.png?width=2196&height=2196&name=OS%20(1).png)
-3.png?width=224&height=213&name=Accelerate%20(2)-3.png)
Cleo Quijano's entry into the laundry industry began with a simple philosophy that would define his entire approach: never stop marketing. What started as a pandemic-era entrepreneurial venture has evolved into Fresh Laundries, an operation built through data-driven marketing efforts—including learning from expensive failures along the way.
.png?width=279&height=279&name=FreshLaundry%20(3).png)
When Cleo and his wife Mary Beb decided to pursue the laundry business during the pandemic, it fulfilled a long-held entrepreneurial dream. The laundry business had been one of their top five aspirational ventures since moving to America 14 years prior. The pandemic provided the perfect opportunity to finally act on this vision and establish Fresh Laundries: a modern, full-service, family-owned laundromat in Fairfield, California, proudly serving Solano and Napa counties with premium laundry services.
Since 2022, Cleo has rapidly grown his commercial and pickup and delivery business through strategic marketing and continuous testing of new tactics.
The Marketing-First Philosophy
From day one, Cleo built Fresh Laundries around a core marketing principle that guides every business decision: "I don't stop marketing. If I stop marketing, I will become very stagnant... But when I increase marketing, the business continues to grow."
This philosophy stems from his understanding of business fundamentals: "Why do big corporations spend billions on marketing? Because they get more revenue in return. It's the same thing in laundry."
Cleo's approach is methodical and data-driven, born partly from hard-learned lessons. Early on, Fresh Laundries lost thousands of dollars on a direct mail campaign that simply didn't work in their market. Rather than abandoning marketing, this failure reinforced the importance of tracking every marketing dollar and customer acquisition source.
Cleo's marketing strategy is multi-channel, including:
Direct Mail Campaigns: After learning from early failures, Cleo purchases flyers in bulk with unique tracking codes for each campaign. "I track that to a cent... I bought a thousand flyers. They're all the same, but with different codes," he explains, allowing him to measure exactly which campaigns generate new customers.
Targeted Demographic Marketing: He focuses on underserved markets like senior living facilities. "I'm targeting senior living. That's very underserved in our industry. So I created a campaign for that with bold flyers" offering specific discounts for seniors.
Apartment Complex Outreach: Strategic placement of targeted flyers in apartment complexes throughout Solano and Napa counties, each with unique tracking codes.
Digital Marketing Partnerships: Cleo partners with LaundroBOOST to handle digital advertising campaigns, allowing him to focus on strategy while experts execute paid ads.
Traditional Advertising: Low-cost, high-impact tactics like yard signs that generate long-term visibility, looking for volume deals like 100 signs for $299.
Professional Networking: Active participation in chamber of commerce events and industry conferences to build commercial relationships.
Social Media & Content Marketing: Regular LinkedIn thought leadership posts and community engagement that builds brand awareness and industry credibility.
The key to Cleo's success is continuous testing and measurement. Each campaign uses unique tracking codes, allowing him to measure ROI precisely, learn from failures, and optimize spend accordingly.
Commercial Expansion Through Problem-Solving
.png?width=300&height=300&name=FreshLaundry%20(2).png)
Cleo's marketing success extends beyond residential customers to substantial commercial growth. Through targeted outreach and innovative problem-solving, he's built commercial accounts that represent 30% of his total revenue.
His breakthrough came from proactive relationship building with commercial clients. When visiting a fulfillment company that processes tablecloths for over 100 companies monthly, he identified an operational inefficiency that he could help streamline. The company was processing clean tablecloths inefficiently: "They send out the tablecloths and then when they get to the warehouse, their staff will have to fold them, refold them again, and then re-bag them" Cleo observed.
Cleo's solution-oriented thinking led to a game-changing proposal: "If you provide the bags and packaging materials, I'll handle the proper folding and bagging at my store. You'll receive everything ready to ship." The client's enthusiastic response validated his approach, telling him they had been looking for this solution for years and that he was the only one who offered to help streamline this process for them.
This success demonstrates how marketing thinking—identifying customer problems and positioning solutions—creates lasting commercial relationships. Fresh Laundries now handles unique commercial items including:
-
Military uniforms and sleeping bags
-
Utility backpacks for contractors
-
Event tablecloths requiring specific packaging
Data-Driven Marketing Optimization with Cents
Using the Cents Business Manager, Cleo maintains strict performance benchmarks, targeting 30+ new customers monthly (currently averaging 40). The Business Manager eliminates manual data collection, organizing customer relationships and providing powerful reporting insights that drive marketing decisions.
As marketing drives growth, Cleo avoids management headaches by relying on Cents' pickup and delivery platform to:
-
Streamline customer orders: Customers can order online through his custom page and receive automated notifications from pickup to delivery, letting Cleo focus on marketing rather than constant communication
-
Optimize his routes: The mobile driver app handles route planning and optimization, while geofenced delivery zones help him serve customers efficiently across his service area
-
Maximize revenue: Location-specific pricing and management tools help him capture more value from his expanded service area
This operational foundation keeps Cleo focused on marketing strategy rather than daily management tasks, allowing him to "run his laundromat his way." He can monitor his entire operation remotely, checking performance metrics and making strategic adjustments from anywhere.
Marketing-Driven Success and Growth
.png?width=368&height=368&name=FreshLaundry%20(5).png)
"Cleo Quijano's three-year journey with Fresh Laundries proves that treating marketing as essential business infrastructure, not an expense, can elevate laundry operations. His approach combines cost-effective tactics like printed flyers and strategic partnerships with data-driven analysis using customer lifetime value metrics and precise performance tracking. After recently leaving his full-time job, Cleo can now focus entirely on his laundromat and marketing: "Now I can really go all-in on marketing."
The results speak for themselves: consistent customer acquisition exceeding targets, a balanced 50-50 revenue split between self-serve and commercial and pickup/delivery services, 30% of total revenue from strategically acquired commercial accounts, and a compound effect where satisfied customers become advocates, reducing acquisition costs while maintaining growth momentum.
Beyond his own success, Cleo elevates the entire industry through LinkedIn thought leadership and community engagement, sharing insights that build his brand while generating referrals and recognition. His six core principles drive this success: never stop marketing for predictable growth, measure everything for optimized ROI, test continuously across multiple channels, think solutions to solve customer problems, scale what works with increased investment, and share knowledge to amplify results through community engagement.
