HOME CLEANER MAGAZINE – a brand new publication from Perry Phillips, founder of ARCSI.

After launching the www.housecleaningbiz101.com Web site on February 1, 2003, Perry Phillips was the 68th person who purchased my House Cleaning Biz 101 program. Perry had been in the house cleaning industry for 20 years and was formulating the concept of creating an association of forward-thinking owners of residential cleaning services. He recognized the need for a trade organization dedicated to our industry and subsequently invested a substantial amount of his own time and money to bring his vision to life.

Under Phillips’ direction, the Association of Residential Cleaning Services International (ARCSI) has grown into a member-owned organization comprised of hundreds of members from all over the world. It sponsors seminars and conventions, tele-conference workshops, newsletters and is a respected resource for its members. At its annual convention each year, the association votes for a new president, vice president and board of directors from among its elite member business owners. I have had the privilege of knowing and working with many of them. In fact, I am proud to say that a lot of them are customers of House Cleaning Biz 101. As was the case with Perry, successful owners are always on the lookout for new and fresh ideas and practices which can be employed in their businesses.

After almost six years as executive director of ARCSI, Perry has decided to move on and launch a brand new publishing venture for the residential cleaning industry . . . .

Introducing: HOME CLEANING MAGAZINE.

So, why did Perry (pictured at left) decide to publish this exciting new trade publication for the industry? Here’s the answer in his own words:

“So you might ask, why start a publication? The answer for me is that at my very core, what gives me the greatest amount of satisfaction and completes me as a human being is to collect and gather information, bring people together, and share what I have learned. By creating my own publication I can freely offer opinion and focus on what I recognize as cutting edge and the trends of the industry that has been so good to me.

I have made many great friends and have incredible contacts, it has been presented to me that I am perhaps the most well connected individual in the home cleaning industry. Wow, that is flattering! It is my goal to use those relationships to keep you on the forefront for information in home cleaning as a professional industry.”

Be among the first to subscribe!

Perry was among my very first customers for House Cleaning Biz 101, and has been a proponent of the program ever since. I was among the first to support his efforts to build ARCSI and I am proud to say I am among the first to subscribe to HOME CLEANER MAGAZINE.

I strongly encourage you to check out the Web site for HOME CLEANER MAGAZINE and get a flavor of what you can expect by subscribing. In fact, if you’re an early subscriber you’ll find a special bonus waiting for you. There is already a lot of good information to be found on this online publication, including an article by Yours Truly entitled Coming Clean: Turning Your “Underground” Business Legitimate. I promise you’ll find this e-magazine a tremendous resource for your residential cleaning business.

Includes Featured Businesses

When you visit the site, you’ll see a category “Featured Businesses”. Richard Wilson’s Brittany Maids in Atlanta, Georgia is currently highlighted. He and his partner have been in business for 22 years and have built the largest residential cleaning service in Atlanta, with 30 cleaners, 23 company-owned vehicles and 500 regular clients. Richard was one of the early members of ARCSI and has been an active participant in the association ever since.

Having your business recognized in this international publication could be a great public relations opportunity as well. From my own experience over the years, I can tell you that published recognition from a respected source can lead to terrific local press for the featured business resulting in increased credibility, heightened pride among your staff and a lot of new clients.

The Publication to Include Featured International Businesses

I know Perry would love to hear from owners in countries outside of the United States as well. I encourage my customers in the 51 countries our House Cleaning Biz 101 program has been implemented to contact Perry Phillips directly by email at perry@p3communications.net to share how you’re doing in your country.

P.S. Please feel free to leave a comment below under “COMMENTS”. Prior glitches you may have encountered in attempting to leave a comment have been rectified.

Does Your Web Site Reflect Your Company’s Culture & Personality?

There is no question that the Internet gives you the opportunity to tell your clients far more about your residential cleaning service than a newspaper ad, direct mail piece, door hanger, billboard, radio spot or television commercial ever could. You can go into minute details you could never afford to share with your audience in any other advertising media.

Think about it. The Internet gives you the opportunity to create an image for your company which other forms of advertising don’t. You can make your company stand out as professionally as a major Fortune 500 corporation because you have unlimited options to include as much information and graphics as you want – without paying for prohibitively expensive full-page newspaper ads, multi-page catalogs and flyers, or hundreds of radio and television commercials.

With conventional media, about all you have space or time to present to the reader/viewer/listener is a quick overview of the features and benefits of your cleaning service. This, of course, is very important. But it’s difficult to convey your company’s unique culture and personality in a 1/8-page newspaper or Yellow Page ad or a 30-second radio or television commercial. Even merchants who make heavy use of conventional media almost always direct people to their Web site for more information (and all of your advertising should do the same for your prospective clients – and this should include your letterheads and business cards).

Web Site Examples:

Examples of how your company’s culture and personality can impact a prospective client’s impression of your business and his/her inclination to want to explore the possibility of hiring your cleaning service are linked below. Following is a sampling of Web sites operated by some of our House Cleaning Biz 101 customers around the world. (NOTE: To return to this blog, use the "BACK" arrow on your Internet Browser when you're ready to exit each Web site.)

A Helping Hand – Wisconsin
A to Z Housekeeping – Arizona
AE Cleaning Systems - Wisconsin
Best Maids - Maryland
Bien Servi – Paris, France
Brittany Maids - Georgia
Buckets & Bows Maid Service - Texas
Castle Keepers – South Carolina
Champagne Services - Virginia
Clean 4 Me – Ontario, Canada
Clean Reflections - Texas
Complete Custom Cleaning - Wisconsin
Crystal Clear Home - California
Dallas Maids - Texas
Details Professional Cleaning - Oregon
Earth Maids - Arizona
Hire a Maid – Ontario, Canada

Home Therapy - Australia
Internal Affairs – Alberta, Canada
Linda’s House Cleaning Service of Wellington - Florida
Maid 2 Please - Washington
Maids Matter – Ontario, Canada
Master Care Home Services - California
Mr. Maid - Pennsylvania
Omega Residential Cleaning – Georgia
ProTime Services – New Hampshire
The Ace of Maids - Georgia
The Cleaning Advantage - Massachusetts
Total Home Cleaning – New Jersey
Why Bother? – Great Britain, United Kingdom

Now that you’ve visited these Web sites, think of the ones which stuck out most prominently in your mind. All of them offered virtually the same services, with some offering more or less than others. But, basically, they’re all pretty much selling the same thing: Residential House Cleaning. If you were a client looking to hire a cleaning service, which one(s) would you be most inclined to follow up with? Most likely it would be a particular one which presented a culture or corporate personality which sounds like the best “fit” for you.

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"If you get stuck in the snow, we pay the tow!"

Karen Bickford from The Cleaning Advantage in Massachussetts commented on our last blog (below) and mentioned she had to let 3 employees go in the previous week because they failed to show up for work "because there was a couple of inches of snow on the ground." I responded to her by email with the following suggestion:

• Karen, when I owned a direct-sales business in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, we had to deal with blizzards and DEEP snow during very long winter months. We published a policy to our sales force that stated: “Get stuck in the snow, we pay the tow!” Excuse nullified! Sometimes situations like you ran into with these 3 employees create the opportunity to clean house and hire better people. One of the benefits in today’s economy is that with the rise in unemployment, you have an easier time in recruiting and retraining GOOD workers."

As an aside, Karen purchased her House Cleaning Biz 101 program on November 3, 2003 and started her business in April 2004. After my email to her, I received the following email the other day:

"Gary, I can't even tell you how happy I am that I bought your CD collection. My husband is too, because I wanted to spend $250,000 on a franchise. It will be 5 years in April (2009) and I am pegged for $450,000 in sales this year. That is not too bad from the ground up starting with no clients and no help. Yes, I did a lot of re-creating the wheel, which is a must. How could we be possibly learned if we didn't? I see a lot of cleaning franchises for sale and they don't have the revenue that I do. Imagine that! House Cleaning Biz 101!!!! You need to charge more for that program because it is so comprehensive. I would be your spokesperson for the program. You are the BEST!!!!”

Her comments, along with those I get from so many of you, confirm that in this or any economy, householders continue to hire and retain professional and high quality cleaning services!

Recession or No Recession, People Have Money for What They Want!

Tomorrow night at 8 PM Eastern Time on January 8th, some 75,192 people will be crowding into Dolphin Stadium in Miami, Florida to watch the college Bowl Championship Series game between the University of Florida Gators and the Oklahoma State University Sooners. And they’ll be paying from $550 to $2,500 PER TICKET for the privilege of spending about 3 hours in very uncomfortable seats. As you can see from the photo below, the cheap $550 seats in the corner upper deck require binoculars to see the on-field action. Oh, and if you want a 14-person suite in the dark section dividing the upper and lower decks, be prepared to shell out $67,500 (at least this price includes 3 parking tickets, folding kitchen chairs and a $1,500 food and beverage allowance). What a steal!!!

Um, no thanks . . . I’ll be watching from the best seat in the house: MY HOUSE. And I’ll get a better view of the action on my big screen TV than those 75,000 people in the stands.





The point is, in spite of all the hype about a bad economy and tough times, people do have money to spend for what they want. And not just a handful of people. And this is only one entertainment venue.
Last night, January 6th, songster Billy Joel was at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. Ticket prices: $99.50, $325 and $550 per person. And they were sold out! He will be reappearing at this venue on January 16 & 18th with a final appearance on February 2nd. Rod Stewart is appearing on January 28th and 30th and tickets for this event are $97.50, $197.50 and $500 …. WOW, what a bargain, huh! Believe it oar not, all these performances are already SOLD OUT!


Boca Raton South Florida Collector Car Auction, January 1 - 4, 2009

Reproduced from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel

- There was Elvis Presley's Cadillac Eldorado. And the Ferrari Convertible Don Johnson drove as Sonny Crocket in Miami Vice.But it was cars such a 1948 Plymouth Special Deluxe Woody or a 1925 Derby Boattail Roadster - one of three cars ever made - that had car collectors and visitors mesmerized.It was all part of an auction hosted by Lifestyle Auctions and KruseÖ International Saturday at the Royal Palm Polo Club Grounds to raise money for the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation."People see cars here they might never see in a lifetime," said organizer Marv Friedman.

There were also one-of-a-kind custom made cars such as Sam Mascia's 1951 forest green Mercury with a Corvette engine, air conditioning, power brakes and drop-down DVD player. It was the featured car at the South Florida Fair last year. Mascia, who built the car at his body shop in Port St. Lucie, was hoping to fetch $95,000 for it."This is strictly the product of my own imagination," said Mascia. "It drives just like a Lincoln Town Car." The event, which began Thursday and runs through Sunday Sunday (1/4/09), auctioned nearly 500 cars in the first three days, Friedman said.Elvis's car sold for $115,000, but a 1932 Auburn Boattail Speedster topped the King's car by selling for $550,000. But for car builders such as Mascia, or just classic car fans such as his friend Brady Stephens, car auctions like Saturday's are about admiring the four-wheeled toys."Where else do you find this many exotic cars in one place?" said Stephens, who belongs to the Treasure Coast Classic Chevy Club. "There are too many cars here to have a favorite."

And they say there’s a recession?????

More to Think About

In an article in today’s Sun-Sentinel, a report from the Institute for Supply Management stated that the services sector index “defies expectations, rises sharply.” It said, “Tuesday the service center index rose to 40.6 in December from 37.3 in November. Wall Street economists expected the index to slip slightly to 37.”

And what sector are we in? The service sector, of course. Mind you, I don’t need economists to tell me how well our specific segment of the service sector is doing. I hear from you folks all the time.

One of the things which prompted me to get into the residential cleaning business some 18 years ago was a report which said, “consumers would be willing to give up 14% of their income for more free time.” Unquestionably, hiring your services doesn’t cost them 14% of their income, but it does provide them with an average of 4 hours per week more personal time – about the equivalent of five 40-hour work weeks every single year! No wonder our industry is doing well now – and will continue to outperform most other industries in any economy.