what do you guys think of this ad?

I created this to combat a lower priced local cleaner that advertises in Val Pak and according to his posts on other boards he is wildly successful. He has not hurt my business at all because I have been around so long that repeats and referrals keep me busy, but I am sure I have lost a few people to him.

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That's pretty cool Fred. I like the way you very plainly compared and contrasted the two options. Is this a post card you send to potential clients? Newspaper insert?  Welcome to the forum and thanks for sharing.

I do not think you need to worry about the cheap work he is getting. After they use the other cleaner, most likely they will call you again. Probably would be OK to send this out. But I need to think on that some more. Call my cell if you want to chat. 815-867-0404. I am on central time. Gerry

Do you know for a fact, your competitor is inexperienced? That he is uneducated? That he is really only taking 15 minutes to clean a whole house?

I don't advertise speaking unknowns and talking down about competitors.

The graphic you used to portray your competition actually makes him look stronger, not weaker.

Like Freemind, the first thing I thought about was the depiction might be too personal. You are calling out the guy indirectly as a hack who is undeducated and will damage a customer's carpet. That might be a little unfair and create some negative returns.

I really like the description of yourself Fred, I would just go with that to state your case and let the coupon guy go under on his own quietly. Nobody lasts in any industry without product quality, they exhaust their potential customers by never getting return work, so their threat is short-lived.

I would suggest to remain focused on your business plan and let the others do as they may. We can't know or control what other businesses do. Keep the attention of you and keep it positive and educational.

What happened to "real cleaning for real people" ?

You buy a lot of encap so you must be getting good dry times.
So where's the stop watch?
You gotta answer their #1 Q - How long  til it dries?

I like how you put your phone number in there cuz you come across really sincere to me.
Whereas I got a hunch who your competition is and he's got such a serious stuttering problem I would think people wonder how stable the Fool is.
In a telephone conversation comparison you will get every job.


Don't use the DfE Logo or WoolSafe Logos as is; they're incomplete thus incorrect.
Study the label and use the full logo.
Then you can stress 'safe.'

Safer solutions for people, pets and the environment.

Fred Hamer
Real Cleaner since 19xx

What's wrong with trashing the competitor ?? As long as what you say is true, e.g. bad reviews on the internet about the competitor, etc.
I personally don't do it because we already have great reviews as it is and all I say to price shopper is "you will get what you paid for", now a lot of you will disagree with me but I can't tell you how many customers I've talked to say "oh I paid $ 100 for my whole house last time but when I called him, the phone is disconnected", of course the phone is disconnected lady, how can he pay his bills by charging $ 100 for 2 - 3 hours of work, you all say there are some people do quality work for cheap, yes that's true BUT the biggest question is how long are they going to last ?? It's a jungle out there and everyone need to survive this unstable market.

Fred H wrote:I created this to combat a lower priced local cleaner that advertises in Val Pak and according to his posts on other boards he is wildly successful. He has not hurt my business at all because I have been around so long that repeats and referrals keep me busy, but I am sure I have lost a few people to him.

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Fred, I have to be honest.

I think it looks very home made-ish, MS PowerPoint possibly? Personally I think you could get a much better add made by a person that does that for a living.  

I can't really say I'm a fan of the 'bad mouthing', either. I just wonder what's the point of putting him down, when you say " He has not hurt my business at all"?  
If you're just trying to compete and win over new customers over him?..... I think I would do so more by really stressing what makes you different and better than the next guy(s), rather than put this one specific guy down.......Pump up yourself instead of put the others down I say.

Of course that's just my opinion, and you know what the say, everyone has one.   

BTW just because HE SAYS he's "wildly successful" on forums, doesn't really mean anything! I mean Really, how often do you see guys posting they are 'wildly UN-successful'?   

A Lot of carpet cleaners are Full of It!!  

I'm wildly successful!  I'm a marketing mad man! I make $2,300 in one high in home!

Test 1 2 3............

Good point Davey, nothing changed with my business in that statement.  Dang it!  Back to work!

Not directed at ya Fred. I just thought Davey said something we have all seen else where so I thought I'd give it a shot.

Fred, take out the arrows and the right half of the ad and you have something good. Simple, hometownish looking, a decent offer, and positive points about your service (I design all of my ads and purposely don't make them look like a professional artist made them). The point of a good ad should be to make the phone so you can make the sale when they call. Trashing the competition just makes the trasher look bad.   . There is no need to even worry about losing a few if he is as bad as you think he is. In the end he will get bad word of mouth (which travels fast) and you will have the opportunity to gain a life time customer and the good referrals that are generated by her next time around.

Normally I would I agree with the rest of the fellows about putting the competition down.
Now Fred has been in business for over 30 years he doesn't need to do any advertising but for some reason this guy has gotten under his skin and if it makes him feel better I say go with.

Davey Cracker wrote:BTW just because HE SAYS he's "wildly successful" on forums, doesn't really mean anything! I mean Really, how often do you see guys posting they are 'wildly UN-successful'?   

A Lot of carpet cleaners are Full of It!!  

You know what they say, never trust a roofer, an auto mechanic and a carpet cleaner, ha..ha..ha.....

Look at how everyone here in our little group was Giving to Fred, another Giver.
Feed the grass baby.

What we like doesn't matter. Fact is most franchises use "scare" tactics in the majority of there marketing, why? Because it works!
Like everyone above I dont like putting others down, and claiming marketing mumbo jumbo but the fact is, most customers believe it.

The ad does look homemade and out of the 90's clip art bin... but, as stated above, this will evoke a different type of consumer than a modern HD looking ad will. There are benefits to both types of ads and agree with what Joe G had said above. I would say yours would ad trust because some look at the modern flashy ads and think they are going to get screwed( most conservitive middle to old folks.)
Though some will look at them and think oh I like the look of this, I am gonna call this new modern guy. (mostly younger house wives)

Wow, Thanks for the input guys. Sorry it took so long to respond.

The ad is homemade.
I have not used this ad other than to post on Craigslist which is not my target market, I assure you, but it is free.
I did get one call from a property manager that said he saw it, So I went to take a look at a few of his units in a new complex but there was something about the guy that told me I did not really want to work for him, while we were walking to the units, he was micro managing things such as the way a child had placed their bicycle in a rack, and picking up bits of small trash (he manages section 8 units so we know what kind of carpet cleaning I would be doing, not the most desirable conditions to work in.

I am trying to point out the benefits of using an experienced cleaner and the potential pitfalls of just hiring some one from a coupon. He doesn't even use a real picture of himself in his ads, I do. I hate cookie cutter ads and websites with pictures of model families with toothy grins, stock pictures of fancy living rooms. Let's get real people.