Hi Keith....I am like yourself and very much a newbie and still bashing the streets...looking for work....upto date I average aprox 400-500 leaflets out per week and as such I seem to get about 3 customers per week (average)...Some is now coming from word of mouth but most is via the leaflets...If you can canvass, I would suggest that this has got to be the way forward to seriously increase your customer base....
I also put adverts up in supermarkets on their notice boards, I always have a packet of leaflets on me and put them out when and wherever possible.
I have various area's where I work and I have printed off a map of each area and every time to go to an area I now releaflet the street I am cleaning every 3 to 4 months and the residual area when work is slack....print off some maps and just mark off the streets as you go....
Other than that I am sure the other members on this forum will come up with some cracking idea's....
It just takes time that is all I know...