Vincent is first and foremost, a husband, father, and homeschooler.  Vincent and Elizabeth live in Bradenton, Florida with their 3 sons Andrew, Nolan, and Dylan. They are active in their community and church. Vincent is a friend to many and certainly to me! We go way back. You'll hear that story in this interview. Professionally, Vincent spent 22 years as a nationally-acclaimed & recognized photojournalist and sports photographer. But this career started to bore Vincent. Today, you'll see Vincent speaking on stages, leading masterminds & retreats, and hear him on hundreds of podcasts. He is the founder of Total Life Freedom and author of "Freelance to Freedom" and "The Wealth of Connection". Vincent and I have been close friends for nearly 8 years. I have personally watched him apply EVERY one of the 5 C's from the book he released today. This book is the life that Vincent has lived for decades. This process is different from the churn and burn funnels out there for creating business. Vincent has created a human approach to making business personal. It's called The Wealth of Connection.

There are so many wide-ranging topics that Vincent covered in this interview. Clearly, we talked about our friendship and the influence we've had on each other. We discuss his career arc and how he made the leap into the online business world. The majority of the interview discusses topics from his new book and we end with a bold proclamation of what he wants this book to do for the world. I had a blast doing this interview and I highly encourage you to get this book!

Here's some of my notes from the interview.

• Selfish versus generous goals - driven selfish goal-oriented people will absolutely hit their selfish goals. But, they will be empty. 
• Frank Sinatra and audience of one - one person with one generous act can make all the difference.
• Charisma versus character - They both attract people, but only character lasts for a lifetime. Charisma with no character is like a pig with lipstick.
• Purpose to ask a question and sit in the front row of every event. This is an act of generosity as it validates the speakers platform and fuels the rooms energy. They will be appreciative and it's good for you.
• Curiosity - Tom Brady asking for the phone numbers of the entire team in Tampa and calling each one to connect and learn about them. Freddie Mercury learning about the culture of each concert area that he was performing at to connect with the audiences. Being curious is generous. 
• Hour of giving - Develop the habit of generosity.  
• Read the Room - This was a huge blind spot for me personally
• My Takeaway - "I finally understood that I needed to change my character from one focused on selfish goals to one focused on generous goals. Now, I would have said that I was generous then, but looking back, I wasn't. I simply paid lip service to it. I did what I needed to do to get what I needed to get. Going from selfish goals to generous goals was the cornerstone to turning everything around." - Vincent Pugliese 

 Liz Trotter has been a leader in the cleaning industry for decades. She is the owner of American Maid in Olympia, WA, a business coach with Mastermind Accountability, where she helps every level of cleaning service grow to reach their dreams! This interview is full of so many nuggets and you will gain so much insight into the power of self-development. Liz is the poster child of the leadership quote by Harry Truman, "Readers are Leaders". This interview was so enjoyable because Liz shares her Why all throughout and you can see how her life & career experiences have shaped her into the person and business leader she is today. 

I have been an avid reader for over 20 years. That was not always the case. I used to hate reading. What changed? Did the books change? No. I changed. Every book that I read moved the needle a little bit closer to a winner’s mindset, a success mindset. I used to mock things like that until I understood.

In this episode, I speak from the heart about books and what they’ve done for me and what they can do for you. I share some of my favorite books and even promote the Recommended Book List that I’m releasing any day for my customers in the Solo Elite Membership.

If you’d like to connect with me or get access to my book list, simply go to my website and connect. I have options to email me or schedule a free coaching session. 

Coach Josh and I use Marco Polo to communicate during the week. He allows me to send questions as I have them. He listens and responds when he gets the chance. I'm very grateful to have Josh Melton in my corner as we grow C3 to the next level in 2023, which is to add the second building block and earn over $100,000 income from the cleaning business.  Josh and I had an exchange on November 8th and 9th of 2022 that was so interesting to me. I've never heard it talked about before in the cleaning groups or other podcasts. I had to cover it here.

Cleaning is a business, but a business is not merely a ledger with a list of transactions. It's easy to pull up a profit and loss report and see all of the income and expense transactions. It's easy to see the text and numbers printed on the screen or page and assume you're looking at the cleaning business. I don't believe a business merely consists of transactions. A business is relationships. A cleaning business is a group of humans cleaning for other humans, all of which have personalities, beliefs, families, interests. It's easy to measure a business in transactions. That's what our accountants do. It's not easy to measure the relational strength of our business.

Josh poses an interesting point in his Marco Polo to me. "I believe that you can trust someone that you don't respect. But I don't believe you can respect someone you don't trust." I agree with him. I can think of people right now that I could allow into my house around my family, but I don't respect them. Therefore, respect is greater than trust. How do you earn trust? I've talked about this a ton. On the "Optimizer's Workshop with Dave Reeks", I defined the 3 C's to build trust as a cleaner. You've got to have excellent character and be the type of person that others can trust.  You've got to provide an amazing cleaning service. In other words, you've got to handle the transactions of cleaning with excellence. This includes the cleaning itself and surely the transaction of invoices and payments. You've got to be consistent in your cleaning service and everything you do in dealing with your customers. If you show up with great cleaning and character over a long time, you will develop trust. Another way to build trust is to give it. Others won't trust you if you don't trust them. Trust is mutual. I'm going to add a fourth C. You've got to have compassion for other people and not be selfish. This is so foundational. Show love for your fellow human. 

When you put this all together. Start with compassion and character. Become a great cleaner and cleaning service. Handle your transactions with excellence and trust. Give trust. Do this over time. This will earn your trust from your customers. Keep doing it consistently over time and that trust will turn into something greater. It's respect. When your customers respect you, they will want to do business with you for a long time. Most clients will grow with you as you grow mutual respect. However, some clients will only ever think of you as "just the cleaner". Become a person of trust and respect and you'll attract the right ones 

I absolutely love this mindset and it thrills me to build this type of cleaning business in my community. Everything hinges on relationships, not transactions. I hope you enjoy this interaction between Josh an I on Marco Polo. 

I was in a 4-person mastermind breakout group that I mentioned in "Confidence Creates Success", where we each helped the others grow the next level. One of the members was Matt Peet. Matt has become a good friend and is a conference videographer extraordinaire! He does all the video work for one of my favorite conferences, Podcast Movement. You've got to check out his website, Re-Peet Productions, to get a flavor or how talented he really is.  I'd even recommend you check out his portfolio section and scroll down. The actual wrap-up video from our Total Life Freedom Retreat is on there. It's so good! As we were unpacking his goals to attract other conference venues as clients, I sensed a little apprehension. We challenge each other in these Freedom Zones! I could tell that Matt wanted to grow and gain more clients. I could tell Matt wanted to hit some personal goals. But that's what I heard. He WANTED them. I said this. "Matt, I sense that you really want your goals to happen. That's awesome. Over my lifetime, I've only ever accomplished the goals that I needed to happen. Do you need these yet?" It was a question that got each of us to reflect, including me. Let me share what I mean.

I spent years wanting to succeed in my own business on the side and never accomplished it. I spent years wanting to earn freedom and to travel around the country and never accomplished it. I spent years wanting to get out of debt and never accomplished it. I have wanted a lot of things. That is the problem. I have WANTED to accomplish these things. I didn't succeed in my own business until I NEEDED that business to succeed. That was the cleaning business after I got fired from GE in 2005. I had no choice. I needed cleaning to work otherwise my family was homeless. Air is a need. I need air or I'll die. I need water and food. I need to grow my relationships with my wife and kids. There was a point where I NEEDED to be out of debt so that we could have more money for things we wanted to do. That's when we turned up the heat on this need and accomplished it in July 2020. In 2021, I turned my want to take a month in Florida to a need to take my family for a life-changing month in Florida. We took immediate action on this NEED by renting the house and putting out $6,000 when our business was no where near ready for the trip. We got into alignment with the Lord and the work required to make this NEED happen. We did not rest until the goal was met. Need will always trumps want. How are you looking at your business whether it's a side hustle or full-time gig? Is it a want to succeed or a need to succeed?

Matt Peet is doing great work and has the potential to be the videographer for dozens of conferences across the country. I believe that he'll get there. I really do! But this isn't about Matt or Ken. This podcast is for you. What do you NEED to happen this year? If you'd like to talk this through with me, I'd be glad to help you find your why and needs. Just go to my website and book a free call. 
 

Let's start this Carfagno Cleaning solo business with a WIN! Last week, I got 5 referrals through my local network (listen to Play Powerball with your Business). The lead from my friend and carpet cleaner, James Hardy, converted to a new office cleaning client! Since this new client is a school, I had to jump through a few more hoops. First of all, I needed to go beyond adding them as a 'Certificate Holder' on my general liability policy. I needed to increase my insurance for this additional customer. This is called 'Additionally Insured'. My current policy provides $2 million of coverage per year at $500 in annual premium. This new client cost me an additional $50, which I count as an expense. I also had to coordinate a cleaning time with the school and their weekend janitor to let me into the building. The school is not in the habit of handing out keys to outside contractors. Spoiler alert: I prayed over this situation as I desire to have offices with the flexibility to clean anytime over the weekend. A few days later, the school made an exception for me and gave me a set of keys! Lastly, this new client is a school for autistic children. I know autism and realize that these students will be on the floor a lot, touching things, and likely touching their faces. Thus, disinfecting of the classrooms and floors was vital. They already had a food & skin safe disinfectant and asked me my opinion for the floors. I researched it and immediately determined it was a bad choice. Why? The title of this episode is "Art Trumps Science". Let's talk science first. The pH was slightly alkaline at 9. The floors are VCT (vinyl composition tile). VCT is commonly used in schools and supermarkets. They are also waxed & buffed on a regular basis to keep a beautiful finish and to protect the tile. My friend James Hardy did the job, so we conferred with him and he agreed. This ph 9 disinfectant had just enough alkalinity to eat away at the wax finish, which would dull it and cause James to come back sooner. Therefore, their disinfectant was a wonderful choice for the refrigerators, microwaves, table tops, door knobs, and light switches, but NOT the floors. I connected with my good friend Mark Lineberry at Universal Janitorial and he recommended the perfect solution. It's called MatPro. The school purchased it and now uses my recommendations for disinfecting and protecting their students and staff. This raised my expertise and trust with the school big time. See! Understanding science is vital. It sets you apart from the basic cleaning service!

 Another lead from last week was Mike Thompson of Envoy Mortgage from my MCBA group. Mike is a mortgage advisor. What is that? It means he focuses on what's best for his clients. He coaches and consults them, looking at their lending scenario from a holistic approach. Of course he sells mortgage products too. He's a Go-Giver and his clients ask  him to sell to them as a result of his giving approach. Anyway, Mike got back to my estimate and accepted a biweekly option. There's new client #2 for the week!


Read the rest of this article at the Smart Cleaning School website

In part 1 of this 2-hour interview, "Conspiracies in the Cleaning Industry with Ed Selkow", Ed shared an incredible 50-year career in our industry. He shares so many great stories and lessons that will help you in your business. Ed also shared some incredible criminal stories that I called "conspiracies" that are a must listen! In this episode, we dive into the second half our interview. 

Ed shares the past, present, and future of the cleaning industry. Do you want to grow with the industry? There are predictions and recommendations that Ed suggests. Here's a few notes from the interview.

• "You've got to be honing your skills, expanding on what you know how to do."
• "Where there are a whole bunch of companies that are missing, that's an opportunity for me."
• Why are so many new cleaning companies starting out post pandemic. "Desperation drives a lot of people to start cleaning businesses because it costs so little to start. It's possible to grow a cleaning company with no money, but it's also possible to walk from NYC to LA!"
• "Commercial real estate is the mother's milk of the industry." Ed explains that if no developmental growth is happening, cleaners are just trading accounts around as there is a finite amount of buildings to clean.
• Find the country economic people for networking to learn when and where new buildings are coming. Ed believes this is a huge opportunity and better than the Chamber of Commerce.
• The disinfection revenue explosion will normalize like previous fads.
• Ed gets into the intersection of "Big Data" and "The Internet of Things" (sensors),  for computer models of building traffic to determine how much cleaning has to happen. This could become cleaning-on-demand.
• The increase in technology will drive cleaning prices down over time. This is what happens with every industry that technology improves. Robotics are one of these advances. For example, there are robots that can empty deskside trash cans. Couple this with cleaning-on-demand technology, and cleaning revenues will likely go down. Ed is predicting this so we can get ahead of it.
• Winning cleaning companies will be the ones that combine of technology and open systems for cleaning.
• Ed highly recommends that we all understand Seth Godin's book, "Tribes". Those that understand this mindset will survive the future.
• Ed highly recommends that we, as building contractors, link up with the BSCAI (Building Services Contractors Association International) as our professional trade association. They are dedicated to the services versus the manufacturers (ISSA). They were also influential to getting the cleaning industry labeled as "essential" to get us back to work during the pandemic.

You can find Ed Selkow at Janitorial Growth Solutions and on multiple social media outlets.

Check out my interview with the CBF Founder, entitled "A Buffalo Charges the Storm with Debbie Sardone". Debbie is offering free consultations to listeners of this show through the Smart Cleaning School Resources Page to see if CBF could be the right solution for you. 

I sat down with cleaning industry legend Ed Selkow for a 2-hour interview. We covered so much ground that I had to break it into 2 parts. In this first part, you'll learn about Ed's 50 years in the cleaning industry which includes owning 4 janitorial companies and working as an employee for a few of the largest janitorial firms in the country. He weaves in great stories and lessons that make this episode well worth the listen.

Oh, and then you have the other stories... Ed also shares what I called "Conspiracies in the Cleaning Industry" ranging from subcontracting for NY street guy "Joey Floors" to stolen equipment and being on the payroll of a Russian dog in Chicago to how cleaners were partially responsible for Watergate and causing a U.S. President to resign! Do not miss these stories as we build up for part 2 of this interview on the cleaning industry, past, present, and future.

Check out my interview with the T-Bag Company Founder, entitled "Respectful, Reliable, Responsible with Damon Washington". You can purchase any of the T-Bag products at a 10% discount through the Smart Cleaning School Resources Page. 

 Before you listen to this article, please check out my Carfagno Cleaning article, "Home Trends that Intersect with Cleaning". I credit my friend Mary Ann Alig of Fox & Roach Berkshire Hathaway Realtors for the content that drove this article and this podcast episode. Mary Ann shared 8 home trends that realtors are seeing for this new decade. Trends like these tend to change every decade and currently include barn vs pocket doors, white interiors, shiplap, matching furniture, accent walls, rose gold, open concept, and multigenerational homes. In my article, I showed how these trends affect cleaning professionals. I also hint to all business owners how important it is to know your industry trends so you can stay ahead of them.

There is one trend that I'd like to dig into on this podcast. It's the rise of the multigenerational home. Fast Company in a 2019 article states, But for complex reasons that still puzzle researchers, multigenerational households are now on the rise once more. As many as 41% of Americans buying a home are considering accommodating an elderly parent or an adult child, according to a survey conducted by John Burns Real Estate Consulting. Living with your parents (or your adult children) has plenty of potential benefits–everyone tends to save money, it can potentially benefit health outcomes, and you get to spend more time together." Did you hear me? 41% of Americans are considering this in the 2020's. That's more than a trend. It's a paradigm shift. I want all cleaners out there, regardless of your business model to hear me. If you don't get in front of this shift and ensure your company is a leader in multigenerational house cleaning, you could be out of business in 10 years! It's crazy! Now, I'd like to talk to the solo cleaners that are actually doing the sales and cleaning.

How do you position yourself to acquire clients like this? It's simple really. When you clean for one generation like a millennial couple or retirees, you must earn their trust to stay there long term. When you clean for two generations like a family with kids, you need an even greater trust factor. And if you follow where I'm going here, you need even more trust to clean for 3 generations under the same roof. The answer is trust building. The better you are at trust building, the more completely you can serve 3 generations under the same roof. This leads to more money per client and referrals to others just like them. Imagine this. You have a client like I do. Andy is the dad. His adult children live with him and his father Don lives with him. I have invested time during cleaning visits to get to know all 3 generations. Don has even become a friend and mentor to me locally. I do a great job at their home and have earned a lot of trust. Do you think Andy will refer me? And by the way, he owns a local restaurant and knows a lot of people. Yes, he will. I am positioned nicely to reap a harvest with multigenerational homes because I clean them now with good reputation. I can share that on my website and with new prospective clients. I urge you to do the same.


Read the rest of this article at the Smart Cleaning School website 

I was in Dallas with my son for a podcasting conference in August. It was a blast, especially hanging out with my son. We stayed at the downtown Sheraton, which afforded us the ability to walk the city a bit. I also had the opportunity to connect in person with two former guests of the Smart Cleaning School. I went to lunch with Greg Shepard from "Sail Around the World". We had a blast walking around the city and enjoying a quality Mexican meal. Greg is a friend and definitely a mentor. He stretches me big time. The day after lunch with Greg, I had a personal tour and breakfast with Debbie Sardone from "A Buffalo Charges the Storm". Debbie is highly regarded coach in the residential cleaning industry as well as a friend and mentor. Back to my son and walking Dallas. I really, really wanted to visit Dealey Plaza. As a kid, I was enamored with the movie "JFK" starring Kevin Costner. The movie makes a compelling case for a second gunman on the grassy knoll. I have seen the Zapruder film so many times, that I already felt like I've been there. I was wrong. Being there was different. Kenny and I walked into Dealey Plaza. I was in awe. He knew more about the Lincoln assassination than Kennedy, so I described it as best I could. That's when I noticed a guy with a bike helmet and bike showing the Zapruder film and explaining the details of the assassination. Kenny and I walked over to listen. We stood on Elm Street in front of the old Texas State Book Depository as he pointed to the 6th floor corner window. The window is half open with boxes arranged exactly as they were in crime scene photographs. He paused the video on his phone and pointed to the first large "X" on Elm Street. This is where JFK was struck the first time in the neck. He played the Zapruder film. We could see Kennedy grab his neck. It was too surreal. He kept the film running as JFK was struck with the kill shot. He pointed to the second "X" on Elm Street. "On November 22nd, 1963, that's where an American President was assassinated." Chilling. We thanked him for his history lesson and walked the plaza. We stood on the "X" and took a picture. We stood on the grassy knoll and took a picture. We stood where Abraham Zapruder took the movie and yep, we took a picture. It was much, much different in real life. Dealey Plaza is virtually unchanged in 59 years. History is powerful, especially when we can be there in person.

There's a reason I shared this story. In the early 1960's, John F. Kennedy was beloved and respected. He was a member of the Democrat Party and generally regarded to have political views left of center. He considered himself a Liberal, yet he opposed Communism, supported the 2nd Amendment, and voted for tax cuts. Those were positions held by the Democrat Party then. Today, these same policy beliefs would be called Republican. Here's what I find interesting. If JFK were running for office right now, he would likely be a moderate Republican. This is not my opinion. You can search it online and read for yourself. That's not the point of this podcast. Here's the point. JFK didn't change. How could he. He's been dead for 59 years. What did change? Now we're asking the right question. It's called the Overton Window and I find it fascinating.


Read the rest of this article at the Smart Cleaning School website