Episode 4: Building Your Brand

In this episode of The Clean Hour, we dive into one of the most important foundations of a successful pressure washing business — your brand.

Most business owners think branding is just a logo. The reality is your brand is how customers perceive your business, how they remember you, and ultimately why they choose you over the competition.

We discuss:
✅ What branding really means for service businesses
✅ Why most pressure washing companies look the same
✅ How to position your business in a crowded market
✅ Creating a consistent message and tone of voice
✅ Building trust through professional branding
✅ Aligning your branding with your marketing strategy

Whether you're just starting out or looking to take your business to the next level, this episode will help you build a brand that attracts better customers, stands out from competitors, and supports long-term growth.

Transcript

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Hello and welcome back to the fourth episode of the Clean Hour Podcast. Hopefully you've been enjoying the first three episodes. So we've had what we had, we've had vision and goal setting, the power of social media and paid ads. And then the last episode is all about understanding your ideal customer and uh and competition. So yeah, episode four is all about branding and marketing strategy. So again, if you haven't listened to the first three, please go back and listen. Um and thank you to everyone who has and the sentence feedback again. Matt, you all good? Ready for episode four? Yep. Ready to go, pal. Let's do it. Cool. So episode three was all about knowing and finding out how to recognise your ideal, um, your ideal customer. So this feeds on nicely to it. And some of the things that we mentioned in this episode will kind of it might repeat a tiny bit from the last episode, but it's more hopefully this one's more actionable. So now we know the audience. How can we brand ourselves and market ourselves to actually get them in as customers? Um, so that's what this is all about today. Um, branding, Matt. Um, I guess let's talk about what is a brand first of all and why is it so important? Because we know in this industry, I always say like 90% of people just don't think about it and they don't put their energy and effort into it, or even their finances into it because they don't value it, or maybe don't understand it. But why why is a brand important for a business, first of all? Um for me, I I want I want my brand in my businesses. The minute people see it, they know what it is, and everywhere they see it, it brings them back to what I do. Do you know what I mean? So um, you know, Costwall roof cleaning, it says what it does on the tin, doesn't it? Or it does what it says on the tin. It is literally wherever those vans are, wherever that branding is, people know exactly what I do. Exactly. There's no there's no guessing at all in that in the logo, in the the colour scheme, in the name, it literally nails it to the fence instantly. It doesn't matter if you sat in traffic, doesn't matter if you scroll on social media, if you see us out and about it's done. And I I want I I want to build, and this is you know, if you look at you look you look at major players with major brands, right? And I'm never saying Cotswold Rivklin is going to be a major player with a major brand, but iconically, you see a brand and you instantly know what it is, and I think the best example of that is McDonald's, the golden M, the golden arches. Why do they put it on a pole 50 feet in the air? Because you'll be driving along the motorway or driving through town and you'll see the golden M and it's like a calling beacon. Yeah, it just says M. It's just the golden M. If you've never, you know, unless you've come from another planet, everybody, every kid is looking for the goal, every car journey, every kid is looking for the golden M with a hope that their parents are gonna swing in and get them a happy meal. That that's the power of the golden arches. Yeah, and I'm not saying Cottsburg roof cleaning is gonna be of that draw that everyone that sees us wants the roof cleaned, but if you build it with that in mind, then it can only be a positive, can't it? It can only be a positive. Absolutely. Well, these these I mean the M, right, and and other companies do it really well. We'll get onto a few in a minute. Let's talk about the the Nike swoosh or um yeah, uh the Gymshark logo, maybe we'll go into that in a minute because that's really important. But um, these reputations, yes, they've got the image of the golden arch or the swoosh or something, but it's what they do in all aspects of business because your brand, right. What why is a brand? It's your reputation, isn't it? It's perception. Um, it's it's the consistency of your business, it's how people perceive you. And if you get it wrong from the start, that that um how people perceive you will be in the wrong way, potentially in the wrong way for your whole business journey, isn't it? So it's really important to get it right, and yeah, McDonald's they're like a beacon, aren't they? Like quite often, like if you're on a motor whales on or you're driving a long way and you see those arches, it's like, oh yeah, like a safe spot. It's like, oh, amazing, get some food here. So they do the root, they do it really well. We do and we were saying, we were talking off camera, then um Heinz, Heinz, right. I don't know if you've seen their adverts of of recent years, they don't even put Heinz on the advert anymore, it's just like it has to be, and then they put dot dot dot and they don't even show it because you know straight away that it's uh it's Apple. If Apple just put a picture of an actual Apple, you'd know straight away that it's Apple and it's it's it's perfect marketing. And um, but the problem is, I think, in this industry, I think this isn't a bashing session, and I respect anyone who's starting off a business and doing it, but so many of these businesses look the same, don't they? They're so generic, and I think I think it's an issue with the bigger. And I guess it's I guess it's quite um I guess it's quite grey, innit? Do you know what I mean? It's quite everyone just blends in. Yeah. You know, and and if you want to win the race and if you want to stand out, then you've got to be bold about it. And there's um you know the two young lads, and I'll name them because I think they're really good at what they do. Is it we clean property? The two lads from Kent. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, you look at their van, they've done like the Simpson characters of themselves. You're not gonna miss it, are you? Yeah, you're not and we clean property, it is they've got it absolutely nailed on. You know, it it's net for me, it's nailed on. You know, it's not gonna be everyone's cup of tea. There's gonna be the old and bold that go Simpson's characters, you know, it's a bit childish. No, no, it's nailed on for me. That brand is absolutely nailed on, and they're not blending in, they're not grey, they're not gonna be everyone's cup of tea, but there is people out there that will see that, look forward to seeing the van and go, there they are again, there they are again, because it draws people in, and you're right, your brand is your identity, in it. It's all about standing out, I think. That's the hardest bit in this industry where there's so much competition. We've said before how many people are entering this industry. It's tough, and it's tougher than ever to stand out, so you have to be different. And there's some great businesses, I won't name any, but friends of mine and clients of mine, and people we both know, but they're just very generic in their names and the logos. There seems to be only if one company is doing all these logos, but they all just look so similar. Um, my own uh my previous business, which was the wedding film and photo company, I went the same as you, like Cot Sword. I wanted to go just straight up, you know exactly what it is. Um, I went a different uh approach with my cleaning business. My business is called Clean Soul, so it's not exactly what you you don't know necessarily what that is straight away, but I did it because that I wanted to just stand out a bit, and people have commented oh clean soul when they book me. Like it's just something a bit different, so it goes against being in your face advertising, which I would usually be. But I just wanted to stand out because I thought all the names are so similar, it's so easy to get lost at the minute in the in in the names because yeah, chat GBT, I don't know how people start this, but it's uh it seems to be what they use just to get going. Um, and it's hard, like you said, very bland. It is, and and I think if you can get traction at the start with with your branding, it it just massively helps, right? And if you have your everything we've spoken about over the year, me and you, mate, is about building something for longevity, right? And if you get it right now with your brand from day one, then it it I can't tell you how powerful it can be. And I I've done a video on my YouTube channel um about getting it wrong, uh and I just a little quick side story. So my fire and security company, which is now branded William Hale Fire and Security, was I owned Lollipop facilities management and I branded when I started my fire and security, I branded that lollipop fire and security because I had this belief, and I've spoken about it before, that I wanted to build the biggest clean and maintenance company in the south, and then I was going to build the biggest fire and security company in the south, and I got it wrong. I got it wrong. We built everything, we marketed it, we pushed it out, it was doing okay, it wasn't doing okay, it was just paying the salary, right, of the people in it, wasn't making any money, and I stuck with that for three years, and I think it was a bit through stubbornness, pig headedness, ego that I wouldn't change it. Um and then I changed it, and I changed it to William Hale Fire and Security, and all we did was change the brand, the website changed the change, we just changed the names and the domain name, but the website didn't change, the personnel didn't change, and it took off. And I think in the next three years it went north of half a million, and nothing had changed by the name, the name and the brand, the brand had changed, our ethos and our values hadn't changed, but the brand had changed, and overnight people bought into it, and that's the power of a brand, you know. So sometimes you need to look at it, and sometimes we don't what is it? I I I'm working with a um I'm working with a gas engineer, plumbing and heating specialist now. Um, he came to me, and the very first thing I said to him was, you need to rebrand, you need to rebrand. I said, It just doesn't set the image you want to set. I said, It's awful. And he said, Oh, do you think I said yeah? We've changed the whole branding of his company and the name and the identity. And guess what? He's flying. But he'd been going by that old name for six, seven, eight years, just wasn't right, and we've changed it, so it's really important that you have a look at it. You know, it you've got to like it, but it more importantly, your customers have to like it, they have to buy into that brand. If they don't buy into it, you can like it as much as you like. Your aim is to make profit and and run a business, not because you like the branding. Don't worry about it. And and your branding will attract you will determine what customers you get. I think an easy example is let's look at uh Ryanair versus Emirates, let's just say, or Qatar, someone like that. Um, they both do the same job, they both go from A to B, but look at the name, the branding, everything about it. And I'm not saying it tracks well, it does attract different customers because if I want a cheap flight to Dublin or the quickest, like the cheapest, not the quickest, but the cheapest flight to wherever in Europe, I'm probably going Ryanair. If I want to go pure budget, save money. But then you look at the logos, the yellow, the blue, how you know they haven't even got the um the safety manuals anymore, they're just like stick stuck on the seats, they're uncomfortable. And then you look at Emirates, who they'll go to the same destinations, but comfy seats, luxury branding, airport lounges, and it you can transfer that analogy to pressure washing because you can do the same job as someone else, but if you're perceived to be more luxurious, better, more trusted, uh, more reliable, then you're gonna win. You're gonna win the job. And that's what people I don't think people think enough about that because it's super important, isn't it? Yeah, yeah, massively. Um and I said we said in the last episode when people just concert a lot of people just concentrate on price, they think there's people want it cheap, they don't, they don't, they want that, you know. I drive round it in a bloody big pink van that stands out, you know, and your branding, you know, when it's parked on the driveways at these big houses, you can't miss it. You can't you're not gonna miss it. I talk about it, I'm the pink van man, you know. I'm I'm proud about the charities that we support, but also it's part of the branding. You're not gonna miss that van. It it just draws people in, and it's a conversation starter. Why you got a pink van? And then they see the the charity on the bottom of it and they go, Oh, right, okay, yeah, with you. You know, it it's all about the branding, in it. That's where it starts. Do you remember the um I uh we used to live in like a student heavy area, don't you remember the Red Bull cars? Do you ever see them? Yes, with the can on the roof, the minis, yeah. Yeah, they used to be everywhere around our area where we lived. And uh classic example, turned heads, conversation starter, and ultimately sold more products. It's genius. Something simple, really simple. Um okay, so let's go into why let's talk, let's take it back to cleaning businesses. Um, would you agree that most businesses look the same in terms of their logo and how they position themselves? Um, yeah, yeah, yeah. I would say and the other re the other worry that I have, and I speak I speak quite passionately about it, right? Is everybody comes into this industry and wants to offer everything to everybody, and nobody's got no one's prepared to go and take it niche and just offer one thing and set themselves out on such a pedestal with such a strong brand. I mean, let's take I mean look at look at window cleaners that just clean windows right are flying, you know. They don't go into gutter cleaning, they don't go into roof cleaning, they don't go into exterior cleaning, they just concentrate on window cleaning, right? Just window cleaning, and I could use us as an example with the roof cleaning. All we do is clean roofs. We are book solid for the next three and a half months with high-ticket jobs because once you become niche and your brand says that's all you do, where I look at everybody else around us, everyone is so-and-so's exterior cleaning, so and so's exterior cleaning, you know, clean solutions, exterior cleaning, it's all the same, it's all they're all doing well and they're all busy, right? They're all but but it's just you're just moulding into one there's one company. You look at all the websites, they're all offer the same. You look at all the social meets, all the same. There's nobody standing out, nobody's grabbing it and going, Do you know what? All I'm gonna do is clean drives. I ain't gonna do anything else. I am gonna become the UK's biggest franchise drive cleaning, and I'm gonna call it, I don't know, UK drive refresh, whatever, right? And I'm gonna build it here, I'm gonna build it really big, and then I'm gonna franchise it. And we are gonna take over the UK solely cleaning drives, nothing else. The opportunity is massive, but we we don't we take everything on, we buy all the tools for everything, and then we just look the same as everyone else, don't we? Yeah, we just look the same. A controversial company, but I think you've got to hand it to them. It's Ben's Gutters. I think an example of what you just spoke about. Yeah. Um you know, I know they've had uh legal uh issues with their marketing, and and people do uh slag them off a bit, but ultimately they are one of the biggest companies in the UK, aren't they? And that that's I mean the name Bang On Ben's Gutters, they're but they're log their their marketing is really good, like it or or you don't, uh legal or not, I don't know, but they've got it. I think they're a £10 million turnover company. Well, there you go. I think that's where they're about 10 million, and you know, and now they're going into roof cleaning. Yeah, they're going into roof cleaning, right? They've built the foundations for it. Correct, they've built a client base, you know, and I've used Ben's gutters. We missed the gutter, a two-meter sex, and a gutter in a job in Oxford, and it was cheaper to go back, it was cheaper to send someone else to go back than us to go back, right? So we we test organised Ben's gutters, and in all honesty, they were brilliant. They sent us a video of him getting out of the van, finding the gutter, cleaning it, making sure the floor around it was all clean, all on video, and sent us an invoice. Brilliant. I can't knock them. I don't know, I say I can't knock them. You know, I know that they do get bad policy, but you're right, the the branding, the marketing is absolutely what do they do? Gutters, got us, that's it. Got us. It's it's simple, innit? It's Ben and he cleans got us, you know. Yeah, brilliant. Yeah, spot on, spot on. So let's talk about positioning your business. So we mentioned this last episode as you know, we won't go into it again, but it's we want to target the the wealthy, let's just say. That's that's what most people should be doing, really, if they want to be in this game a long time, or at least people with money who are willing not you know not erase the bottom. So let's talk about um branding. Let's let's go um let's let's talk about online first, then. So there's lots of things that people can do online, aren't they? Everything you do online will position you somewhere in um along with your competitors, right? So how good your website is, how active your socials are, do you have reviews? So uh let's go website at the minute um to begin with, sorry. Um so I uh we both get lots of people um contacting us and and inquiring with us. The amount of the I've seen the same website so many times, and it doesn't do the job, does it? People overcomplicate it, they just fill it with rubbish, awful graphics, and a website for me just needs to be really simple, clean, branding on point, bit of information about you, utilise video, you should always utilise video, and just make it easy for someone. What do you do where you are, and can someone get in touch with you? But people overcomplicate the websites, don't they? Uh yeah, I think I think two two really key things that have to be on a website for me every time. I've got four current websites, and and I and when we build them, I say we the real way, there's two things that really, really, really are key for me great imagery and the first thing you come across is the contact box. That that's it because people don't want to be scrolling through pages to find how they contact you because it they lose interest, they lose interest. So ultimately, we're at the top it says what you do. So it says Cottswell Roof Cleaning. We are a no-water roof cleaning specialist. The next thing underneath it is the contact box. You scroll a bit further, it goes into imagery. That's it. I want them to go. This is who I want. Roof cleaning specialist removes moss without water. Brilliant. How do I contact him? Oh, look, there's the box. That's it. That's it. If you then dive into the website, they then find more and more stuff. But instantly, that's what I want them to see. I I look at websites every week for clients, right? Or potential clients, and I look at the websites and I'm hunting for a contact page. I'm having to go through pages to see how I'm going to contact them. And we've spoken about this over and over again. We need to take the friction out of the potential buyer's journey. Because if there is friction, they get bored, frustrated, and move on. That's it. They just move on. And whoever puts it in front of them on a plate and spoon feeds them, they'll get the inquiry. And they're the two key essentials on and I'm not a marketing, I don't ever. That's not my forty, but they're two things that I really through tried and tested over 25 years, they are two things that uh uh non-negotiable, good imagery and a contact box instantly. 100%, and for me, you can improve that even more by I'm I'll I'll always champion this is video. So what you want basically is above the fold, so what you can see when you first land on the page, what's on this in the frame? Like you said, you want to know what you are, what you do, um, a contact us button, I mean a call to action. If you don't have a call to action at the top of your page, what are you doing? Because you how are people you got a spoon for your people? What do you want them to do? Do you want them to call you? Do you want them to fill out a form? Email you, what do you want from you have to tell them? But also an easy way to break down the friction and to build trust is to put a little video of yourself. I'll always champion this. I've done it with every business I've had, is a little video, just introducing yourself, branded, just for the services you offer, and mention the call to action in your video, your sign-off, click the button below to get into contact, call us on this number, whatever you want them to do. If you put that in a video, one, you're showing them how to get in touch with you, two, you're uh building trust because they see you. You know, people by people, we know this. If if if there's three or four companies and one of them has a video talking and looks professional and is engaging, they're going to attract more leads and more clients because they just do people buy from people. They're easy wins that you can put on your website. Yeah, you can do it with imagery, of course you can. Imagery is great, but the more you can show your personality and build that trust above the fold with a call to action, with what you do, that's all you need. But people just overcomplicate it, or they just try and build it themselves, and it's awful. And and it's your brochure, right, isn't it? It's you it's your video, your website is your brochure, and you've got you haven't got long for people to click off it. If I if I was to buy, let's just take a luxury item like a roof clean. Let's let's take it, let's change it to like a holiday or something of the same price because you can get holidays for some of the prices of roof cleans. If you went on the website, And it was an awful website, and you couldn't contact them, and it was just not correlating with what they were promising. You don't trust it and you click off it. And it's exactly the same for exterior cleaning. You have to correlate with your audience and trust has to be built, doesn't it? A hundred percent. I've my my biggest um roof clean to date came through an organic lead from my website. Um she filled in the form. I went to see her two, three days later, and she signed up on the spot in her garden for six thousand pounds roof cleaner. Wow. Um why? Because she loved the website, she loved the simplicity of it, she loved the review, she loved the imagery, and and because I was not using water, um, and that just shows the power of a good website, you know. And if you could work out how many people click on, well, you can, can't you? Because there is data to show that how many people click on, how long they stay on for, and how long they go, you know, and and you lose people in the first three seconds, don't you? They just vanish because it's just not what they want. And also, you know, moving keeping on this subject a bit is how you brand your Google My Business. Very, very important, as important for me, possibly if not more, than the website, because when someone types in um you know, roof cleaning in the cotswolds or whatever, they type in for any area. If you imagine you come up with your Google My Business, well, first of all, if it's not even there, if you don't come up on Google My Business and all your competitors do, what is the point? There's not even point of continuing because you're not even showing, but also when you have it, utilize this tool, man, it's free. And and if if you haven't got photos on there and your locations and information and contact us and updates and reviews, you're missing out. It's an easy way to brand yourself and position yourself in all these in all these businesses. But again, people don't. I say to people, you got a Google My business, yeah, yeah. And I go on it, no update, not even a number on there, just nothing on there, no reviews, and it's gonna hurt you more than I, you know, it's gonna hurt you, so you have to brand your Google My business properly. And also, just following on from that, um one of our biggest searched phrases for roof cleaning uh in the Cotzwoles, right? Is professional roof cleaners professional. That's the that's one of the biggest searches in our area. Not roof cleaners, professional roof cleaners. So that goes back to everything we've ever spoken about, don't it? Yeah, for sure. And I think it's um I think it's all about it's all about positioning. So like if you if you are a family business, for example, if you're a family cleaning business, which so I'm at the minute I'm gonna I'm training my um my dad and my brother up to take the cleaning business from me because I'm I'm doing the agency and I can't do both really. Once they're up and running, you better believe that all my videos and my content is going to be about we are a family business, where we're a dad and two sons cleaning it because you gotta tell your story, and if that's not your story, if you're something else, wherever you want to be and how you want to position yourself, you have to drill it into people. Um and uh there's a I can't remember the phrase, but it's like if you haven't I can't remember who said it, sorry. It's like if you haven't annoyed anyone with your marketing by 10am, you're not marketing enough, and that's always stuck with me. It's like you have to shout from the rooftops about your business anywhere you can and tell your story because if you don't, someone else will and you'll get left behind. And and it and it's a very good point, that right, is people people have this um thing with their business that we're a family-run business, and we're very proud of a family-run business, and we plaster it all over our website, you know, established seven years, twenty years, fifty years, we're a family-run business, right? You then go through the website, you then go through the socials, and you can't find them. Yeah, you can't find them. You just know they're not there. They're telling you that family's really important and they build their values around the family, and it's a family business. There's nothing on them, you can't find who's the owner, no idea who works for you, no idea. So you're telling them in one hand and taking it away in the other. If you're gonna stand there and tell people you're a family-run business, then you need to be in front of the camera telling people this is me, this is the family, this is what we do, this is my dog. That's a family-run business, not we're a family-run business. Here's a picture of a driveway. It it doesn't work. You send in two mixed messages, you're sending, yeah, it's not right. Yeah, I I think it's I think it's just work out what lane you want to be in, really. And and it can it doesn't have to be family business, it can be whatever you want to be. I'm thinking of um, I'm sure they won't mind me saying two lads who are doing really well with me, and I think they're joining you soon. Um, they're they're two 19-year-olds who are absolutely crushing it at the minute, they're doing so well. And with their branding, or anyone who's young, it it's very easy. Your brand people might not trust you possibly because you're too young for me. I'd be like leaning into it, I'd be it'd be all over. Look at us, we're up-and-coming entrepreneurs, we're 19, we're doing this, that, and the other, and people will buy into that story more. Whereas if you have no story and it's just bland generic, people won't buy into it, even it no matter what your story is, make it show it and tell your story because it'll be so much more personal to people. And it's just again, some people just don't think to do this, but it's an easy win, and you can put that story anywhere, your website, your Google My Business, and then ultimately what we're going to next is your social media. That is where you can really tell your story, isn't it? I I I sent a video out this morning. I did a company analysis on a new up-and-coming um snowboarding clothing wear company. Right? And they asked me to do an analysis on his launches and his business, and then I sent him a video this morning, and the one thing he was missing was the origin story that instantly the brand's good, you know. It's called um Snow to Eskimo. Really good brand, really great products, but no origin story, nothing about them, nothing about how they're absolutely fanatical snowboarders, nothing. And he he messaged back and said, mate, 100%, 100% you're on it, we'll change it, you know. So people just miss it, don't they? They just miss the importance. You watched um like Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares. Have you ever watched any of that? Yes, yeah, I love it. That that's a great example, isn't it? You know, when he goes into a restaurant, it's like a like a local Italian family or something in New York, and the first thing he says is, let's get photos up of the family and let's tell the story. Because it it is with any people by people. Um a great a great example of this, I think. Uh going back to the start of bit is you know Gymshark. Yes, yeah. Founds found in the Midlands or um Worcestershire or one of them, I think. Uh Blake Down, I think it is. My auntie lives there, but um he that lad there, Ben, is it? Um he's a perfect example. His story is everyone knows his story. If you know Gymshark, he started it in his in his garage and he just used to sew the clothes himself and made the brand. And how big is Jim? Wasn't it wasn't it that the youngest? It was a billion-pound company, wasn't it? Oh yeah, he's the youngest billionaire. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That is his that is purely his story. He's built that himself. And look how people wear the Gymshark. I mean, I wear it, I don't know if uh you wear it, but so many people wear it because they feel connected somehow. And he's done that all in his own through his story, and that is the perfect example. If you could uh if you could picture a perfect example, it's that it's Gymshark. Yeah, I mean, Gymshark Ben, it's a great story, in it. It's a great, and I think I've watched some of his um podcasts and interviews, and he learnt business, I think, from his granddad. His granddad was in business, um, and he learned all his values from his granddad. And then I think, am I right in saying he couldn't get the gym kit he wanted, so he started making his own. Yeah, and I think his logo was a quid or something, weren't it? Was something really stupid, but he he really liked it, and that was it. And then, you know, don't go on and say never look back, he put sweat, tears, and blood into it, and he's built, you know, probably the fastest growing company in the world, and it's just brilliant, it's a great story, but his origin story, and there's people I speak to right that have got a really great story, but don't tell it, don't, don't tell it. No one knows anything about them, and I just think you you're missing that, you're missing that that chance to connect on a personal level, you know. People love it, people buy into it massively, massively, but they just don't do it, they just don't use it, and it's a shame. We bang on this about this a lot. It's getting in front of the camera. Sorry if it sounds repetitive, but I'm not sorry actually, because it's the it's the biggest piece of advice you can get. If you get yourself in front of the camera on social media, that's uh an easy marketing strategy that you can do. Free, it's organic, and you can you can tick so many boxes. One, showing you're active to people, two, building trust. But three, like you just said, you can show your story every single week, you can do a different video, every single day, you can do a different video, and just tell your story, and that should be in everyone's marketing strategy because it one, it markets yourself, it gets you in front of eyeballs, two, it builds a connection, and three, it's building your brand, which is what all this this episode is all about. Is it's the easiest, easiest win. So, yeah, we say in every episode, but if you're not doing it, you have to do it, you really have to do it. And just to follow on from that, um, the easiest and quickest brand to build, right, is your personal brand. Yes, you you I can't build Cotswold roof cleaning brand at the speed I can build my personal brand. Yep, I just can't, it's impossible. I think people uh understand the pink van and understand what we do, but I think I would say that the majority of sales come through me being in front of a camera all day long, every day. I turn up at properties, right? And I can see them looking out the window, and I can see people getting excited because they think they know me. I've never met them in my life, never met them in my life, never spoke to them. We've done it all over email. I've gone to see them to give them a quote, and they are I am I play oh watch all your videos on mate, it's great. And I'm like that. It feels really, really, really weird, right? It feels really weird. And another side note from that, I was in Liverpool at the weekend um at an army reunion. I was in a bar, bar was packed. We went out to leave, and as I was walking past the group of lads, lads stopped me and said, Are you Matt? And I said, Yeah. He said, Mate, I've been following you on social media, and I went, and I felt really it was a really nice bloke, right? He said, I was dying to come and say hello, but I didn't want him to. I've messed a mate, you should have come and said hello. We're leaving now. His name was Matt, and he was from Kent, I believe, an exterior cleaner. He said, I follow everything you do. He said, Thanks, and it but it I felt really weird, but that's your personal brand, yeah. You know, it's quicker to build than your company brand. You will build Joe Smith's personal brand quicker than you'll build um exterior cleaning swindle. You will, it's a fact. People buy into people, build your personal brand on the side 100%. Yeah, it's people by people, it's the e it's the that's the phrase to drill into. It's it's people by people. It's it's so easy. Yes, you should always build to sell, like we said before, as in your company, but yeah, your personal brand gets you there so much quicker, so much quicker. Or we both, I mean, all my agency clients have not spent a penny on advertising, comes from YouTube and these kind of videos, and it's sincere, you know, it's not manufactured, it's not it's not fake stuff, no, or none of your stuff's fake. I can tell anyone who's listening right now, it's is Matt is Matt. Um, but just just showing your story because most people don't, and it's it helps you stand out. I and you're right there about you haven't spent a penny on your marketing. I haven't spent a penny with the mentoring, not not a single penny. Everything's just been getting in front of a camera and sharing stories and advice and tips. That that's it. Nothing else. Not nothing else, you know. Everything else we pay for marketing, but the mentoring, you know, and we get a steady flow of people coming through the doors every week. I haven't paid a penny on marketing because I'm in front of a camera. Yeah, there's gonna be people that don't like me, I get that. And there's gonna be people that leave you know shitty comments on on social media, I get that as well. Just delete them, move on, move on. That's an important point. I think we spoke about this actually in power social media episode. Um we spoke about don't worry about what people how people think or how people react to you getting from the camera. Um, you know, you're you're gonna get some negative comments. You know, if if you have 199 good comments and one bad, as humans we focus on the bad, and uh we fit might feel like a bit of a bit of a dickhead getting in front of the camera and talking, because you do at first, then it's really hard, but you you'll be so thankful you did, and you just have to keep your head down and have your eyes on the prize, and your eyes on the prize ultimately is I'm assuming, to make more money and to build a better life for you and your family. And if that means being uncomfortable for a few times in front of a camera, so be it. How much do you want it? Because look at the lads uh we won't say any names, but you'll know the name, you'll know the names in this industry who are big on YouTube or on socials. You've spoken about two lads already in this episode. What's the common factor? And it's they're all on in front of the camera. That's it, and that's how you do it. Absolutely, not a secret, and it and it and it's the quickest easy win. It's the quickest easy win, but people won't won't do it, they just won't do it, they just will not buy into it. And I I keep banging my head against the wall with them and they won't buy into it, they just don't buy into it, you know. I spent oh you know, and all in all finish, right? It take it takes a bit of time. I spent a year with a landscape gardener trying to get him in front of a camera, right? I mentor him for a year. Um real nice lad, right? Well, no chance, absolute no chance. Fast forward 12 months of me banging on at him. He's now like an internet star, he's got himself a videographer, his landscaping business is absolutely flying, and I mean flying. Do you know why? Because uh at eight, nine months into the journey with me, he decided I've just got to do this because he's not gonna shut up, and it's changed the game, and he'll tell you himself now. He's still not 100% confident with it, but he's but he's changed the game because it's authentic, it's real. You can see a little bit of nerves in it when he's talking, but I tell you what, he's he is knocking it out the park, out the park, and he's just gone in front of a camera. There you go. Brandon, personal. No, it's no secret, is it? Just do it. It's not, yeah, it's not a secret, and we we shout it from the rooftops, don't we? Yeah, we shout it from the rooftops, and people just won't buy into it. But you you and I are not gatekeepers. We will tell everyone as it is, and we'll tell you what works for us and what doesn't work, and that is number one, what does work. So yeah, man. Uh, something else to talk about, I think, is tone of voice and messaging. How you how do you actually sound when you're speaking to people, be it on the phone or be it when you quote, if you send emails or texts? That's really important, isn't it? I think your wording's important as well. Let's just take an example. Um, if two companies are advertising, um, someone says, you know, uh professional exterior clean in in Birmingham, and then let's take the second message. Uh, cheapest price is guaranteed in Birmingham. Two same job, two very different messages. Why is um tone and message important, do you think? Um, I think it's really important, and especially when you're when you're because everybody speaks a different language, don't they? Everyone speaks a different value, you know. You'll you'll and you'll know if you think back yourself, right? You speak to your closest friends different than you'll speak to other friends. Yeah, you have different personas, and that and that's literally in your own circle. So it's exactly the same. Wait when you go and speak to property owners that own multi-million pound houses, right? You instantly think that they've either built big businesses and they've made it in life, so you have to up your game, you can't be, you know, you've got to be on your what you're telling them that they're gonna be savvy, you've got to be right at it, you know, and you've got to really get the value across to them. And then when you go and speak to somebody else, and it might be a hundred-pound gutter clean on an end terrace, you just say, uh, you know, aye, it's Matt. Come look at your gutters. Yeah, I can do these 100 pounds. Okay, yeah, brilliant. We can do it. Yeah, I can do it next week, you know, and your level of banter, people buy from people, so you change the way you speak to people. You always adapt to your audience, you have to adapt to your audience, you know, and you may not know you're doing it, but you are, you're subconsciously adapting to that audience, and if you're not, then you need to be, and you need to understand that conversations that you have with a client, you may not be able to have with other clients, and and understanding that really quickly, and the way and using language that they would appreciate, you know what I mean, and understand that that's really important as well, and you've got to be able to read the person, read where you are, look at the property you're stood at, and then address it for that audience, you know, address that the next 10-15 minutes of the conversation to that audience, you know, that and that's it. It's you know, busy people don't want to spend 40 minutes with you, they're busy. You know, if they're a busy businessman or woman, you telling them how great you are at cleaning a drive, they're not interested. Get to the value, get to the price, get out of there, let them get on with the day. They'll appreciate you more. Yeah, an older couple, retired couple, will probably appreciate you spending more time with them, walking around and telling them the process, showing them reviews, or just whatever you do. You know, so you've got to really get into that mindset for who you're speaking to at the time. And and be very aware of how you come across to everyone in general. I think, you know, if you to like you say, if you turn up to a multi-million pound property, this if two people turn up, one turns up with a fag out of his mouth, going, Right, love, it's take a look at your roof, and one turns up a uniform van, uh, how's it going? I'm I'm Matt from Cotswold Roof Cleaning, come to give you a roof cleaning quote. They're two very different approaches, but it will determine if you're going to get the quote really. And I think just rocking up in an old tatted van and no unbranded, speaking like you're down the pub, like you said, you have to you have to change how you speak, depending on and and I think with that as well, right? Just a side note to that. Not everybody can afford, you know, a lovely van, a lovely wrap. You know, you might be cutting about in your car, right, to start off with. Your car might be. I I my very first car for window cleaning was an escort estate, right? It was battered. I had, I couldn't afford a roof rack, right? True story, I couldn't afford a roof rack. I put a piece of carpet on the roof and I lay the ladders on and tied it through the back windows. But I couldn't afford it, this was 2000 or 99, right? I couldn't afford it. Money was tight, you know, life was hard. But you know what I used to do? I used to drive to these, and it was in an affluent area, right? Um, this was in uh Wokenham in just outside Reading in Berkshire, right? And I would drive to these big houses and I would park 500 metres away, right? And I'd walk down to the house and they'd say, Oh, you know, you're not coming in your van. I'd say, Yeah, I've just been cleaning your neighbours just up the road, and I've left my van there to save fuel. And they go, All right, brilliant. Instantly, right? Because I was embarrassed about my car, but instantly they thought, Oh, well, he cleansed another house on this road, and they didn't get to see the car I was in. And it allowed me to build my client base. Do you know what I mean? And I would pick and cheat, I'd leave my car. Then when I got a van, you know, I just got my name put on it, and then I was fine then. But I I had to so don't, you know, not everybody's got everything on day one, but just think about it. If you go into a million-pound house and your van's rotten or you're in a car, just part around the corner and walk to it. Yeah, you know, put a nice pair of jeans on or a nice pair of trainers or cargo pants, make sure your boots are clean, polo shirt, brush your hair and be polite, be in the moment. You don't have to turn up and leave your old banger and don't be embarrassed. Oh, you can be embarrassed, but just think about how you're gonna tackle it, right? And that will help you. That will help you until you get sort of get some money behind you. You can't have everything from day one. So you've just got to be a bit savvy with what you're doing. That's it. Yeah, 100%. Like we've all started somewhere in business, uh, and everyone has to start somewhere. You can only work with what you've got, but these little tricks uh can fast track you. And it's interesting what you said that you don't have everything from day one. I think a big thing with marketing and uh and branding is. Is most people quit too soon. They quit too easily in this game. Um, to build a reputation and a brand, be it online or wherever, takes a lot of consistency and work and repetition. And let's just say uh you post on socials and you got no likes, you got no comments, you post on YouTube, no views, doesn't mean people aren't watching. Um it just takes time, you know. You can't build a massive brand really in one day, really. Um, so you know, consistency creates authority for sure. Um, so just keep at it because trust is built from repetition. Three years it took me to get my first sale off YouTube. There you go. Actually, it took me three years to get my first inquiry, and we sold that inquiry. But three years of of repeatedly putting videos on there that nobody liked, nobody commented, nobody did anything with, you know, and still that channel's only got 136 followers, and it's took three years to get them, but it took me three, but I didn't stop, I didn't stop, and I still don't stop to this day. But getting that first roof clean through YouTube felt like winning the lottery. Bizarre, innit? Biz bizarre, it was a mad feeling, a mad feeling, but you're right, consistency, consistency, it just wins the race, don't it? It's it you know, it also does as well. I think it brings in repeat work, which is big in this game. Um, if you have that brand, and you know, would would would a come would would a customer remember you in a month? If they wouldn't remember you, then your branding probably isn't there and your your touch points aren't there. But if they will remember you and someone they're down the pub or you know at a party and someone, you know what, I really need my roof cleaning. Do you know anyone? They'll go, Bam, Matt Cop's Wall roof cleaning. No, straight away. Here's his socials, here's his YouTube, because you've created that brand. Whereas if you don't do none of that, they'll go, Oh, what's his name? I don't know, he didn't even introduce himself, couldn't tell you, didn't even have a logo on his van, no idea. The way I explain it to clients is you need to set your brand of your company and you, your personal brand, that when you're not in the room, if someone says, What does Matt do? They go, he's got swallow roof cleaning. That's it. When you're not in a room, it's how people explain what you do. That's what's really important. If they say, Oh, what does Joe do? And they go, Um God, what is it? I think he, I don't know, better cleaning a driveway or a gutter, or I don't really know. Yeah, a bit of a clean, it just cleans things. That that's you've lost it. Yeah, for sure. You want to when you're not in the room, it's how other people explain what you do, is really, really key. I think a key thing there is to kind of come towards the end of this, is is to make everything consistent. So, for example, make sure how you are correlates with your information on your website and how you are on socials and how your van looks. It has to all correlate as like one system because your website could say one thing, but if you rock up and you're completely different, or you know, you're projecting yourself as this luxury cotswold roof cleaning business, and you rock up in still in your escort 20 years later, um, it it's not gonna work. People won't c won't put two and two together, it has to all align and correlate, and when it does, you fly in then. Well, it well, it all comes back to the seven touch points, doesn't it? You your seven touch points for people to buy. They they say that you need those seven interactions before they make a purchase with you. Yeah, so wherever they see you, flyer, website, social media, YouTube, in a newspaper, side of your van, you know, it all looks the same. It builds that trust, bang, then they buy. They might not buy for ages, they might just watch you silently, which is a lot of people do because they don't need you. But if they if you if they see you around, they're on you're coming up as paid ads in their uh on their feed, they see your van driving around in the local area, you're coming up on algorithms on TikTok, but their drive isn't dirty. Guess what? In 18 months, when they go, Oh fucking hell, my driver needs cleaning, the last lady I interviewed, the last lady I interviewed last week in Swindon, she had followed me for over two years. Right? For over two years she had followed me because she'd had a she had an eye on this house to buy, and she knew if she got to buy it, it needed the roof cleaning. And for two years she's followed me, and she was beside herself when we went to clean it. Beside herself, because she'd followed me for that long to clean this roof for her. Brilliant, innit? Brilliant, yeah. I think the the thing to just take away from this is I I've say it before, I've said it in all my videos, is Mark is a first cleaner second. Your goal in your head should be how can I get as many eyeballs on my business each day as possible? And how how can I project myself to the world that's gonna bring money back to me and bookings? That's the thing to think about. Don't worry too much about the cleaning. Yes, you've got to do a good job. Yes, you've got to that's a given, that's not even up for debate, you have to be good at what you do. But your efforts should be how how do I look to the world and how can I get myself in front of the world as quickly and efficiently as is possible. Yeah, 100%, absolutely, and it is, in it, you should never get tired of speaking about your own company. Ever. Ever. If you're embarrassed about your your brand or you don't want to shout it, pack it in. Sometimes you sometimes your friends should get bored of you talking about it. Yeah. You know, that's how it needs to be. That you are obsessed with it. You're obsessed, and every opportunity, you know, every opportunity you get, speak to someone about it. Every opportunity, you know, um, because it just spreads, doesn't it? It just spreads, yeah. So coming up to the end of the episode now. Um, there's one question each. I actually haven't prepared one for you yet. Um, but the one I've got in my head would be what is your biggest annoyance uh in terms of how companies brand or market themselves in the exterior cleaning industry? What grinds your gears when you see it? What grinds me gears when I see it? Um I would say I'd say the lack of um individuality. Nobody stands out. There's only a handful stand out, you know, and you can name them, can't you? You can name them. There is thousands and thousands in this industry, right? And only a handful that stand out. And I think that I think that that bothers me. I get my feed because of the job we do, is full of everybody, right? Every platform, and it's just generic. It's just generic. Nobody, nobody stands out, and I think that I think more people need to be more um front-running, take the ball by the horns and just stand out. I think that that's what they need to do, but that I think that's bothers me that it is it's a very it doesn't have to be, but it is a very dull industry, and people don't stand out. That that's my answer to that. Ready for your question? Right, here you go. What, if any, is your worst branding mistake? Ooh, worst branding mistake. In any business. In any business, yeah, any business, any business who've done anything you've done. Even working for someone before you went to self-employed anything that you've seen that you think, yeah, that's not uh uh it's not so much a mistake. Um actually I think it is a mistake. Let's say when I first uh started in this industry, there's a phrase, right, if you want to go quickly, go alone, if you want to go far, go together. I wanted to go quickly alone, right? So I did everything. So I made the colours, the uh logo, and all that kind of stuff. And I uh I just did it all myself when I very first started, and I think I spoke to a few people, you being one of them, and um Sam, Sam Olsop, he was kind to speak to me when I very first started, and you both pretty much said the same thing, as ways you your branding's way off it. But to me, I was like, this is wicked. And uh when I came to you in in a constructive way, you tore it apart to to help me. Uh I look back at it now and I think, what the bloody hell was that? What was I doing for six months? The colours, just everything about it, this is not how I had it in my head. In my head, it just didn't correlate with where I wanted to be in business. So the very start, the very start, but I didn't know. Yes, I had experience with growing brands and stuff, but to me, this industry was brand new. We knew nothing about cleaning really, and uh my eyes were firmly uh opened. And it is hard, isn't it? When you're building something you're so passionate about for you, you do get lost in it at times, and you think it's right, you think because you like it, and you're so passionate about it that we just get lost in it, and it and everyone does that, everyone gets lost in it. I I remember um and Sam's really good. Like, yeah, we speak a lot now. I remember Sam saying, he said, uh, because I gave him a link to my website and we're on a call, and he said, I'd never dream of doing SEO on this page. That's what he said to me, and I said, Why? He went, it's not professional. And as he said that, I looked at it, I went, Fuck, it's not, it's not at all. What the hell is it? But now it I like to think now it is, but um, yeah, had to happen. You have to have uncomfortable conversations, don't you? Yes, absolutely. So get things moving. Because you don't know what you don't know, do you? Yes, and and when we say these things, you know, talking about uh companies that annoy us or or logos being the same. This is never to have a go. Anyone, any of you out there who was who was starting a business, fair play to you and we wish you all the best genuinely, but we we want to try and just educate and help people because sometimes you need to be to be told that your logo's shit or you're not doing the correct things on socials to make a change. That's what we want to do. We want to help people and make changes for sure. That's all it's about, is if we can if we can just pass on a couple of tips and hints. You know, I I want everybody to be successful because there's enough work for everyone, so we can all be successful. The more successful everyone is, the better the world will be, won't it? You know, because everyone's earning a bit. If you're earning more, right, you can afford to spend more. If you earn more as an exterior cleaner, guess what? You're gonna spend more. If you spend more in your local pub or your local suppliers or supermarket or your book a holiday, everybody is benefiting from it. So this is just trying to get everyone to earn as much as they can safely, professionally, build something that's gonna last because it feeds back into society, doesn't it? It feeds back in. You know, if I have a good week, I take my girlfriend and the kids out on a Friday night. We're going to have a meal, we're gonna have a few pints. So that local restaurant pub, yeah, you know what I mean? It just everyone buys into it. So everyone wins. It's not just the exterior cleaner, everybody wins, and that's what it's about. That's what this podcast for me is about is sharing the knowledge and getting it out there. Stop the gatekeeping and just share as much. And guess what? There's things that we don't know. Oh, 100%. We're always learning from it, lovely. And that's the beauty of it, isn't it? That's the beauty of it, and especially when you get to speak, like me and you are in a lucky position, right? We get to speak with a lot of companies every week, right? Every week, a lot of companies, whether it's on lives, whether it's on the podcasts, whether it's on our one-to-one calls, whatever we're doing. Somebody every week says something to me, and I go, I like that, I really like that. I'll bank that because that's clever. Yeah, and it could be a little, little nugget, a little something of what they do, they how they say something to someone, how they position it, and I go, I like that. And I've been in this game, you know, over 25 years, and I'm still learning, right? If I'm still learning after 25 years, newbies coming in and listening to what we've got to give people are gonna absolutely eat this up. They're gonna eat this up, and if you can learn after 25 years, this is for everyone, mate. This is for everyone. Don't think as you've been going 20 years, you know it all. Because I'm telling you now, we don't. We don't know it all. We are I'm learning stuff off newbies who have been in it a month, and I'm going, I like that. I really like that. Yeah, definitely. Yeah, what if you if you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room. Correct. Correct. Cool, right, we're running out of time, but uh, yeah, thank you very much for listening to uh episode four. Yeah, episode four. I think next episode is financial management, which is gonna be a really interesting one. Cash flow, budgets, market and spend, I'm assuming it's all that kind of stuff we're gonna speak about. Um so tune in for that. Listen back to the first few if you haven't already. Check us out on uh YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts. Please leave us a review or a little five star review if you've enjoyed it. Any questions, message us or comment. Any any podcast, episode suggestions, let us know as well. Um, mate, thank you very much for joining us again. Pleasure, and absolutely and we'll see you all on episode five. See you later.