Two simple ways to find customers when you're starting out

When I first started my cleaning business, getting customers was obviously the biggest concern. My first urge was to dump a ton of money into marketing. But without a reputation, no one wants to hire you no matter how sleek your ads are.

Good thing there is a simple (and free) way to get your first 10-20 customers.

Word of mouth.

Unless you are starting from absolutely nothing, you can get a few referrals from current or previous clients. And getting referrals from customers is huge.

But most people don't think to refer you unless you bring it up. Ask current and former customers to leave reviews on your Google My Business profile or to recommend you in local Facebook groups. See if they'll introduce you to other hosts they know.

Offering small discounts for referrals that turn into jobs is a core way that we get new customers today.

But, and I hope this goes without saying, people won’t refer you unless you do an incredible job first. You can be the most outgoing cleaner in the world, but if your service stinks, you won’t get new business.

Local advertising.

Another way to put yourself out there is to network at local events like STR meetups or chamber of commerce events. Your goal here is to just build relationships, not to sell to everyone.

I'd show up early and stay late if I could to meet everyone there. If you take this route, come prepared with business cards and business casual (don’t show up dressed like you just did 5 apartment move-outs)!

Networking sounds icky, but it doesn’t have to be if your main focus is making new friends and building relationships with other business owners in town. If I were just starting out today, I would hit word of mouth hard before ever spending a dime on marketing!

These are just a few of the ways we’ve grown our cleaning business to a $500K run rate in three years. I put it all down in my cleaning business course. It could save you months of trial and error and cuts right to the good stuff. Hope you check it out!

At least watch the teaser (we worked hard on this).

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