[Nathan]

Well, CleaningTalk.com has been up a little over 3 weeks and I think things are going well. We still need more people to keep the conversations going so that is priority #1.

What else needs improved?
What is keeping this from being the best cleaning forum out there?

Thanks for your membership and feedback btw... very much appreciated. :thumbsup:

 

[Nathan]

BTW, on a side note. I've been on the site a bit less over the last week and that is because my wife is close to having our second child in about two weeks.
Lots of Doctors appointments and such. Don't worry though... I'm not forgetting anyone

 

[All Seasons Exteriors]

I believe it's going very well. 176 members as of this posting and more joining everyday. I haven't posted as much lately due to other responsibilities, but I try to check in a few times a day.

In some ways, it's kind've like changing someone's shopping habits.....It takes a while for the transition, but with the climate being what it is on other sites, it shouldn't be long before this bbs is the place to be for the cleaning contractor.
:yes:

 

[PressurePros]

I agree with Don. Those of us that have come over from TGS are used to seeing the "faces" there. It is a gathering of experienced contractors that offer the same types of services I do and use similar techniques. As more people come over you will see this board take over.

The obstacle you have to overcome is twofold. One is obviously member count, the other is defferentiating yourself from the other boards. I'm not sure what type of marketing you could do to bring in more experienced cleaning contractors. It's like a nightclub, hard to predict what makes a board successful. I think for CleaningTalk it's just a matter of time. Keep doing what you are doing.

If there is anything I can do to help, let me know. (maybe a scheduled chat for Q&A?)

Take care of business with your wife. We got your back on the board :thumbup1:

 

[Jon F]

Nathan,

In my mind, what you need to be going for is "general". Okay, I restore log homes. What bbs is there for me? But if I have a tough, on the job question, I go to one of the "Wood" boards where that is the Dominator. It would be TGS for general or deck related questions, Deckguide for a very specific question, then I'd email a few people and tell them to go answer my question But I'm not gonna get good advertising advice on Deckguide. Probably won't find good advice for running 10 jobs with subs.

TGS is quite broad, and has decent "nuts and bolts" info, and decent biz info from specific people. Lots of newbies and usual questions. Tightly moderated.

You are (I assume) wanting to include ALL cleaning trades in this board. Seems to me, you've tapped some sources for pwashing, but now you need to pull windows, carpet, janitorial, auto, etc.

The ONLY way I think you'll be successful in this approach is by keeping the "mass appeal threads" going, i.e. marketing, running biz, dealing with customers, employees, etc, and getting the people from all walks involved in them. I'm never going to read a thread about cleaning vomit out of carpet, but I'll read (and respond) to what the carpet guys says about how he manages his 10 crews of cleaners. That info is somewhat universal to a service biz.

That is how I think you need to pursue growth---through these 'mass appeal' threads (for instance, the one about "subs"). For now, I don't think you'll get a lot of serious 'nut and bolt' info going until the site has developed/matured a bit. Normal. But the "mass appeal" is ready to blow....I'm chomping at the bit to talk marketing/managment with carpetcleaners, janitors, etc.

Either way, site is great. You moderate well without slapping bottoms, you start/prolong good posts, you've got a MASSIVELY good prototype to follow (contractortalk), so I think this site will be great.

 

[Nathan]

The ONLY way I think you'll be successful in this approach is by keeping the "mass appeal threads" going, i.e. marketing, running biz, dealing with customers, employees, etc, and getting the people from all walks involved in them. I'm never going to read a thread about cleaning vomit out of carpet, but I'll read (and respond) to what the carpet guys says about how he manages his 10 crews of cleaners. That info is somewhat universal to a service biz.

Jon, overall I think you hit the nail on the head.

I do think you can have both business and trade knowledge from multiple trades on the same site but it does take traffic to get there.

Either way, site is great. You moderate well without slapping bottoms, you start/prolong good posts, you've got a MASSIVELY good prototype to follow (contractortalk), so I think this site will be great.

Thanks Jon! The goal of this site is to copy the success of contractortalk.com in the cleaning industry. I think the same formula will work here too. We have A LOT more plans over there and I see that as another benefit.
A tight network of sites that cover a variety of different topics and pull resources together. BTW, more sites are planned too :whistling2:

You are (I assume) wanting to include ALL cleaning trades in this board. Seems to me, you've tapped some sources for pwashing, but now you need to pull windows, carpet, janitorial, auto, etc.

This is the next big step and the hardest one as well. Any help anyone can give would be great!

Thanks for the feedback :thumbsup:

 

[McMoo]

Well I'm going to say It" i'm new to the industry" there I said it! I have been reading several boards for 3 or 4 months for the most part keeping a low profile and learning. The first thing I learned was not to ask dumb questions, example how mush do you charge? will SH kill plants? etc. The reason I'm posting this is to let you know what someone new to the Industry thinks about this board, and why I think it wiil go over well. 1. It is informative (and getting more so every day) 2. It is fun, the people on this board have collectively a fantastic sense of humor 3. and the most important to Me, you are able to disagree on, How to do a job or what equipment to use, with out getting into personal attacks. This has hurt other boards I have been reading. Nathan I so gald to see you stepped in and stopped this at the beginning. I truly belive you have got the start of something good that will grow and keep on growing. Super board & Super MEMBERS

Fore what it worth! Dan

 

[Thad]

Well, we need guys like you, McMoo!


Chime in when the conversation veers toward an area that you have experience in and don't hesitate to ask questions.
For every person that asks a question there are ten who want to know but won't ask.

 

[Jon F]

....I'll add something more controversial....and this will be left to Nathan's moderation.....but just like "sex sells", on bbs's, "dissagreement sells". Look at ANY thread on ANY other board that is over 50 posts and you'll see people fighting/arguing. If it goes over 150 posts then you have downright tantrums going on But it's true, the most popular threads are the heated ones, and usually the most educational. Personally, I'm not a big advocate of heavy moderation. Have some set boundaries (whatever they are) no cursing, derogatory insults, insulting someones family, threats, etc. but at the same time "let boys be boys". I think a good ole' fight is a good purging for a board, quite cathartic. A fight is generally brought on by passion, and that is something I believe we should build up. Thoughts Nathan?

 

[Nathan]

....I'll add something more controversial....and this will be left to Nathan's moderation.....but just like "sex sells", on bbs's, "disagreement sells". Look at ANY thread on ANY other board that is over 50 posts and you'll see people fighting/arguing. If it goes over 150 posts then you have downright tantrums going on But it's true, the most popular threads are the heated ones, and usually the most educational. Personally, I'm not a big advocate of heavy moderation. Have some set boundaries (whatever they are) no cursing, derogatory insults, insulting someones family, threats, etc. but at the same time "let boys be boys". I think a good Ole' fight is a good purging for a board, quite cathartic. A fight is generally brought on by passion, and that is something I believe we should build up. Thoughts Nathan?

Yes and no... how's that for an answer Jon? :jester:

If you check out ContractorTalk.com and how it's run you will see that I do not go over board with moderation. We have a set of RULES in place that are more or less just common decency rules but other than that you will find this place fairly open. Oh, and we don't allow SPAM because it just makes the forum trashy.
You will never find me censoring posts because someone doesn't like a company that advertises or anything like that. That isn't what a forum should be about anyways... it's either a community or it isn't. Also, we have no connections with manufactures or stores so we have no hidden agenda to promote a certain product or service.

On the other hand I think there is a difference between content and quality content. I'm after quality content. Let me explain.
A lot of people judge the success of a forum by the number of posts it has, I however do not. For me it's not the amount of posts that is important but the content of those posts and how meaningful they are to people in the industry.
I get a lot of calls for a politics or religion forum on ContractorTalk.com and while we do allow trade related political discussion to take place we do not allow everyday political discussions even in the off topic area. These conversations always leads to fights and those fights always spill over into the on topic threads. Anyways, the people who ask for this always say something like "do you have any idea how many posts you would have if you allowed politics?" Who cares? It's not quality content and therefore doesn't need to take over the site. Maybe I am going off topic with this but I know how to get a lot of posts but it's not my goal. I have not problem with having good discussions in the off topics forum but it's never a good thing when the off topic areas take over a site.

Anyways, you are correct that lively debate is often the most educational and pulls in a lot of traffic/posts which I encourage. It's only when these "lively discussions" turn into fights or something that breaks the rules of the site that we have to step in.

Does that make sense?

 

[McMoo]

Makes sense to this old country boy.

 

[Nathan]

Well I'm going to say It" i'm new to the industry" there I said it! I have been reading several boards for 3 or 4 months for the most part keeping a low profile and learning. The first thing I learned was not to ask dumb questions, example how mush do you charge? will SH kill plants? etc. The reason I'm posting this is to let you know what someone new to the Industry thinks about this board, and why I think it wiil go over well. 1. It is informative (and getting more so every day) 2. It is fun, the people on this board have collectively a fantastic sense of humor 3. and the most important to Me, you are able to disagree on, How to do a job or what equipment to use, with out getting into personal attacks. This has hurt other boards I have been reading. Nathan I so gald to see you stepped in and stopped this at the beginning. I truly belive you have got the start of something good that will grow and keep on growing. Super board & Super MEMBERS

Fore what it worth! Dan

Thanks Dan :thumbsup:

It means a lot especially from a new guy. Make sure you jump in on all the discussions as Thad said. We need a lot of new views and sometimes it takes someone asking WHY to set us all straight.

 

[Jon F]

That is reasonable Nathan. Not very often do you see a thread start up as "Bush Sucks", but what happens is, a guy complains about lowballers in the area he is in. He wants govt regulation to combat lowballers. A capitalist pig like me says, "why is it that you aren't smart enough to figure this out on your own...why do you need Uncle Sam to make all of these decisions for you and set your prices, standards, etc." And he retorts with, "well Bush said their were WMD'S in Iraq and we are over there fighting, and I can't afford gas now, but Bush has really dropped the ball as far as lowballers and Osama Bin Laden are concerned" or some other jibberish.

That kind of stuff is hard to stop. But if someone posted a thread, "How do you feel about abortion", then I'd say there is a major problem, and the board has taken a wrong turn. But since we are business, often times threads may take on a political overtone. Religion? IMO, unless it is dealing specifically in ethics-on-the-job, etc., that's probably too dangerous. But I was reading the thread on CT about Jews/Hez and it was going well, and was informative. I mean hey, sometimes you talk about what is going on, and right now, that's the hot issue.

 

[Nathan]

We generally let things go until they get out of hand.
We have a not politics rule but your right the topic does come up. We let it live for a while and then as soon as it gets heated (which it always does) we close it.

 

[mr fixit]

In my experience with Painttalk:thumbup: and Contractortalk:thumbsup: I am sure this site wil be as good in time.:yes:

 

[Maids a la Mode]

It already is!

Maids Mobile Alabama

 

[skip-it]

I think its a great site, cheers Nathan :thumbsup:

 

[PrecisionAustin]

I started to read this thread and was surprised that it was so new, only then realized that the first posts were from 2006. :laughing: Congrats on the long life of this site!

 

[First Choice Cleaning]

Great site!