Getting work as a home cleaner, part 1

I think there's probably too much to cover in a single post, so I'll be cutting this into two. (Read part 2 here!) One of the first things I want to talk about is Craigslist, because at least initially almost all of my work came through that website, but it's something a lot of people shy away from.

Craigslist

For whatever reason, this website is seen as being dirty or the underbelly of getting work. I've never fully understood the reasoning so I'll save you much on that, but believe me when I tell you it's an excellent place to find your first clients.

Back when I decided to go at this alone, Craigslist was actually the reason I was able to make it. I didn't know about using Twitter or Facebook or Yelp or Google AdWords back then. I just knew that my family had used Craigslist to find workers for various things, and that I should go there.

Posting is as simple as it could be. Sign up, add your phone number, and make a post. Within minutes sometimes you'll have emails or calls rolling in. My first month's worth of jobs all came in within the same 4 days of my first couple of posts in fact. I had started out simply posting some text, but later I had a graphic designer make a pretty banner that had my phone and email on it. That seemed to improve calls and emails, which makes perfect sense as others typically have very unprofessional posts, so if yours looks decent, you end up looking the most legitimate.

Over the years Craigslist has changed a little. Big companies post much more than I could. Some will create a new post every 5 minutes, essentially "spamming" out your ads. I've been told they used automated programs to do this, but I no longer rely on Craigslist so much. I would simply suggest you post as much as you can without getting in trouble for doing it too much. That used to be a couple of posts a day.

Twitter

I love tweeting. In fact I get more work through Twitter than any of other website. Every client I've met, I've always asked if they have a twitter and if they'd like to follow each other. Although most don't have accounts, many do, and a lot sign up and start using it just from the initial request. I now have a few hundred real followers that re-tweet many of my posts when I'm looking for new work to their friends to help me out.

Twitter was always fun anyways to use for friends, but as a business tool it's a godsend. There's not a more convenient way of letting your clientele help advertise your services. That sounds a little devious when I think about it, but all advertising does at first I've learned. Happy clients love to do it for you, is the important thing I've always kept in mind.

Yelp

I've used Yelp for years now. Mostly I would use it for restaurants... any kind of restaurant. Hell, I'd check different fast food places first. One of my clients who owned a similar business actually suggested I use it for the home cleaning, and was my first review (Yelp is all about people reviewing business). The more good reviews you get, the more people start to see your business page on their website.

I'll admit that it hasn't been as helpful as Craigslist or Twitter. While I currently have over 20 reviews (mostly good), it feels like it will be impossible to get enough reviews to beat the giant companies. There is one cleaning company with over 300 reviews. Hard to compete with that. They have called me a few times to try advertising, but it's very expensive and without a website, I'm not entirely sure it's the best route to take.

All said and done, it does bring in new clients. More importantly, I've had clients find me on Craigslist and ask if I have a Yelp page. So I guess as I always checked restaurants with it, people depend on it for home cleaning and pretty much everything else these days. Good to have even if it's not your first (or second or third) way of getting work.

I'll share some of my other favorite methods in the next post, one of which actually goes hand-in-hand with Twitter.

-C