I'm running my own in home cleaning business and I'm starting from the ground up. I have few clients that I gained through friends and family referrals but I'm wanting to expand my business full time. Are there any suggestions on how I can go about gaining more routine customers?
Congratulations on your new business!
At first, I would recommend using all the free marketing services available. For example, get your profile on Yelp, Angie, google business profile, instagram and Facebook
These platforms help a lot, especially to make yourself known and let your community know about your business.
Agreed with the recommendations by etek65. Build a Google business profile and become "Google Verified" to boost your business above competitors in the same region. This is also free and simply just takes time/effort on your part to provide the necessary details.
As others note, social media platforms are a great way to build exposure. However, posting less frequently with posts which have real impact = better results than posting frequently as people quickly become bored with seeing the same type of posts from the same business every day. Build a profile on FB, IG, LinkedIn, YouTube (if you plan to post videos) and rotate through, posting periodically on each.
Finally, think about your target audience. Are you working for residential, commercial, industrial clients? Strategize your business's brand to match with the type of client you're going after. For example, an industrial client has a large workload with little time. They want clear/concise details which are quick & easy to understand. They want to easily find your contact information to reach you quickly. Build estimates/quotes, invoices, and brand image which matches that.
do you feel like places like yelp or Angie's convert well? I'm looking at marketing as well and am wondering if should try to master something like google business before trying to add other platforms.
I would avoid and do something like google local services first
I agree with Ryaan - a referral system is the way to go!
Another way is to join facebook groups for the towns/areas that you want to clean homes in and just participate organically but introduce yourself and state that you're currently taking on new clients.
Sometime else that is super important to do is to create your Google My busines page and make sure you're asking EVERYONE you do work for a review! Over time, this builds trust in the community and when someone is looking for a house cleaner they'll be more likely to choose you with 80+ reviews over someone with 4 reviews.
Start networking, join a Business Networking Group in your area, chamber of commerce. You'll have tons of work if you do it well and get involved.
Congrats on your new business. Super exciting. As above market to your current clients. Tap into your current network and expand. Search for networking events where your ideal customer might hang out.
Congrats on the new biz! I suggest creating a referral system for all of your new clients. Marketing to your existing clients is always best since its less expensive than trying to find new customers right away.
