I started cleaning windows around 1998. I worked for a couple window cleaning companies before I broke out on my own.

My first year in business was incredible… I catapulted my business from $0 to $50,000 in income within 12 months. Life was good.

The reality was a bit more dark and dangerous. I am normally not a believer of luck but I know something lucky happened that first year. I walked into a large high-end grocery store and got it.

It just so happened they were having serious issues with their current service. I quoted it and got it… soon after a chain of 6 stores.

That was almost $20,000 in annual revenue, alone

Next; got a freak phone call (I almost did not return) from a cleaning service looking to add on window cleaning (they were looking to sub-out this service). I gave them a call and I had a sit-down with all the franchise owners and got the job! (another $30,000 in annual revenue).

EASY MONEY… and the only advertising I did was a tiny ad in the Yellow Pages.

Then like a punch to the gut, reality came looking for the closest idiot and found me. Keep in mind I was a one man show and busy to the point I did not advertise, at all. The cleaning service and the grocer was enough…

At some point the cleaning service started to want a bigger hunk of the pie… I was starting get get a little edgy about their scheduling process and our relationship deteriorated. Then died.

I just fumbled $30,000

If you have $10 and lose $7, it does not take long before the warning siren comes on. My lack of advertising has left me to the mercy of a half-assed Yellow Pages ad.

I scrambled to make some immediate cash-flow… and failed. I fell into a depression fueled coma. My lack of business and advertising knowledge literally brought me to my knees.

I was the 'unluckiest' son-of-a-bitch on earth now. As we can see luck had nothing to do with it. It was my lack of action and desire for growth (in business and in knowledge) that left me skidding into a firestorm of chaos.

Then one day as I went to go quote a house I found myself stopping by a used bookstore. I do not know why I was there. Oddly I found myself looking at books about biographies of rock bands. I sorta walked aimlessly through the store, feeling an overwhelming amount of depression. I swear I could have started crying right there.

Robert Kiyosaki saved my dream and changed my life!

As I lumbered through the bookstore looking at everything from cds to comic books, I saw the 'business' section.

I had no idea what I was looking for. I picked up The Ultimate Sales Letter book from Dan Kennedy and Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki.

I flung through them quickly and took what little money I had and plunked $12 on the counter. The books ended up sitting on the floor of the backseat of my car for months.

During this time I was copying other companies crappy fliers (not just window cleaning companies). I managed to get enough jobs to stay alive for another week.

I was sitting at home and finally remembered I had the Dan Kennedy book out in the car. I needed some ideas for writing ads and that was what the book was for.

As I paged through it I could not relate the examples he was using to selling my window cleaning service. It was like it was in Chinese.

Being I grew up fairly poor I thought I would at least find inspiration in another book… That is when I cracked open Rich Dad Poor Dad…  that is when it all changed.

I read that book in a couple days (never read an entire book before that as I have ADD or something) and the switch popped on. I remember reading a chapter in his book and for some reason it cleared up something I could not understand in the Kennedy book. The topics were nothing alike, but it opened a part of my brain I was not using.

I went back to the Kennedy book and read it in a whole new light. I then ordered some of his cds on marketing and I could see everything. Next thing I knew my business became a lab rat for my theories and experiments.

My focus was more about what was working and why more than how much money I was making.

I went from a business blunder who could not sell a flashlight in a blackout to a guy who created a postcard that generated $240,000 in window cleaning sales. Since then I have had ads that mailed to millions of people.

Since then I have become a marketing consultant for many types of businesses. I have learned a lot more about smart marketing from my incredibly successful mentors John Carlton, Jay Abraham and of course Dan Kennedy.

I have come a long way, but part of me will always be the guy who struggled to put gas in the truck. The guy who had to worry about buying squeegee rubber. That's why I help people. I want them to reach their vision of success.

Without window cleaning I would have never discovered marketing. I owe everything to those painful years.

If you need a hand, I'm here for you.

Paul McQuillan