How to get new business

A website is not a must but it definately gets me a much better return than any other advertising I've tried. Also once it is up and running it is pretty much on autopilot with just some weekly updating to keep your good ranking. Updating takes just a few minutes. My site costs me less the $60 per year, including the domain, web space and maintenance. I bring in about 6-10 jobs per month directly attributed to the site.

I'm sure you'll get a lot of different answers to your question. Here is what does/doesn't work for me:

The best advertising is word of mouth. Be pleasant, do a very good job and then ask the customer to recommend your service & leave a few extra business cards. If you get a reasonable callback, fix it AT NO EXTRA CHARGE. This will get you a happy customer who says good things about your company. Remember to promise small and deliver big.

I use a yellow pages ad because a lot of people will not remember your name - they just go to the yellow pages. My competition is going to be in there, so I am too. You don't need a full page ad, just get in there and make sure the words "Carpet Cleaning" are prominent. I've found that yellow page ads are overpriced, but I get enough business back to at least break even on the expense.

I advertise in the services section of the local newspaper. I feel that it is also overpriced, but it gets more business and seems to be a better deal in my area than the yellow pages.

I don't go around knocking on doors. I don't want me or my business associated with the pain in the ass people who do that sort of thing. But, if after a residential job you hang 5-10 mailbox/doorknob hangers, this is a cheap and effective way to pick up more business. My hangers say " We cleaned your neighbors carpets today... blah, blah, ... Call for a fee estimate."

Something else I'm considering is leaving a "free" bottle of spot remover with my company name and number printed on the bottle. Some suppliers (Ted?) offer this type of product. I'm thinking if they've still got the bottle in the cabinet, they'll grab it instead of the phone book when they want carpet cleaning. If anybody has tried this, I'd like to know if it's effective.