Good point. The idea, in and of itself, is brilliant. Maybe put a beer in the bag> 
Phil, after reading so many of your posts between 2 forums now, I have come to the conclusion that you are rather fond of BEER!?
Beer. Good.
I have a saying I live by:
āall things in moderation, includingā¦moderation.ā
I have a thought, see the advil as an example. I did.
One must look outside the confines of these mental boxes we call brains. I really was not telling people to put advil in a bag and toss it into their driveway. I was opening up the creative part of the brain (usually getting beat up by false logic)
Donāt focus on Advil, think āyeah, I get it. Now what else could I do?ā
Now, keep the Advil idea around for direct mail. Fliers should only be a spring-board.
Totally true. I liked the Advil idea. So much so, that Iād like to try it, maybe. Good ideas deserve execution (in the GOOD sense of the word!).
As you say, the more important principle behind the Advil thing is golden.
Just to let you know pitbull: any mail, advertisement, or the like placed on top of or touching a mailbox for the purpose of reaching a homeowner is illegal in this country. It has arrived at the mailbox without postage and clearance and thus has skipped the U.S. shipping process which is federally governed. Trust me, Iāve done my research on this because I like the idea of putting fliers where people regularly get their mail. But fines are not fun.
Good to know. I will be sure to avoid any placement that could result in a fine. Thank you!
See, that is why me and Kevin have such a bondā¦
As for screwing with the US Postal Service
Donāt
I would like to refer back to the principle ofā¦ āitās easier to apologize than it is to get permission.ā
Last year I put out about 4000 fliers by taping them, with āblueā painters tape, to the brick surrounding the mailbox. I placed them so you could not tell these were an advertisement. Which I thought gave it a curiosity factor.
The mail man is/was too lazy to do anything about it. It wasnāt until I got ratted out by a lady in a gated community did I get a phone call from the post office. I said,āoopsā¦ sorry.ā then went on with the bag method.
No Big Deal.
FYI, nearly ALL gated communities (a.k.a HOAās) are private communities. That means the streets are privately owned by the residents via the Common Association. Violating the solicitation rules (rules can be found in the the private communities CCR documents) or trespassing can get you restricted from access to that particular community. Take my word for this, not from personal experience, but because I am a volunteer for the CIA (Community Association Institute), a national governing board for 25,000+ HOAās.
The great way to get in the gate is to volunteer to help the HOA of your choice and you will make friends and influence people (to hire your window cleaning company)
Hello Dave,
The best thing you can do for starters as soon as you get to Florida is to produce a flyer or door hanger that will tell potential customers about the service you are offering. You will need to identify the areas you want to service so you can start campaigning as soon as possible. As a newcomer to the w/c business you will need to offer an excellent service at affordable prices to start getting customers. As your network of customers grows word will start to spread about your company, specially if the service is good!! Nothing like word of mouth directly from customers. I would suggest starting to think about a maintenance program that you can offer your existing customers so you can return on a regular basis.
As you start you will probably try various w/c products to see which one best suits your needs, I personally use SORBO products. If we can help you in any other way please do not hesitate to let us know.
Best regards & good luck
Ricardo Bartlett
CLEAR VIEW of Eastlake
Chula Vista, California
(619) 992-3001
Iāve mentioned this a few times before butā¦its worth doing so again.Look into advertising in various new letters for those gated communities as well as the ones that are not gated.
The cost is relatively minimal and the return can be huge (especially right now) with Spring! Of course as mentioned do good quality work at competitive prices will open things up.With most of usā¦we all have enjoyed the benefits that come from āword of mouthā its being patient and maticulous each & every time that pays dividends in the long run!
I have heard of a company who uses Google Earth to get the name of streets in these estates
They use direct mail to the residents
Then contacts third party companies who service these areas real estate agents, florists, gardeners ect and then cross promotes with these companies
Thats a good idea
