The Biggest Mistake Cleaners Make on Facebook

If you're an Airbnb cleaner looking for more customers, one of the very best things you can do is head to Facebook.

Not to run ads. Not to post in your local buy/sell groups. And definitely not to spam everyone with your business info.

Here's what you actually need to do.

Open Facebook and search for "Airbnb hosts of [your city]."

Let's say you're in Chicago. Type "Airbnb hosts of Chicago" or "STR hosts Chicago" into the search bar. Go to the Groups section, and you'll find multiple groups full of hosts in your area.

Join them. Join as many as you can find.

These groups are where your ideal customers hang out. They're asking questions, sharing problems, and looking for recommendations. And most importantly, they're looking for cleaners they can trust.

But here's where most cleaners completely blow it.

I'm serious. Join those groups and do nothing.

Don't introduce yourself. Don't post about your cleaning services. Don't even comment on anyone's posts yet.

Just watch.

See what people are posting about. See what's relevant to that community. Notice who the active members are. Pay attention to who the moderators are and who's contributing valuable information.

Why can't you just jump in and start promoting your business?

Because nobody knows you. Nobody trusts you. And their Airbnb is extremely important to them; it's often their biggest investment or their primary income source. They're not going to hire some random person who just joined the group yesterday and immediately started advertising.

Think about it from their perspective. Would you hire someone who showed up out of nowhere asking for your business? Or would you hire someone you've seen around, someone who clearly understands the local STR market, someone who other hosts seem to know and trust?

After you've spent some time observing (I'd say at least a week or two), start engaging.

Comment on posts. Add value to conversations. When someone shares their new listing, leave a genuine compliment about something specific you noticed. When someone asks a question you can answer, help them out.

You're not selling yet. You're building a reputation.

You're showing these hosts that you understand their world. You're demonstrating that you're knowledgeable about STRs. You're proving that you're a real person who's part of this community, not just someone trying to extract money from it.

Once you've established yourself in the group, you can start building individual relationships.

DM people who seem like they might need your services. But don't immediately spam them with your business information. Start a real conversation. Ask about their property. Share something helpful.

Let them know you're a cleaner, but do it naturally. "Hey, I noticed you mentioned you're looking for reliable cleaners. You probably already have a great system. If I can be a backup cleaner for you, happy to help."

The goal is to build relationships so that when they need a cleaner (and they will), you're the first person they think of.

Here's what most cleaners don't understand: Facebook isn't a place to advertise. It's a place to build relationships.

And relationships with hosts are worth their weight in gold.

A host who knows you, trusts you, and thinks of you as part of their community will:

This exact strategy has generated about 20% of all our cleaning leads over the years. And it didn't cost us a single dollar in advertising.

Just time, patience, and genuine engagement.

Here's what to do today:

If you have time for the long game:

Want to see the complete playbook? Our Airbnb Cleaning Course covers everything from finding customers to managing multiple cleaners to scaling to six figures. It's every strategy we've used to grow our business, minus the three years of trial and error.

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