Tuesday, 6 May 2003

Top 8 Things a Janitorial Service Can Do For Your Business

If you're on the fence about hiring a janitorial service for your commercial facility, just take a quick look at some of the benefits and services you gain from contracting with a cleaning company.

1) Personnel - With a cleaning service or janitorial service, you don't have to hire in-house employees. You contract with a maintenance company for those services.

2) Office Cleaning - Your offices are kept clean and orderly on a daily or weekly basis according to the needs of your particular facility.

3) Restroom Sanitation - With a janitorial service, your restrooms are regularly restocked with toilet paper, hand towels, soap, air freshener and seat covers. Proper sanitation of the restrooms including cleaning of the toilets, urinals, partitions, walls, floors, sinks, fixtures, counter-tops, and mirrors is also taken care of for you by your cleaning service.

4) Green Cleaning Services - The environment and your health is important to all of us. To reduce the amount of chemicals in your workplace atmosphere and our world, professional green cleaning offers non-toxic and eco-friendly cleaning products which are safe, reliable and efficient.

5) Emergency Cleaning Services - In the event of a natural disaster, break-in or other situation where your office space is in need of emergency cleaning, your janitorial service can assist you with this type of clean-up. Janitorial services have emergency response teams available for dispatch in the event of an unanticipated cleaning event.

6) Window and Skylight Cleaning - Having a polished image of your company starts with the curb appeal of your facility. Plus, spotless windows let in more sunlight improving the mood and energy levels of your employees and customers. A janitorial service can provide this cost-effective way to improve the look and feel of your facility.

7) Pressure Washing - Welcoming your customers to your parking lot and business with a clean exterior appearance is important. High-pressure sprayers and hydro cleaning methods restore and maintain building exteriors, roofs, concrete walkways and sidewalks. Commercial cleaning services that offer pressure washing for the exterior of your facility can even offer a service that includes use of an EPA compliant, water recovery system.

8) Day Porter Services - A continuous flow of visitors through your building poses a significant challenge in terms of housekeeping. Day porter services can be contracted to keep common areas like cafeterias, lobbies, lounges and conference rooms clean. They can also assist with window cleaning, monitoring the restrooms for cleaning and paper supply replenishment.

Maureen McHale is a marketing consultant located in Longwood, Florida. For more info contact 352-406-2011.

Providing both interior and exterior commercial building services throughout the state of Florida since 1993, American Facility Services (AFS) has offices in Orlando, Jacksonville and Tampa. AFS offers a wide range of services that can be customized to meet the needs of each client. Contact AFS today at 866-793-3735 or visit our website for an online proposal for your facilities maintenance needs.

Tuesday, 29 April 2003

How to Register a Trademark With Ease

Believe it or not, registering a trademark is the toughest task to carry out when it comes to protecting your business or brand name. If you are not serious about your mark, it may literally cost you plenty both in terms of money and effort, which can further cause surplus stress and mental harassment. Moreover, this thrilling and complicated process involves numerous tasks and things that must be considered when thinking about starting a new business. This process can only be handled by the trademark attorney, appointed by the business owner itself.

In order to stay hassle free and run your business fluently, you must consider the points written below that will further help you plan better for your business.

• Make sure it is unique - it is important that you keep your trademark unique and simple so that your customers can easily recognize your brand or company. In general, a trademark is a symbol, used by different business owners for distinguishing their products and quality of work. The symbol can be any logo, or an image, a slogan, or a word as per owner's preference.

• Create a proper plan and initiate it - this includes creating a document highlighting all your business needs and then come out with a refined and extensive plan to accomplish all your desires. Think about how you'll be starting up with your efforts and how you'll be spending your money. Write everything down and give your best shot to satisfy all your requirements.

• Keep your mark simple and subjective - as per United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), your trademark must be whimsical, evocative and capricious. If in case your mark doesn't fulfill all these above requirements, it would not be considered a legitimate one.

• Various other benefits - once you register your mark, you'll be allowed to use your mark for commercial purposes, register in other countries and bring forth disputes in federal courts, help you stay away from unnecessary troubles, save your time and money, and more.

• Fulfill all the necessary requirements to start a new business - You must complete all the necessary paperwork before starting a new trade, which basically includes carrying out the obligatory certification, taking a business insurance policy, getting the mandatory business approvals, and more.

The most important point which is not mentioned above is, 'to select an appropriate brand name'. Make sure your brand name is short, unique and easy to memorize, as this would help you create a positive impact on the minds of your customers.

Thursday, 24 April 2003

Who Do You Call for All Your Facility Needs?

As a commercial facilities manager, property manager or asset manager, you're skilled at juggling a list of day-to-day activities that would make most people's heads spin! Your typical daily to do list may look like this: Building one needs several offices painted, someone dumped an old couch behind building two, the entire parking lot needs to have the pot holes repaired and the all the sidewalks need pressure washing. Feel the stress building?

After taking a deep breath, you pick up the phone and start dialing. 
• Call the painter, leave him a message. 
• Call the bulk debris removal company, leave them a message. 
• Call the paving contractor, leave them a message. 
• Call the pressure washing guy. Leave him a message.

Then, the waiting game begins. Will anyone return the call? Are these places still in business? Who else do I know that I can call if so-and-so doesn't call back? All those thoughts run through your brain.

There has to be an Easier Way! 
Managing multiple projects, contractors, responsibilities and expectations takes time and energy. Plus, the frustration levels increase when contractors don't call back, don't show up, jobs take longer than expected and quotes run over budget. What if there was an easier way to get the job done, and done right?

All Your Facilities Needs Under One Roof 
There is an easier way to manage all of your facility needs. A one-stop-shop for facility needs. Simply make one call, speak to an actual person and let them know what you need done. It's that simple. No unreturned calls, unanswered voice mails, or other communication issues.

Who Can Help You? 
You may already be using a facilities maintenance company for your parking lot sweeping or porter services, but what you may not know is that some of these companies are more than just that. They can be a one-stop-shop to all your commercial facility needs.

It's true! One call really does do it all. With offices located throughout the state or your region, their portfolio of commercial facility services enable their clients the convenience of working with a single provider for all their commercial property needs.

The best companies offer complete building maintenance services, bulk debris removal, janitorial services, pressure washing, hydro-cleaning, asphalt paving, asphalt repair, sealcoating, commercial painting, parking lot maintenance, general contracting, and of course parking lot sweeping and porter services.

A facilities maintenance company that is on top of the ball strives to complete projects on time, for a competitive price and satisfy our customers with job well done. For a free proposal geared to your particular facility, give your favorite facilities maintenance a call or get an online quote today!

Maureen McHale is a web marketing consultant specializing in SEO, content marketing and website design.