I literally had visions that as soon as I crossed the Georgia/Florida border, people would see my phone number on the van and run to their phone to call me for an oil change.

As a matter of fact, right when I got in my hometown I stopped at a gas station to use the payphone and check out all the messages on my answering machine. I really expected about a dozen calls. Imagine my surprise whe

So today we're going to talk about getting customers!

Business owners (not just window washers) who get into business, think that a simple yellow page ad or a sign in front of their business will generate "buzz" and make 'em successful. Um...not quite.

The problem here is these new business owners get so excited about their business that they think everyone else will be just as excited. The reality is quite different.

I was guilty of this also when I was younger. If I opened up a business that I just knew was a great business, I had visions of people just flocking in the doors or calling me non-stop.

I laugh about this now, but here's a funny story relating to exactly what I'm talking about.

Many years ago, I flew up to Denver, Colorado and bought a mobile oil change van. Before I left on my trip, I secured a business phone number with the phone company so I could tell the folks in Colorado what my business number was and they could letter the van with this information (along with company name, etc).

Anyway, to make a long story a little longer, I got to Colorado, received some training, and drove back to Florida all excited about my business. Man, I just knew that this was it. I mean everyone needs an oil change, right?

I literally had visions that as soon as I crossed the Georgia/Florida border, people would see my phone number on the van and run to their phone to call me for an oil change.

As a matter of fact, right when I got in my hometown I stopped at a gas station to use the payphone and check out all the messages on my answering machine. I really expected about a dozen calls. Imagine my surprise when

Business owners (not just window washers) who get into business, think that a simple yellow page ad or a sign in front of their business will generate "buzz" and make 'em successful. Um...not quite.

The problem here is these new business owners get so excited about their business that they think everyone else will be just as excited. The reality is quite different.

I was guilty of this also when I was younger. If I opened up a business that I just knew was a great business, I had visions of people just flocking in the doors or calling me non-stop.

I laugh about this now, but here's a funny story relating to exactly what I'm talking about.

Many years ago, I flew up to Denver, Colorado and bought a mobile oil change van. Before I left on my trip, I secured a business phone number with the phone company so I could tell the folks in Colorado what my business number was and they could letter the van with this information (along with company name, etc).

Anyway, to make a long story a little longer, I got to Colorado, received some training, and drove back to Florida all excited about my business. Man, I just knew that this was it. I mean everyone needs an oil change, right?

I literally had visions that as soon as I crossed the Georgia/Florida border, people would see my phone number on the van and run to their phone to call me for an oil change.

As a matter of fact, right when I got in my hometown I stopped at a gas station to use the payphone and check out all the messages on my answering machine. I really expected about a dozen calls. Imagine my surprise whe

I was guilty of this also when I was younger. If I opened up a business that I just knew was a great business, I had visions of people just flocking in the doors or calling me non-stop.

I laugh about this now, but here's a funny story relating to exactly what I'm talking about.

Many years ago, I flew up to Denver, Colorado and bought a mobile oil change van. Before I left on my trip, I secured a business phone number with the phone company so I could tell the folks in Colorado what my business number was and they could letter the van with this information (along with company name, etc).

Anyway, to make a long story a little longer, I got to Colorado, received some training, and drove back to Florida all excited about my business. Man, I just knew that this was it. I mean everyone needs an oil change, right?

I literally had visions that as soon as I crossed the Georgia/Florida border, people would see my phone number on the van and run to their phone to call me for an oil change.

As a matter of fact, right when I got in my hometown I stopped at a gas station to use the payphone and check out all the messages on my answering machine. I really expected about a dozen calls. Imagine my surprise whe

Anyway, to make a long story a little longer, I got to Colorado, received some training, and drove back to Florida all excited about my business. Man, I just knew that this was it. I mean everyone needs an oil change, right?

I literally had visions that as soon as I crossed the Georgia/Florida border, people would see my phone number on the van and run to their phone to call me for an oil change.

As a matter of fact, right when I got in my hometown I stopped at a gas station to use the payphone and check out all the messages on my answering machine. I really expected about a dozen calls. Imagine my surprise whe

I literally had visions that as soon as I crossed the Georgia/Florida border, people would see my phone number on the van and run to their phone to call me for an oil change.

As a matter of fact, right when I got in my hometown I stopped at a gas station to use the payphone and check out all the messages on my answering machine. I really expected about a dozen calls. Imagine my surprise when there were zero calls. What a bummer!

Now let's transfer the above information and relate it to the window washing business.

Everyone needs an oil change and I still had to take a very proactive direct marketing approach bringing my message directly to the public. The yellow pages and my signage on the van didn't cut the mustard.

But what makes marketing in the window cleaning business even a little harder is that everyone does not need their windows cleaned. As a matter of fact, windows are generally at the bottom of a person's "to do" or "to get done" list.

So you have to be a whole lot more proactive, focused, AND smarter when advertising and marketing to window washing prospects.

A good example of this is when I first got started in the window washing business. I had 1,000 flyers placed in a general publication newspaper. I received no calls. None!

The reason is very simple, although I didn't know it at the time...and that reason is because I was trying to advertise my services to too broad of a market.

The target market of prospects that window washers need to approach are the upper income folks-business owners, doctors, lawyers, executives, etc. And retirees also make great window washing prospects.

The regular Ma and Pa six-packs of the world need not apply. Those types of people (with rare exceptions) traditionally won't pay for a professional to clean their windows. They need a high school kid with a bucket and a squeegee.

When I realized this, I then hired a graphic designer to design some postcards, flyers, and ads. We had to test, redesign, and test some more before hi