When starting out what's more important?

[jason.baross]

Is a website more important than business cards? I'm currently just using Facebook page for my part time detailing venture. I'm just curious to see what the masses think. Feels like I can reach more with the cards, but who knows.

 

[Evan.J]

Building a portfolio is the most important IMO. Having before and after photos to show will help more than a business card or a website.

 

[Krwtek1]

I have pondered the advertising route. I chose not to, simply to keep it a part time hobby. For now i choose to only take in word of mouth customers. If i was to advertise i would use all low or no cost avenues that would allow me to accomplish two things. Get my information out to those who need it and seperate myself from other detailing busines's. Facebook is great at showcasing your previous work, before and after pictures, happy customer testimonials, services offered, and contact information. Business cards are great to put in the hands of happy customers who will hopefully pass them along to new clients. Use both. They are very low cost advertisement and both have benifits. Once your business has grown then an .com can be added for a more permenent presence. Your website can go even deeper into your business with scheduling and pricing. There are plenty of cheap startup website companies out there that help with formatting and layout.

 

[Scott@IncrediblyDetailed]

What's your budget?

What's your long term goals? Short term goals?

There isn't one answer. The more information you can give us, the more help we can offer.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Building a portfolio is the most important IMO. Having before and after photos to show will help more than a business card or a website.

And along with that... learning how to work with pictures on a forum.

Most people use Photobucket because it's "kind of free".

Then when they use up all their free space instead of upgrading to a "Pro Account" they just delete old pictures.

Then the leave a trail of red x's every where they shared the deleted pictures.


It's not that hard to teach yourself how to work with pictures on a forum. I'm self-taught and I post thousands of pictures each year with ZERO problems.

I have also written articles to flatten out the learning curve for everyone else.

I cringe every time I see cool pictures that are hosted on Photobucket or flickr or any of these free (not really free), picture hosting sites.

As a member of AGO you get a free gallery here and "yes" it does put a watermark stamp on your pictures but if you do just a little thinking it's pretty easy to figure out how to show the picture with or without the water mark.

It's not that hard... you just have to invest a little time into yourself.