A logo will show that you are a professional and not just some gal out there doing her own thing!
Do You Need To Have A Website Right Away?
You do not need a website right away! You can make a Facebook page for free and use that to make connections when you are just getting started.
That said, as your business grows you will want to have a website that you can direct people to that you have control of. A Facebook business page is fine to start, but budget time and money when you can for your own site.
Do You Need To Blog?
Obviously I LOVE blogging! I love to write long blog posts that rank well on the internet.
That said, unless you are going to be a “virtual” organizer and do things online, you are bound by the distance you are willing to travel to organize spaces (and what people are willing to pay to have you travel!)
So if you love to write and do more “techy” stuff like SEO, then for sure have a blog. But if you are more oriented to pictures and quick little messages, focus on social media.
