Five Undeniable Truths about Janitorial Blogging

A blog (a blend of the term web log) is the primary way for you to engage your prospects, your clients, and your community in this Web 2.0 age. There are 156 million blogs and if you are in the cleaning industry, you had better get yours and you had better make it good.

I look at janitorial web sites almost continuously. Few in our industry have figured out how to maintain a presence on the web and janitorial web sites are not much more than electronic brochures. How much time do you spend reading any brochure after your purchase? How can you use the web to interact with all those you seek to influence (both before and after the sale)?

Yes, we all know you vacuum and dust and polish along with the other 127,000 cleaning services in the U.S. that want that very same dollar that you do. Frankly, everyone with money to spend for cleaning is tired of hearing it. The question is, what makes you special and why should you get that cleaning dollar? I want to be very clear about this and make sure you understand that you are NOT special in today’s marketplace. (Your mom still thinks you are special but other than her, it is a very short list).

The answer is as it always has been, to build a relationship. The foundation of a relationship is engagement. For a whole generation of buyers and clients today engagement is something that happens on the web. A blog is one key piece of your internet presence that you cannot afford to ignore.

Truth # 1

Content is EVERYTHING. This violates one of my other core beliefs, which is that showing up is 80% of success. You cannot just throw up a blog and fill it with words, recipes or other empty cerebral calories (junk food for the brain). Your blog must inform, inspire, teach, entertain, or have some value for the person reading it. If you target property or facility managers, you must give them something of value worth their time to read. (I write to janitorial company leaders and provide something they want to read).

Truth # 2

Your blog increases your professional standing. How refreshed your prospects and clients will be when they see something of value that they can use. Up to this point all, you have been doing in providing good service is keeping building occupants quiet about poor cleaning. If you are doing a good job, no one you serve is complaining. Absence of tenant or occupant complaints is the hallmark of good service. That is just not enough in this competitive environment. 

One downtown property manager told me he gets five calls a day from janitorial services. Staying out of sight and hoping out of mind will help you is a strategy for disaster.

Truth # 3

Your blog increases your electronic standing, your web presence. (Want proof? Google my name Ed Selkow and you will find several solid pages among the ads for numerous treatments for the dreaded male malady named in my honor). You have to rise above the noise all your competitors are making on the web and paying big money for. Blogging is a key step to link building and you can slash your search engine optimization dollars significantly. (I have not spent one thin dime to have a good four pages of Google).

Truth # 4

Your blog can personalize your company, put your name, and face above that snappy wet floor sign so people can see YOU. People do business with other people, not trucks or buildings or floor machines or rubber gloves and buckets (and ANY pictures of toilets should IMMEDIATELY earn you an express trip to Federal bankruptcy court in a merciful Chapter 7 proceeding). Part of this personalization process is for feedback by your readers. Produce good content and then provide a comment section. 

Truth # 5

Your company blog is a commitment to make and then keep. I saw one figure that 28% of corporate blogs die by the end of the first year. This is not a trick and it is not a fad, it is something important for you to adopt for your company for the long haul. Can you imagine disconnecting your telephone before the end of your first year in business because not enough buyers called you? This is communication today, like it or not, it is a reality. 

Years ago, I saw that there were only two paths I could take as a business owner. I could stand outside the game and complain how others were playing or get inside the game and play to win.

If you are perplexed on where to start or need help with the blog you already have, contact me. Let’s get you in the game to win.

Ed Selkow