Even if you do not have a great deal of background or knowledge when it comes to advertising, you are probably aware of the fact that advertising could actually get your cleaning company noticed by the millions of people out there who can all be your potential customers.

Before spending too much on your advertising stints, you have know first on who your target market actually is and determine who they are and which economic bracket they actually belong to. Finding your particular niche and directing your ad dollars to that area will be the most effective way to get clients calling and asking about your services and hopefully signing on as new customers.

It is important for you to be able to set an advertising budget. You may need to spend more money running ads announcing your business so your potential clients know a new cleaning service is in town.

Once you set your budget, decide where to advertise. The common print ad, run in your local newspaper or shopper, is the most basic unit of advertising. Print ads have launched major companies and many successful products. Running ads in a local paper can also be a great way to promote your cleaning business if you follow a few basic rules.

One of the main reasons people don’t read ads is that they do not have a great headline or a visual element that attracts readers. Headlines that work best are those that promise readers a benefit. Flip through a newspaper or magazine and you would most certainly notice the headlines that attract your attention. Keep these in mind and play around your ideas to attract your potential customers.

Although you may want to use your business’ name in your headline that is not recommended and is one of the common mistakes that small businesses make. Your business’ name does not have anything compelling to offer a potential customer. Remember, your headline should address the needs of your customers and not your ego.

Making your ad stand out can be challenge. Scan your local papers and take notice of what ads stand out – are they ads with reverse (white on dark background) print, color ads, ads that look like they were hand drawn? People notice ads that have illustrations or photographs that show products or ads that have people in them.

Before advertising in any medium call and ask for a media kit. This kit will contain rate information as well as demographic information about the publication (or radio station). The demographic information should include reader’s (or listener’s) age, income, and other statistics that will indicate if this is a good medium to run your ads in to reach your target audience.

If you are a member of your local chamber there will be opportunities in chamber newsletters, member guides and perhaps even on their website. Local newspapers are good venues as most businesses either subscribe or read regularly so they can keep informed of what’s going on in the local community.

Print advertising is one way to get your cleaning business’ name out in front of potential clients as well as reminding your current clients of the services you provide. Advertising is salesmanship and the more information you can give about your services, the more interest you will create. Also include as many ways as possible for the reader to contact you: phone, e-mail, website, and physical address. Running the right ads will get your phone ringing and your checkbook balance growing!

See: How to start a cleaning service

In any service business, the right pricing may be hard to achieve at first because there are no products to speak off. In fact, you are pricing the cost of your labor and this is a precious commodity. However, simple research can actually be a big help in this task. Designating a fee for your services need not be perfect, an educated guess would suffice. You will have time to correct it later on when you start calling for cleaning service bids.

The first thing you need to investigate on is how much your competition is charging. Call up various listed cleaning businesses outside your area, just in case you slip up and admit that you are thinking of establishing your own cleaning business, and ask for their fees. Make your own house an example because they might ask for specific space measures, areas needed to be cleaned and equipment that the cleaning task might need. List down a few quotations and average the figures for you to have a clearer idea of the pricing involved in the existing cleaning industry.

Next, you will need to have a long list of how much cleaning supplies cost. These include cleaning chemicals and solutions, cleaning tools and equipment, and other related products. You can visit the local stores for this and you can tell them your plans outright. They would be very much willing to help you out since you are now a prospective client. In fact, they might even make your job easier since they can give you a brochure of their products.

If you want a better idea on how much of these products you will probably use up in cleaning houses, buy a few products and clean your own house. List down all the products you use up and see how much area they could clean. Afterwards, you will have a strong basis for your fees for the cleaning products and you now have the opportunity to price your labor.

After that, make quick run of the list of cleaning services in your area. As the law of supply and demand goes, the more supplies the lesser the price for it. So, it would be to your advantage if the cleaning industry in your town is lacking, that means you can charge higher prices for your services. But if your area has more than its share of cleaning businesses, you might want to specialize in a few areas of cleaning or offer a new service. Aside from that, you still need to have a competitive price to get your foot inside the market.

Lastly, you need to remember that you are in business to make profits. As a business, you only not need to purchase cleaning products and equipment, you also need to pay your taxes and receive a salary. Moreover, you need to save up some cash for the maintenance, repairs, or replacement of your own cleaning equipment.

See: Start a cleaning service