PLD

I doubt it, unless this is also your butt! :) I deckster roofs, and then agitate with an xjet LP tip where it neccessary. Seriously though, thanks for being understanding and helping me find the offending material.

You can't actually look it up. BUT, you can get an idea. Load google toolbar. It'll give you a number from 0-10. The number is logarithmic. So 4 = 10x 3, etc. The number is not gospel for SERPs, and working solely to increase PR is not good. But it will give you a better idea of where you are and where you are headed. For reference, TGS is a PR3.

Define alternate? First, apply to and get listed in DMOZ.org. Although it has declined in importance in recent years it's still highly important to Google. 2nd, MANUALLY submit to the majors. Google, Yahoo, AOL, & MSN. Do not auto submit, buy submission software, submission services etc. They will get you canned. Only resubmit if you have a fairly major new section (like an articles catalog). Then only submit the main page for that section. In short, think how you would feel with submissions. Is it of value to my readers, or is this person just pestering me. Get inbound links from relevant sites. Focus on quality, not quantity. Ignore all link farms, FFA pages, etc. Post to relevant forums like TGS. Post quality comments on relevant blogs. Bottom line, get others to recognize you and the SE's will follow. Get Yahoo, and google will take interest. Get MSN and google will take interest. Not neccessarily in that order, but you get the idea.

Look behind me and you can barely see the waters of St Augustine, Ga. :) That is one of the big sticklers with respect to SEO. People want one picture and 10 words per page. Spiders want 700-1000 words and no images.

I've removed every image that I have been made aware was not mine. My apologies for using them w/o permission. There wes never any intent to plagarize anyone's images. If anyone finds any other offending material, please let me know so I can rectify the situation asap.

They ran the same piece (edited slightly) almost exactly one year apart. I debated listing it twice, but I figured their trust in us, added credibility. Thx for the typo, it's fixed.

Guys, I just got a PM from Celeste, and it's quite a few images. Apparently there is a problem at my end with image storage. I've contacted all that I am aware of. However, if you find any images on my website that are not mine, please PM me and I'll get them down asap. My apologies, after awhile all vinyl siding just starts to look alike... Philip

If you see anything that looks familiar, please PM me with a location, link, etc.. Either I goofed, or someone else did. There should only be 100% original images on my site.

I know my pet business is off topic in this thread, but I'll offer it's stats for perspective. Site: www.OdorDestroyer.com Alexa rank: 782,363 Last week: 698,512 Link: http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details?url=odordestroyer.com Unique visitors in August: 66,000 July: 78,000 Daily average 1,900

Request submitted. Great idea, BTW. Out of curiousity, do you know that Google has you as a 0 out of 10? You should work on getting some of your article content on the index page (see my coment to Ken), and getting that "Meat" closer to the home page. Next, post commentary (with a link) in lots of places like blogs, discussion forums, etc. A 3of10 is the minimum for a traffic'd site to be recognized as a real entity. I may not be a PW guru, but I'm pretty savvy with the SERP's.

Yes. That was a quickie page. BUT, it does illustrate one important SEO point. All on one page is good for SEO (KW rich). All on seperate pages is good for humans. Somewhere in between lies the optimum delivery. For my pet business FAQ pages, I try very hard to have both. A big index that points to lots of independent pages.

Catch them? 660lbs in a 3ft free fall? Not me. That's a recipe for getting hurt. Back to the previous solution, I used to roll them down a pair of 2x10's and then just right them at the bottom. If you have access to a flat lift cart, you can just scoot them off and then lower them,

I too buy 55's. Done right, it's a bear but still a one man job. With two men, it's a breeze. Just get yourself two old truck tires from the tire shop. Stack them at the base of the lowered tailgate and roll the drum off gently onto them. Don't roll fast or you will overshoot the tures. You want it to drop onto the tires. They will compress a bit, expel some air, and then support the drum. Next, get off the truck and stand the drum up onto it's bottom from it's resting place on the tires. A good 300# hand truck and a ratchet strap will move that drum. You'll bust a tire about every 6 months, but they are cheap. Now you can pump from the drum itself with a $20 drum pump. Problem: If you roll the drum too fast and off the tires (about 1 in 10 times), it is not a one man job to right it unless you have a way elevate the drum head. To do this, I have several pieces of 2x6 in varying lengths. Place one on one side and roll the drum head onto it. Now place 2 on the other side and roll back onto that. Increase to 3 planks on the first side, roll back. Repeat this until the drum head is 8-10 inches off the ground. Then one man can stand the drum back onto it's base. A 4ft section of board and a pair of cap blocks (or any ramp that will allow you to elevate the drum head) also works.

It's easier than that. Just watch your supply hose. If you're overdriving it, it'll go flat as a pancake.

Even if you are not running a tank, spoil your bypass to ground. You machine will run cooler and last much longer. As for adding a thermal relief valve, I recommend against it. IMHO, they fail to often, resulting in air in the supply line and pressure problems. After the last incident (which resulted in a head repack), I have taken all of mine off and tossed them. But to be fair, I bypass to tank/ground 100% of the time and overheating is not an issue in that arrangement. As for needing a tank, I do 99.9% residential and athough I always use a tank because of my setup, the truth is that I *very* rarely need a tank for one machine (5.5g). If I do, it's because the homeowner is on a poor well or has serious plumbing issues. In these cases, I pull two hoses, one from each bib. With two hoses, I can usually drive 9.5gpm house washing without a problem. If both units are running a surface cleaner, we will run dry at 9.5 gpm about 60% of the time. At 5.5gpm, more often than not the supply overfills the tank (275 gal) and must be shut off 1/2 way through a job. We dump excess water at jobs end 95% of the time. If I were actually applying a suction to the water line with a pump, the flow would be even greater than it is being fed into the tank. I wouldn't worry about getting a tank until it proves itself a problem. Even then, be creative if you need to be. Anything that will hold water can serve as a tank. 55 gallon drum, trash can, or even a kiddie pool. And it need not be located in your truck. You can unload it and hook it up on the ground. As for a float, if you are in fear of overfilling your tank often then you don't really need a tank. And in the event you have a customer who is providing 10gpm of water, the overflow from your tank for 1.5 hrs will cost the customer about $1.21 add'l. Personally, I don't run a float. If I see the tank rising as I work (or overflowing), I cut off the supply. Yes, some water gets spilled, but it's minor in comparison to what I am using on the job. My $0.02

Darn fine advice! Once upon a time, I was the student body president of a community college. As such, I was keenly aware the vast multitude of nearly free offerings they had on campus and at satellite locations. Over the past 20 years, I had completely forgotten about that resource. Thanks for reminding me! For everyone else: If you don't have the local college extracurricular/extended credit (non-enrolled) catalog, call and get one. You'll be amazed what you find. Selling, QuickBooks, Marketing, Welding, Small Engine repair, Small business finance, MS office, OutLook, and a whole lot more. and most courses are only $49-69 for 3-20 hours of instruction. And most courses are nights and weekends offerings.

Is it just me, or is this summer very, very slow. Mar-May were record breakers for me and I was looking forward to a banner year (i.e. on plan growth). But, once school got out the calls just stopped. For July/August, I am running 2x last years marketing (several thousand $/mo) and doing about 1/3 of the business. It's so slow, that checking that my phone in operational and that my ads are actually printed is a 2x weekly regimen now. This time last year, I was a 3 man crew with problems making all the quotes. I subbed many jobs out to members of TGS because I just couldn't work 'em. Presently, I am a one man crew and finding jobs for my helper to keep him from quitting. I just do not get it. I should be BURIED in work. But I'm barely convering advertising/fuel expenses, and not even covering overall expenses. Anyway, I'm rambling. I need to get this fixed, and I'm obviously too close to it to see what's happening. I welcome any comments or criticisms you may have not matter how frank they may be. FWIW here is my present ad campaign. My present ads: Local newspaper: 40k circ 2 issues a week. Ads in two locations, and a FULL PAGE interview about our company on the July Home & Garden section. Artcles about our companies work (charity, restoration) at least 3x/year. 1/2 page in both local yellow pages. Money Mailer: 50k homes. New this July. 2 calls. Buzzin - bound advertising book. 20k circ, higher income homes only. Very effective historically. Postcards to 5000 homes. Over $350k, owner occupied. 1st batch of 1500 late july. 1500 more every 2 weeks, repeat when done. Flyers 2-400 at random intervals to keep helper moving. Lettering on my trucks, wifes truck, logo tshirts. Free estimates. Printed quotes. Sheets about "why quality", "Why powerhouse" with every bid.

Ryan! Good to see you back. I agree with you assessment. I would add tighter budgets from gas prices, and some anticipation about the conflict overseas, and you have a triple whammy. WWC: They (and the surrounding big $ homes) are the target of many of my ad campaigns. I've got a postcard campaign working there right now. Ocassionally I land a good one ($7-900) there, but for the most part they are *CHEAP*. I've never landed a deck in there, and have bid from $1.50-2.25 trying to find the niche. I get frequent calls from WWC to wash "everything" (i.e. house, drive, brick fence, pool deck, etc). Without fail, the completely lose interest when they get the quote. I do 3x the business across the street in HighGrove. One interesting note: My buddy who does decks only does some work in WWC. Despite being strictly prohibited (controlled access - 24 hour guard & gate), he get's it by flyering WWC. Not me. If anyone spends the kind of money they do to keep non-residents out, I'm not pushing my luck flyering there. Philip

First, let me preface my statement by saying that I am a flaming libertarian. And for those who do not know, licensing is philosophically wrong to a libertarian. That said; I am not sure that a strong push for overbearing licensing and certification is not the best thing for us (me) right now. This profession suffers *greatly* because there are no barriers to entry and the startup costs are near zero. Any Joe who can afford $300 and some flyers is the latest pressure washing company. There are a new crop of these yahoo's every year, and by their efforts they are setting the perceptions of our potential customers. We can try to re-educate them, but it becomes damn near impossible when you are outnumbered so badly. The avg Fayette Co. customer sees 10 ads for "PW any house $125" in any given week. Based on observation alone, I speculate that there are at least 25 skid/trailer owning (PT&FT) PW companies operating in this county of 32k SFD homes. Lord knows how many "truck and portables" there are. Bottom line, unless we can manage to build substantial barriers to entry, professional PW may become nothing more than a sideline business...

Scott, You and I both know that licensing here in GA is a JOKE. $75, fill out a 3x5 card, and you are licensed. It may be a requirement, but so is an ink pen and neither means crap to a customer. As for insurance, I sell it and other criteria of a "legitimate" business hard. Less than 1:20 customers give a serious thought as to whether or not I have insurance. Less than 1:200 want a certificate. Granted, every once in a while a customer will actually ask, but as long as I answer yes the subject is over. Back to the professionalism thread that we pounded to death this spring; Most customers are of the opinion that pressure washing is like mowing the lawn. They can buy either at HD (or walmart),so any idiot can do it. And if they had any doubt, HD will be glad to dispel the myth that it takes skill. That said, they view you and your company as nothing but hired labor and rented equipment. The only reason they hired you is because they didn't want to do it themselves. And if you are too expensive they will find another idiot.

I can write a book for you on PPC, but I won't. Here's a few pointers.- Start looking and start bidding. You need to jump in and learn firsthand. But, start small at $5-10/day.- Don't bid on general terms like "pressure washing". The conversion rate is very poor for such a broad net. Instead, bid on "pressure washing fayetteville georgia"- Start at 5c and work up. From there work up to your cost/acq.- Write a different ad for each keyword. If the keyword is "quality widgets", then the ad headline neads to say "quality widgets". Your target page must also clearly state (and address) "Quality widgets"example:KW: Quality widgetsHeadline:Buy Quality WidgetsCopy:Quality Widgets and otherwidget related items.

It's called 3/4" GHT (Garden Hose Thread). Fire equipment is SHT - Standard hose thread (no taper) Plumbing is NPT (Nominal Pipe Taper) or FPT, MPT (Femal or Male Pipe Taper)

Very familiar with adwords. In fact, I spend about 600/mo on Adwords and 500/mo with Yahoo for my online business. PPC is a good thing, but get in the water slowly until you learn the ropes. Unless managed will, PPC can cost hundreds/day and net nothing of value. #1 rule, know your acceptable cost/acquisition and bid based on that. DO NOT bid based on being #1 ,2,3 by itself. #1 is the best place to be of the available positions, but it's a terrible place to be if you're making no profit on each sale.

Just an expression. It's actually on the post. FWIW, both my parents are 30yr postal employees. It's very rare that ever really gets a big fine. Typically, they just approximate the number of flyers and charge you $0.37 each.

Interestingly, John W sent me this: http://www.google.com/trends?q=pressure+washing Atlanta is the #1 location to search "Pressure Washing". IIRC, does that list not also look like the top 10 cities with the most PWers per capita?