Columns
The Laundry Doctor
Productive, Efficient and Motivated
Three Keys to Building a Strong Wash-Dry-Fold Team With both the post-COVID-19 era and the laundry outsourcing revolution upon us, many store owners I speak with are seeing their wash-dry-fold businesses growing rapidly. Given that, how do we – as employers, without...
Are You ‘Socially’ Awkward?
You Don’t Need to Be a Social Media Guru to Grow Your Laundry Business Online Over the years, I learned to accept that I simply can’t keep up with everything that’s happening these days in the social media and online marketing world. When it comes to search engine...
Locked and Loaded
Are Lockers the Answer to Building a Profitable, Round-the-Clock WDF Operation? I’ve recently had a number of store owners approach me about the use of lockers for their laundry operations. At The Laundry Doctor, we’ve been utilizing lockers to help facilitate the...
Wash With Wally
Wash with Wally: Removing Tough Smoke Odors
I have a wash-dry-fold customer who is a heavy smoker. In the summer, it seems that the clothes he brings in are at their worst; even the plastic hamper he brings them in reeks of cigarette smoke. I have tried an odor-reducing fabric softener from my laundry supplier,...
Wash with Wally: How to Safely Clean Bar Towels
We have accounts with several large restaurants to wash their bar mops, towels, and rags. I’ve heard of rags and towels – even clean ones – spontaneously combusting. Is there a specific process to help guard against this, as well as a recommended timeline in which to...
Wash with Wally: The Keys to Cleaning Cloth Restaurant Napkins
I have potential commercial account that would require us to launder cloth napkins for an Italian restaurant. The napkins are red and most certainly will have oil and other food stains. The client wants these napkins laid out flat for delivery. What are the best...
The Business Mind
Every Word Matters
The Absolutely Essential Rules for Writing Effective Advertising and Marketing Content In the competitive landscape of advertising and marketing, the power of words can make or break your laundry business’ promotional efforts. Crafting compelling advertising copy...
Know Your Customers
Here’s How to Keep Your Laundry Business Growing Steadily by Systematically Tracking Your Client Metrics “Revolve your world around your customers, and more customers will revolve around you.” – Anonymous It’s widely accepted that today’s consumers are inundated with...
Vive La Différence
How to Use Diversity Marketing to Boost Sales and Grow Your Laundry Business For a long time, marketing efforts for companies big and small had one major common denominator. Essentially, they all targeted an older, white audience. Years ago, this strategy may have...
Viewpoint
Viewpoint: What a Year It Has Been
At the beginning of the year in this space, I posed the question: “What can the CLA do for you?” More than a catchy (and borrowed) tagline, it was a sincere effort to solicit feedback from CLA members – our customers – as to what they wanted the association to provide...
Our Industry is Alive, Well… And Thriving
Having now had the opportunity to fully digest my time at last month’s Clean Show in Atlanta, I’m happy to report that the self-service laundry industry – as well as the residential wash-dry-fold and pickup-and-delivery segments of the business – are alive and well....
What’s Your Secret Sauce?
In researching and writing the July cover story on the use of ozone in laundromats, one main theme kept popping up among everyone I spoke with – differentiation. Of course, some laundromat owners have been incorporating ozone into their operations for years. And,...
Digital Marketing
Spinning Tales of Marketing Magic
How Simple Conversations and Clever Tricks Can Boost Your Business Beyond Just Clean Clothes Imagine strolling through your favorite mall. You know, the one where you always stop for a pretzel or to sneak a peek into that clothing store. As you’re wandering around,...
Spinning Success
Four Marketing Strategies to Implement in 2024 Toward the end of last summer, helping my nephews gear up for the coming school year taught me something interesting about making smart choices. In years past, we typically grabbed the flashiest, most popular items – you...
Cooking Up Success with Your Laundry Promotions
Creating Irresistible Promotional Programs for Your Business I love cooking. But, to be honest, I’m not a huge fan of following recipes to the T. I prefer to keep it simple and to add my own twist with different ingredients – a dash of this, a sprinkle of that… and...