NOTE: I started this page on January 31st when I realized I was wasting a lot of time NOT focused on growing my new business...20 of the first 100 days of my business are gone so I have a lot of catching up to do.

I will be adding to this page every day, so please check in and let me know if you have any questions, comments or suggestions.

The First 100 Days of A New Service Business...

After 10 months of attending networking events in 2016, I noticed that the people who did really well in networking were those who were looking for consumers rather than business owners like I was.

I'd gotten some new business as a result but I spent more time giving good ideas to all the people looking for business from consumers than I did getting any business myself, so I decided to add a new business to my collection.

Late one night in December 2016 I noticed an ad on Facebook for ozone machines that would get odors out of houses and cars.

That lead me down a path where I discovered that odor removal was a niche in the cleaning business.

I had been in the carpet cleaning business after college from 1991-1998 and while I didn't have any desire to get back into it, I was attracted to the use of machines to get out odors.  Turn on the machines and disappear for a few hours was appealing!

An odor removal business "checked" just about all the boxes I have for a business opportunity...

-Ability to make a great offer

-Ability to offer free trials

-Good chance for repeat business

-Lots of potential cross-promotion partners

-Can give referral fees

-Someone else can do the actual work

-Employees won't have to be geniuses!  🙂

-Lots of fun ways to market the business

I joke that the only reason I chose this business is so that when people ask me "how's business?" I can reply "it stinks!, but that's good!"

Below you will find my most recent update.

If this is your first visit to this page and you want to start at the beginning...Click here!

 

Days 96-100 - April 21-25, 2017

I'm writing this on May 17th and thanks to Dave K for keeping after me to do it.

I don't recall much from these last 5 days but I did get a few calls from the Groupon.

Since the end of the 100 days I've gotten some realtor calls too.

The May 2nd presentation I had scheduled for a real estate office was postponed

I haven't done any follow-up to those who requested I snail mail them more information so that's on the to-do list as is more presentations at real estate offices.

Not a very exciting final report but I appreciate you following along.

 

 

Days 89-95 - April 14-20, 2017

Yesterday, I did that smokey house 40 miles from home.  I was able to coordinate that with a regular networking event nearby and it turns out the house was on the same road as a cousin of mine!

I'll follow-up tomorrow to hear what they think.

I like to let 48 hours pass.

Interestingly, I've picked up a couple new marketing clients this week paying $800 per month.

Only 5 more days in this project.

Time flies, huh?

 

Day 88 - April 13, 2017

I heard from the real estate agent from day 86 and we are a GO for April 19th.

 

Day 86 - April 11, 2017

Got my first call as a result of a presentation at a real estate office.

1344 sq foot house...12 of the 14 showings commented on the smell of smoke.

I gave him a price which he will bring to the owners.

We shall see.

It's about 40 mile from my house and there is not much to do around there for 4 hours so I won't be heartbroken if I don't get it!  🙂

 

Days 73-82 - March 29-April 7, 2017

Sorry for the delay in reporting.

Family wedding last week...family death this week.  (unrelated!)

I did start out the week in a real estate office...

 

A quick and easy 5 minutes with some good questions and good laughs.

I did a sample house for the same agency but different office on the 6th.

1200 square feet the agent said there was a bad cat odor.

She brought a friend and neither the friend nor I could really smell anything.

Maybe once in awhile but once the house is painted and furniture added there will be no cat smell.

In any case, I let the machines run and now we wait to hear.

Earlier in the week I got a lead from an agent I'd met while networking.

He'd been in a house that turned his prospect off because of the smoke odor.

I will follow-up with the listing agent and see what we can do.

The smoker is still living there so...

Oh and a nice review from a customer on Facebook...

 

 

Days 67-72 - March 22-28, 2017

Nothing much to report this week.  I do have an odor job...Wednesday, from Groupon.  Have gotten a couple calls from people looking for auto-detailing but I tell them to give me a call if the odor is still there after detailing.  They all appreciate the candor.

 

 

Day 66 - March 21, 2017

I returned to the house around 9:15 AM.

No more smell of bodily decay but  I had to be in that town until 3PM anyway so I turned the machines back on and left.

Both machines ran for about 15 hours in total so the odor of bodily decay has been replaced by the odor of ozone.

I've advised them that it won't go away anytime soon and suggested they air out the place on the next warmer day and get some essential oil diffusers going in there for a more pleasant odor.

Their main concern is just being able to stomach working in there.

If I were them I'd just hire a junk company to come in and clean it out.

It was a very sad situation.

Seventeen calls today and one response from those calls but a couple more from previous days.

I got that other Groupon call on the calendar for Monday.

I'm at just about 900 phone calls since I started this project on February 20th.

I've had 74 responses.  Anyone who responded with their email address got sent a flyer via email.

I've been remiss in sending flyers by regular mail.

Since this was the 30th day of my 30 day "Go For KNOW" project I will stop the calling now and spend my time following up with these people and getting myself invited to more sales meetings.

The two I had scheduled later in the month were rescheduled for April and May because of the snow storm last week.

 

Day 66 - March 20, 2017

A busy Monday.  Twenty two calls and only one response BUT two Groupon related calls one on the schedule for Thursday and one to be put on the schedule....smelly cars.

I also got my first big job.  This came as a referral from a real estate agent...didn't get her name yet but it was a very sad case.

A woman died in her house and was not found for at least a couple weeks AND she was a hoarder.

Originally, I had it set up to meet them at the house tomorrow AM but I decided to let the machines run overnight so I called back and made an appointment for 7PM tonight.

This is the first job where I actually smelt a real problem.  Glad I had my gas mask for this one.

The place was a disaster both in smell and debris.  I could find only one three prong outlet in the place and that was in the bathroom.

Luckily the refrigerator had an adapter which I could use.

 

 

Day 66 - March 19, 2017

Twenty seven calls and two responses.

 

Day 65 - March 18, 2017

Twenty one calls today and zero responses.  Did get another Groupon related call but she was looking for overall car cleaning.  Sounds like a good excuse to get in touch with some car detailers so I have have someone to refer these calls to.

 

 

 

Day 64 - March 17, 2017

St. Patrick's Day and the luck of the Irish was with me.

Got a new call from a Groupon buyer.  Told her I'd give her a call on Monday when I know my schedule for next week.

She lives too far out for me to go but she works in Albany and can leave the car at a friends house and I can do it there.

Twenty one calls and one response and one missed call response....didn't leave a message.

This may have been one of those people who see a missed call and just call it back...."I had a missed call from this number?"  

 

 

 

Day 63 - March 16, 2017

Twenty eight calls and four responses.

 

 

 

Day 62 - March 15, 2017

Twenty two calls today.  No responses.

 

 

 

Day 61 - March 14, 2017

Snowmageddon...Snowpocalypse...snowstorm Stella dumped almost two feet of snow on the area and closed down most things including mail delivery.  Twenty three calls and four responses.  I expected a good percentage because what else did people have to do between shoveling!

 

 

 

Day 60 - March 13, 2017

Back to the original phone message today.  Thirty six calls and one response.

 

 

 

Day 59 - March 12, 2017

Twenty eight calls and two responses as of two hours later.  

I think I will go back to my previous message.

149 calls with the new message and the responses have been less than half I've gotten using the previous message.  149 calls and 7 responses.  Should be closer to 15.

Day 58 - March 11, 2017

Nineteen calls and zero responses.

Day 57 - March 10, 2017

Thirty three call and three responses.  

Day 56 - March 9, 2017

Thirty five calls today and one response.

Day 55 - March 8, 2017

A weird start to the day.

Had a 10AM appt for a car deodorizing.  He was coming here.  I confirmed last night.  

At 10:15AM I called to see if we were still on.  Went to voicemail.

I tried to send a Facebook message from my phone, which is how we communicated this whole time, but for some reason my phone was not showing me a box to write in.

Went up to my computer and typed in a message and got the response...

This person isn't available right now.

It seems that he has blocked me.

Veddy strange.

Then at 11:11AM I got a call from a real estate agent friend who I met last year...she has an empty camp for sale about 15 minutes from here that has a musty smell.  I'm going over there to take a sniff around 3.

What's that saying about closed doors and open windows?  🙂

I gave her a price and she'll let the owner know.

Thirty four calls and two responses...one of the responses was from calls made on 2/28.  This is lower than normal.

I did start using a new message today.  I wonder if that is the reason for the lower response?

More testing required.

 

Day 54 - March 7, 2017

The presentation at the real estate office went very well.  There were about 10 people there...I spoke for less than 10 minutes...they were interested and engaged and asked good questions...there was a guy who looked like George Gobel which he didn't seem too enthused to hear but at least one other person agreed with me.  I left flyers and business cards and then I was gone.  

A very pleasant experience.

Thirty six calls yesterday and 2 responses including one from the area's most successful real estate agent.

 

 

Day 53 - March 6, 2017

Twenty seven calls today.  One response from those calls and two from previous calls. Plus I scheduled a third speaking engagement before a sales meeting.  

And I got a car cleaning job for Wednesday.   He's actually bringing the car to my house and going to walk down town and hang out in a coffee shop.  He lives too far away for me to go for a car cleaning job.  

It looks like I'll finally get my first talk to a real estate sales meeting in tomorrow.  This is the one from a couple weeks ago that I showed up for with coffee and donuts and it had been cancelled.

 

Day 52 - March 5, 2017

Twenty six calls today.   Two text message replies.  One of the responders actually took my class a few years ago and told me she still had the workbook.

 

Day 51 - March 4, 2017

Twenty calls today and zero responses from anywhere.  Nothing else to report.

 

Day 50 - March 3, 2017

The halfway point in my 100 days.

The last 12 days have seen more action than the 38 before that.

Probably has something to to with the phone calls.  🙂

 

Thirty eight calls today and 7 responses from those and 1 from the calls yesterday.

Biggest response day yet.

Two good convos with agents who may have jobs soon.

Since I started this project on 2/20 I've left 354 messages on the voicemails of real estate agents and gotten positive responses from 40 of them.  One more day of calls to this company and then it's on to the next company.

 

 

Day 49 - March 2, 2017

Thirty three calls today to real estate agents.  Four incoming calls...two as a result of these calls...one positive and one who was no longer in the business.

A call today from the calls yesterday and also the assistant to an office manager called to schedule me for a 10 minute presentation at their sales meeting on March 21st.  I would have done it on the 14th but I have a dental appointment on that day.

I attended a networking event this evening and met a commercial real estate agent...gave her a card and we had a nice chat.

 

Day 48 - March 1, 2017

Twenty five calls today at 1:15PM.  Two responses from those calls and one response from calls made on the 27th.

Followed up with three of the agents I met last night and one has already spoken to his manager about having me speak to a sales meeting.

The manager had gotten my phone message and admired my effort making all those calls.

 

 

Day 47 - February 28, 2017

Twenty nine calls today at 10:30 AM and by 11:30 AM,  I'd had four positive responses.

So it seems that avoiding the lunch hour is the best time to make calls.

In the evening I hosted a networking event and in attendance were 4 real estate agents from three different companies including one gentleman who should have gotten a call from me but for some reason he wasn't on my list.

In any case all of them took my cards and flyer and said they'd speak to their managers about getting me in front of a sales meeting.

My presentation in front of a Coldwell Banker meeting scheduled for tomorrow has been rescheduled for next Wednesday.

 

 

 

Day 46 - February 27, 2017

 

Twenty four more calls today.

As of 5PM, no responses from those calls...made around 11:30AM....lunch time seems to be a bad time to make these calls.

But I got two more responses from calls I made on previous days.

To date I've made contact with 219 real estate agents and gotten requests for more information from 22 of them.

Today I sent emails and a flyer to the 9 who gave me their email addresses.  

I spoke with one office manager who said she'll find a date that works and get in touch.

I left a voice message for another office manager...a lead from someone who got a flyer today.

I sent an email to a third office manager...a lead from someone who got a flyer today.

A couple of these have Tuesday meetings and since tomorrow is Tuesday, I'd love to get in on one.

Nothing as of 5PM.

 

 

Day 45 - February 26, 2017

Twenty four calls today.

Three responses...two via phone and one via text.

One of the calls went to voice mail and I'll call her back tomorrow as suggested.

The second caller is the first real estate agent I've heard from who really pushed that I recommend her to anyone I know who may need to buy or sell a house.

She was also going to suggest I contact the same office manager suggested from a phone caller yesterday.

The customer from last Tuesday, texted me yesterday to say that 75% of the odor was gone.  I said I'd be up in that area on Thursday if she wanted me to have another crack at it.  Have not heard back yet.

Today is the seventh day of my "Go For KNOW" challenge and to date, I've made 195 calls and received 19 positive responses.

 

 

Day 44 - February 25, 2017

Thirty eight calls today.

As of 2:30PM I'd heard back from four agents plus a return call from a message left on Tuesday which was a good one.

Unprompted, he suggested I call the manager of his office and see about speaking at their Tuesday sales meeting of 30-60 agents.

That would be a good get!

I called the office but she wasn't in so I sent an email.

I will follow up on Monday if I don't hear back.

From the calls today I got two text messages and two phone calls.  One of the phone callers... I asked about speaking at their sales meetings and she suggested calling the manager...which I will do.

 

 

Day 43 - February 24, 2017

Day five of my "Go For KNOW" challenge...getting known by at least 20 real estate agents every day.

26 calls today.

I heard back from only one which is the lowest percentage yet.

I sent these messages around lunch time which may have been the issue?  Who knows.

 

Day 42 - February 23, 2017

 

Today, I got another call from the Groupon...they were actually looking for an auto detailer so I told him to get it detailed and if the odor persisted, to give me a call.

Thirty eight phone calls to real estate agents today...two positive responses...plus one guy no longer in the biz and someone who called back but hung up when I answered.

One of the positive responses texted back and the other called and even though he said he'd never run into an odor problem he said I could send him some info.  He's the first RE agent I've spoken with who didn't have any experience with odor.  Must be new!

 

Day 41 - February 22, 2017

I showed up at the real estate office with $25 worth of coffee and munchkins from Dunkin Donuts only to be told the meeting was cancelled because someone was sick.

My friend hadn't told me, which I discovered 15 minutes later when she called to apologize...she hadn't checked her email yesterday.

Oh well, I left the coffee but took the munchkins for myself!

I learned something today.  I can't be trusted with 25 munchkins by myself!

In other news...34 phone calls today and 4 responses.

Three via text and one call.

Tally...72 phone calls...9 responses...7 positive.

 

Day 40 - February 21, 2017

 

What an interesting day.

At 9:36AM, I got an email from Thumbtack saying that someone was looking for odor removal services.

She described the odor as caused by a skunk.

It was my first inquiry from Thumbtack

I responded that I'd need some more information before I could provide a quote.

I did make it clear that I wasn't a cleaning company so that if any dirt accompanied the smell, I couldn't take care of that.

When I replied to her inquiry I discovered I had to pay to give a quote or in this case, respond to an email.

I paid $23.32 for 20 credits... that's $1.17 per reply.

Well worth a test so we'll see.  As of 9PM I'd not heard back from her.

I left 17 phone messages today with real estate agents.  

Three texted me back... two to say they were interested and to send them some information.

The third said a friend of the family already does this...and she gave the name of a carpet cleaning company.

A fourth agent called me...I couldn't pick up so she left a message with her contact info.

A fifth agent called but he had moved out of the area and kept his number.

So, if you're keeping score at home, that's 37 completed calls...6 total responses and 4 positive responses asking for more information.

Then, around 11AM I got a call from a woman who had seen my Groupon...she had spilled milk in her car a few months ago and every once in awhile she could smell it.

She was 40 miles from my home BUT I had a couple reasons to be in that area today anyway, so it really worked out.

Luckily I had them in my car.

I turned on the machines around 2:30 and ran my errands and picked them up around 3:30.

It definitely smelled better but she was on the phone when I got back so I just rolled down all the windows and left the car to air out.

I await her feedback.

Now, I gotta work on a handout for my meeting with the real estate agents tomorrow.

 

 

 

Day 39 - February 20, 2017

 

A good day.

Heard from a real estate agent friend that I could attend their sales meeting this Wednesday or next.  I chose this one!

12-15 people are typically in attendance and I asked if I could provide coffee and donuts and she said that would be great.

I'll get a couple "boxes of joe" from Dunkin Donuts and a couple dozen donut holes...figure those will be better than full donuts which may be too much for some.

In the afternoon I left voicemail messages on the cell phones of 20 real estate agents.

Heard back from one almost immediately...saying I could send their office information about my services.

As I thought about the "Go For No" challenge I wrote about on Saturday it occurred to me that it really doesn't apply to me unless I was calling random people asking if they had any odors they wanted to get rid of and that is a complete waste of time.

So I've adapted it a bit to be, I will make 20 contacts per day...by phone or in person.

A Go For KNOW challenge!...get known by 20 new people per day. 

Email doesn't count UNLESS I hear back...otherwise I have no way of knowing if a message got through.

The contacts will be people who could refer me business...real estate agents, carpet cleaners, home inspectors, house cleaners etc.

I'll be offering to send them more information about my services or in the case of real estate companies, provide refreshments at their sales meetings.

Being a federal holiday I figured most real estate offices would be closed so I decided to call agents today.

20 Contacts per day....600 contacts in a month.  Will be interesting to see what has happened by March 22nd.

 

Day 37 - February 18, 2017

 

Today, I discovered a guy named Ray Higdon.

He's a well-known name in network marketing but he has an inspiring story of quick success...

In 2009 he was a broke real estate investor...he joined a network marketing company on July 15, 2009 and was the number one earner by January 2010.

In 90 days he was earning $10K a month and $40K a month in the 7th month.

Day 36 - February 17, 2017

The company I bought the ozone machines from sent out a 90 day marketing plan for new people in the business.

Lots of great ideas in it that I plan to implement.

 

Day 35 - February 16, 2017

Another networking day and the real estate agent friend was also at this one and had a report.

When she told her broker what I wanted to do and what business I was in, four other agents piped up that they wanted to meet me.

 

 

Day 34 - February 15, 2017

Networking day.  A real estate agent friend is going to ask if I can sponsor refreshments at her weekly sales meeting.

 

Day 33 - February 14, 2017

Valentine's Day and the date of my first paid job in the odor removal business.

This one was a car and came from Groupon.  Julia was nice and even though the car didn't smell of smoke to me, she was happy to get the service done.  She had the car cleaned...not sure if it was detailed... the day before so that may have had something to do with lack of odor.

My two machines ran for 90 minutes and I haven't heard from her.

I did send a thank you note AND got her birthday.

 

 

Day 32 - February 13, 2017

Not much Odor Solvers work today.  I did get 13 postcards back with bad addresses.  Tomorrow is the deadline on the card so I probably won't get any takers to the offer but hopefully it will stick around the offices.

 

Day 31 - February 12, 2017

Got a Facebook message this AM from a women who saw my Groupon ad and wanted to know if I had availability next week.

She purchased a car with a horrible smoke smell and wanted to know if I could do the job.

Assuming she follows through and buys the Groupon I'll be going there on Valentine's day.

She said she bought the car from a dealer which means that dealer will be hearing from me.

I found a list of the top 25 real estate brokers in this area for 2015 and will be contacting them next week to see about getting into their sales meetings.  The really big ones have multiple offices so there is LOTS of opportunity.

UPDATE: The customer did buy the Groupon so I'm on for Valentine's day!

 

Day 29 - February 10, 2017

Still in sick bay but noticed a new member to one of my MeetUp groups was a real estate agent so I took the opportunity to welcome her to the group and make a mention of my services.

I asked her about the idea of my cousin, the agent in Hawaii...

Hi again Leo, yes, I definitely recommend your cousin's idea and I was thinking

 

So next week, my focus becomes the large real estate sales companies in this area and getting into their sales meetings bearing coffee and donuts!

 

 

Day 29 - February 10, 2017

Sick Bay - No work today

 

Day 28 - February 8, 2017

Today I emailed 10 home inspectors since I got a good response from that niche yesterday.

Two of them were from Craigslist ads and the other 8 were from the Home Advisor website.

No response as of 8:15PM.  I mailed these before 11 am and the last two days of emails went out after 6PM.

Did the better response (two responses within an hour each day) come from a later emailing time?  or maybe it was because these people were advertising indicating a need for new business?

Who knows but I'll keep track of emailing times and responses.

I did get another response from my Tuesday mailing...this person is a property manager...

Hi Leo, 

 

Day 27 - February 7, 2017

Today I sent a thank you note to the real estate agent who responded to one of the 10 emails I'm sending every day.

 

My thank you note included a $1 lottery ticket and a couple business cards.

I did this because:

1)She took the time to reply.

2)She gave me a couple very good suggestions and

3)She gave me some encouragement.

AND how many thank you notes do you think she's ever gotten for answering an email?

It will make an impression and who knows what it may lead to?

.

No responses to the 100 postcards that were mailed yesterday.

.

Still nothing from Groupon.

.

My 10 emails today went to Craigslist advertisers:

2 real estate agents

3 home inspectors

2 property managers

1 carpet installer

1 house cleaner

1 handyman

Like yesterday, within the first hour I heard from two people...both home inspectors in this case...

 

Leo, actually I don't have anyone on my list that specializes in odor, so yes I would be happy to cross promote with you. I have to say the line "a house that smells is hard to sell" is going to stick with me. Thanks for the connection.

.

and from the other home inspector...

.

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Started a Facebook page for the new business...even before the official launch day.

Day 1 - Thursday, January 12, 2017

I filed a DBA at the county clerk's office today so now the business is official.

After that I headed to a networking group where I sat with a home inspector, a building contractor and the owner of a smoke, water and fire damage restoration company.  A great group of potential cross promotion partners!

They all liked my ideas and took my business card which I had printed up before I even had the DBA...Staples.com same day printing.

After the networking lunch I called my insurance agent and secured liability insurance.

I was ready to roll!

Later that afternoon I posted a contest on a local Facebook page I have...it has 3100 fans and I was looking for five smelly cars...

They remove odors from houses, cars, boats and RVs using only green methods, so no chemicals or anything that just covers the odors for a short time.

They need to jumpstart their feedback so they're looking for 5 smelly cars.

Who do you know?

There will be NO CHARGE for the five winners. The Odor Solvers only ask for feedback they could use in their marketing.

On top of that if yours is one of the vehicles selected, they'll give you $20 cash!

To enter this contest, fill out the 60 second form here...

http://bit.ly/2jB3dnX

Good luck!

Likes of their page are appreciated too! The Odor Solvers

***

10 people entered and I did three of them...still waiting to hear from the other two I chose as winners.

All the feedback was very positive although I didn't really smell anything very bad.  Perhaps the motivation was the $20?

In any case I now have three nice reviews...a good jumpstart for Day 1.

Day 3 - January 14, 2017

Did my first two cars today...one at 9AM and one at 12:30PM.

Positive feedback from both.

I don't think they smelled too bad to begin with but they both posted nice reviews on my Facebook page.

Today, I also ordered a logo for the new business.

I used Upwork.com and posted a job...

Hello!

I need a quick and simple logo for my new business "The Odor Solvers"

Here is my ugly attempt.  I like the idea of the magnifying glass but need it looking better.

It would be great if your reply to this posting included a complete logo so I could hire you and pay you at the same time.

Thank you!

***

I did it this way to avoid making a bad choice of graphic designer.  I didn't want to have to go back and forth with a designer getting it just right.

I think about half of the people who responded to the job included a sample.

I chose this one...

NOTE:  I went back to Upwork just now to find the details of this job and it was REMOVED BY ADMIN for a terms of service violation.

I received no notice of this directly.

I can only guess that they didn't like the fact I was suggesting they could do the work immediately...but I didn't require it and I wouldn't use the work if I didn't pay for it but I'll have to do some investigating.

Total cost $10.05

Day 5 - January 16, 2017

Did my first whole house today.  Another freebie...friend of a friend.

House was completely empty and there was a residual smoke smell from the previous owner.

Ran the machines for four hours.

Owners of the house live in VA at the moment so haven't gotten any feedback yet.

Day 8 - January 19, 2017

Single room in a house.  Another phantom smell in my book but still good practice.

Ran a machine for an hour and that seemed to clear it.

Day 14 - January 25, 2017

Today I decided to sign-up to do a Groupon promotion.  I thought there may have been some push-back because I'd only been an official business for 13 days but nope.  Sign here!  Scheduled for February 1st.

I also posted my availability on Thumbtack.com

I've heard good and bad about it but figured I'd give it a try.

Day 18 - January 29, 2017

I ordered 100 postcards from VistaPrint...total cost $20.83

I went for the cheapest shipping which they say will get it here by February 8th but as of January 31st it's been shipped so I expect it to get here much sooner.

Unless it's do or die, never pay for faster shipping with VistaPrint...they are fast regardless.

I'll be sending them to Real Estate Agents and you'll notice I'm offering a free trial.

Why?

Because real estate agents can be a constant source of new business.

What are the first two things you notice about a house?

The outside and the smell.

And as it says on the postcard...a house that smells is hard to sell!

My plan is to also send 100 postcards that I make on my own to see if there is a difference in response between "professional" and "guerrilla".

I'm hoping the less professional works better or about the same because I can get 100 of those out anytime and I won't have to wait for the printing.

I'll make similar offers to small car dealers and other professions that deal with car owners and home owners.

Day 19 - January 30, 2017

Decided I needed to get this page up so I have some accountability.

Day 20 - January 31, 2017

My Groupon is scheduled to start tomorrow but I haven't gotten the preview email I was expecting so I called.

The nice lady who helped me said they'd never received my insurance details so I resent them.

That probably means the deal won't run tomorrow.

Day 21 - February 1, 2017

Early this AM I got an email from Groupon saying my promo had started.

I clicked the link but it was not live. In the afternoon I got an email saying they had received my insurance info and promo was live.  I'm not crazy about how it looks...

 

The fact that this is for cars is only implied by the picture and in the description.

I hope any buyers are aware of that.

As of the time of this post there had been no sales but it had not been included in the daily email yet. Hopefully that happens tomorrow?

Today was a big networking day and met a lot of new faces in my networking groups.

My 100 postcards from Vistaprint are in Urbancrest, OH on their way to me.

 

Day 22 - February 2, 2017

No sign of the Groupon email going out to their list although the deal is live...no sales yet.

My postcards are either in Windsor, CT or my local post office.  I can't tell using the tracking details.

I have a database of 159 real estate companies...labels are ready to go.  I need to find 41 other ones so I can send 100 of my professional postcards and 100 of my homemade version...to see which one gets the most response.

This evening I liked at least 50 local home or car related businesses.  Small car dealers...auto detailers, insurance companies, cleaning companies and the like.

I've done this because several times a day I like and share content from other businesses to get on their radar.

I've already had some real estate companies and insurance companies liking my page because I'm often the ONLY person liking anything they do on Facebook.

If they pay attention to things like that at some point they'll wonder who "The Odor Solver" is and visit my page.  When I reach out to them offline, they'll remember me!

 

Day 23 - February 3, 2017

More liking area business pages so I have content to like and share on my page.  Most businesses don't do much on Facebook...at least in the niches I'm targeting.  It's usually the same people posting day after day and usually I'm the ONLY ONE liking anything they do.

I'm trying to like only one thing a day per page so as not to appear too stalkerly!

The postcards arrive tomorrow so over the weekend I'll label and stamp them and send them off to do their good work!

The Groupon still has not been announced via email although it is live.

120 views of the deal and no sales.

 

 

Day 24 - February 4, 2017

Still no email announcement from Groupon...will have to check in with them on Monday.

My postcards arrived today and will go out to 100 real estate agencies on Monday.

My Facebook page was followed today by a furniture sales company I followed yesterday.

Why is that important?

It just demonstrates what I've been saying in my networking workshops...most posts by local businesses get NO interest from their followers...NONE.

By liking and sharing and following the posts of businesses you could work with, you'll be on their radar AND most importantly they'll be more likely to listen to what you have to say when you contact them.

How could an odor removal company work with a furniture store?

Many ways including giving a gift certificate of my services to people who buy furniture...having a Facebook contest giving away a gift certificate for my services...sending an anniversary present of a gift certificate of my services...anniversary of when they purchased furniture.  The possibilities are only limited by our imaginations.

 

 

Day 25 - February 5, 2017 - Super Bowl Sunday

Labeled my postcards today.

 

Will drop them in the mail tomorrow.

I've asked my VA to LIKE the pages of as many of these companies as she can find on Facebook.

She's fast and efficient and should have the project done tomorrow, so my strategy will be to like something on their page before the postcards arrive.

Hopefully, they'll notice "The Odor Solvers" liking their page and then liking something ON their page and then a postcard arrives.

They'll think I have a huge budget!

Dan Kennedy talks about "jumping up and down in a puddle" and once I find 100 potential promotion partners I will do that.

It's his way of expressing the idea that you should become really well known to a segment of your market.

And I'm not sure if I've covered it but I'm going to focus most of my marketing on businesses who can refer me customers rather than individual customers.  

It's much less expensive to become well-known to them than trying to become well-known to the million or so people who live in my area.  I'll leave that to the car dealers.

In any case, my goal for this week is to make at least 10 outreaches every day...that might be a phone call, an email, a piece of lumpy mail or a Facebook message.

 

 

Day 26 - Monday February 6, 2017

My 100 postcards hit the mail today.

I emailed 8 people who had ads on Craigslist for housecleaning, painting or handyman services.  I emailed two home-stagers...they set up houses that are for sale with nice looking furniture.  

My email started with something like...

 

As I was writing this update I heard back from one of the home-stagers who is also a real estate agent...

 

 

I moved the updates to the top of the page.