LATEST
LATEST
The Problem with Indoor Air Quality
When we think about the amount of contaminants inside a home it is little wonder that asthma and allergies are on the rise. There is regular, tracked-in dirt. But there are also microscopic contaminants that make their way indoors on the bottom of our shoes as residues and particulates too small to see with the naked eye. While cleaning businesses can't stop these unwanted guests from entering, we can add value to families that need help keeping this problem contained.
Green Cleaning Survey Results
60% of participants regularly clean green, as opposed to 27% who clean green by request and 13% that do not offer green cleaning. Although the sample size was small, most findings support previous survey results.
The Green Cleaning Issue – Prologue
Although green cleaning has been around since the 1970’s it is still not a mainstream concept, broadly speaking. While there are certain US markets where environmentalism is woven into [...]
Part 1: Green Cleaning – It’s Your Business
Anyone can say they clean green. But what does that mean? Many shades of green exist within the spectrum of green cleaning. How green is green? The varied scenarios [...]
Part 2: Green Cleaning – Educating Customers
The authenticity of your green cleaning program depends on two things – the completeness of your green protocol and how you talk about it. The former is addressed in [...]
Part 3: Green Cleaning – Engaging Employees
Probably every residential cleaning service has a few cleaning technicians that are packing “heat” – in this case contraband super-cleaners like bleach – beneath the passenger seat, just for [...]
Categories
LATEST | TECHNOLOGY | START YOUR CLEANING BUSINESS | READERS’ CHOICE | LEADERSHIP | MEASURING SUCCESS | CLEANING
For more categories click the arrowhead beside Home in the menu.
SPONSORED
Americans Love Gift Cards
(Article sponsored by The Gift of Clean) Americans love gift cards! According to the Retail Gift Card Association, we will spend $150 BILLION on gift cards this year. The [...]
CBT Is 6 Years and Growing
We’ve come a long way in six short years. What began as an e-zine with flip pages has grown into a multi-media news outlet for the cleaning industry, delivering [...]
CBT Product Review: Compressed Eraser Sponges
Derek Christian explains why two particular sponges from SpongeOutlet.com are easier to use and more cost-effective
CBT Product Reviews: Sponge Outlet
CBT’s series of Product Reviews continues this month as Derek Christian examines the melamine sponges from Sponge Outlet. As it turns out, not all manufacturers are the same.
TECHNOLOGY
Leveraging the right technology and platforms for your brands
Virtually every aspect of your company is touched or driven by some innovation that didn’t exist 5 or 10 years ago. I describe below four areas where user-friendly apps can make a big difference in how smoothly your operation runs.
Five reasons the professional cleaning industry needs training videos
In many industries, training videos have become an additional layer of training and instruction. They create a deeper understanding of how to perform specific tasks, and the training they provide appears to have "staying power."
How technology has had a positive impact on the cleaning industry
As technology advances, the process of creating this sort of space is almost as therapeutic as obtaining it. Industrial cleaning machines get the work done to a high standard and with such ease, that it can prove to be a delight to behold.
Voting opens for the 2018 ISSA Innovation Award Program
Program recognizes the cleaning industry’s most pioneering products and services ISSA, the worldwide cleaning industry association, has opened voting for the association’s 2018 ISSA Innovation Award Program at [...]
umf Corporation develops Micrillon
umf Corporation has developed Micrillon, the first rechargeable broad-spectrum antimicrobial polymer additive that will have a significant impact on the spread of drug-resistant infections and preventable hospital associated infections (pHAIs), now considered the fourth-leading cause of death in the United States.
Amazon ditches independent contractor model for house cleaning services
Amazon has a new pilot program in Seattle, Amazon Home Assistants, which hires cleaners as regular employees, not as 1099 independent contractors.
SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
START YOUR CLEANING BUSINESS
Part 1: Green Cleaning – It’s Your Business
Anyone can say they clean green. But what does that mean? Many shades of green exist within the spectrum of green cleaning. How green is green? The varied scenarios [...]
Part 2: Green Cleaning – Educating Customers
The authenticity of your green cleaning program depends on two things – the completeness of your green protocol and how you talk about it. The former is addressed in [...]
Part 3: Green Cleaning – Engaging Employees
Probably every residential cleaning service has a few cleaning technicians that are packing “heat” – in this case contraband super-cleaners like bleach – beneath the passenger seat, just for [...]
Part 4 – Green Cleaning Service Delivery
At the heart of the decisions about your green cleaning protocols is really who you want to be as a company (see Part 1). “For me, the criteria had [...]
7 keys to prioritizing when you work from home
I gave up my office space in favor of working from home. While it’s extremely convenient in a bathrobe-and-slippers kind of way, I find that it has forced me to prioritize my time and my business in a new way.
Seven characteristics of successful consultative selling
Distributors need good schmoozing skills Tuscaloosa, AL - One of the most effective sales techniques available to distributors is consultative selling. Consultative selling is a problem-solving approach to [...]
START A CLEANING BUSINESS
READERS’ CHOICE
Hydrogen Peroxide + Vinegar = A Disinfecting Duo?
An old home remedy might be just the solution you're looking for. With growing awareness of the dangers of manufactured and even naturally-derived cleaning products growing among consumers, [...]
Biofilm: What It Is and How to Get Rid of It
Knowing the common bond between bad breath and pink bathroom “mold” just might help your technicians get better at cleaning bathrooms. What’s slimy and sticky and red all [...]
Deep Dive: Dealing with Theft
One of the first theft accusations that Maria Dorian, owner of Welcome Home Cleaning Services in Austin, Texas, dealt with was from a very well-known woman with an enormous house. The client was a local, celebrated political figure and had a live-in nanny and full-time gardeners. Her house was always open with multiple workers in it.
Can you make a million bucks in the house cleaning business?
7 steps to control costs which affect your gross income potential People enter the residential cleaning business for a variety of reasons. Some to make a little extra income [...]
Top 15 Stories of CBT’s Third Year
Even as we’re planning articles more than halfway through our fourth year, we reflect on the new shape of the cleaning industry in the past year. During our third [...]
12 Cleaning Upsells for 12 Months
Upselling to your current customers is easier, less expensive and more profitable than relying only on new customers to raise your revenue. Part 1 of 2. Pull out your [...]
9 Questions with a Cleaning Business Insurance Expert
What you don't know about business insurance for the cleaning industry could save you a lot of time and money. In the insurance industry, cleaning businesses are a very [...]
3 Ways My Business is Better Today Than a Year Ago
Major change requires checking progress and making adjustments as needed. In Part 1 of our series, we analyzed the profitability challenge my business was facing at the start of [...]
Active versus Passive Time Management for the Cleaning Business Owner
Practice time management – don’t just talk about it – in this 1-hour workshop at the 2015 ARCSI Convention.
LEADERSHIP
Part 1: Green Cleaning – It’s Your Business
Anyone can say they clean green. But what does that mean? Many shades of green exist within the spectrum of green cleaning. How green is green? The varied scenarios [...]
Business Plan Preparations – Part II: Marketing Plans
Learn about the importance of Marketing Plans and how they can be used to grow your business throughout the year.
Business Plan Preparations – Part I: The Key Measures
Learn about the Key Measures of your business and their importance in the development of your company.
Ashkin answers the question: Are we cooked?
"A world of worsening food shortages and wildfires … as soon as 2040, a period well within the lifetime of much of the global population."
IEHA launches health care initiative
IEHA, a Division of ISSA, proudly announces a new program initiative geared specifically to cleaning and maintenance professionals in health care facilities.
ISSA Next Gen makes its debut
ISSA, the worldwide cleaning industry association, is proud to announce the launch of ISSA Next Gen. This program replaces the previous ISSA Young Executive Society (YES) program.
SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
MEASURING SUCCESS – KPIs
Minimum Wage increases to impact Canadian cleaning industry
Some of the other more populated Canadian provinces are experiencing wage increases. Ontario, CANADA - In January of 2018, the minimum wage in Ontario, one of Canadas most [...]
Now is a good time to fix mistakes in overtime and minimum wage payments
New PAID program from US Department of Labor gives employers a second chance to get their reporting right. Keeping accurate overtime and minimum wage calculations can be hard to [...]
Knowing the math of hiring and retaining talent in the cleaning industry
There’s a lot of variance in the cost of turnover. Here’s a reality. Half of you hire better than the other half. Some are in the bottom 10%, and [...]
3 Tips about retirement
Insights on how to prepare for retirement especially for business owners Most of us want to eventually stop working. The best way to do that is to plan ahead. [...]
ISSA launches DEAL
Program helps businesses reduce costs and be environmentally responsible Northbrook, IL, USA―April 3, 2017―ISSA, the worldwide cleaning industry association, in partnership with Sustainability Dashboard Tools, LLC, has kicked off [...]
Who and what should dictate cleaning product pricing?
How to avoid a never-ending price war with your competitors The price of your products is a fundamental element of your sales and marketing strategies. Competition is continually fierce [...]
Join Our Facebook Group
Get the latest cleaning news and information, ask questions, and enter into discussions with other cleaning professionals in the Your Cleaning Business Today Facebook Group.
CLEANING
The Problem with Indoor Air Quality
When we think about the amount of contaminants inside a home it is little wonder that asthma and allergies are on the rise. There is regular, tracked-in dirt. But there are also microscopic contaminants that make their way indoors on the bottom of our shoes as residues and particulates too small to see with the naked eye. While cleaning businesses can't stop these unwanted guests from entering, we can add value to families that need help keeping this problem contained.
The Green Cleaning Issue – Prologue
Although green cleaning has been around since the 1970’s it is still not a mainstream concept, broadly speaking. While there are certain US markets where environmentalism is woven into [...]
Part 1: Green Cleaning – It’s Your Business
Anyone can say they clean green. But what does that mean? Many shades of green exist within the spectrum of green cleaning. How green is green? The varied scenarios [...]
Part 2: Green Cleaning – Educating Customers
The authenticity of your green cleaning program depends on two things – the completeness of your green protocol and how you talk about it. The former is addressed in [...]
Part 3: Green Cleaning – Engaging Employees
Probably every residential cleaning service has a few cleaning technicians that are packing “heat” – in this case contraband super-cleaners like bleach – beneath the passenger seat, just for [...]
Part 4 – Green Cleaning Service Delivery
At the heart of the decisions about your green cleaning protocols is really who you want to be as a company (see Part 1). “For me, the criteria had [...]
