I'm working so hard. Why isn't anything moving?

Until you have your first Jordan, getting her is the only problem worth solving.

# "I'm working so hard. Why isn't anything moving?"

Until you have your first Jordan, getting her is the only problem worth solving.

Four weeks ago, we launched our Inner Circle for founding members only. We have 48 of us in there, learning together every Wednesday on a group Zoom call. 7 of us act as mentors to help guide the members through the phases they are in for their own cleaning businesses. I added on "Walk and Talks" every Tuesday, and we've managed to do 3 walks together, with about 4-6 of us each time.

We've covered a lot of ground so far. We started with explaining our own journey, from zero dollars coming in and feeling overwhelmed, and maybe a bit excited and scared at the same time, to the other side, where money comes in easily and often and we have true time and financial freedom. We broke it down step by step, so everyone knows exactly what to focus on and in what stage of their business.

Then we dove into how our website and specifically, our lead form is built to convert our ideal customer persona, who we call Jordan. We learned the key differences between high maintenance, low reward one time clients, who we call Nancy, and low maintenance, high reward recurring clients like Jordan.

And last week, Russ Henneberry walked us through installing the tools to make sure everything our members create with AI already knows their Jordan: who she is, where she is in her journey, and what she's thinking about on a Friday night.

That's a lot. And I'm proud of everyone who showed up for it.

Now I want to take a beat. Because I've been watching what's happening between the calls, and two groups are forming within our Inner Circle, and maybe even for you as a newsletter subscriber.

Group One is heads down and seeing daily wins. They're reaching out to realtors. They're getting their first bookings. They're sharing their wins in the group every Wednesday and they are spotting the changes in their own lives and businesses as a result of this hyper-focus on what actually works.

Group Two is busy. Very busy. Optimizing their Google ads. Setting up automated replies to their Meta leads. Tracking impressions versus clicks. Sending me screenshots and asking essay-long questions. They're doing a lot of different things, and it feels like nothing is working.

I was Group Two in my first year. I could out-busy the best of them. I don't know if it's my ADHD, or my entrepreneurial brain, or the fact that I worked so damn hard all my life in other jobs, that doing this thing the easy way just seemed so far-fetched.

The entrepreneurial brain is sneaky. It gravitates toward things that look like business: ad dashboards, automation sequences, analytics reports. You sit down at your laptop, you're clicking through things, you feel productive. Your brain says "I'm so busy, therefore I'm working on my business."

But here's the real question: have you gotten your first Jordan yet? Your second? Your third? Group One has, and I know that probably sucks to hear, especially because you're over here working so dang hard. But here's the thing: until you have your first Jordan, getting her is the only problem worth solving.

In the Leap phase (between $0 and $10k/month in revenue) which is where most of you are right now, there are only three things that matter: get clients, get cleaners, get reviews.

Write it on a sticky note. Put it on your laptop. Every morning, ask yourself: is what I'm about to do going to get me a client, a cleaner, or a review? If the answer is no, put it in a folder called "After $10K/month" and leave it there until you're ready. I know you want to fine-tune this engine, but right now you just have a bunch of parts. It's not time to fine-tune it yet.

"But Vic, I'm putting money into Meta ads to get clients!"

Okaaaay.

Are those clients Jordans? You don't know yet. It's not your fault, it's just not how Meta works for you in the beginning. It's trying to get you everyone, so you give them more money.

You know how I feel about attracting everyone by now. Let the big chains deal with everyone. Our job is to find Jordan. Yes, others in the Engine ($10k-$25k/month) are optimizing their Meta ad campaigns, and it works. It absolutely works. But should you do that before you've done everything else? I'll take that money and light it on fire for you if you really have money to burn.

"But Vic, I'm running Google ads and I need your help analyzing my impressions compared to my clicks."

I know it's frustrating when I reply with "Did you get any bookings? That's all I track." And you're over there looking through all the screens going, "WTF?" Yup, I don't track impressions, clicks, leads, phone calls, texts, emails. None of it. Why? Because I only care about "Did I get a booking today? Was it from a Jordan? Was it from a Nancy?"

Getting bookings from Nancys in the Leap is inevitable, and it's actually a good thing. It helps you learn how to manage expectations, and you can't do that without the bookings. So even though I've pushed you to think about Jordan vs Nancy, I'm also saying "Just get bookings" and don't worry about anything else (except having cleaners of course, and then getting reviews).

Here's what actually works in the Leap phase, and it costs nothing but time.

Jen and I emailed a personalized message to every realtor in our city. A researched, specific message that showed we'd looked at their listings, knew their market, and had one genuine thing to connect on. Your open rate and response rate from a personal email are better than anything a paid ad will give you at this stage. Because everyone else is automating. I want you to read this line twice: automation is just a fancier word for spam. Yours is the one that doesn't feel like spam.

And Jordan's realtor is the one who recommends you to her when she's finally ready to book.

I created a document with 43 ways to get your first cleaning clients. Some cost nothing but time. Some cost a little money. All of them work better when you already know who Jordan is, what she needs, and exactly how your business solves that for her.

Download: 43 Ways to Get Your First Cleaning Clients

We built the foundation in April. When Jordan books, it's because everything you built already spoke directly to her problem and solved it without making her work harder for it. We're making life a little easier for Jordan, while doing the same thing for our cleaners and then of course, for ourselves.

That's the foundation. And you build the foundation before you build the house. At least, that's what I've heard. I'm no general contractor.

The members who get there fastest do the unsexy things in the right order, patient enough to trust the sequence.

If you've veered off track, take a breath. Calm your nervous system. It's likely a bit fried and you're running on fumes, when all we need to do is take a beat. Slow down. Do the work inside our Inner Circle, and if you're not in it yet, watch the YouTube channel and read the ebook: Cleaning Company Blueprint . You'll notice we're all talking about the same stuff in there, and it will make you feel better if nothing else.

See you on the other side,

Vic

P.S. Which group are you in right now? Group One, heads down and seeing small wins? Or Group Two, very busy but not sure what's actually moving the needle? Hit reply and tell me honestly. I read every single one, and your answer will shape what we dig into next.