Thanks! My son (who’s joining the my business this year) is a film major so I had some help. I told him he’s going to be responsible for putting out more content for social media to help boost our local page ranks. Another really cool plugin I have is Nice Job. This thing is really cool! It’s connected to my invoicing system and every time I invoice a new customer it automatically sends out a text for a positive review. If the customer doesn’t respond within 3-days it sends out an email reminder to give us a review. It lets the customer pick to review us on Google, Yelp, or Facebook. I think I doubled my reviews the first week I started using it. It also places the reviews on my website which helps with Google search ranking. One last thing, if anyone is looking to have a professional logo created I use a website called Hatchwise. It’s a crowd-sourced graphic design company. It’s contest based in that graphic designers will compete for your business. You pay anywhere from $100 or more (my contest offered $300) for a new logo and you’ll get 4 or 5 graphic designers designing logos at hyperspeed. The contest can last 10 days but I picked my Neptune logo after 4 days and awarded the money to that creative designer. Well worth the money spent for a cool logo. I think I had 40 designs to choose from.
I’d be careful with the “brown stuff” I believe we’ve had a thread on it before while it does great at cleaning I wouldn’t rely on it being a good neutralizer. It’s main ingredient is sodium hydroxide. Our forum chemist started that it most likely doesnt neutralize the hydroxide just over powers the sh, but both are bad for plants
Also for the video if it was my video id feel more comfortable saying “pressure and water” rather than “bleach and water.” It makes it so your claim is true, it should stay clean longer.
Hey thanks for that! I actually also drop gypsum pellets for good measure on any beds I’m concerned about. I am looking to get away from Brown. I’m looking at SloMo and will probably pull the trigger on that in the next week or so. You’re correct (“pressure and water”) that’s what I get for not using an editor to look at my script, lol. Thank god I was planning to change that video anyway! So glad I joined this forum!
That’s SWEET! Been thinking of a professional logo, and having 40 folks competing for my money sounds terrific. The only problem? What wold I do with all the clothes, signs, and the wraps on my vans? I only wish I had opted for something like that four years ago.
I DO like your website and the video gives your prospects the opportunity to get comfortable with you before you ever speak with them. Some of your claims are a bit over-the-top but as long as you aren’t slamming your competition (of which I am one) but instead embellishing, all is fair in self-promotion. I suppose slinging some brown stuff in your house mix could qualify your claims of uniqueness, and many folks swear by the stuff, including my friend @Firefighter4hire. I bought 5 gallons and it sat around my shop for almost a year before I used it. Some of the claims made by PRESSURE WORKS are impossible to prove, all but the one where those who use it are made devilishly handsome for having done so. First there’s Tony, and now you. Heck, I might have to start putting it in my house wash mix to see if it’ll help me 
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As for cleaning windows, I recommend a WFP setup using the reverse osmosis that has been discussed earlier in this thread and you can actually build your own system mounted in your van, truck, or trailer for less that $500. You can even set up your soft wash pump to boost your water volume. In our area R/O does nicely without the need for a resin system. Encourage your customers to remove their screens so that you can do a better job on their sills, and you’re halfway there to an exterior window cleaning upsell, for which I charge $7 per window. As for the person who said his WFP didn’t work very well, there can only be several reasons for that: not using a Tucker Alpha Hybrid Brush (get the swivel), not scrubbing properly, corner to corner several times before cleaning the rest of the glass, taking care not to cross rinse onto oxidized frames, and finally unrealistic expectations. Some things won’t come off, no matter what. If you have the right customer, he or she will be so happy about what DID come off that you’ll never hear a peep. If you do the job right and someone whines or complains, just give them their money back for the windows they didn’t like and be grateful when they don’t call you back. Unhappy customers will rob your joy and let’s face it: some folks will never be happy. (If you ever get a request from a person named White in VB, call me to confirm the first name. I’ll be glad to warn you off. She goes down as the very worst of my four+ years. Shoot, that’d be an interesting thread: Worst Customer Experiences.
Good luck! There’s plenty of business in Tidewater for all of us. If you ever want somebody to call or just want to work with someone else for a couple of days to pick up pointers (one of my favorite memories was spending the day with @Racer a year ago) give me a call. AAMOF, I’d consider hiring your son for several weeks or months after you’ve trained him. He’d probably be better than either one of us after an experience like that.
Shoot Tony a message before using it. He’ll steer you in the right direction.
@MrSparkleVA don’t sleep on the brown stuff. You know I have no problem telling you I told you so.
Couple more suggestions: my web guru tells me that the video slows down your front page load, and he tells me that’ll hurt your SEO. Secondly, I tie in my visitor’s contact information to MARKATE so that I don’t need to enter that info before giving quote. I’m certain that you use a CRM, and expect that it will perform this service for you if you look into it.
Hey MrSparkle,
I haven’t started cleaning windows yet and I’m not so sure I should. One part of me thinks it would create more recurring revenue from the same customers rather than one-and-done like cleaning the siding of a home. How has it been working for your business?
BTW, your site looks awesome, very professional but I do think that you would benefit from creating a Mr Sparkle logo. Maybe a superhero style character modeled after yourself. Just spit-balling here.
Anyhoo… Since this thread is about starting a new PW company, I’m need to ask one more thing. I’d love to get your feedback on HomeAdvisor, Angies List, or Yelp. I was on Thumbtack and got gouged with a $60 referral for a job that I didn’t even get. Even if I did get the job, the revenue was estimate was $350. That’s a huge cost to pay for advertising when your average job is $350. Thoughts?
Home advisor is a scam IMO. I’ve heard yelp helps some people but depends on your region if Yelp is a big thing or not. Thumbtack is what got me off the ground. Yes I paid $15 for a referral but I would always get at least $200 worth of revenue because I sold sold sold at the job site. So it helped me. Can’t say much about angies list. I have a page but never touch it
If you think you were gouged by Thumbtack, that ain’t nothing compared to what HA and AL will to to you. HA was instrumental in keeping me busy for two years, but to Earn those jobs and that experience my prices were far too low for comfort BUT LOWER THAN THE TWO OR THREE OTHER “PROFESSIONALS that received the same lead. I spent 10% - 12% of my income those first two years with HA competing on the basis of price. Once I had learned my craft I was no longer interested in competing on that basis.
In summary, I consider HA and AL mad dashes to the bottom. Now, this year I renewed my relationship with HA just to keep my 100+ reviews up but limit my range and job types so that I’ve yet to get a lead. I am simply uninterested in their leads. Now that I have over 100 5 Star reviews with GoogleI will not be renewing again.
As for window cleaning, I did a $1469.65 job yesterday that started as a window cleaning for someone who needed their storm windows cleaning in advance of selling. I get phenomenal phone calls from Google often because I’m one of few in our market who does both.
IMHO, marketing money is best spent with Google, period.
So many great comments! Where are you in Wisconsin? Im in the Milwaukee area. There is some great money in this industry but in this state, it really does depend on what areas you will be servicing. In my area, there are areas I would love to get into and others I wont even entertain a job in because of large swing in income. If you are in a small farm town, i wish you the best of luck 
If you are closer to a city, you will most likely have a better chance of thriving. Shoot me a message and lets chat since we are in the same state.
The link to the Pressure Washing 101 Guide is not working. Do you have a new link?
I am visiting my dad in NM for the next month, but I am from Madison. I might attempt at trying to get the commercial work at the Dells. You?
Because I published it on Amazon. It’s no longer hosted through that link. I wrote it 
not @Atlas1 even though he’s trying to steal my identity 
