Issue 132

Apr 07, 2007

 WCMAIL.NET 

I've talked before about diversifying your cleaning business and one of the most natural sidelines for a cleaning business, either residental or commercial is: widnow cleaning. Window cleaning is also a very affordable business to get into with a minimum of training and equipment required - as long as you stay on the ground floor or at most clean windows on the second floor of buildings using only ladders or extension poles.

I'm not going to talk about window cleaner here, although it's been a long time since I've mentioned it, so maybe I will do an article on it in the future. But for here and now, I just want to talk about WCMAIL.NET

WCMAIL is short for Window Cleaning Mail. WCMAIL is based on a clever idea and like most clever ideas it's actually pretty simple. You sign up with WCMAIL and they put you on their mailing list along with their several thousand other members. That means when anyone on the list has a question or comment about the window cleaning business they send out an email to everyone else in the group. Everydoby else in the group can either just read the email and do nothing or they can respond to it.

One of the questions someone asked recently was about insurance issues for window cleaners. I won't go into specifics but this generated about a dozen or so emails from different people over the next few days - some responding to the original question - some responding to other people's remarks about insurance. Several of the comments made were very useful and would have been of real help to anybody who wanted to get insurance for their cleaning business.

Another big issue over the last few days has been on how window washing businesses can get the best bang for their advertising buck. Maybe ten people have told about their experiences using Yellow Book ads and others have described word-of-mouth campaigns they've promoted by doing cleans for charitable orgainzations and the like.

One window washing business owner, said he had the most success using 2'x 1.5' vinyl signs posted in high traffic areas off busy streets or at entrances to gated communities. This remark in turn generated other comments and questions.

And, of course, as well as just listening in on other people's questions and comments and learning from them; you are perfectly welcome to ask questions of your own and to offer your own opionions on what other people say.

The list is moderated and it seems to run very smoothly with no on-going feuds between individuals or irrerelevant side issues constantly being raised as with some opinion sites. As they say on their signup page:

Click here if you want to find out more about WCMAIL.NET

 ECOLABELLING 

They say the quickest way to get rid of your audience is to start out with a definition but in this case I don't think it can be avoided.

 What is Ecolabelling? 

Ecolabelling is a way for manufacturers to get third-party certification and labelling through a body that is recognized around the world. An "ecolabel" is a label which identifies overall environmental preference of a product within a specific product category based on life cycle considerations. Ecolabelling is strictly voluntary; a company's reward for being ecolabelled is customer preference for these products.

Ecolabells were developed when it became evident that so-called green symbols, or the use of terms like: eco-friendly, natural, recyclable, low energy or claim statements by manufacturers had no verifiable meaning. But an ecolabel is awarded by an impartial third-party for products that are independently determined to meet environmental leadership criteria.

Customers are often willing to spend a small percent more for an ecolabelled cleaning product than they would for a non-ecolabelled cleaning product; or more to the point for cleaning businesses they are often willing to pay a little more for a cleaning business that uses ecolabelled products than one which doesn't.

 Why aren't there any green claims for disinfectants? 

I'm glad you asked.

Disinfectants are different from standard cleaning products because they are designed to kill microorganisms including human pathogens and they are heavily regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) It is the EPA's responsibility to ensure that a disinfectant will not cause unreasonable adverse effects to public health or the environment and that no implied safety claims are made. The EPA will not allow environmental logos on regulated products because it implies that the product can ensure better protection of the environment and/or human health.

 So, Who are the Ecolabellers? 

Ecolabelling is controlled by an international organization called: The Global Ecolabelling Network GEN which is a non-profit association of third-party, environmental performance labelling organizations founded in 1994 to improve, promote, and develop the "ecolabelling" of products and services.

To give you an idea of the size and importance of GEN here is a partial list of it's member organizations. Please note that several of these groups represent more than one country. For instance the Nordic group represents: Denmark, Sweden, Normay, Iceland and Sweden.

 Green Seal 

I'm not going to try to cover all these organizations just give you a quick introduction to Green Seal, the United States' Ecolabelling organization. Here's a brief quote from their site:

More and more companies are recognizing that environmentally responsible design and production are an integral part of their mission and the value they want to deliver to their customers. The Green SealŪ sends a clear message: we care about improving the health and welfare of people and the planet. As more and more businesses have begun to recognize that environmental priorities can be translated into market advantage, they've turned to Green Seal certification to give them a business edge.

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See you next time, until then, Keep It Clean!