Hi Vin
Thanks for bringing this up, I have been wondering whether it was a topic for this forum.
The Great British Window Cleaners was set up by me. I have a window cleaning company as Ian pointed out, I have a marketing and advertising background, and I have met and spoken to a quite a few window cleaners who feel the same way as I do about the professionalism of this business. I am also aware of a fair number of directory sites for window cleaners but it seems the only people who know about them are window cleaners. So, a bit pointless.
I have heard a lot of people complaining about how easy it is to get into this business and how a lot of newcomers, whatever method used, don’t do any favours for the people who try to take it seriously and approach it in a professional manner. So, the logical thing for me was/is to find a number of window cleaners who feel the same about it and all put some money into the pot every month which we can then use to promote the site so it doesn’t stay unknown like the others. I would also like to make a bit of profit, obviously!
I invested in getting the logo trademarked which isn’t a completely straightforward process when there is a representation of the Union Jack involved, and I have registered a limited company which involved consulting the DTI for approval due to the words Great British. At the moment I am trying to find potential members. The subs are not set in stone because I need to know what the market will stand. But they need to be set at a level whereby we have enough income to use to advertise and promote the site, while low enough to be affordable. I figured that around £25 a month is probably a couple of cleans max, so hopefully affordable for most.
The majority of the listings on the site at the moment probably don’t know they are on there, and will be removed immediately on request, as yours was. The idea is not to say ‘these people subscribe’, but to give an indication of what the site does, and to mock up listings. All the businesses on the site were chosen because they appear to fit the style of window cleaners we are looking for, and the information on the individual listing was taken from their websites because it reflects exactly what they say about their business and cannot be construed as anything other than supportive.
Of course it will not be for everyone, and I totally respect that. It certainly doesn’t require anyone to invest in any extra kit or vehicles.
In the first instance we need to populate the site. Without that there’s no point in promoting it because there will be nothing for visitors to see. As yet, we have not charged anyone for anything but if we get enough people on board to start promoting it then we would have to charge because there will be above the line activity we need to pay for.
In the meantime the pages are optimised and we can see from the activity on the site that visitors are stumbling across it and having a look.
I am always happy to have a chat about it, so it’s a bit of a shame you are warning people to beware.
Regards
Guy
