The Laundry List Blog

Do The One Thing Mar 25, 2024

I recently finished reading The One Thing by Gary Keller and he suggested asking yourself the following question:

What is the ONE THING I can do so that everything else will be easier or unnecessary?

What an awesome question! It asks you to focus on the one thing you can work on to create...

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Delight Your Clients Mar 18, 2024

I ventured down a rabbit hole on YouTube recently and found myself watching a video of Warren Buffett. He was telling the stories of two companies – Nebraska Land Furniture and Enterprise Rental Car. Both of these companies were built from almost nothing – one with $2,500 and the...

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Acquiring New Clients Mar 04, 2024

There are only three ways to increase your revenue:
1. Get more clients
2. Get current clients to come more often
3. Get current clients to spend more each time they visit
It is critical you have an intentional plan to acquire new clients. Even if you want to keep the same amount of top-line revenue...

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Invest in Clients with an Appreciation Sale Feb 26, 2024

Earlier this week, I talked to a prospective member about our new Warrior group. He said he would be interested in joining but wanted to make sure I would not make him discount his services. He was concerned such a thing would degrade his brand and he didn’t want to do that.

I get this all...

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Fulfill the Six Human Needs Feb 12, 2024

If you want to be a great marketer, it is important to understand what makes people tick. You are in the fulfillment business. A client or prospect has a problem and you have a solution to make their problem better. You are able to monetize this solution since it is valuable to your client or...

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Clients vs. Customers: Change Your Thinking Feb 05, 2024

One business owner in our industry might be 100 times more successful than another business owner in our industry. It’s not because the one with more success is 100 times more intelligent than the other. They are not using equipment or processes that are 100 times more advanced.

The more...

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Following the Seasons of Business Jan 29, 2024

In most parts of the United States, there are distinct seasons – spring, summer, fall, and winter. There are exceptions to this like Florida, southern Texas, and most of California, where the weather is much less volatile.

Like the weather seasons, there are also seasons in business. As the...

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Harness the 10/20 Rule Jan 22, 2024

This will be a welcome break from my usual focus on the 80/20 rule (The Pareto Principle). I love the 80/20 rule and it applies to almost everything, especially when you are acquiring, ascending, and retaining your clients but the 10/20 rule is totally different.

I learned the 10/20 rule from...

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First Quarter Coat Drive Jan 08, 2024

If January or February is a relatively slow month for your business, consider launching a coat drive one of those months.

Years ago, before we had our January coat drive, January was our third worst month of sales in the year. The only worse months were the heat of summer in July and August.

That...

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Website Chats are Powerful Dec 11, 2023

There are tremendous benefits to your prospects, existing clients, and your company by installing a Live Chat widget on your website.
 
At In The Bag Cleaners, we have five to seven daily prospects ask questions on our chat widget, that they want answered before they start using our...

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Spring is Rich with Opportunities! Dec 07, 2023

Don’t worry, I haven’t completely lost my mind! I know it’s not spring in the Northern Hemisphere but it is spring south of the Equator. Anyway, this article will help you whenever it is spring in your area...
 
The ups and downs of business and life are similar to the...

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The #1 Quality of a Great Leader Dec 04, 2023

Does a great leader bring you down or raise you up? When a great person walks into a room, does the positive energy increase or decrease?
 
The best leaders energize other people. They are battery chargers rather than battery drainers. People generally feel better about themselves after...

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Positioning Your Premium Services Nov 30, 2023

Why do people buy a Mercedes automobile? 
 
If you guessed safety features, an upscale dashboard display, a robust engine, tight suspension, or fine leather, you would be wrong.
 
People buy from an emotional level and they justify the emotional purchase with logic.
 
The...

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Are Price Increases Leaving You Feeling Empty? Nov 27, 2023

Each week, I talk with a handful of prospective mastermind members about their outlook for future growth – both in revenue and profit. We discuss how to do this while building their teams to take care of daily operations.
 
There have been some positive trends over the past couple of...

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Overcoming Limiting Beliefs Nov 20, 2023

After 23 years of owning my own business, and now four years of coaching other business owners, I have learned a business owner almost always loses by beating himself/herself.

 

Please - do not have limiting beliefs in yourself. I have seen many a business owner self-sabotage because they...

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Overcoming Growth Hurdles Nov 16, 2023

There are revenue hurdles we face as drycleaning business owners.
 
For some reason, the top-line revenue hurdles come in 1s, 3s and 5s.
 

  • $500,000
  • $1,000,000
  • $3,000,000
  • $5,000,000

 
Why do you get stuck at each of these levels?
 
For one of two reasons – 

  1. there...
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Does Direct Mail Work? Nov 13, 2023

Does Direct Mail Work?

Absolutely.

Direct Mail is my top choice to acquire new clients – for a number of reasons.

For target clients, we usually do not have their cell phone number – and a phone call or text would not be warmly received if the prospect does not trust us yet –...

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The Most Common Marketing Failure Nov 09, 2023

If your marketing is about you or your business, you’ve already failed.
This applies to all industries, not just dry cleaning.

All great marketing relies, at its core, on building a sense of trust with your clients.  You don’t build trust by talking endlessly about...

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Growth Simplified Nov 06, 2023

As dry cleaning business owners, we are always looking for tactics to get more clients. The goal is for these new clients to create more revenue.
 
We might try to create more awareness of our brand.
 
We might look for the right direct mail postcard or digital ad that will create a...

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What is Marketing? Nov 02, 2023

The definition of “marketing” from the Oxford Languages is The activity or business of promoting and selling products or services, including market research and advertising.
 
Let me give you some additional ways to think of marketing:

Marketing is:

    • What you say (the message)
    • ...
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