Edu-Sational Cleaning Business Conference Re-Cap Part 2
What a busy day we had! While we simply cannot put into words all the great things that happened throughout the day, we can certainly re-cap the day. We’ve been live-tweeting, posting pictures all day, but here is the reader’s digest version of what went on during our first day of Edu-Sational 2012.
Firstly, we began with some great fun to loosen up everyone for the day. Anita Renfroe shared with us some of her best comedy and really got us excited for the day. Here’s a clip of her opening act. Hilarious!
After her act, she got serious. One of her quotes really stuck with us throughout the day. “It’s not about how much money you make”, said Anita. “It’s about how much meaning you bring to people.” We really think that strikes a chord with everyone involved with Cleaning For A Reason.
After Anita, Jeff Crilley gave some great examples on how to get free publicity. He even handed out a free copy of his book “Free Publicity” to everyone who was at the convention! One of his tips that he gave the attendees was to share your personal story with your local news media. By giving your own story about why you are involved with Cleaning For A Reason, you can connect with your local media on a deeper level, and they’ll be more likely to pick up your story.
After Jeff, we had our own Jean Hanson, a board member, talk about how to use newsletters to boost your business. What do you need to remember about newsletters? “The entire point of your newsletter is to educate, entertain, and inform (your readers)”, said Jean. She talked about the pros and cons about e-zine and a physical newsletter. We learned a lot!
We broke for lunch after that, which gave all our cleaning services a chance to socialize and network.
When we came back, our own Debbie Sardone spoke on the science of barter. She discussed when the best situation is for bartering, like when you want to trade service for service, dollar for dollar. “The whole idea behind barting is that it is designed to save you money. It is never designed to lose you money”, said Debbie during her presentation. It was great advice for anyone who is a little tight on cash to spend. Great presentation!
Renee O’Brien was next, talking about motivating your staff. A great quote from Renee: “Your greatest power (as a manager) is to be a role model and a mentor”. She also spoke the truth: “The cleaning industry is one of the toughest industries to hire employees in.” It was a valuable presentation, and everyone at the conference was better off for it.
After Renee, Jeff Klein let the convention in on perfecting your 30 second commercial, or as most people call it, your ‘elevator speech’. A pearl of wisdom from Jeff: “You don’t want anyone to be your customer, you want someone to be your customer”. On how to craft your elevator speech: “When you get specific with who you want to meet, people will suggest people for you”. Great advice!
Following up after Jeff was Debbie Sardone again, this time with tips on how to leverage Cleaning For A Reason more with your business using cause marketing as your anchor. “Cleaning For A Reason is one of the best cause marketing organizations (a cleaning service) can be a part of”, said Debbie during her presentation. After that, she took time to answer questions from convention attendees. Great questions from our cleaning services!
After that, we had roundtable discussions on various topics like marketing your business and training your employees. It was a valuable time and our cleaning services learned a lot during that time!
After that, we broke for a few hours before our banquet. During that time was a complimentary cocktail hour where our attendees could socialize and get to know one another even more.
Then, it was time! Our awards banquet, sponsored by The Maids! It was a wonderful time, and we had a great speaker at dinner. David A. Rich had a great talk about inspiration and businesses focused on people. To quote David A. Rich: “We don’t grow businesses, We grow people”. It was a great speech and we look forward to hearing more from him tomorrow.
Last but certainly not least, were our awards and door prizes! Swiffer won our coveted Sponsor of the Year, and Two Maids and a Mop took home our Maid Service of the Year award! Congratulations!
We also gave away door prizes, from Hoover Vacuums and cookie bouquets, to gift cards and free subscriptions to coaching for an entire year. It was great!
Here are a few photos of our winners!
All it all, it was a busy busy day. And remember, this is just the first day of the conference! There’s a whole new day tomorrow that will be action packed! Again, if you were not able to make the conference, we’ll be live-tweeting and facebooking all day! Feel free to follow along while we continue coverage of Edu-Sational 2012!
