August focus: Domestic Cleaning Service

When it comes to leaflet distribution, once again the key to success is repetition. Obviously, you will need to keep within your budget when investing in printing and distribution, but be aware also that the promotion will create income for you, therefore paying for its own costs. On the first distribution people will probably pick up and read your leaflet, then either respond, store and keep it, or discard it altogether. If you market your leaflet/flyer correctly the ratios will look like this:

• 3% will respond
• 10% will store and keep the brochure
• 87% will discard it altogether

On the second distribution, which should be done no more than four weeks later, people will respond with one of the above three actions, however, the ratios will be different. The amount of inquiries will be greater because you will be reminding the 10% that put their leaflet away the first time to once again call or see you, plus there will be a response from the 3% who may have seen your leaflet for the first time. So you may be right to expect about a 4 – 5% response.

On the third distribution there will be even greater numbers of inquiries. This system will work better if the minimum amount of leaflets delivered is 10,000. During the running of my cleaning agencies I would have up to 30,000 leaflets/flyers delivered each week per business, especially in the early stages of getting the businesses off the ground. This would create extra work for up to 16 people at a time in each business.

Who do I pay to Distribute my Leaflets?

There are many companies out there who will distribute your flyers/leaflets for you. The smaller companies are charging around $45 per thousand, and the larger companies charge anything up to $90 per thousand. This is a lot of money to pay when you can either distribute the flyers yourself or place an ad for walkers who will distribute them for you. By placing an ad for walkers you can link up with people who already work for big distribution companies, and they will be happy to accept much less than you would pay through their employer. You can even set the rate yourself. I have often advertised for walkers and told them that the rate of pay was $30 per thousand, which they were happy with if they were already distributing for other companies because it enabled them to deliver other leaflets at the same time as delivering mine. Look for senior pensioners who would like to earn a little extra cash – they are very reliable and trustworthy and they actually enjoy the work as it gives them the gentle exercise they need.

When is the Best Time to Distribute my Leaflets?

If you decide to distribute the leaflets/flyers yourself, then only do so on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. You will find that on other days of the week the homeowner has not checked their letterbox to collect their addressed mail, and most flyers/leaflets will get thrown straight into the bin when they do because of the backlog of ‘junk mail’ that has accumulated. This tip is important to keep in mind when you have walkers doing the job for you as well. Stipulate that they should only deliver on these days for the same reasons. I advise you not to distribute your flyers in the school holidays – there are many families away at this time and it really is a waste of money doing any distribution then. Give yourself or your walkers some time off in the school holidays. You and/or they will appreciate the break and will come back to work refreshed and ready to go. You’ll also save money on printing and distribution that doesn’t give you the best result.

When having your printing done, make sure that you flyer/leaflet is no bigger than postcard or DL envelope size so that it slips straight into the mouth of the letterbox. That way it won’t get wet if the weather happens to be raining as it will be fully and safely inside the box. You will find that on rainy days if your flyer happens to get wet in the person’s letterbox it just sticks to all the other brochures that are delivered on that day and will tend to get thrown out rather than read. Also, if it is any larger than this it may be folded in half by your walker in such a way that it doesn’t get read or seen as soon as it is taken out of the box. It is important that you give yourself maximum chance of being noticed in order to get the best result. When it comes to which ink to use you can use black ink on coloured paper or red ink on white paper to save printing costs as well.

The samples you see above are the various sized flyers that you can use. It has been my experience that you don’t need anything bigger than the smaller of the three that you see above in order to promote your Home Cleaning / Domestic Cleaning service.

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