Social Media Maid

As our business has grown over the past few years I have come to realize I am very good at a few things, however; I am lacking-and I mean severely lacking-in other area's. Not to blow my own horn, but I like to think I am very good with people, I enjoy hard work, multi-tasking, and a few other little social skills. 

However I am horrible when it comes to anything on the computer. To be honest, Facebook and even this blog have been big challenges for me, I do not seem to have an edge for it. If you are reading this, I will admit that Jonathan does a lot of the editing for me, along with many many other things in the background. 

The reason I bring this up is I have been listening to a new business book called "#ASKGARYVEE"  It is a good book, not the best book I have ever listened to, but I think some of his insight is very helpful. The biggest concept I have gleaned from the book would be, "Always become a social media company". He believes this is always the right start for companies, as now days all of our information is online. He informs you that if you can become interested and apart of people's daily life they will be more inclined to buy from you or to use your services. I do believe that is true. If you build peoples' interest and the relationships you have with them, then people will care about what you are doing, because they know and like you. It just make sense to me.

Approaching from this perspective, I believe that we have an advantage, as we are able to help people in their homes. This is a very personal place, as we have to take care of a possession that you love, we need to get to know your likes and dislikes. Sometimes we are even fortunate enough to get to know your family.  Either way we are able to get to know you very well as our client, without this we would not be proficient at our job. 

"Social media for maids?" You may think what is the point to social media for a cleaning service? Well I think the part that it plays, is you get to know us as well as we know you. At the moment we are doing the very basic's, Photo's, Blogs, and Facebook. We are skimming the surface of the online world,  I wish I was doing way more to show you who we are as people, and who we are as a business.

The biggest thing I want our clients to know is that Jonathan and I as business owners care for our staff! I'm not sure how to say this without it being taken wrong, but we care more about our staff then we do about our clients. Please let me explain, the reason I believe it is in your benefit to hire us is because we care for our staff. I am not saying in anyway that we have fulfilled all the dreams we have for our employees and company, however deep down I honestly want the best in the world for the people that work for us! I hope because we care for our staff and do our best to be fair and generous with them, that they will do the same for you as our clients. If we put time, energy, and care into building an environment in which our staff know we support them and want the best for them, I believe they will go to work and want to put that same time, energy, and care back into their work for our clients.

I guess in the end for us social media is a way to give you a sneak peak into our world, hopefully you see a glimmer of who we are, and who we are working towards being.

TTYL!

Beds and beyond

   I have been working in the cleaning world for a long time. Yes I have mostly worked in homes, but the one area I would never go back to is hotel cleaning. Even though it was for a very short 3-4 months of my life it was one of the hardest jobs I have ever done. They want you to clean as many rooms as they can fit on your list. Which gives you a max 20 minutes  max per room.  Which -I am sorry- to do all of the bedding and clean the bathroom properly you would need more time! I enjoy going to stay at B&B's myself for reasons you can guess. 

   The one skill that really sunk in for me was the bed making as you do this all day! Pulling and tucking the ends in tight. I now can make a bed in no time at all. Good luck getting in;)

   I have found this is one area I now find second nature and forget that the girls I hire are not always as practiced in this area as I am. I do teach them but I really stress the scrubbing and shining over bedding. So it is an area I am coming back to. They can polish and scrub with great efficiency, so now we need to look at the other details of our job.

QUICK AND EASY!

 Tags always go on the bottom. With king sheets, the tags are on the left. With queen sheets, they're on the right. Marking the inside seams with a fabric marker to denote right or left corners can make life easier.

1.  Pull mattress cover tight over all corners. Spread fitted sheet out over bed.  Fit corners over mattress and smooth any lumps away.

2.  Take your flat sheet and spread  it over the bed with the fancy embroidery facing down.  The top of the sheet should be even with the top of the mattress, the sides should be hanging down equally, you will want  plenty of extra at the bottom to tuck into the mattress. 

 3. Pull tight and tuck sheet into end of the bed then fold and tuck bottom corners of flat sheet into bottom of mattress making triangles at the sides.

4. Spread blanket over flat sheet, checking to make sure it hangs equally on both sides. Tuck blanket into bottom of mattress or let it hand depending on frame.

5. Fold top of blanket and flat sheet over about 12-14”. Tuck the extra under mattress to keep flat.

6. Shake and fluff  pillows and place at head of bed. (I find this the hardest part depending on how many pillows I am given. I know I have no creativity in this area)

You got it! TTYL!

Tools of the trade-Cleaning your house?Whats on your feet?

I am turning 26 this February. 

Feeling way older than that, I should be like a spring chicken but I am more of an old duck. Oh dear, is that even a saying.......lol?

Anyways I am writing about footwear.  I was wearing  cute little flats for almost 5 years straight, they went so well with everything, and I could walk in them forever.  A few years later now, and I won't even go out for walks after work because my feet are so sore. I started wearing running shoes after work, but that just wasn't cutting it; I still needed to have a bath and put my feet up after work. I realized in the last couple years that I am going to be walking on these things for the rest of my life: there are no replacement pairs, and I can't keep treating them like they are disposable. Really, your feet are something you will need until the day you die, Hopefully for the most of us that will be a while!

I went on the search for the best pair of shoes I could find that wouldn't break the bank. I knew I would have to replace them once a year or so. First I tried out nursing shoes, I liked them for the most part. They have a very very thick heel, this is important as you don't want your feet taking the impact of the hard floor all day. They also had good arch support, I think this is great, as you need that structure for the long work day ahead - you don't want to lose that arch -  my biggest problem with the nursing shoe was they had no flex. As a cleaner, I am squatting down for a lot of the day and I have to  lean forward onto the the balls of my feet; so because these shoes have so much structure, they would not bend with me. I ended up with the top of my foot being sore. The shoes were pushing down on the tops of my toes and I was not liking it!

I also have tried the Skechers memory foam; I was hoping these would be perfect. They were light weight, and they did work for awhile; but they made my feet stink so bad! Socks never helped and I couldn't fix the problem. I even tried leaving coffee grounds in the shoes over night to kill the smell, but they were still stinky in the morning.

Finally, I was randomly shopping in Penticton (I believe the store was called City Shoes) and I  found a pair of shoes named Bernie Mev. They are made out of a handwoven elasticized material, they come in great colors, they are also washable, and have a very thick memory-foam cushioned sole. I do own two pairs of Bernie Mev shoes and first pair wore out in the sole; but I simple got replacement insoles and they were fine. These are by far the most comfortable shoes I have ever worn! XOXO to Bernie Mev!

These are my work shoes, the shoes on the left are older and you may be able to see how worn out they are in the heel. I have taken the insole out so you could see. For wearing them every day for a year they are in great condition!

So take care of your feet. Of course try out a few shoes and find which shoes work for you. But I would try out Bernie Mev's. (and do not try the lame Skechers version of them; they are in no way as good!)

Thanks for reading! TTYL!