How do I get leads when I move my cleaning business to a new city?

One thing that stood out to me in your post is that you’re focusing heavily on visibility right now:

• social posts
• flyers
• business cards
• free work
  
  

The issue may not be effort. It may be that people in a new market simply do not know why they should trust you yet.

When you were in CT, your reputation was doing a lot of the heavy lifting for you.

In a brand new market, you usually have to rebuild:

• trust
• local proof
• local relationships
• local visibility
• local authority

A few things I would probably focus on immediately:

• Google Business Profile optimization
• aggressively asking for reviews from previous clients if you have not already
• joining local Facebook groups where homeowners actually ask for recommendations
• partnerships with complementary businesses already serving your ideal customer
• neighborhood-specific marketing instead of broad marketing
  
  

I also would not continue offering too much free work personally. Discounted introductory offers can make sense. But completely free work sometimes attracts people who were never serious buyers to begin with.

Speed-to-lead matters a lot more in competitive markets. Many service businesses lose leads simply because they reply too slowly or the customer keeps searching while waiting.

Word of mouth works best once density and reputation already exist. In the beginning, you may need:

• more outbound effort
• more partnerships
• more follow-up
• more direct outreach
• more reviews
• more repetition than you needed before