[david thomas]

I.ve now been cleaning windows on and off most of my life now in my 50s cleaned with shamy lever, trad (hard work)and now doing  wfp  (this last four years)
Business has been up& down  but cosistent.Until 2012 with bad weather more people started w/c rounds due to losing there jobs and the recetion . In our area Blackpool semi detached £5-£8 same price 2002 the recetion not going a way complex advertising on the internet.I Find I'm have more calls from advertising compies calling from my yell .com advert, than custies (door Knocking stIll the best way getting work but  how the hell can companies  stay in businss 20 year from now interested to hear your comments. off my chest now

[SimonBurton]

Same way as ever mate, properly priced work, great service, regular, reliable and a cheery smile......

[telfordwindowclnr]

You NEED a website on page 1 of google for your area. It is essential if you are running a business. I have had a yell ad for over 10 years in the FWC box. I used to get a lot of enquiries from it.  Now, if I get 2 a year that's it.

Look at expanding the services you offer too. Up selling fascia/ gutter cleaning etc, is a great revenue stream, even from current customers. So instead of needing new customers, you are generating more money from each customer.

Hope this helps!

[Nathanael Jones]

You NEED a website on page 1 of google for your area. It is essential if you are running a business. I have had a yell ad for over 10 years in the FWC box. I used to get a lot of enquiries from it.  Now, if I get 2 a year that's it.

Look at expanding the services you offer too. Up selling fascia/ gutter cleaning etc, is a great revenue stream, even from current customers. So instead of needing new customers, you are generating more money from each customer.

Hope this helps!

Steve has a point - but its not just about a website, its changing all sorts of aspects of your business to keep up with what the ever fickle customer wants.

Easy payment options, scheduled bookings, the smart uniformed staff etc etc are becoming the norm rather than the exception,.. and ppl are easily fooled by a bit of flash marketing, so you have to adapt quick before your company becomes invisible to the public.

I'm building a website for an Irish based cleaning company at the moment & they're re-branding everything bright yellow for maximum visibility - vans, flyers, stationary, uniforms... the lot! It may look a bit ott to begin with, but they will be noticed & they will be remembered!!

[Window Washers]

You NEED a website on page 1 of google for your area. It is essential if you are running a business. I have had a yell ad for over 10 years in the FWC box. I used to get a lot of enquiries from it.  Now, if I get 2 a year that's it.

Look at expanding the services you offer too. Up selling fascia/ gutter cleaning etc, is a great revenue stream, even from current customers. So instead of needing new customers, you are generating more money from each customer.

Hope this helps!

Steve has a point - but its not just about a website, its changing all sorts of aspects of your business to keep up with what the ever fickle customer wants.

Easy payment options, scheduled bookings, the smart uniformed staff etc etc are becoming the norm rather than the exception,.. and ppl are easily fooled by a bit of flash marketing, so you have to adapt quick before your company becomes invisible to the public.

I'm building a website for an Irish based cleaning company at the moment & they're re-branding everything bright yellow for maximum visibility - vans, flyers, stationary, uniforms... the lot! It may look a bit ott to begin with, but they will be noticed & they will be remembered!!

Love this

[shina]

You NEED a website on page 1 of google for your area. It is essential if you are running a business. I have had a yell ad for over 10 years in the FWC box. I used to get a lot of enquiries from it.  Now, if I get 2 a year that's it.

Look at expanding the services you offer too. Up selling fascia/ gutter cleaning etc, is a great revenue stream, even from current customers. So instead of needing new customers, you are generating more money from each customer.

Hope this helps!

Steve has a point - but its not just about a website, its changing all sorts of aspects of your business to keep up with what the ever fickle customer wants.

Easy payment options, scheduled bookings, the smart uniformed staff etc etc are becoming the norm rather than the exception,.. and ppl are easily fooled by a bit of flash marketing, so you have to adapt quick before your company becomes invisible to the public.

I'm building a website for an Irish based cleaning company at the moment & they're re-branding everything bright yellow for maximum visibility - vans, flyers, stationary, uniforms... the lot! It may look a bit ott to begin with, but they will be noticed & they will be remembered!!

Can you give us a link to this site when complete. Would be interesting to see

[Nathanael Jones]

You NEED a website on page 1 of google for your area. It is essential if you are running a business. I have had a yell ad for over 10 years in the FWC box. I used to get a lot of enquiries from it.  Now, if I get 2 a year that's it.

Look at expanding the services you offer too. Up selling fascia/ gutter cleaning etc, is a great revenue stream, even from current customers. So instead of needing new customers, you are generating more money from each customer.

Hope this helps!

Steve has a point - but its not just about a website, its changing all sorts of aspects of your business to keep up with what the ever fickle customer wants.

Easy payment options, scheduled bookings, the smart uniformed staff etc etc are becoming the norm rather than the exception,.. and ppl are easily fooled by a bit of flash marketing, so you have to adapt quick before your company becomes invisible to the public.

I'm building a website for an Irish based cleaning company at the moment & they're re-branding everything bright yellow for maximum visibility - vans, flyers, stationary, uniforms... the lot! It may look a bit ott to begin with, but they will be noticed & they will be remembered!!

Can you give us a link to this site when complete. Would be interesting to see

Will do - but it'll prob be the end of Feb before its ready to go as its a new system (online scheduling/booking/payment system integrated into the site) & we want to do plenty of testing before it's unleashed on the public!

[Window Washers]

You NEED a website on page 1 of google for your area. It is essential if you are running a business. I have had a yell ad for over 10 years in the FWC box. I used to get a lot of enquiries from it.  Now, if I get 2 a year that's it.

Look at expanding the services you offer too. Up selling fascia/ gutter cleaning etc, is a great revenue stream, even from current customers. So instead of needing new customers, you are generating more money from each customer.

Hope this helps!

Steve has a point - but its not just about a website, its changing all sorts of aspects of your business to keep up with what the ever fickle customer wants.

Easy payment options, scheduled bookings, the smart uniformed staff etc etc are becoming the norm rather than the exception,.. and ppl are easily fooled by a bit of flash marketing, so you have to adapt quick before your company becomes invisible to the public.

I'm building a website for an Irish based cleaning company at the moment & they're re-branding everything bright yellow for maximum visibility - vans, flyers, stationary, uniforms... the lot! It may look a bit ott to begin with, but they will be noticed & they will be remembered!!

Can you give us a link to this site when complete. Would be interesting to see

Will do - but it'll prob be the end of Feb before its ready to go as its a new system & we want to do plenty of testing before it's unleashed on the public!

system ? as in wfp system or marketing ?

[Nathanael Jones]

You NEED a website on page 1 of google for your area. It is essential if you are running a business. I have had a yell ad for over 10 years in the FWC box. I used to get a lot of enquiries from it.  Now, if I get 2 a year that's it.

Look at expanding the services you offer too. Up selling fascia/ gutter cleaning etc, is a great revenue stream, even from current customers. So instead of needing new customers, you are generating more money from each customer.

Hope this helps!

Steve has a point - but its not just about a website, its changing all sorts of aspects of your business to keep up with what the ever fickle customer wants.

Easy payment options, scheduled bookings, the smart uniformed staff etc etc are becoming the norm rather than the exception,.. and ppl are easily fooled by a bit of flash marketing, so you have to adapt quick before your company becomes invisible to the public.

I'm building a website for an Irish based cleaning company at the moment & they're re-branding everything bright yellow for maximum visibility - vans, flyers, stationary, uniforms... the lot! It may look a bit ott to begin with, but they will be noticed & they will be remembered!!

Can you give us a link to this site when complete. Would be interesting to see

Will do - but it'll prob be the end of Feb before its ready to go as its a new system & we want to do plenty of testing before it's unleashed on the public!

system ? as in wfp system or marketing ?

Sorry, modified my post above before I saw your reply!
Its a online scheduling/booking/payment system integrated into the site - Customers can select their area direct on the website, view available dates & times, choose a suitable time, book and pay online,.. and even get an automatic e-mail after the appointment asking for feedback and including quick links to share their testimonials on social media sites.

[Window Washers]

You NEED a website on page 1 of google for your area. It is essential if you are running a business. I have had a yell ad for over 10 years in the FWC box. I used to get a lot of enquiries from it.  Now, if I get 2 a year that's it.

Look at expanding the services you offer too. Up selling fascia/ gutter cleaning etc, is a great revenue stream, even from current customers. So instead of needing new customers, you are generating more money from each customer.

Hope this helps!

Steve has a point - but its not just about a website, its changing all sorts of aspects of your business to keep up with what the ever fickle customer wants.

Easy payment options, scheduled bookings, the smart uniformed staff etc etc are becoming the norm rather than the exception,.. and ppl are easily fooled by a bit of flash marketing, so you have to adapt quick before your company becomes invisible to the public.

I'm building a website for an Irish based cleaning company at the moment & they're re-branding everything bright yellow for maximum visibility - vans, flyers, stationary, uniforms... the lot! It may look a bit ott to begin with, but they will be noticed & they will be remembered!!

Can you give us a link to this site when complete. Would be interesting to see

Will do - but it'll prob be the end of Feb before its ready to go as its a new system & we want to do plenty of testing before it's unleashed on the public!

system ? as in wfp system or marketing ?

Sorry, modified my post above before I saw your reply!
Its a online scheduling/booking/payment system integrated into the site - Customers can select their area direct on the website, view available dates & times, choose a suitable time, book and pay online,.. and even get an automatic e-mail after the appointment asking for feedback and including quick links to share their testimonials on social media sites.

if you need any testers let me know mate  sounds interesting

[Nathanael Jones]

Will do Ian,.. we're actually utilising an online booking/scheduling service (Costs £20 a month) which makes it a lot easier to implement than I initially expected & has a lot of features that I couldn't find with standalone scripts. Most of these online services are aimed at static businesses (B&B, Hotels, Hairdressers etc) so there was a bit of thinking involved to get it working for multiple locations,.. but the system is very flexible.

 

[Dave Garrett]

Would be very interested also

[TomCrowther]

What would a website like that cost Nat?

[Nathanael Jones]

What would a website like that cost Nat?

Not cheap unfortunately - - Stating at £650 (Plus domain name & hosting) and then there's a £20 a month fee from the booking service provider.

I personally hate ongoing charges like that, but the guy I'm doing it for reckons that if it saves him 30 mins a month in talking to/quoting customers its paid for itself,.. and then the idea of being paid upfront is very appealing too. Plus... the customer chooses the time slot,.. so if its raining it's their problem not yours!! 

[Window Washers]

What would a website like that cost Nat?

Not cheap unfortunately - - Stating at £650 (Plus domain name & hosting) and then there's a £20 a month fee from the booking service provider.

I personally hate ongoing charges like that, but the guy I'm doing it for reckons that if it saves him 30 mins a month in talking to/quoting customers its paid for itself,.. and then the idea of being paid upfront is very appealing too. Plus... the customer chooses the time slot,.. so if its raining it's their problem not yours!! 

i think I you undercharge anyway Nat
I see the guys logic it's not always about cost its about what that cost gets

[Nathanael Jones]

To be honest I'm trying to keep my website prices as low as possible at the moment to attract a bit of work as I'm selling my current round & moving in a couple of months - the websites will be a large part of my income until I get a new round established! 

Once the round is sold, prices will have to go up though,.. bills to pay & all that! 

[Steve Sed]

You NEED a website on page 1 of google for your area. It is essential if you are running a business.

Absolute tosh! (with apologies to Tosh). Too many people on here read too many books by gurus or listen to people on here that read too many books by gurus. "Canvass (or leaflet), clean, cull" if you are a one man band. If you are looking to employ, cull less because you will be paying someone else to do the jobs you don't like.

[Window Washers]

You NEED a website on page 1 of google for your area. It is essential if you are running a business.

Absolute tosh! (with apologies to Tosh). Too many people on here read too many books by gurus or listen to people on here that read too many books by gurus. "Canvass (or leaflet), clean, cull" if you are a one man band. If you are looking to employ, cull less because you will be paying someone else to do the jobs you don't like.

getting tareted traffic to your site is the most important thing about a website and convertibility of that traffic.
Steve I do agree with you BUT times are changing does not take any book to see that.
Some of the work I have if from websites I knocked leaflets no joy (managing agent goes to website happy days.
So the Older ways are changing like it or not using all is by far the bestvway

[richard jagger]

I think one just need to be creative and stay ahead of what is happening out there, we all do window. Some do window differently which makes all the difference.Its all about been fresh and new in the customers eye looking for a new approach.This will sort out the true business minded window cleaning with business skills.The day you can just clean windows and guess a price and waddle on are coming to an end. The customer need more to keep them happy and interested.