Amazon Home Services - Featured

Amazon Home Services to Grow My Cleaning Company

Can I use Amazon Home Services to grow my cleaning company? House cleaners wonder if the no marketing approach that Amazon Home Services provides makes sense.

Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Guru says Amazon Homes Services removes sales by advertising for you. Sure, they will do a background check when you sign up. And you need to have the training, insurance, and a business license. But if you have a cleaning service you may want to join the growing Amazon list of skilled professionals.

Today’s #AskaHouseCleaner sponsor is #SavvyCleaner (training for house cleaners and maids.)

Podcast Rss Spacer Savvy Cleaner

Listen: Amazon Home Services to Grow My Cleaning Company

YouTube Spacer Savvy Cleaner

Watch: Amazon Home Services to Grow My Cleaning Company


Hey there, I’m Angela Brown, and this is Ask a House Cleaner. This is a show where you get to ask a house cleaning question, and I get to help you find an answer. You can find this and 400 other answered questions in this series on our YouTube channel.

Should you go with Amazon Home Services as a Way to Grow your Cleaning Business?

Amazon Home Services to Grow My Cleaning Company, Hand holding Phone with Social Media IconsA house cleaner, Claudia, from South Florida reached out and asked, “I have a question. Are cleaning apps like Takl or Amazon Home Services a good idea for someone that is starting out like me?”

Know Your Needs

All right, Amazon Home Services and Takl. Those are two completely different things, so we’ll talk about them at different times.

Every platform offers different features and benefits. If you’re thinking about something, instead of just saying, “Is this right for me?”, dig deep. Do a search. Go to their website, and have them walk you through a free demo to find out if it’s right for you.

Look for the nuances and upfront costs. Find out if you’re paying for each individual lead. You need to know if you have to pay for the lead even if you don’t book the appointment. Be sure you understand all the specifics.

Is Amazon Home Services Right for You?

Amazon Home Services to Grow My Cleaning Company, Woman and Man Amazon Home ServicesLet’s focus on Amazon Home Services because it’s a really fun program. If you’re just getting started in the cleaning business, this may be just what you’re looking for.

First, you need to know how many houses you can clean in one week. If the answer is two houses a day five days a week, don’t go with somebody like Amazon Home Services.

If you’re just looking for 10 houses, stay in your neighborhood. Every time you get in your car to drive somewhere, that’s time and money out of your pocket.

That’s the time you could be cleaning. You don’t want to be gone from sun up until sundown. Time is valuable, don’t spend it commuting.

Once you have 5 or 10 houses, you’re going to be getting referrals from those neighborhoods. If you focus on one neighborhood, and you get referrals there, all your jobs will be close to home. As you expand your business, you can go to the neighborhood next door. So, all your houses are in a condensed, small space.

Marketing 101

Amazon Home Services to Grow My Cleaning Company, Confused Man with Glasses Looking at Computer

If you’re new to the business and marketing, Amazon Home Services is an excellent choice. Let’s say you’re new to house cleaning and you don’t know anybody.

You don’t know how to market yourself, yet. Marketing yourself even in one neighborhood is going to be difficult.

It will be even more difficult if you don’t have good social media with good feedback or a website. Amazon Home Services can help you if you don’t have those things.

Get Signed Up

Amazon Home Services to Grow My Cleaning Company, Woman, Who is ClaudiaIn that case, you sign up your business with Amazon Home Services. They’re going to ask you to fill out a questionnaire. Then they send you a confirmation link to prove the email is really yours.

Once you verify that you have a real account and you’re a real person and not a robot, they do a background check. They’re going to make sure that you don’t have a series of things behind you that they’re going to be liable for.

Then, they want to make sure that you do have insurance. A basic insurance policy is going to cover $1 million of damage. That’s just in case you do $1 million worth of damage at someone’s house.

You’ll have to have a business license, and they want to know if you’re certified and trained. If you meet all the requirements, Amazon will want you as a home service provider.

Deciding on Pricing

Amazon Home Services to Grow My Cleaning Company, Number of Houses You Can Clean in a DayAll right, once you’ve set that up, you get to decide your pricing. You may say, “All right, most homes in this area will be $150 for three hours’ cleaning.” That’s your price.

When you set that up on Amazon, they know where the people are in your area. So, people buy something like a garbage can. That’s a home item, and Amazon knows this, so they make suggestions to buyers. They say, “By the way, people who bought this also bought this.” That’s how they suggest things.

They will also suggest home services to you. They’ll say, “Did you know there’s home cleaning in your area? You can get three hours’ worth of home cleaning for $150. Do you want that?” Then, people in your area can go, “Yeah, I want that,” and they will click on that.

If they click on it, then Amazon brings the business to you, and says, “Do you want this job?” You look at your schedule and say, “Yes, I want that job.” Because you specified the area and you specified the price, you now have the ability to accept that job.

What Will it Cost to Use Amazon Home Services?

Amazon Home Services to Grow My Cleaning Company, Amazon Home Services Customer ReviewYou don’t pay anything upfront. This is like free advertising and free marketing for you. So, what does Amazon get in return? They get 20% of everything that you earn. If it’s $150, Amazon keeps 20% of that.

You go, “20%, that’s too much.” I don’t know, is it? If you are new to the business and have no money coming in, 80% of something is better than 100% of nothing, right?

If you’re just starting to build your business with a list of recommendations, Amazon is a great place to go.

They can help you stand out from the other house cleaning companies in your area. We know that Amazon is also great about ratings and reviews. After somebody hires you to clean their house, Amazon is going to send them a note. They’ll ask, “Hey, did you like Claudia? Please rate her service.” They will give you a rating and a review. Now you have those things to promote your business. You can use those ratings and reviews to build your business elsewhere, right?

Weigh the Costs

Amazon Home Services to Grow My Cleaning Company, Amazon Home Services Finders FeeIt’s a great way to get started. You may think, “20% is a lot of money.” It is, but what if you hired a marketing manager that made outgoing phone calls to drum up business? What would you be willing to pay them? Would you pay them 20% of every job? The answer is yes, probably. That’s a great deal.

If that’s a great deal, why wouldn’t you pay it to Amazon?  Amazon has an impeccable reputation already and they can help to build your brand.

People buy from Amazon because they know, like, and trust the Amazon brand. They don’t know Claudia because she’s just getting started in the house cleaning business, but they would go to Amazon because they trust them.

If you’re new to the house cleaning business, but you’re great at marketing, social media, and have a website, stay in your own neighborhood. If you’re not good at any of those things, I would say check out Amazon because there are no contracts. You can walk away at any time.

Use Amazon Home Services as Needed

Amazon Home Services to Grow My Cleaning Company, Woman on Her LaptopAt any time, you can say, “All right, I’m done with the Amazon thing.” It got you a few jobs, and a few referrals, maybe some ratings and reviews. With that, you can jump-start a business.

Here’s the beautiful part. You can say, “I only want to work for Amazon, and I don’t want to do any of my own marketing. I don’t want to worry about having a website, and I don’t want to worry about any of these things.” You pass the background check, have insurance, licensing and training. Those things show you’re a professional, and Amazon does all the advertising work for you. Is that worth 20%?

Let Amazon Run Your Business

Amazon Home Services to Grow My Cleaning Company, Aerial View of Neighborhood with CheckmarksFor the house cleaners who just want to show up and do the jobs and collect the money and go home, Amazon is a great way to go. There are a lot of house cleaners that have that as their business model. They let Amazon do all the work, and Amazon finds all the people.

You may want to give it a try because you’ve got nothing to lose. If you’re just starting out in the business and you need money coming in, 80% is better than 100% of nothing.

All right, until we meet again, leave the world a cleaner place than when you found it.

0 Savvy Cleaner Spacer Savvy Cleaner

Resources

These good karma links connect you to Amazon.com and affiliated sites that offer products or services that relate to today’s show.

When you click on the links and buy the items you pay the exact same prices or less than if you found the links on your own elsewhere. The difference is that we make a small commission here at the show for sharing these links with you. So, you create good karma by supporting 7 families who work on this show. Thank you.

Marketing Your Services: A Step-by-Step Guide for Small Businesses and Professionals – https://amzn.to/2WwcaC0

The Marketing Book: a Marketing Plan for Your Business Made Easy via Think / Do / Measure – https://amzn.to/2XbSNT2

Own Your Niche: Hype-Free Internet Marketing Tactics to Establish Authority in Your Field and Promote Your Service-Based Business – https://amzn.to/2XHOiwL

The 1-Page Marketing Plan: Get New Customers, Make More Money, And Stand Out From The Crowd – https://amzn.to/2IC8p9m

Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen – https://amzn.to/2KgbTRT

Permissions To Share

You Have Our Permission To Share This Episode

Show Sponsor

Savvy Cleaner Training – House Cleaner Training and Certification

My Cleaning Connection – Your hub for all things cleaning.

HouseCleaning360 – A hub connecting homeowners with house cleaners

Savvy Perks – Employee benefits for your employees.

Turnover Cleaning Tips – for Vacation Rental and Airbnb Hosts

Scroll to Top