the almighty headline - hitman advertisinghere’s a way to keep your grout looking...

© 2007 Hitman Advertising

The headline is THE MOST IMPORTANT part of your ad. It catches attention and sets the theme for the rest of your message. If you don’t give them a great reason/benefit to read further, they’ll read the headline and skip over your ad. So, think. What does your prospect want that you are able to give them?

90% of the time, the headline is read, and the reader moves on.

They move on, unless you catch their interest and cause them to think you may help them make their dreams come true.

Knowing this, you MUST be very particular about what your headline says. Make sure it delivers a powerful benefit to your prospect.

Your strategy should be written before you write the first headline. With the strategy, you have already decided WHAT you’re going to say. The headline is the beginning of HOW you’re going to say it.

Sit down and write at least 50 headlines. When you’ve written about 30, it gets difficult. That’s when you begin to come up with good stuff. Go back and refine the others on the list. Use your list of benefits and monologue to create the most compelling headline.

Headline= The BIGGEST benefit to your prospect OR frustration you can solve.

If the reader glances at your headline and company name, she should at least know what benefit you can give her.

1. An incredible offer she can’t resist

2. An amazing guarantee so she knows she can’t lose

3. A HUGE promise (benefit) of something she needs or wants

4. A totally shocking statement that grabs attention

All headlines should be a benefit if you want your ad to sell. An incredible offer and amazing guarantee are benefits to the prospect. Use the least amount of words to convey your benefit in the headline. Keep it as short as possible.

The ALMIGHTY HEADLINE

Start writing headlines after you’ve written your strategy

Your headline MUST offer one or more of these four things:


Positive headlines are better than negative headlines. It can be tempting to have a headline like “Dirty Carpet?” But, this isn’t a positive benefit. Always look at your headline and think, “Is my customer going to want that?”

Benefit followed by a promise. The cleanest carpet in Pensacola, or it’s FREE.

Promise. Finally, no more dirty grout.

Open-ended question. Do you know how cleaning can benefit your health?

Answer a question the graphic imposes (see Graphics)

How to. How to keep your tile looking beautiful

Why? Why would you consider hiring any other carpet cleaner?

Who else? Who else wants the cleanest carpet in Pensacola?

The secret to. The secret to keeping your floors beautiful.

Number headline. 5 reasons why. 5 dirty facts about mold.

You’ll love. You’ll love your sparkling clean floors.

Parallelism. Have your carpet cleaned once a year to remove ugly stains. Have your carpet cleaned twice a year so you never get ugly stains.

Personalized. Pet owners: Learn how you can easily remove pet stains

Shocking statement. Don’t kill your dog. WARNING: The statement has to allude to a benefit and be relevant to the key point.

Differentiate from competition. Our technicians are exhaustively thorough.

Say what you’re NOT. Far from an ordinary carpet cleaning.

Say human truth about what people are thinking. If the last carpet cleaner left your carpet soaked, stained, and ugly, call us for the cleanest carpet in Pensacola.

Metaphor. Compare it to something else. Think of it as a 480 Horsepower, twin turbo for your carpet.

Satisfaction. If you don’t absolutely love our service, it’s FREE.

Use one or a combination of the above headline types.

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Types of Headlines:


Give me two hours and I’ll make your carpet beautiful again

I love my sparkling clean floors

A beauty shop for your carpet

Never worry about dirty grout again

You can only expect beautiful floors with a system like this

Impress your guests with beautiful, clean floors

How to get the most beautiful carpet in Houston

You’ll get the cleanest carpet in Pensacola

You wouldn’t sleep on the same sheets for one year. Why wait for carpet cleaning?

With technology like this, how clean will your floors be?

Your floors look good, you look good

End dirty grout problems FOREVER

Your vinyl floors will look like new again

Remove stuck in soils from your vinyl floor and make it last longer

Rejuvenate your vinyl floors

I didn’t think my carpet could ever be this clean

How a clean home leads to a healthier life

How I can help you end dirty grout problems forever

An urgent message you can’t afford to ignore

How to keep berber carpet clean and beautiful

5 reasons you’ll love our service

When good pets go bad

How to help your carpet last 20 years or more

Pets gone wild

5 dirty facts about mold

Announcing the newest advancement in fabric protection

Headline Examples:


New grout sealer protects for 10 years

The magic formula to keeping your grout clean

Suddenly, she had white grout again

Introducing the easiest way to keep your grout clean

Special introductory offer designed for Jane Doe (use with mail merge)

Jane Doe, now you can have the cleanest floors in your neighborhood (mail merge)

Here’s a way to keep your grout looking beautiful—guaranteed

Attention homeowners in the 32514 zip code: Get FREE cleaning now

Insider tips on hiring a professional cleaner

Discover the latest breakthrough that keeps your carpet clean for years

The facts about scotchgard

This is the answer to your dirty carpet problems

100% guaranteed way to get your dirty grout clean

I never thought my floors would look this good

I didn’t think they could get out all those stains--but they did

The reason why your grout needs to be sealed

I’ve got the cleanest carpet in my neighborhood

If you’re frustrated with your tile floor, we can help

Your carpet will be beautiful again

This is the answer to your pet problems

The truth about pet stain removal

The quickest solution to pet stains—guaranteed

The easy guide to pet stain removal

We turn ugly carpets into beautiful carpets

How could such a BIG stain come from such a little dog?

Don’t kill the dog—call for expert pet stain removal


Here are some words that make a headline sell. If you notice, many of these are used in the headlines examples I’ve given. You can also find these same words in headlines that pull readers in to get them to read copy. Learn these words. Practice them.

FREE and YOU are by far the most powerful words you can use in an ad. Everyone is looking for something FREE. It’s funny when you think about it. Even sophisticated adults who live in huge houses are interested in FREEBIES.

This has already been mentioned in the Hitman Ad Concepts section, but it’s important enough to state again. Never ask a yes or no question in a headline. If you do, you promote closure. If you ask, “Do you want clean carpet?” The reader thinks, “yes”, and moves on to the next ad. She answered your question, and she’s done. Asking an open-ended question pulls the reader in your ad.

A subhead is a mini headline located near the headline or throughout the body copy. It summarizes the content. Your sub-head should be benefit driven just like your headline. Sub-heads are important to keep the reader’s attention.

Placing quotes around your headline somehow makes it more meaningful to readers. Put quotes around important headlines to show it was made by someone important. Of course, if you wrote it, was quoted by someone important.

Beautiful

Announcing

Yes

Secrets

Insider tips

The truth about

Amazing

Love

Hate

New

How

Why

Now

Here is

This is

Facts

Discover

At last

Breakthrough

Mystery

Sale

Miami (or your city)

FREE

YOU

Power words for headlines

Subheads

Don’t ask a yes or no question

“Quotes”


Look at your headline as a classified ad. If the reader saw only your headline and phone number, would she call based only on that classified ad? Does it give a great enough benefit for your prospect to want to learn more? If the answer is no, your prospect won’t read beyond your headline.

Write as you would normally talk with a prospect. In fact, be more personal. If your copy sounds like an advertisement, you should start all over. Talk highly of your service, but don’t sound like a sales pitch. Write like you’re a friend recommending a service you have used.

Don’t write cutesy, funny copy. Especially for a service business, this is hard to make work. Your goal isn’t to entertain; it’s to gain clients. I’ve run funny, cute ads for my carpet cleaning company. They never did as well as a benefit driven, no-nonsense ad.

Don’t get “techy.” Your prospect doesn’t care about how big your machine is or how hot the water is unless you tell them why it’s important. The techy stuff is a feature. What they get from the techy stuff is a benefit.

Your copy states, “200 degree water.” This leaves the benefit up to the reader.

An improved benefit is, “Your carpet will be in the healthiest state possible when we rinse it with 200 degree water.”

Write copy as if it were a conversation between friends.

The first sentence of copy should be short for quick readability.

Write in present tense, especially with benefits.

Take out “I” and “We” as much as possible and use the word “You”.

Put as much detail in the copy as possible to create believability.

Limit the use of “and.” Use short sentences instead.

Copy is almost a series of headlines.

Use action verbs often, to tell what you do. Limit adjectives and adverbs.

The headline test:

Write like you’re having a conversation

For example:

Body copy tips:


Use sentence fragments often. Go ahead. It’s okay.

Take out extra words like “that” if the sentence makes sense without it.

Copy should be clear, simple communication. Avoid big words.

Break up body copy with frequent line spaces, subheads, and bullets.

Understand the first line in your body copy must continue to keep the reader’s attention as well as be a continuation of the headline. Keep the first line of copy short. When you catch the reader’s interest with the headline, she starts to read your copy. If the first line is irrelevant to the headline or long and boring, she’ll turn the page.

Suppose you read a headline that said “FREE Lawn Mowing To All Small Business Owners.” If the first sentence in the paragraph talked about purchasing a lawn mower, you’d instantly be turned off. You didn’t start reading the body copy to find out how to get a lawn mower, you wanted to find out how to get your lawn mowed FREE. Make

sure the headline and body copy, especially the first sentence, are in harmony.

Would you believe that most writers like to throw in all kinds of crazy little extra words that don’t help and don’t give any benefits to the reader whatsoever when they’re done?

Wow. What a wordy sentence. Let’s try that again after taking it through edit mode.

Would you believe most writers throw in extra words that don’t give any benefits to the reader?

The word “that” can be removed on most occasions. Take out extra adjectives and

adverbs if possible. Don’t repeat words in the sentence. It makes for easier readability.

What you define as “the problem” should be a complaint you commonly hear from prospects. Listen to your clients. Send out surveys. Ask why they used you over other companies. Ask what bothers them the most about cleaning.

In the carpet cleaning industry, a few problems consumers commonly have are spots returning, late technicians, spots still present after the cleaning, wet carpet, careless technicians, and lingering odors.

Dig deep into the problem. Make the reader feel it. Even better, make the reader fear

A quick lesson on how to be concise

Agitating the problem

7© 2007 Hitman Advertising

it ever happening. Stories work very well. Use one of the “Hitman ad concepts” to dig into the problem.

Let’s suppose you were writing an ad about spots returning.

Here’s some copy on how to agitate your problem:

The day after your cleaning, you wake up and walk through the living room to get to the kitchen. Hmm, that’s funny. You didn’t remember there being a spot by the sofa. Wait, there’s another by the end table. Good grief! How did this happen? Did the carpet cleaners add spots to your carpet?

I’ll tell you how it happened. The cheap, high residue, soil attracting chemicals many carpet cleaners use can actually create spots. When the chemical isn’t rinsed well, you can be left with more spots than before your cleaning. Are you really saving any money by hiring a cheap carpet cleaner?

Boom. Problem agitated. Now, she’s ready for the solution.

Be the hero of your story. The prospect doesn’t know who to turn to, then here you come. Create drama.

Here’s the solution to the story:

When you call Action Carpet Care, you’ll get the highest quality cleaning agents possible. We never use the cheap stuff. First, we pre-spot all traffic areas with our PH balanced cleaning agents that break down soils. The pre-spotter is groomed in and then rinsed with hot water from our truck mounted machine. This process leaves your carpet soft and fluffy.

Don’t worry. We do everything possible to keep spots from returning. But if they do, you have our 100% Guarantee. Call us and we’ll rush right out to take care of them for you—AT ABSOLUTELY NO CHARGE.

You are the solution


The offer is what calls your prospect to take action. After seeing an irresistible offer, your prospect says, “I gotta get it now!” It is possible for an ad to get a fair response without an offer. However, a well-crafted offer will always increase response. Don’t stay stuck with discount offers. Other offers may be more profitable.

Here are some examples:

Discount offer= Includes a dollar amount or percentage off. Discounts can be effective, but constant use of discounts cheapens your company in the eye of the prospect. Avoid discounting your primary service. Examples include: 25% off, $10 off, etc.

FREE offer with no obligation= This is a very attractive offer to most prospects. The risk is taken off the prospect and put on you. This can be effective IF the prospect believes your offer. If the offer doesn’t contain several of the “7 Ways to Overcome Skepticism”, it won’t be believable. It’s important to give this offer only to well qualified prospects. Even so, a small percentage of respondents will take the FREE offer and not purchase anything. The best FREE offers are ones that cost little to give. FREE reports, booklets, and educational tips work well, but don’t carry as much value as FREE service offers. Examples include: 100 square feet of FREE carpet cleaning, 25 square feet of FREE tile cleaning, FREE pet stain removal guide, FREE indoor allergy report, etc.

FREE offer with implied obligation= One effective way to use a FREE offer in an ad is it to make a FREE offer with copy that implies more should be purchased. Purchase isn’t required. It’s not as strong an offer as FREE with no obligation, but it does hold its weight. You are clearly giving them a way out if the cleaning doesn’t meet their expectations. Fewer people will not make a purchase than with a FREE with no obligation offer. Here’s what has worked well for me: “Call now to get the first 25 square feet cleaned FREE, and if you’re not happy, we’ll leave AT NO COST TO YOU.”

FREE offer with purchase= This offer gives an extra incentive to make a purchase. The easiest FREE offer is FREE additional cleaning. Offer something that only takes a few minutes of labor, but has a tremendous value to your client. Avoid giving FREE offers of your primary service. If carpet cleaning is what most clients call for, make a FREE offer for anything other than carpet cleaning. Part of the value in FREE offers is to remind clients of the extra services you provide. Examples include: FREE car mat cleaning, FREE walk-off mat cleaning, FREE mattress cleaning, FREE chair cleaning, FREE rug cleaning, FREE deodorizer treatment, FREE bottle of spot remover, etc.

The irresistible offer


FREE gift for an inquiry= Make an offer to give a FREE gift simply for stopping by your shop, calling your office, or having you in their home for a FREE estimate. This doesn’t require commitment on the prospect’s part. This can be a bottle of spot remover, movie tickets, air freshener, etc.

FREE demonstration= Offer to give a small sample to show exactly what your service can do. This is almost the same as the FREE offer with implied obligation. However, wording it as a demonstration doesn’t seem as attractive to the prospect.

FREE gift as a premium= This can be a gift from another company. It may be a gift certificate for a massage, car wash, FREE dinner coupon, etc. that you earned as a trade-out. Or, it can be a gift you purchased for the prospect.

FREE follow-up offer= One week after you delivered your service, send an offer for discounted service if they act now. Vistaprint.com does this all the time. You order business cards, and they immediately send an offer to double your order. If your client just had her carpet cleaned, send an offer for tile or upholstery.

Reason-why sale= If you have a valid reason to give a discount, do it. This may be the slow winter season or hot summer slow down. If you’re honest about the reason-why, you add credibility to your offer.

Beat competition offer= You can beat the competition’s price, but I wouldn’t recommend it unless you want to go broke. Instead, beat their service. Have a spot removal guarantee that tells the prospect “If we can’t remove a spot, and you hire another carpet cleaner who can, we’ll give your money back for our service.”

Money-back guarantee offer= This takes risk away from the prospect. She knows if you’re a reputable company, you’ll refund her money if she isn’t happy. Be careful not to put any “ifs or ands” in the guarantee. If you make one, which I recommend you do, make a straight guarantee. Of course, you can have exclusions for pet odor, commercial, or anything you want to not guarantee.

Warranty offer= Make an offer to warranty your service so the prospect isn’t worried about a faulty job after you leave. Flooring retailers and furniture stores do it all the time. For example, offer warranties on spots returning for 30 days, 1-year guarantee with fabric protection applied, or a 10-year warranty on tile re-coloring.

Create an offer your target prospect can’t refuse. If your offer is so-so, but not irresistible, don’t use it in the headline. Your headline will be best served with a BIG benefit. In this case, your offer can be mentioned in the middle or end of your ad.


Repeat the offer more than once. Repeat it in a different way. Mention the offer in the middle, at the end, and in the P.S. Repetition will get your point across. Get my point?

Always, always, always have a deadline in your offer. This gives the reader the sense they MUST call now. Waiting isn’t an option. Their lives are busy. If intentions are to call you the next day, it may never happen. In fact, I would guess half the prospects who intend on calling about your ad never get around to it. The other fourth loses your ad, forgets who you are, and calls your competitor. Then, maybe one-fourth of the prospects who intended on calling you, actually got around to call.

You want to make your offer so compelling, so relevant, and so believable your prospect feels like she will lose out if she doesn’t call by the deadline. A good deadline is two weeks after receiving your direct mail or flyer offer. In newspaper, one week works best. For television, internet, and radio, the next 15 minutes. Yellow pages are the only media you don’t need a deadline. Why? They’re ready to buy today. No need to convince them.

With a great print advertisement, prospects will keep your ad for months. Sometimes years. Your ad obviously caught their attention, but they weren’t in need of your service that week. If you make an offer you don’t want taken advantage of later, the deadline covers you. If it is one you repeat often, you can be the hero and honor the offer even though it has expired. Especially with flyers placed on doorknobs, the

prospect tends to put them away and call months later.

Give your offer a start date and end date (Offer valid 5/15/07-5/30/07).

Mention it is not valid with other offers.

Put a price value on your offer (Normally $34 or Valued at $89).

Make sure the offer is easily understood.

Now, check your ad against your strategy. Does it work? If not, start over. If it works with the strategy, put it down for one or two days. Look at the ad again with a new perspective. Does it still work with the strategy?

If it still works, do a final edit. Take out phrases or words that don’t contribute to the sales message. Now, you’re ready to lay the ad out.

Tips on deadlines and offers:

All done writing?

Create Urgency


A good layout will grab attention from the reader and allow easy reading. There are times when white space or silence is the most beneficial use of space. And, there are times when an ad should be crammed full of type and graphics. Whatever you decide to do, make sure it fits your strategy and your prospect is able to understand what you are communicating.

Create only ONE central eye catching point. This can be a graphic or headline.

Use no more than two different fonts.

Shorten the leading (line spacing) between bullet points.

Use underlines, bold, larger type, etc. to draw attention to key points.

Use bullet icons or small images in other areas to draw attention.

First, the reader is caught by the largest graphic in the ad. This is typically a photo or headline. Second, the eye goes to a caption under the picture, if one is present, or the second largest type. At that moment, the reader decides if she will read further. If she’s interested, she’ll go right into your body copy. If she’s not interested, she’ll move on.

90% of the time, the reader DOES NOT read past your headline.

They read your headline and company name. Boom! An impression is made and they move on. So, your headline must stand alone in making an impact. Make sure you have a great headline that stands out with a powerful, unique benefit.

If your headline interests them, they’ll read your entire ad. They may even cut it out and put it on their refrigerator.

In your body copy, place icons in a space you want attention to be drawn to. World-class advertisers do it all the time. It draws attention. You’re making a reader who is skimming over your ad, stop and read key words. Did this paragraph attract more attention than the others, even though it was at the bottom of the page?

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Create Attractive Ad Layouts

5 tips to a better ad layout:

Understand how an eye reads your print ad:


This is a great example of bullet points.

You can list your main points here.

They help break up copy for any long copy ad.

Bullet points are more often read than other copy.

Use small pictures to break up copy. The pictures shouldn’t be as large as the primary graphic. Pictures or graphics should also be used to break any boxes in the layout. A graphic can be placed on the edge of a box so it leads the eye out of the box into the copy.

You can also use ALL CAPS, underline, bold, italics, and larger letters to draw attention. Stand on your head. Scream. Do whatever it takes. But remember, don’t go overboard with your layout by creating a cluttered ad.

Don’t trash your ad with unreadable type. Use no more than two different fonts.

Common fonts are Arial for headlines and Times New Roman in body copy. Of course, different variations can work. One major rule about fonts is to make it readable. Script type fonts are often hard to read and shouldn’t be used in a headline. If your body copy type is very small, Arial is often the most readable font.

Use no less than a 9-point font if possible. Fonts less than 9 points are usually unreadable by people with bad eyesight.

Avoid reverse type in body copy or long headlines. Reverse is a dark colored background with white type. In large amount, it can be hard to read.

There really is no limit on how large your font should be. Typically, 10-12 point font is a good size for body copy. Just remember the largest font on the page is what will be read first. Don’t have two headlines the same size or your ad will appear cluttered.

After reading your headline, the reader will glance at the copy to determine if there is anything worth reading. A good sub-head will entice readership of the copy. It gives the reader a reason-why to read the paragraph. Consider the format of this book. The sub-head stops you and tells what’s in the paragraph. If you don’t like the subject, you glance over it and go to another sub-head. Write your sub-head similar to a headline.

How to use bullet points:

Use Type Effectively

Use sub-heads like this to pull reader in and break up copy

Reverse type


This is recommended, but not a major rule. In fact, there are times when ALL CAPS can benefit a headline. ALL CAPS makes the words bigger. However, you should surely avoid it in long headlines. It makes the sentence harder to read. If you want to catch attention, just use larger type.

Where to put everythingThe following are basic guidelines for layout. As with anything else in advertising, they aren’t set in stone. However, if you stray from these guidelines, have a logical reason to do so.

The eye is always trained to move from the left to right and top to bottom. Never create a layout that conflicts with this right to left movement. For the most part, the headline will be toward the top of the ad. It will be vertically centered or to the left.

Realize the graphic will catch attention. Place the headline so it can be viewed immediately after glancing at the graphic. Like the headline, the graphic is typically placed in the center or toward the top. It will be vertically centered or to the left. Placing the graphic on the bottom or right could move the reader’s eye toward an adjoining ad on the page. Create the layout so the readers stay with you.

Be mindful of the direction pictures are facing. For instance, if you have a picture of a person, place the picture so the person faces toward your headline. If the person faces off the page, the reader’s eye may move to another page.

The call to action and phone number is placed at the bottom. Usually, the logo is placed near the phone number. 90% of the time, the reader reads your headline, glances at the picture, and notices your company name. Make sure your company name is in an obvious place or the reader may get frustrated.

Minimize use of exclamation points! They subconsciously tell the reader the writer thought the phrase was very important. Let the reader decide what is important in your ad. They’re okay to use on occasion, and may even grab some attention, but exclamation points leave the reader thinking you have over-hyped your words.

AVOID ALL CAPS IN HEADLINES FOR EASIER READING

Other Tips To Make Your Ad Reader Friendly


Headlines make you go, huh? The graphic answers the question.OrThe graphic makes you go, huh? The headline answers the question.

Graphics are first to be noticed on a page. They work great for gaining attention in your ad.

Graphics are used to communicate ideas beyond words. They work in synergy with the headline to make the reader understand your key point.

Brainstorm ideas for a graphic after you’ve written your strategy. Don’t pick your graphic, and then design your ad around the graphic. This can destroy your entire sales message.

The graphic should never repeat what the headline has already stated. If your headline says, “Save money now”, don’t use a picture of money. This redundancy is a waste of ad space.

Use graphics that attract attention

Make sure the graphic contributes to the key point of your ad

Demonstrate the steps of your service

Before and after pictures

Show a close-up of an important part of your equipment or service

Show a picture of a stage in the story you are telling

Show you, your shop, technicians, or office staff

Show someone who appears to be in your target market

Show a picture of the person who gives a testimonial

Use a graphic to explode your key benefit

Show a picture of the outcome the prospect hopes to get

Use very large type instead of a graphic

Use smaller pictures to break up a box

Use Graphics To Make Your Key Point

Tips for better graphics:


The graphic pulls the reader into the story and reasons how their carpet can be saved.

They are your carpet’s worst enemy.

We are your carpet’s hero.As you sit on the sofa watching television,

you hear giggling coming from your daughter’sbedroom. You smile and think how nice it is thatshe has a playmate to keep her amused. Soon, thegiggling stops. Everything is quiet. That’s when youget worried.You yell down the hall,“What’s going on inthere?” “Nothing,” she says, followed by more giggling.At this point, you realize you should get up fromthe sofa and check out the cause of the mysteriousgiggling. You peek into your daughter’s room and findher painting her fingernails. That’s not so bad. Thenyou glance down and notice fingernail polish on thedog. Hmm, that’s not so bad. Then, you go further inthe room and discover fingernail polish all over thecarpet. Not again! Last time you tried eight differentspot removers and you still couldn’t remove the stains. This time, call Premium Carpet Care. Theirtechnicians are trained just for issues just like this. Buthurry. Stains like this need to be removed quickly.

How “kid stains” are conqueredFirst, your carpet is pre-treated with an all-naturalcleaning agent to break down stuck in grease and dirt.The cleaning agent is groomed into your carpet andrinsed with our $55,000 truck mounted system. Anyremaining spots like gum, wax, nail polish, drink spills,crayon, marker, silly putty, and food are treated withone of our 12 spotting agents. Our technicians areexperienced in every type of “kid stain” imaginable.

How “pet stains” are conqueredFirst, we’ll pinpoint your problem areas with our urinedetector to show us exactly where the urine is located.Next, we’ll pour a deodorizer directly on the area anduse a special tool designed to pullurine from the carpet padding. Weguarantee this process will workwonders or you don’t pay forthe treatment.

CarpetCareCall today and you’ll get our “Guide To A Stain FREE

Carpet” absolutely FREE. No purchase necessary. 474-1133


Informative advertising involves giving consumers information to help them make the right choices. Of course, the right choice is always you.

Most consumers in the upper income bracket are highly educated.

Home service work is considered “high involvement” by your prospect.

Highly educated consumers want information before they make a major purchase. They want feedback on your company from consumers who have used your service. As well, they often want to have a general understanding of what it is you do on a technical or customer service level.

Carpet cleaning isn’t considered a high priced purchase, but it is a high involvement purchase. Why? You’ll be in their castle. Their home is their pride. It’s where they live, eat, and sleep. A poor service company can do a multitude of things to disturb their

life and cause them great inconvenience.

Forget about the cost. High-end clients are hesitant to hire a company because they fear being robbed, left with a mess, or the job dragging on for an extraordinary amount of time. I’m sure you’ve heard the horror stories of what some of your competitors have put consumers through. If you educate them on the avoiding these horrors, you win their trust.

Advitorials—Ads in newspapers that are written like an editorial. The reader knows the difference, but looks on your ad as believable content.

Infomercials—Long commercials on cable or late night television that tell your entire company story with demonstrations.

Brochures—Educational brochures that report ways to help consumers with their problems.

Radio shows—Purchase air time on well-known home improvement shows. Give tips on your area of expertise. Or, start your own radio show.

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Informative Advertising

Two reasons you should use informative advertising:

They’re worried you may disrupt their lives

6 ways you can educate high-end prospects


Newsletters—Provide information packed newsletters that describe your service.

Websites—Some consumers will read for hours before making a decision on which company to hire. Create an informative website where they spend lots of time with your company before even calling to book an appointment.

Your writing should be informative, but not just a bunch of boring words on paper. Write with the same principles as I’ve outlined in the copywriting section of this manual. Use lots of benefits. Give benefits of why other carpet cleaners aren’t trusted. Tell stories of homeowners who struggle with cleaning issues and how you helped them solve their problems. Be educational and entertaining all at the same time.

Your education topics should cover reasons your prospect may not trust carpet cleaning companies, why your company is different, and cleaning issues consumers struggle with. You’re identifying the problem, and educating them on how to solve it. The answer is always to call you.

This method of advertising is ever more important if you are just starting or expanding your business. In a way, your prospect feels a friend is referring them. The friend referring them is you. Through friendly, informative advertising, you’ll gain many clients who are willing to spend large amounts of money with you.

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5 dirty facts about mold

Refurbish your hardwood floors without sanding at 1/3 the cost

The secret to keeping white furniture beautiful

8 things we do no other company can touch

3 signs you’re going to need mold remediation

How to prevent water from destroying your home

5.

6.

How to write educational, informative advertising

Sample topics:


Provided as an educationalresource by:

How

To Keep

From D

estroying Y

our Hom

eFlooded? 4 Im

mediate Steps YO

U M

ust Take

Your Right to C

hose a Qualified C

ompany

Professional Flood Dam

age Clean-up

Less Than 72 Hours B

efore Mold G

rows

Your Questions A

nswered

In a Glim

pse.

Healthy H

ome

Resto

ratio

n

An Educational R

esource to help prepare you

against water dam

age.H

ealthy Hom

eResto

ratio

n

474-1

133


Your Questions A

nswered

If my carpet and pad is w

et, is it ruined?In m

ost cases, your carpet and pad is restorable IF the water w

as clean w

ater and has been in the carpet for less than 24 hours.R

epairs can often be done to the carpet if necessary to restore the carpet as it w

as before the flood. In most cases your hom

e w

ill be dry in 24 days.

Should I dry the carpet myself w

ith a shop vac and fans?W

ithout the proper experience and equipment, the flooded area

could take days, weeks, or m

onths to dry. The water begins to

wick up into the dryw

all and into the studs inside the wall. This

makes a perfect environm

ent for mold and w

ood destroying organism

s to grow. M

old grows on w

ood, baseboards, drywall,

and inside cabinets if the building is not quickly dried. If mold is

present, the affected area must be replaced.

What about m

y hardwood floors?

When a hardw

ood floor takes in water, it w

ill buckle within a

matter of days if not properly dried. W

e use special moisture

meters to determ

ine how m

uch moisture is present in the w

ood.If the flood has just occurred, the hardw

ood may be restorable.

Do I have to keep the drying equipm

ent continuously going?Yes. Turning it off can cause further dam

age. Most of our

equipment has a tim

er to tell us how long the equipm

ent was run.

What is this m

usty odor?There is often a m

usty odor that is associated with a flood. This

odor will dissipate soon after the building is dry. Foggers and

deodorizers are used if necessary. If this odor bothers you, ask your insurance com

pany if they will reim

burse you for a hotel expense w

hile the building is drying.

Will opening up m

y window

s help the carpet dry faster?N

o. In almost all cases w

e will have created a better drying

environment w

ith our drying equipment than there is by opening

window

s.

Will m

y drywall need to be replaced?

Wet dryw

all can be restored in most cases provided there is not

mold on the dryw

all.

Will m

y insurance pay for this?In every situation that w

e have seen, the cost for w

ater damage restoration is paid

for by the insurance company (m

inus your deductible). Your insurance com

pany w

ants you to take imm

ediate action in stopping further dam

age. As soon as

we begin the job, you’ll w

ant to call your insurance carrier to let them

know that

you have a certified company drying the

building for you.

Professional Flood Dam

age Clean-up

Your home w

ill be back into the condition it was before

the flood as fast as possible. We offer 24 hour service for

flood emergencies.

Our W

ater Dam

age Clean-up Procedure:

Moisture detection

We use m

oisture meters and probes to determ

ine where

the water is and how

much m

oisture has soaked into dryw

all and wood.

Water extraction

We use our pow

erful truck mounted vacuum

with a special

tool that extracts water directly from

the padding. We

then spend extra time dry extracting as m

uch water as

possible.

Drying equipm

ent placement

Based on the am

ount of water, drying equipm

ent will be

put in place to quickly dry out the remainder of m

oisture in the building.

Equipment m

onitoringA

n IICR

C certified technician stops by regularly to m

eter the drying status and place the equipm

ent in an ideal area for faster drying.

Look for this IICR

C logo w

hen hiring a com

pany. Certified technicians

have the proper training to dry your flooded building out in the shortest

time possible.

Visit w

ww

.IICR

C.org

for a certified company near you.

Your right to chose a qualified company

Som

e insurance companies w

ill lead you to believe that you m

ust use the company that they refer. O

ften times,

their preferred vender is not certified by the IICR

C. W

hat is w

orse is that often their company is chosen based on

the cheapest prices. The contractor that the insurance com

pany sends out may not be w

orking in your best interest, but in the best interest of the insurance com

pany. You have a legal right to use the com

pany of your choice.

Ed McMahon Sues Over Mold, Says it Killed His Dog. Entertainer Ed M

cMahon is suing his insurance com

pany for m

ore than $20 million, alleging that he was sickened by

toxic mold that spread through his Beverly Hills house. Both

McM

ahon and his wife, Pamela, becam

e ill from the m

old, as did m

embers of their household staff. The M

cMahons also

blame the m

old for the death of the family dog, M

uffin. The trouble began when their den becam

e flooded. A month later,

mold was discovered in the den. The M

cMahons questioned

the contractors’ cleanup methods including sim

ply painting over the m

old. “When your fam

ily loses its health and your hom

e is a wasteland, that’s a colossal disaster,” McM

ahon said.Source: The Los Angeles Tim

es

Less than 72 hours before mold grow

s

Make sure you....

Call a certified w

ater damage professional now

!M

ake a damaged item

s list to give to your adjusterP

rotect your furnishings.R

emove any w

et pieces of furniture.P

lace tin foil beneath any furniture with w

ood legs.R

emove any w

et fabrics from the hom

e. Take w

et rugs, clothing, upholstery cushions, books, tow

els, or anything removable out.

Turn on your air conditioning system and fans.

This will help dehum

idify the air.

Make sure you don’t....

Don’t use your household vacuum

to remove w

ater. D

on’t leave wet tow

els in the water dam

aged areaD

on’t enter rooms w

ith sagging ceilings. D

on’t plug in or turn on any appliances.W

ater Claw

pulls water

from the carpet padding

Disclaim

er: The information in this booklet is not

meant for professional or legal advice. The statem

ents m

entioned are generalities and each individual case could be different.


Your Guide

To Sparkling C

lean Floors

4 Tips for Maintaining

Your Tile Floors

Use a vacuum

designed for hard surfaces to rem

ove soil. A vacuum

is better than sw

eeping because it will rem

ove more soil

and not scratch your floor.

DO

NO

T USE too m

uch detergent of any kind on your tile. Just as w

ith carpet, you can cause a residue problem

that will attract

soil. Use a neutral PH

cleaner made for

tile. Mop your floor w

ith plain water every

third time you clean. U

se a string mop if

possible.

Use large w

alk off mats outside of every

entrance. The more w

alk off mats you

use the more soil you w

ill keep from

grinding on your floor.

Get your floor professionally cleaned and

sealed every 3-5 years. This will m

ake your m

aintenance efforts much easier.

CA

UT

ION

!

Know

what your floor needs. N

ever use an acid cleaner, vinegar, or bleach on natural stone.

Never w

ax your stone or tile.

For more inform

ation on hard surfaces, visit our w

ebsite:

CarpetC

areTips.com

Disclaim

er:U

se the techniques in this brochure at your ow

n risk. Alw

ays preñtest any solution that you use.

••••

Professional Tile C

leaning and SealingSparkling C

lean Tile and Grout

Step 1: Your tile will be inspected for dam

aged areas and determ

ined if sealer is necessary.

Step 2: Special tile and grout preñsprays are used to em

ulsify soils.

Step 3: High pressured, hot w

ater is flushed into the tile and grout and extracted into a holding tank in our van.

Step 4: Application of a professional SEA

LER

that penetrates into the grout for full protection or R

ECO

LOR

ING

of the grout can be done after cleaning w

ith 32 colors to choose from.

Polishing of Natural Stone

Marble, terrazzo, travertine, lim

estone, and granite can be polished to a high shine. W

e can also rem

ove scratches and level your floor.

For FRE

E estim

ates:

Call 474-1133

474-11331116 O

live Rd.

All dirt, oils,

and grease are rem

oved from

your tile with

our high pres-sured, hot w

ater system

. After

cleaning, your grout can be

sealed to help keep it clean.

Provided as an educationalresource by:

More inform

ation available atC

arpetCareTips.com

Ceram

icPorcelainM

arbleTerrazzoSlateTravertineB

rickM

exican Tile

Carpet

Care

Carpet

Care


Selecting the Perfect Tile

Many consum

ers today are choosing hard floor over carpet. K

eep in mind that hard floor is still going

to need maintenance after a given tim

e. No floor is

bulletproof. Of course, the am

ount of maintenance

depends on the floor you have selected. This guide w

ill give you some ins and outs on m

ost types of hard surfaces.

Vinyl floor is a good choice for a budget hard

surface. How

ever, cheap vinyl can scratch and yellow

easily. Professional cleaning can remove soils

that are imbedded in the vinyl, how

ever yellowing

cannot be corrected. You can expect to replace vinyl w

ithin 6-10 years unless you purchase a high end product.

Ceram

ic and Porcelain tile is a very popular choice due to durability. C

eramic and Porcelain is likely

the most durable floor surface if you purchase a

quality tile. Stay away from

cheap tile which is

likely second quality imports that w

ill easily crack after installation. M

ake sure the grout is sealed 10-14 days after installation to keep oils from

absorbing into the grout. Professional cleaning and reñsealing m

ay be needed every few years to rem

ove soils from

the grout as well as the tile. A

lthough ceramic

and porcelain may not need replacing for decades,

maintenance on cracking tile and grout m

ay need to be done every few

years.

VC

Ttile floors are very popular in com

mercial

buildings. VC

T requires constant maintenance

in waxing to protect the floor as w

ell as to keep a shine on the floor. The cost to purchase this floor is relatively cheap, but frequent professional m

aintenance is required. VC

T floors can last for several decades if properly m

aintained.

Paver Brick am

d Quarry Tile

are an unglazed ceram

ic material suitable for interior or exterior

paving. The extreme baking tem

perature make

this floor one of the most durable on the m

arket. These floors can last a lifetim

e, but protective treatm

ents should be applied every few years.

Terracottais also know

n as Saltillo or Mexican

Tile. Terracotta is one of the oldest ceramic

materials m

ade by man. Saltillo is a clayñbased

product that demands special treatm

ent and finishes w

hich can make m

aintenance expensive.

Marble

is a luxurious natural stone floor w

ith beautiful characteristics. Marble can get

scratched, so regular polishing is necessary to keep the floor looking itís best. Avoid installing m

arble in an area where food is served as it is

etched by acids contained in drinks and foods. M

arble can last for decades.

Granite

is an extremely hard natural stone.

Waterproofing is recom

mended, especially w

hen itís laid in places such as kitchens or bathroom

s. G

ranite can easily last for decades and is the easiest natural stone to m

aintain.

Travertineis natural stone lim

estone formed in

hot springs. Travertine has small holes that are

filled in with concrete before final processing.

It can be polished to look like marble or it can

remain coarse. Travertine is slightly softer than

marble. It requires regular m

aintenance to remove

scratches or to maintain a polished appearance.

Travertine can last for decades.

Lim

estone is a soft natural stone that is not ideal for high traffic areas or room

s with chairs

that may harm

the stone. It has a slightly duller appearance than other stone. Lim

estone can last for decades if cared for properly.

Slate is as a rough material w

ith low absorption.

Slate can be found both indoors and outdoors, and rarely has a high polish unless a coating is placed on it.

Natural Stone Tips

Many natural stone floors need to be leveled after

installation to get the floor smooth and the tiles

on the same level. This w

ill make the floor m

ore valuable as w

ell as prevent tripping on the tiles. It is very im

portant to have the tile sealed to prevent etching of the stone.

Never allow

acids such as soda, tom

atoes, or orange juice to contact natural stone or it w

ill be etched.on natural stone.

The Cure For D

irty Grout

To keep your grout stain and oil resistant, you must

have the grout sealed 10-14 days after the grout is installed and every few

years thereafter.

Grout can be difficult to keep clean. To attem

pt to clean an area of dirty grout, use a high alkaline cleaner w

ith a small brush. Scrub the tile and rinse

with w

ater.

Make sure sealer is only applied to new

grout or after grout has been thoroughly cleaned.

Sweeping and M

oppingU

se a microfiber or sw

ifter mop in conjunction

with a vacuum

made for vacuum

ing floor. When

mopping be sure to rinse the m

op often with plain

water to rinse out soils and detergent residue.

To keep natural stone looking itís best, polishing should be done every few

years.


Newsletters are the best way to keep your clients coming back to you. Mail to them once a month with a newsletter or postcard. Use your newsletters to remind clients of all the services you perform. Never let them forget you.

Educate about cleaning related issues to pre-sell your services.

Remind of reasons-why they should keep using your service.

Inform clients of current specials you may run

It’s not mandatory to run an offer. But it will give your clients an extra reason to read your newsletter. It can even create a sense of community if you use the offer right. Your newsletter offers should always be exclusive client only offers. They’ll feel special. They’ll be part of the club. Especially if your prices are higher than your competitors, client only offers are meaningful.

The best offers are for extra services you are promoting. For instance, if your primary service is carpet cleaning, offer a FREE 25 square feet tile cleaning with carpet cleaning purchase. You’ll gain profit from the carpet cleaning and show your client what tile cleaning can do. There’s a really good chance they’ll purchase more tile cleaning at that time or in the near future. The offer should coincide with the topic of your newsletter.

How to select the best carpet

How mattress cleaning can reduce allergens

Choose the perfect vacuum

Quick and easy pet stain removal

The secret to remove any spot or stain

Spot removal tip of the month section

Interview a tie-in business (maid service, rug dealer, flooring retailer, etc.)

Unleash The Power of Newsletters

Purpose of newsletters:

Offers in your newsletter

Sample topics for your newsletter:


10 reasons you should get your carpet cleaned every year

How to handle a water/smoke/fire loss

How to evaluate your home for water damage

Cleaning for health

Write an article on one of your employees

How to make a sick building get well

5 tips to help you keep your carpet as long as possible

The insider’s guide to choosing an area rug

Newsletters are best as self-mailers. This means the newsletter itself has the address printed directly on it. There is no envelope.

Two common choices are: 8 ½ x 11 sheet printed front and back, folded in thirds or 11 x 17 sheet folded in half twice. Personally, I prefer the 8 ½ x 11 on most newsletters. For newsletters, bulk mail will work fine since it’s a self-mailer and your client already knows who you are. You’ll want to mail first-class every few months to purge your database of clients who have moved.

Use at least 24-pound paper. A self-mailer can easily get torn or wrinkled. Your database can be merged into Word or Publisher so the addresses are printed on one side. If your newsletter is black and white, take the file to a printer who can merge the data and print directly from your files. If you would like color, it is more cost effective to purchase a high speed color printer and merge the documents yourself.

Email marketing is a good idea, but it should NOT replace snail mailed newsletters.

Many clients won’t give you their email address or opt-out on your e-newsletter after a few weeks. Some clients may not even have email.

Use a program such as Constant Contact to easily send your e-newsletter. Create a client newsletter list by asking for a client’s email address at the time she book an appointment. Have an opt-in page on your site for newsletter sign-up. Offer incentives to clients via your snail mail newsletter to entice them to go to your website and opt-in. The key is to get their permission to email to them.

How to prepare your newsletter

Email newsletters


Newsletter example. Notice how the subject of the newsletter gives tips, but also sells services.

Healthy Home NewsletterTo educate and inform our clients Vol. 8B

John BraunMaster Cleaning Tech.

Have your carpet cleaned once a year to remove ugly stains.

Have your carpet cleaned twice a year so you never get ugly stains.

Do-it-Yourself Pet Odor Removal

The first thing you’ll want to do is purchase a small spot removal

machine (like bissell or little green machine) or a wet vac. I

recommend the smaller type machines because they actually perform better than most of the larger upright carpet cleaners.

Use the machine to suck up any excess liquid in the carpet

BEFORE you use a spot remover. This way you’re removing the bulk of the problem and leaving what’s

left to be treated with spotting agents.

Use a spotting agent specifically

made for pet problems. We

recommendBi-O-Kleen’s

Spray and Wipe or Bac-out Enzyme spot removers.

Some other enzymes on the

market work well, others fail.

Here are some of the benefits of regular carpet and rug cleaning:

Longer lasting carpet. If you get your automobile’s oil changed every 10,000 miles, will your engine last as long? Of course not! You wouldn’t be following manufacturer’s recommendations. Carpet manufacturers recommend professional cleaning every 12-18 months for normal households with two adults. If you have kids or pets, clean every 6-12 months. Regular maintenance corrects some existing problems, but also PREVENTS ugly traffic lanes and carpet deteriorating.

Healthier home. You carpet is cleaned with our state-of-the-art $60,000 cleaning system that rinses with hot water and extracts dirty water and soils from your home into our van. The 150-degree water kills dust mites. The main spotting agent we use is called Bi-o-kleen. It is 100% all-natural and formulated for people who have chemical sensitivities.

Beautiful appearance. Our cleaning system is designed to give you the cleanest carpet possible. We use 12 specialty spotters for problem stains. Our technicians are thoroughly trained in how to handle any stain problem. Your carpet will look the best it possibly can when we’re finished.

1.

2.

3.

Spring Cleaning Keeps Your Home Healthy.

We guarantee to remove more spots than any other company. If someone else can remove a spot we can’t, we’ll pay for your cleaning.

CarpetCare


Back side of the newsletter. This is an 8 1/2 x 11 inch page tri-folded as a self-mailer.

1116 E. Olive RdPensacola, FL 32514

Spring Cleaning Time

25% OffGrout DyeingAnd Sealing

The best way to keep your grout clean is to dye it a

darker color and seal with our Premium sealer.

Hurry, offer valid April 1-30, 2007

Must mention this coupon.Not valid with any other offer.

FREECar Mats Cleaned

25% OffGrout Dyeing and Sealing

Drop off your area rugs at: 1116 Olive Rd.

(between Davis and Old Palafox)

You can now drop off your rugs to be cleaned or we can pick them up and clean them at our new rug cleaning plant! You can also get FREE refills on your spot removal.

FREE Cleaning or FREE CashReferral Program.

Please tell your friends about us. We love to get re-ferrals. For every referral you send us, weíll give you a gift certificate good for any cleaning.

Call us at 474-1133

FREECar Mats Cleaned

Get any carpet, rug, tile, vinyl floor, or upholstery cleaned

and get up to 4 car mats cleaned FREE.(Normally $20)

Hurry, offer valid April 1-30, 2007

Must present this coupon.Not valid with any other offer.

“I Love My Sparkling Clean Floors”“When my tile was installed, no one told me I needed to seal the grout. To make matters worse, it was white grout. I spent half my time scrubbing on my hands and knees just to keep my floors looking decent. Then, I called Premium Carpet Care. Their ad said they would clean the first 25 square feet FREE. If it didnít make a difference, I would owe nothing. So, I took them up on their offer. Boy did it make a difference. After clean-ing, they permanently reñcolored my grout a darker color so it always looks beautiful. The re-coloring process even came with a 10-year warranty. Thanks Premium Carpet Care. You saved me from countless hours of back-breaking work.”

Your tile and grout will be cleaned, sealed, or re-colored in one of 40 different colors. Visit CarpetCareTips.com for details. Call this week to get the first 25 square feet cleaned FREE and if you’re not happy, we’ll leave AT NO COST TO YOU.

YES! Call for a FREE friendly phone estimate: 474-1133

PRSRT STDUS POSTAGE PDPENSACOLA FLPERMIT NO. 433

ĆompanyªĆontactª´Street1ª ´Street2ªĆityª, ´Stateª ´Zipª

CarpetCare


Getting FREE press through public relations is a wonderful thing. I’ll briefly touch on how to get FREE press in just a minute. But before I do that, I want to remind you of the difference between public relations and advertising.

Informing the press of an event or public service you offer. The press has the opportunity to run your release or ignore it. As well, they can change or delete anything. You have no control in the outcome.

Benefits of getting PR: You make a huge impact on your audience. They look at you as the good guy who is helping his community. This type of exposure often has more impact than running an ad. The problem is, it only runs once unless another media source picks up the story.

It’s FREE. So, mail out press releases any time you have done something news worthy (or created something newsworthy) and hope you get some FREE PR.

Advertising is paid for medium of communication. The real difference between PR and advertising is you pay for advertising. It’s never FREE.

The secret many business owners don’t know is you can get PR any time you want and get all the goodwill you would have gotten from the FREE PR. All you have to do is pay for it.

A few years ago, NBC Dateline and 20/20 ran exposes on bait and switch carpet cleaning. Immediately after the shows aired, I wrote some great press releases to my local newspaper and television stations. The newspaper never responded after several faxes and letters. The television station gave me nothing at the time, but interviewed me later on a different subject.

I paid for the publicity. I used the credibility of the NBC Dateline and 20/20 show to piggyback on my own message. In a sense, readers associated my company with the goodwill of the shows. It wasn’t very expensive and it set me miles apart from my competition. Several people that saw the original shows called and said, “Well, if you’re bold enough to help expose these type of crooks, you’re the company I want to hire.”

Creating PR Any Time You Want It

Public Relations:

Advertising:

What’s hot in the media?


Send a bio sheet to the editor of the section involved with home services. If there is a home or real estate section, that would be good. Tell them who you are and what qualifies you to be the expert in the subject of cleaning. List your certifications and years experience. Tell them which subjects you excel in and give them ideas for stories. Every couple months, mail a press release with a different subject. The key is to keep your press release newsy and in touch with what’s hot.

Mail, fax, or email press releases. Do all three, but snail mail is best. It gives the impression you mean business. Keep a log of television, radio, newspaper, and magazines to regularly stay in contact with. Editors often run out of ideas for stories. They’ll eventually use one from you if you’re consistent.

Some PR topics include: Bait and switch carpet cleaners, spot removal tips, how to choose the best carpet, where you can find hidden mold, etc.

How to get FREE PR


Contact: John BraunCompany: Premium Carpet CarePhone: (850) 474-1110Fax: (850) 471-2255

For Immediate Release

As Seen On “20/20” and “Dateline NBC”: Consumers Ripped-Off By Carpet Cleaners Who Bait And Switch

Hard working families; men, women, and seniors on tight budgets tend to be attracted by advertising featuring extraordinary low prices. This honest desire for a bargain can set them up for a “horror show” in their own home.

How Consumers Are AbusedEvery day throughout the United States, unethical carpet cleaners prey on homeowners. They advertise cheap prices—with no intention of actually delivering on the offer. Instead, the offer is used to get in the door, where they will use all sorts of high-pressure sales tactics to increase the bill.

The methods they use are:

1. Explaining the quoted price was only meant for some types of carpet the consumer doesn’t have. Or, it only includes basic water cleaning, and pre-spotting is needed at an extra cost.

2. They may do an unauthorized demonstration of an add-on service that leaves a clean spot in the middle of the floor, forcing the consumer to have the entire carpet cleaned.

Why Expose These Thieves?These “bad apples” make the entire carpet cleaning industry look bad and leave consumers wondering who they can trust for honest, ethical service providers.

Consumer Education Is The SolutionKnowing which questions to ask is essential in avoiding scam artists. I have dedicated my business to educating consumers on how to avoid uninformed, uneducated, and sometimes downright unscrupulous carpet cleaners.

Here’s some questions consumers should ask: 1) What method of cleaning do you use? (there are 4 types) 2) Does the quoted price include pre-vacuuming, deep cleaning, and spot treatment? 3) Do you have any formal training? 4) Do you offer a money back guarantee if I’m not happy? My company provides FREE consumer information to expose unethical companies at CarpetCareTips.com. We also provide a FREE booklet entitled “How To Select a Professional Cleaning Company.” I am available for interviews and to provide additional information.

###

Sample press release.


It’s important to get all you can out of your advertising. Piggy back on your other ads or on other company’s ads. But, be careful about what you’re piggy backing on. One of the worst “me too” rip offs I’ve seen is the “Got Milk?” ad campaign. Many companies thought they were being clever by using this slogan. In the original commercial, it was a humorous rhetorical question. The characters wanted milk when it wasn’t available. The key point was to remind you to have milk on hand when you need it. It’s not humorous and doesn’t make sense when you ask Got Mold? Got Pets? Got Dirt? My question is: Got Anything Better To Say?

Make sure your piggy backing is relevant. Use something a large portion of your target market already knows about.

With PR. If you have a press release published or someone else in your industry has, use it. Obviously, if you’ve gotten FREE press, mention it in your advertising, literature, and website. From then on you can say “As seen on Channel 3 News.” If a colleague receives press, piggy back on his good fortune. If your company shares the same values, run an ad in your local newspaper stating you do. One great example of this is when NBC Dateline and ABC 20/20 ran special features on bait and switch carpet cleaners. My company wasn’t mentioned, but I was able to piggy back on the FREE press. Consumers acknowledged my company as jumping on the bandwagon with ABC and NBC. You can do this with any time of press announcement.

With ads. Salesgenie.com recently shelled out some big bucks to run a couple commercials in the Superbowl. I saw the ad and didn’t think much of it. But the next day I received emails and direct mail from Salesgenie.com. Their headline said “As Seen on the Superbowl.” It was great. They weren’t in the Superbowl, they just paid for a commercial. Yet, they were able to make me remember seeing their ad and create another impression on me. If I didn’t see their ad, they used the credibility of the Superbowl to create a sense of trust.

1.

2.

Leverage your advertising

There are two ways to use this technique:


Does your ad fulfill your strategy statement?

A picture or large headline to stop your ad from being overlooked

Is the ad show-stopping? Does it make the reader stop and stare?

Is the core key point clear in the visual/headline combination?

Is the main benefit of the ad glaringly clear at first glance?

Is the type you want read first the largest on the page?

Does the headline offer the reader a BIG benefit?

Read only the headline and ask, would the prospect be interested?

Does the first sentence feed directly from the headline?

Can any words that say, “I” or “we” be turned to “you” or “you get”?

If writing a newspaper ad, an offer isn’t the best choice to lead with

Does the first line of copy lead off of the headline?

Did you involve prospects by asking a question, telling story, explaining how to?

Is copy broken up so it’s easily read?

Do you have an irresistible offer?

Does the offer cry out CALL TODAY OR YOU LOSE?

Checklist For Profitable Ads


After your ad is finished and you’ve checked it against the checklist, it’s time to test. Never test an unproven media or concept with more money than you’re willing to lose. Yes, the techniques and ideas mentioned in this book have been proven to work for the carpet cleaning industry. But advertising can be tricky. You will have a better chance at success if you study this manual and do the exercises. Just don’t rush out and drop $20,000 on an ad without testing it.

Direct mail campaign with 200 postcards.

Small newspaper display ad with only headline and phone number.

Small classified ad with only headline and phone number.

Place the ad in a smaller community paper.

Place the ad in your newsletter.

The main point is to test with as little money as possible. It may be a good idea to test in a couple of different media. Place an ad concept in a small community newspaper to see what kind of response you get. Then, send out 200 postcards. If you receive more than one response on the postcard (1% or greater response rate) and your community newspaper gives you at least a 4 to 1 ROI, you have a potentially great ad.

On direct mail campaigns, you’re doing well if you can get over a 1% response rate. That is, 1 response for every 100 mail pieces. For most other media, you’ll want at least a 4 to 1 ROI.

There are a few factors that may hinder response rates and cause them to decline such as bad weather, troubled economy, or news media scaring the heck out of consumers. As well, some may cause your response to increase.

If you’re spending a large amount of money on an ad, it is well worth the small fee we charge to get your ad reviewed by a professional. One small change in your ad can double your response rate. Take advantage of the FREE ad critique coupon in this manual.

Be smart about the ads you run. Don’t waste your money.

Testing your ad

Here’s a few ways to test:

Get your ad critiqued


Here’s what to do to prepare for running a great advertising campaign:

Study the examples of ads in this manual. Learn how the advertising guidelines apply. Study why they work.

Compile your current clients (those who have used you in the past two years) and mail them a newsletter or reminder postcard.

Collect testimonials from your clients. When you mail them a thank you letter, put a one page testimonial form in the envelope. Put the form in a self-addressed stamped envelope if you want to get many back quickly. Ask open-ended questions like “What spots were we able to remove?” and “What did you like the most about our service?”

Survey your clients to find out which media they read, television shows they watch, and radio stations they listen to. This survey can be sent to them in the mail, or have your technicians ask while they are in the home.

Put yourself in your prospect’s shoes and write a monologue telling the story of what you would look for in choosing a carpet cleaner.

Begin writing a Strategy Statement.

Scan back over the manual and pick an ad concept you’d like to begin with and start putting together an ad.

Now you’ve got everything you need to run profitable advertising campaigns. But don’t end your education here. Writing great advertising is the result of practice and continued learning. Visit HitmanAdvertising.com for a list of the best books on the subject of advertising.

For ad critiques, web design, or to have an ad completely written and designed for you, contact us at (850) 474-1110.

Thank you for purchasing this manual. I hope you wear out the pages and gain all the insight I’ve poured in.

May your advertising ventures make your business MEGA profitable.

John Braun

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