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Barry M

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Posts posted by Barry M

  1. Posted · Report reply

    The concrete should be sloped away from the pool slightly anyway at least around here they are. Basically you just work the surface cleaner and then rinse from the pool edge out. Even if your careful you'll still get some dirty waste water into the pool, nothing the filters can't clean out and if your using Chlorine to clean that obviously isn't going to hurt anything. I'm usually just honestly with the homeowner and they are understanding in giving the pool a day to clean itself out.

  5. Posted · Report reply

    Tom

    Your Service page as some blue background behind the copy that is inconsistent with the rest of the site, and the same deal with the turquoise highlighting on the F&Q page. I personally would also speed up or shorten the wording on the scrolling marquee on the home page. It takes about 25 seconds to read the whole thing, by that time most people have clicked 2 or 3 links and are gone. Things happen fast when people visit websites.

    Other than that overall the site looks good, and is very informative. I like the testimonials but I didn't see any before/after pics unless I missed them. I stayed on the site awhile and got the feeling you do quality work. Nice job.

  6. Posted · Report reply

    After moving, settling in, acclimating to a new environment in a different state. I finalized and viewed my upcoming ad on " The Video Mall" on our local cable network ( again, not Wayne's World).

    Let's just say that the note on our new property has got me in neck deep and I must start pushing the biz now before Spring kicks in. I have to get my name looping in their head. My TV ad looks AWESOME, and will be aired 3150 times minimum this month. I am offering a " free house wash" for 2 closed referrals. Piece of cake!!!!!! I hope this works!!!!!! Free is always good and should draw some calls. But one thing for sure, if they are calling for a free house wash then I know that they will actually need a house wash. Sell Sell Sell!! I am also doing the usual postcard mailings and have the lead generator filled up with over 100 zips. I am not giving up commercial work by any means. But, with the move, I am actually starting biz over again and don't want the expense of a helper at this point. So I am targeting heavily on the resi market that is in my area. 1 nice golf course, lots of parks and Summer homes on the lake, which is really close by. Lots of deck work, and flatwork. I can't wait to be so busy and sore and sunburned, and smelly, and sleep depraived. So I hope the TV commercial does real good. Wish me luck and if I can some how get a copy of it..... I will post it.

    ..... just wanted to share. Hope everyone's season is off to a good start.

    Good luck Adrian, and don't forget to spy on your competition and pounce on their weaknesses!:lgmoneyey

  7. Posted · Report reply

    wow, that was quick.... i just found their site, filled in some info & entered a "request" for some deck work, cleaning, washing, staining, etc in my area just to see who may be around (competition wise)... then filled out a "pro services" application for consideration...

    it wasn't but about 6 minutes, 5 various e-mails about my requests & a phone call to my cell from a rep in colorado responding to my inquiry. he was professional, offered info their service & options that were available... he said that there had only been 1 recent inquiry here in the 2 counties i was interested in.. i don't like somebody to glaze the donut either....

    told him i wanted to do some more research & that i wasn't ready (due to our mountain weather here) to use them yet. he said ok & would call me back in 2 weeks... then i got an email to confirm resched. w/in 3 minutes.... don't know if it's something to use, but he was quick to respond (maybe not much else going on there..??) & he was wasn't pushy about why to sign up NOWWWW!!!

    will continue to read the posts here & learn what others have to say regarding this potential avenue.... thanks for all the great posts & advice .....

    Lets see if you think their pushy two weeks from now. What he meant to say instead of "I'll call you in two weeks" was "I or another rep will call you everyday for the next two weeks", because that is what they do. Man I would of never gave them your cell number. Once I decided I wasn't interested anymore, I had to get crappy with them for them to stop calling me. Just my experience

  8. Posted · Report reply

    Thank you Barry. Looks like you are in for a great year yourself.

    BTW, are you riding to the meeting with us?

    Yes I am in for a great year and yes I am riding with you guys. I was going to pm or call Doug today but got busy. But yes I'm definately going and would like to hitch a ride. Just need to know which way you guys are coming so we can set up a meeting place. Man I'm pump......yeeeehaaww! This RT is going to be the cat's arse.

  10. Posted · Report reply

    Dawg

    Jarrods thinking is that it's a numbers game, the more people that he targets the more jobs he will get. It sounds like he's tried retargeting areas with multiple mailings and he just didn't like the results.

    I don't necessarily agree with his methods because for me it would be a lot of wasted circulation mailing to an entire zip code and then another. For me, most of the addresses in my zip or neighboring zips aren't my potential customers. I wouldn't be hitting just the bullseye of my target but also all around it. That would result in a poor return in comparison to the price of so many mailers.

    I know that Jarrod offers a promotion in the spring that is a pretty good deal to the customer so his target market may be a little bigger than mine, I don't offer deals only a premium price. So he puts a promotion out there that a wide range of people can afford and he hits area after area never repeating a mailing and he gets a butt load of calls and he closes a butt load of jobs. He told me how many houses and decks he did last year not to mention his fleets. When a guy does nothing but estimates and closings from dark to dark for two months straight while his guys are working I would say what he does must work for him, even though I don't use his methods I give him props.

    Didn't this start as a YP ad thread?......:dunno:

  11. Posted · Report reply

    Barry, I think I've heard that somewhere before. :)

    That's good to hear, I was hoping it wasn't just those little voices in my head again.

    I'm not posting to anybody in particular here, I'm just thinking out loud again. There is so much to learn and experiment with when it comes to marketing and advertising. One can use a headline that grabs prospects attetion and then hot buttons to keep them interested and then good copy to educate them and then a call to action telling them what to do.

    One also needs to understand right brained and left brained people (fact oriented or emotional) and play to them both in one ad. Most ads only attract one group or the other so right off the bat they are losing 50% of their potential prospects. When creating a successful ad it's necessary to see the world through your prospects eyes and then to talk to them in the ad pointing out the benefits that they can gain by hiring you.

    Too many ads are me me me advertising. I've said it many times before, nobody cares about you or your business. They only care about themselves and their problems. I could go on all night but the one thing it all points back to is if your ad looks like your competitors ad then your company looks like their company, and it's at this point that the prospect has nothing more to base their buying decision on but price so they go down the list looking for the cheapest one. What else are they suppose to do?

  12. Posted · Report reply

    This is a very interesting topic. What's interesting is hearing what works for some and what doesn't work for others.

    What really intrigues me is how many YP ads have failed for people. A failed ad or an ad that brings a poor ROI always gets blamed on the yellowpages themselves or whatever media it is in. When in reality it is the ad itself that was the failure, the message the ad portrayed to prospects is what failed to bring you the profits you had hoped for.

    The trick is to portray to people that your company is better than the next guy. You and your past customers know your company is better, that your customer service is unmatched, that you are professional, and your job quality is top notch. This is called your Inside Reality. Your Outside Perception is how potential prospects see your company. You have to get your Outside Perception to match your Inside Reality. When someone looks at your advertising, how do they know your Inside Reality is the best? How can they tell that you are different and that you are the one they want to do business with? Well if your ad looks like all the other ads......they can't.

    Look in any phone book under any service. All the ads are the same!! All the ads say is: This is who we are, this is what we do, and here is our phone number.........BORING and the same as everyone else. You have to stand out and think outside the box and that doesn't necessarily mean having a huge one page ad in color either. Just my 2 pennies.

  13. Posted · Report reply

    I do handyman stuff for friends and family and with the wife working we are getting the bills paid. I have had a lot of time to (what I call invest in myself) research, work on marketing, adververting, and sales stuff. But I do have some goals for this year and one of them is to set more money back for winter.....lol I know what you guys meant now when you said I would be a "starving PWer" the first year or so. Oh well spring is within site and I will be hitting it hard. Can't wait, I'm getting sick of people asking me when I'm going to get a "real job". All I say is, what the hell is a real job? Losers, some people just don't get it.

  16. Posted · Report reply

    I did a small car lot today for the first time. The sales manager gave me a W-9 form to fill out so I can get paid. I'm not sure why I have to fill this out, I never had to for any other account. At the top of the form it says 'Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification.' I'm a sole prop. so my tax number is my SS number, I'm always leary about putting my SS on something I don't understand. Maybe it's no big deal but I just want to know. What's the purpose of this form and should I be filling it out? Thanks in advance.

    P.S. Don't tell me to ask my accountant either. Let's just say I'm in betw accountants right now.

  18. Posted · Report reply

    This thread was a thinker, really got into my head.

    I'm thinking the only qualification necessary in an instructor is the ability to instill confidence. If the instructor is confident about his message, as a student, you will walk away with a belief in what you've studied. All minds process information in the same way. First you think about something, then you believe something, then you know something.

    Regardless of the qualification of an instructor the best they can ever hope to achieve is having you believe something. If you believe in what you study, you will have the confidence to apply it. It is only after applying what you believe in the real world that you come to know something.

    So the question is not what is the qualification of the instructor, but rather what is the quality of their material. Where did the material come from? If I do a good job of teaching you bad information, it's not going to help you succeed.

    If I compile a bunch of material that is readily available sit you down and cause you to believe it, you will have the confidence to go out and know for yourself. Certainly there is value in that. True, you could just research it yourself and learn the information on your own but what you really paid for was courage. You've put your faith in the same information, but it was the instructor that helped you believe it.

    If I teach you something new and original, something that is not readily available, certainly there is value in that. The obvious downside is, the newer and more original information is, the less it is backed with experience. All new ideas eventually either die out or become common knowledge. The key here is in knowing what new information is a shooting star destined to become tomorrow's status quo and which is about to fizzle.

    There is no real way to quantify the concept of "Quality" or "Value" when it comes to information. Information is subjective and will have a different impact on each individual. "Success" is another word that can't be pinned down. One man's vision of success is another man's view of hell on earth. It comes down to what is most important to you.

    Some will teach you the fastest way to make a buck, all be damned but you.

    Some will teach you to believe in what benefits the teacher most.

    Some will teach you quality to the point of diminishing returns.

    Some will teach you the key is finding joy in what you do.

    Many will teach you a little bit of everything.

    To boil this rambling bit of opinion down to a single statement I would say. . .

    Go with your gut, if you get a bad feeling about something run, if it feels right stick around a while.

    But that's the same advise I give about everything.

    Excellent post Russell I agree with you 100%. The job of the teacher is not to know everything, but to know where to find everything. It's a shame some people aren't open minded enough to understand this. I think we all have something to learn from everybody if we just listen.

  20. Posted · Report reply

    Barry,

    That is a great question. This is where the industry is unsettled, Who's Qualified? Instead of people trying to drag me down because I have not been on the board for a year or so lets do this.

    Time for everyone to go to work here, Instead of the drama lets ALL awnser Barry's Question and get something done here, its apperant that people are interested in this issue.

    Who is Qualified to educate the Pressure Washing Profession?

    1. Vendors of their products

    2. Proven Marketing experts by there peers or industry.

    3. Successful pressure washing companies of more than 10yrs by their peers or industry.

    Now keep this list going and ad to it

    Okay I agree that vendors would be qualified to educate us about their products. Proven marketing experts by their peers, well you could get into what is considered "proven" but lets not. I think most people here would consider a Ken F a proven marketing expert for example (sorry to keep dragging you into this Ken). :) Successful pressure washing companies of more than 10 yrs. This one I would personally drop the 10 year or any amount of years thing. To me an x amount of time in business is a poor choice to qualify somebody. The only thing I measure success with in business is PROFITS. So a successful PWing company to me would be a company that's bottom line has been x amount for three or more years in a row. But again it doesn't mean they are also good teachers or even want to share their knowledge.

    This whole thing just seems weird to me. To point a finger at one person or several people fitting all the specific requirements is just silly. It's like you want us all to wander around looking for a leader we can all worship. :lgbow: I personally don't like rules and guidlines, I am more of a freelancer and I like the freedom of choosing who I think is a successful person. I pick their brain and move on, some I become friends with. If I surround myself with successful people there is a good chance I will succeed and that is really all I care about.

    Tony, I know you are hoping to hear from a person "qualified" in marketing roof cleaning at the RT, because it's a venture you want to endure and that's great. We tried to get another board member from FL up hear to do it but because of some other issues, he has disappeared (which I'm still upset about). He is considered by a lot of people a qualified roof cleaning person and would of been a big plus to have at the RT. I hope whomever we find fits your qualifications and you learn something.

  21. Posted · Report reply

    Celeste,

    I prefer some times not to post as much because of what is Now happening here. Things are now geting out of text and things are now being said to form negative opinions about people. I'm not in need of the attention or drama that is what this post has become.

    This is very easy

    How can I find good quality education to better my business. I'm sorry, but there are to many out there with not egough experience that are trying to guide this industry. Thats all!

    Look, I'm not trying to form any negativity about anyone. I have an opinion just like you. I agreed that you make a good point about some folks not being qualified in your eyes. I'm not trying to start anything, I think we can discuss this in an open, civil manner. Like I told you on the phone, I've missed your insight the last couple of years. IMO the reason why this issue will never be resolved is because, who is qualified? I mean everybody is going to have different opinions on who is qualified in their eyes. Is it someone in biz for 20 years, is it someone with a certification, someone with a title, someone associated with an organization, or someone who charges an arm and a leg for a seminar. I know your saying some that have no business and or experience are trying to teach and coach others and shouldn't be but...... All I want to know is what does QUALIFIED to teach others mean in your opinion Tony, pertaining to this industry?

  22. Posted · Report reply

    Oh but Barry, if we are on here weeding through, we must not be busy!!! Maybe we need to learn from those guys that are soo busy they're doing their wood work IN THE DARK!!!! lol

    Yeah, I've heard that one lately too. "If someone is sooooo successful and busy then why are they on the boards all the time?" It's like they think if your posting all the time you must not have much hands on experience and all your knowledge is book knowledge. Sure whatever!

    I guess it could be blammed on the holidays or many guys are dealing with cold weather right now but I truely believe no matter how busy I get, frequenting the boards is part of my work day. It's something a lot of people overlook as being a part of running a successful business. It's called NETWORKING and I recommend to anyone if you want to succeed you better be doing it.

  23. Posted · Report reply

    It depends on what it is your wanting to learn. I feel like the tech stuff like how to use an xjet, how to downstream, what unit should I buy, where can I get gutter cleaner, what pump do I use for roof cleaning, and etc can easily be learned on the boards if you weed thru the BS and get to know a few guys and even meet them at RT's or talk to them on the phone and take notes. That's the easy stuff. Guys used to learn this crap on their own before the internet existed.

    As far as marketing, advertising, sales, and business management, you let me know when someone can even hold a candle next to Ken F. This stuff isn't taught for free or in college. You have to invest time in yourself to learn this stuff. You have to read, attend seminars, research, and network. I have mentors here locally that are successful business owners, and I pick their brains all the time. What I've found is guys that have been around for years don't realize that what worked yesterday doesn't work today. Times have changed and so has traditional marketing techniques. Ken practices and openly discusses the aggressive marketing techniques I am interested in learning. Now others may teach this but the problem is they are trying to cash in on it by charging $2,000 for a seminar, when that kind of money is involved, then I would be asking myself who is this guy and is he qualified to teach me what I want/need to learn to be successful? Is he up to date on his methods? You see it doesn't matter if I'm certified to restore a deck or have a fancy logo on my letterhead if the damn phone ain't ringing.

    As far as products, it's a no brainer, ask a rep at the company that manufactures or distrubutes the products or go to a seminar. Those folks would be qualified to teach because they only know that particular product.

    IMO taught classes for certifications are a waste of money because the people teaching the classes only care about their own interests. It's politics and it's all about money. Just like the government, it's a joke. A newcomer can learn a ton more hands on training by practicing labor for learning with an established, successful company. It's a win win for both parties involved. If I had my choice to: (1) take an expensive certification course to learn log home restoration or (2) go work for free with an established company that does this stuff everyday. My choice is 2! Not just because it's cheaper but I would learn way more because folks that get out there and actually do this stuff and make a living are more qualified teachers in my book.

    If folks are here wanting to learn and are intelligent enough to have started a biz then they are smart enough to weed thru the little bit of crap on the boards, and pick and choose whom they want to learn from. No they shouldn't believe everything they read. I'll tell them now: HEY NEWCOMER READING THIS, DON'T BELIEVE EVERY SINGLE THING YOU READ ON THE BOARDS, BE CAREFUL WHOM YOU CHOOSE TO LEARN FROM. There that wasn't hard. I don't think it's fair that some newcomers get sucked into an expensive cert class thinking that's going to make them rich. They should be able to aquire enough FREE information so they can make a more informed and intelligent decision. That's what the boards do and have done for me. What I've learned is I will decide who I think is qualifed to teach me what I want to learn, I will not let an individual or an organization tell me who they think is qualified. Just my .02 cents of course.

  24. Posted · Report reply

    Oxalic acid is used to remove irrigation rust stains. I have successfully used it on concrete, brick, vinyl (siding/fences), plastic lawn furniture, and downspouts. I get it locally now but I used to get it from Steve at RPC but others carry it. It's usually in the wood restoration chem section because it's used to brighten/nuetralize wood after stripping with a caustic.

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