Google, the world’s largest search engine, accounts for slightly more than 50% of all searches made on the net. So when most people think of online searches, they think of Google.

But what is “Adwords?”

“Who was that carpet cleaner we hired last year? What was his company's name?”

This may come as a shock to you, but most of your clients don't remember who you are. It doesn't matter how thrilled they were with the job you did, they just can't remember you.

Your clients are online. Many of them search the Internet to find a cleaning company instead of picking up the old Yellow Pages. Blogging is an important way to make sure it’s your company they connect with.

Using a letter to sell your service is much more effective than a postcard or a brochure. With a sales letter, you have space to tell your entire sales story.

"But who's gonna read a four page letter?"

When you set your web site up, post to your blog, and create incoming links, the keywords you choose are important. These keywords help search engines determine what keywords your site ranks for. Also, when you pay per click with Google Adwords or Yahoo, choosing the wrong keyword could cost you lots of money.

Why should a carpet-cleaning company have a web site?  First, it's super cheap.  Many companies find it's one of the best returns on their advertising dollar. But that’s not all. Not by a long shot.

What does your marketing plan look like for 2009? Are you doing the same marketing you did in 2008? If you had your best year ever, by all means do it all over again. But otherwise, you're in for a big surprise. 

A nice older gentleman stopped by my office the other day.  He was well dressed and well spoken.  He seemed to fit our typical client profile.  He said, "I've been meticulously reading your ads in the newspaper and I wanted to stop by for a quote."  I smiled and breathed a sigh of relief.  This guy should be an easy sell, like most of the prospects from our newspaper ads.

Without emotion, your sales copy is dead.

People buy with their emotions. Mrs. Jones doesn't get her carpet cleaned because she enjoys watching you drag hoses all over her house. But she may buy because she wants to feel happy with her home. In this case, she's buying happiness.

Can the Yellow Pages work? Of course. It's worked okay for me. I know other cleaners for whom it's worked pretty well. But is it the best bang for your advertising buck? Here's the problem…

Many cleaning company owners go about planning their advertising backwards. They choose a medium and plan their message around it.