Suzanne Hayzlett is the owner of SET Cleaning, a professional house cleaning service based out of Powhatan, VA. Founded in 1999, SET Cleaning is one of the top cleaning services in the area. Suzanne is a member of ARCSI, the Association of Residential Cleaning Services International. She is also a proud partner of the Cleaning for a Reason Foundation, which offers house cleanings to people undergoing any type of cancer treatment. Her business is pet-friendly and her dog, Blu, is the SET mascot.
A COVID Comeback
June 7, 2021
At the beginning of 2020, Suzanne Hayzlett’s business, SET Cleaning, was thriving. SET Cleaning had 28 employees and a loyal customer base. By the end of March, however, Suzanne was concerned about COVID-19, and the safety of her employees and her customers.
As they were creating and implementing COVID safety practices, SET Cleaning began receiving calls from customers to suspend their services. Customers were fearful of having anyone in their home, even with the new safety protocols in place.
“What am I going to do with all of my employees?”
Trying to balance what was right for her customers and her employees, Suzanne found herself in a position that she never wanted to be in – closing her doors. Further, Suzanne accepted the best thing she could do for her employees was to lay them off and help them with the unemployment process, while praying that she would be able to hire them back soon.
As she began to contact her customers to advise that SET Cleaning would shut down temporarily, some of her customers told her that she could not quit on them. Some customers even took it a step further that they would find another cleaning service if she shut down. Suzanne remembers thinking, “Oh, boy! How are we gonna do this?” Luckily, a few employees wanted to continue working, even if it wasn’t much, instead of filing for unemployment.
Armed with 6 employees and determination, Suzanne kept SET Cleaning open. She soon discovered that the impact of COVID extended past her employees and her customers. It also affected the supply of cleaning products.
SET Cleaning had always used environmentally-friendly products. Once the shortage of supplies hit, however, Suzanne and her team began making their own cleaning products.
During April and May, Suzanne estimates that SET Cleaning was operating with approximately 20% of the business that she had the year prior. Spring is usually the busiest time of the year for cleaning companies. Suzanne recalls looking in her parking lot, full of SET Cleaning cars that were not being used. “It was a little rough,” she admits. “I had to formulate a Plan B, a Plan C, D, and E. At one point, I was concerned that I would have to start selling one of the cars each month just to keep the business floating.”
Suzanne didn’t give up. She checked in routinely with her customers. “I wanted to see how they were and to let them know of everything that we were doing to help them when they were ready.”
By May, Suzanne had a spike in the number of clients that wanted to reestablish their cleaning services. Suzanne thought this was the breakthrough that she needed. She contacted many of her former employees, only to find that many did not want to return to work.
In the midst of this, Chris Fawcett from Third Marble Marketing reached out to Suzanne for a routine call. Suzanne had been a client of Third Marble Marketing for years. Suzanne recalls that she was frustrated at that time, because she had tried to find employees without any luck. She remembers telling Chris, “I don’t need you…I need employees.”
Suzanne figured that was the end of the call. But instead, Chris offered her a solution.
Chris proposed that Third Marble Marketing help her run Google ads for recruiting purposes instead of running Google ads for her services. Chris was willing to try something unconventional to help her solve her problem. Suzanne was thrilled with the idea.
Third Marble Marketing implemented a recruiting ads campaign for SET Cleaning around early June. After weeks of pursuing leads on employment websites and social media postings, Suzanne finally found qualified candidates for the positions she needed through Google ads.
By September, the number of employees at SET Cleaning had doubled, as well as her customer base.
Third Marble Marketing has continued to help Suzanne focus her ads for customers in her service area. Today, Suzanne has 21 employees, almost the same number that she did before COVID hit.
“Thanks to Third Marble … they made the biggest impact on my business through advertising, from getting new employees to getting new customers.”
Suzanne’s advice to other companies is straightforward: Collaborate with other companies, and trust Third Marble Marketing.
Suzanne encourages other business owners to utilize their network. “Talk to your competitors,” she says. “Pick up the phone and get advice.” Suzanne has stayed in touch with her competitors and a network of cleaning professionals across the country, even referring some to Third Marble Marketing. Suzanne also found support with her BNI group, where she initially met Chris.
“It was important to motivate each other, especially when you see other businesses around you falling apart.”
As far as Third Marble Marketing, Suzanne is grateful for Chris’s call that day. “There were days that I was ready to give up.” Suzanne feels confident in Third Marble Marketing to help her in the future, as Chris demonstrated the willingness to think outside the box. “I’m very happy with Third Marble.”
SET Cleaning is located at 2927 Anderson Highway in Powhatan, and currently serves customers in Powhatan, Midlothian, and Moseley.
In the digital age, brand voice consistency is key to building a strong, recognizable brand. Whether your business engages customers through social media, blog posts, or customer service interactions, maintaining a consistent tone and messaging across all platforms is crucial for brand identity and trust. Here are some practical strategies to ensure your brand voice remains consistent everywhere your audience interacts with you. 1. Define Your Brand Voice Before you can ensure consistency, you need to define your brand voice. A brand voice is the personality and tone you convey through your content. It reflects your business values, culture, and mission. For example, is your brand voice professional, friendly, humorous, or authoritative? To define your brand voice, consider the following: Core Values: What principles guide your company? Are you about innovation, reliability, or creativity? Target Audience: Who are you speaking to? A brand targeting Gen Z might have a casual, witty tone, while a brand targeting professionals might lean towards a more formal voice. Emotional Tone: What emotion do you want your audience to feel? Whether it’s excitement, reassurance, or motivation, your voice should reflect this. Once you’ve identified these elements, document them. Create a brand voice guide that outlines key phrases, vocabulary, and examples of how your voice should sound. This guide will serve as your compass, ensuring consistency across all platforms. 2. Create a Style Guide A style guide is essential for maintaining consistency, especially as your business grows and more people get involved in content creation. Your style guide should cover: Tone and Language: Specify the tone and style of communication for each platform. For example, social media might be more casual and conversational, while blog posts could be more informative. Grammar and Punctuation: Consistency in punctuation (e.g., using the Oxford comma ) and grammar rules can greatly affect how professional your brand appears. Imagery and Design: While voice is primarily about language, the visuals that accompany your message should also align with your tone. Whether you use bright, playful colors or more minimalist, subdued hues, your design should reflect your voice. Having a comprehensive style guide means anyone creating content on behalf of your brand knows exactly how to communicate. 3. Train Your Team Your entire team must understand and embrace your brand voice. Whether it’s your marketing department, customer service team, or content creators, everyone needs to be on the same page. To keep your brand voice consistent across platforms, provide your team with resources like: Workshops and Training: Hold regular sessions to reinforce your brand's messaging and tone. This could include writing exercises, social media role-playing, or reviewing successful brand campaigns. Ongoing Feedback: Offer constructive feedback on content to ensure it aligns with your voice. Whether it's through content reviews or monthly meetings, consistently check in with your team. Remember, keep your brand voice flexible enough to adapt to different contexts (like more serious tones during a crisis) but consistent in core elements, such as clarity and empathy. 4. Understand Platform Nuances Each platform has its audience and unique characteristics, but your brand voice should remain consistent across all of them. Here’s how to tailor your brand voice while keeping it unified: Social Media: Social platforms are usually informal and fast-paced. You can use humor, emojis, and casual language to connect with your audience. Blog Posts: Blogs are a great place to showcase your brand’s expertise. Use a more polished, informative tone, but still keep it in line with your brand voice. A friendly, approachable tone can make your content more relatable. Customer Service Interactions: Whether it’s over chat, email, or phone, your customer service team must embody your brand’s tone. For example, if your brand is known for being friendly, ensure that your team’s responses reflect that particular attitude even when dealing with complaints or difficult customers. Being aware of platform differences helps you maintain a unified message while tailoring your approach to fit the environment. 5. Use Automation Tools Wisely As your business scales, automation tools can be lifesavers in maintaining consistency. However, it’s important not to let automation become robotic. Use tools like social media schedulers or CRM software to streamline communication, but always ensure that the voice feels human and genuine. When using automated responses (especially in customer service), incorporate your brand voice into the script. Use friendly, helpful, and personalized language, and be mindful of how these responses will be perceived. 6. Monitor and Adapt Consistency doesn’t mean rigidity. Regularly monitor the performance of your content across different platforms to ensure your message is resonating with your audience. Use analytics and feedback to gauge how well your brand voice is being received. For example: Social Media Analytics: Track engagement rates to see how your voice is performing on each platform. Customer Feedback: Pay attention to how customers respond to your tone in service interactions. If your voice is too formal or too casual, it may not align with their expectations. Adjust your approach as needed, but always stay true to the core values of your brand. 7. Keep It Authentic Above all, your brand voice must feel authentic. In today’s digital landscape, customers can spot inauthenticity a mile away. Your voice should reflect the real values and personality of your company. Whether you’re posting on Twitter, writing a blog, or answering a customer service question, staying true to your brand will help build trust and loyalty. Final Thoughts A consistent brand voice is essential for creating a cohesive customer experience and fostering brand loyalty. By defining your voice, creating a style guide, training your team, and adapting to platform nuances, you can ensure your messaging is clear and unified. Remember, authenticity is key. Be sure to stay true to your brand’s values and always communicate with your audience in a way that resonates with them. Ready to Strengthen Your Brand Voice Across All Platforms? Struggling to find time for content creation while managing your business? At Third Marble Marketing , we specialize in writing clear, consistent, and compelling content that resonates with your audience. Whether you need engaging copy on your web pages or informative blog posts, we’re here to help! Our Content Writing Services are designed to enhance your SEO while staying true to your brand’s core values. We ensure consistency in tone and messaging across all platforms, creating a cohesive brand experience that fosters trust, increases engagement, and drives success. Contact Third Marble Marketing today to learn more about how our content writing services can elevate your brand voice and consistency!
Step-by-Step Guide to Optimizing Your Google Business Profile:
Which One Do I Need? When it comes to driving traffic to your website, you’ve likely heard the terms SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and PPC (Pay-Per-Click). Both are essential digital marketing strategies, but they serve different purposes. So, how do you determine which one is the right fit for your business? The truth is that SEO and PPC work best when used together, but understanding their differences will help you decide where to focus your efforts based on your goals and budget. Let’s take a closer look. What is SEO? SEO focuses on improving your website’s visibility in organic search results. This involves optimizing your website’s content, structure, and technical elements to rank higher on search engines like Google in the organic section of the Search Results Page. Some key components of SEO include: Keyword Optimization : Identifying and using relevant keywords in title tags, meta descriptions, alt tags, and onsite copy to attract the right audience. High-Quality Content : Creating valuable, authoritative, and informative content that appeals to users and search engines. Technical SEO : Improving site speed, mobile-friendliness, and security to enhance user experience. Backlink Building : Earning links from reputable websites to increase domain authority. Benefits of SEO Builds Long-Term Organic Traffic : Once your website ranks well, you can enjoy a steady stream of visitors without ongoing ad spend. More Cost-Effective Over Time : While SEO requires an upfront investment in content and optimization, it becomes more affordable as your rankings improve. Boosts Credibility and Trust : Appearing in organic search results gives your business more authority in your industry. What is PPC? PPC is a paid advertising strategy where businesses bid on keywords to appear in sponsored search results. Every time a user clicks on your ad, you pay a fee. Google Ads is the most popular PPC platform, allowing businesses to target specific demographics, locations, and search queries. Benefits of PPC Delivers Instant Traffic : PPC generates immediate site visitors, whereas SEO results are not immediate. Highly Targeted : You can reach specific audiences based on keywords, location, demographics, and even online behavior. Measurable Results : PPC provides detailed analytics, allowing you to track performance and adjust campaigns for better ROI. Scalable: Depending on your immediate business needs, you can increase and decrease your budget, and therefore the number of leads and sales you get each month from PPC. SEO is not that nimble. Setting Realistic Expectations: SEO is a Marathon, PPC is a Sprint When deciding between SEO and PPC, it’s important to set realistic expectations for results. Think of SEO as a marathon and PPC as a sprint. Both can get you to the finish line, but they work at different speeds and require different strategies. SEO: The Marathon Approach SEO takes time, just like training for a marathon. You won’t see results overnight, but with consistent effort, you’ll build momentum and endurance. Timeline Expectation: Months 1-3: Research, technical optimization, and content creation. During this period of time, expect little to no ranking improvements. Months 4-6: Gradual ranking improvements and some organic traffic growth. Months 6-12: Stronger rankings, increased traffic, and leads (provided ongoing effort continues). 1 Year & Beyond: Established rankings, steady organic traffic, and a strong foundation that requires maintenance, but not constant spending. The key takeaway is that SEO compounds over time. The more effort you put in early, the more rewards you reap later. PPC: The Sprint Approach PPC is like a sprint—you get results quickly, but you have to keep paying to stay ahead. If you stop running (funding your ads), the traffic stops too. Timeline Expectation: Week 1: Campaign setup, keyword research, and ad creation. Weeks 2-4: Ads go live, and traffic starts coming in immediately. Months 1-3: Performance optimization. This entails adjusting bids, refining targeting, and improving ad quality for better ROI. Ongoing: As long as you continue funding your ads, you’ll keep generating traffic and leads. PPC provides instant results, but costs can add up. Unlike SEO, which continues to bring traffic over time, PPC stops working the moment you turn off your ads. What’s the Right Strategy? Need leads now? Start with PPC. Want long-term sustainable growth? Invest in SEO. Want the best of both worlds? Run PPC while building your SEO strategy in the background. Understanding these timelines will help you manage expectations and make informed marketing decisions. In Closing All in all, SEO and PPC are not competitors. In fact, they complement each other. Investing in both strategies can maximize your visibility and help your business grow. If you need help deciding where to start, contact Third Marble Marketing , and we’ll help you craft the perfect strategy for your goals and budget!
Tips for Driving Engagement on a Budget
Adapting to AI, Voice Search, and Google's Evolving Algorithms
The Google Reviews Count Bug: A Worldwide Issue
Washington, DC Area Law Firm Wins Big
One bad review can cast a long shadow online. It can deter potential customers and damage your reputation. But before you panic, there's good news! Google allows businesses to flag reviews that violate their policies, and with the right approach, you can get them removed. This email is your one-stop shop for reclaiming your online reputation. We'll walk you through the process step-by-step, including some extra tips to maximize your chances of success. Important: Remember, Google won't remove reviews simply because you disagree with them. They only remove reviews that violate their policies. You can find a full breakdown of Google's review policies for more information.
How Third Marble used Google Ads to increase three different HVAC businesses leads. Three case studies rolled into one!
Are you looking to turn more website visitors into paying customers? You're not alone! Here at Third Marble Marketing, we've helped countless businesses achieve dramatic conversion increases. In this post, we'll share 9 powerful tips that can help you do the same.
