Cleaning-Success.com

How To Add an @ Tag in Facebook

Last weekend I was in Dallas for the Edusational Conference hosted by Cleaning For A Reason. Several discussions came up about @ Tagging in Facebook.

What is an @ tag? It's a way to create a hyperlink to a Facebook Page so that people reading it can click through to that page. @ Tags also appear on the Facebook wall of the person or company you are tagging.

So how do you create an @ tag? In the Status Update field, type @, and then start typing the name of the person or company you want to link to. As long as you have "Liked" that person or company, it will work. Choices will start to appear when you start typing. See graphic example:

 
The finished post looks like this: (the arrows point out the hyperlinks back to the Cleaning for a Reason page as well as the Hoover Facebook page)

This post not ony showed up on our Fan Page, but Cleaning for a Reason's fan page and Hoover's fan page. Now they are aware of my post, and there is also a link back to my page from their wall!

Isn't social media amazing?

3 Mistakes That Will Hold You Back In Your Cleaning Business

If you're a cleaning business owner you are going to make mistakes. It's just how it is. But that doesn't mean you won't be successful, especially if you learn from each of your mistakes. If you're reading this blog, it probably means you want to avoid making some of the mistakes we made over the years.

Here are 3 mistakes that held us back in our first cleaning business.

1. Hiring warm bodies.
In the beginning when we started hiring, we really wanted to find great employees. But when we didn't have a steady stream of great candidates coming through the front door we started hiring less than ideal prospects. We had high hopes that we could train them to fit the mold of what we wanted. Unfortunately our gut feeling was usually right and we ended up regretting the fact that we ignored what our instincts were telling us. To turn things around we improved our employment ads to attract better prospects, and implemented a more rigorous hiring system.

2. Finding and coaching a great "second in command" person.
We spent too many years running the day to day business, wearing all the hats, and not actively seeking a person that could take over some of the supervisory duties. When you find a great candidate, don't just throw them into the job - it's a recipe for disaster and you could lose a great employee. It takes time to develop the skills needed to manage a cleaning business, so lay out a plan to coach your "second in command" on each of the different areas they'll be responsible for.

3. Waiting until you need new clients to start marketing.
Once you start getting busy, the easiest way to free up time is to put off marketing activities. You'll tell yourself, "I need to hire people so I can skip that networking meeting for a couple weeks so I can get some people hired and trained." Before you know it, you haven't done any marketing for two months and the phone calls have dried up! Always make the time to market your business so you have a steady stream of prospects. What you'll find is that when you lose a client it won't send you into a panic because you'll easily be able to fill the slot.

What mistakes have YOU made that have held you back in your cleaning business? Post your thoughts by clicking on the Comments link below.

What Is The Best Way To Market My Cleaning Business?

We get these types of questions all the time:

"What is the best way to market my cleaning business?"

"What is the best way to get past the gate keeper?"

"What is the best way to get new clients?"

"What is the best way to grow my business?"

Did you notice I hi-lighted best way in each of these questions? Of course we want to use the "best way" to get something done, because it should streamline the process for us so we can save time and money. But is a single method of marketing your cleaning business the best way?

I say, don't get hung up on finding the "best way" to market or grow your business. What works best in my company may not be what works best in your company. There are many ways that work, and some will work better for you than others. Use a variety of ways to market your business and monitor the success rate. If something doesn't work, don't do it any more. If somethinge DOES work, do more of that!

As you market and grow your business, don't focus on one "best way" to do anything. What works well for me may not work as well for you. That doesn't mean there isn't a better way for you to accomplish the same thing.

In order to find the "best way" for YOU:

1. Study what others are doing.
2. If it resonates with you, try it.
3. If it works, great! If it doesn't, try something else.
4. Use the methods that work best for YOU!