integra90racer

how did you get your business started ?

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im new to this forum btw its been a great help! I bought a vinyl express r31 cutter the software i have is corel x6 and ve lxi apprentice software.

My question is how did some of you guys get started selling some vinyl? Im working from home trying to make some side cash since my wife is pregnate :)

I have advertised on my vehicle but no luck any ideas or suggestions anyone can point me forward to ? I Tried researching information but didnt really find a straight answer ?

any help would be greatly appreciated

-eddie

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There isn't just a straight answer, so many ways to get business, and any successful business have most likely used many of those ways to get where they are...

In no particular order: cold calling, website, facebook, asking friends/relatives for work, ads on Craigslist (if it's in your area), set up at car shows, sports tourneys, put a sign on your front lawn,ask previouscurrent employers, offer to do things for free or cost to get your work out there. The list goes on and on and on... did I say on? Not to sound like a jerk or crass but there's no easy 1 thing you do and presto, you have a business. You have to work very hard to get the business and then work hard to make sure you keep it.

Go to Google and research: " how to market your small business free" and you'll find plenty of ways to get your name out there. Have cards made and tell everyone you know, everyone you meet, and everybody else that will listen about your new venture. Keep knocking on doors so to speak, do good work at reasonable price and do what you say, and the business will come. "build it and they will come" as the saying goes, you just have to build it.

Not trying to come down on ya or anything but it takes alot of hustle and determination to have a successful business.

Good Luck! Alan (22 years of working for myself doing it the right way, wrong way, and everything in between, but still kickin'" :-)

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face book is a good one but for sure the cheap rates for friends do some freebies for close friends let them use the power of word of mouth to get ya started

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Im in the same boat you are in. I have only just begun...working on the side now...hopefully moving into it full time when I retire in about a year. I had some business cards printed up. Everytime I see an opportunity, I pass out a card. Lately I have been targetting people doing lawn work. If I see a truck with a trailer full of lawn equipment and no vinyl or magnetic signs on their truck, I give them a business card. Any trailer I see that appears to be related to business, I give them a card. Seems to working. Good Luck!

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thanks for the responses I really appreciate them.

absoluteairbrush- no worries your not being a jerk or anything im just trying to get some strategies to start up and not make mistakes that others have learned that are willing to share them I do understand I am going to make mistakes and learn from them. thanks for the info I wil try and search that

tintguy- I will try and post again but most people just want freebies and keep coming back for more hahaha

elvis- thats a great idea where did u get them printed at ? online? ... but where are you working from ? home ? I really dont want to bring anyone to my home how do you show your products through email? do u have website? I am also looking for estimate templates if anyone has them with grid on it

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Plenty of places to get cards, when I very first started airbrushing, I printed my own from the ones at Wally World, but now, they're so cheap until that's foolish.

Create a free website at yola.com and buy a domain name for 10.00 at godaddy and direct the domain name to your yola site and you're all set. That's what I still use and it works great and it's cheap! then of course put your web address on everything you can! :-)

Good Luck, Alan

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Im in the same boat you are in. I have only just begun...working on the side now...hopefully moving into it full time when I retire in about a year. I had some business cards printed up. Everytime I see an opportunity, I pass out a card. Lately I have been targetting people doing lawn work. If I see a truck with a trailer full of lawn equipment and no vinyl or magnetic signs on their truck, I give them a business card. Any trailer I see that appears to be related to business, I give them a card. Seems to working. Good Luck!

Good Job elvis, that's the way you market, I embarrass my wife when she's out with me, because I'm constantly talking to people and giving out cards and it works!

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When you are first starting the best thing you can do IMO is do some freebies for friends and do them well. It's cheap and you need the practice (we all do really) and the word of mouth will spread at a rate you can handle so you don't get in over your head. I have found that a lot of people are looking for decals and signs and Have no idea where to go to get them, like somone stated above I hand cards out every chance I can get and probably 80% want to discuss things they want. Even if they already have decals it benefits them to have a 2nd opinion/price

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I gave out small stuff when starting & would make personal stuff ( people's names inside horse , flames clip art etc ) . I would tell them i was starting & wanting to get some paying customers . I told them I would start charging at some point & when i did , most of my business was lost :) . It did get me some exposure & it took off . That free work is better than paying for advertising IMO . Since I have several types of business , I do better with simple decals & truck doors . I would advise to align oneself with a printer . Makes it better for both . Printer can keep busy with the expensive machine they bought & you can get printed stuff made at a cost to still make a profit . That remoinds of something I think is hilarious . I use Oracal 651 mostly . I read where some members deem it inferior & say 751 is the minimum .from what i have read , printed vinyl does not last 1/2 as long as 651 , so i don't understand that perspective . IMO , vinyl decals have done the job great if they last a few years .

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thank you all for the great advice I actually started my website at yola.com best advice thanks .

I was thinking of freebies but I dont live around my fam and friends I moved away for jobs so I would have to ship them I posted on craigslist so far and letting co workers know about the business I am starting. I will definitely get some business cards asap!!!

I like orcal 651 its cheap price but great quality

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Good Deal! If you need any help with your website or want some critiques, let me know, I'll be glad to help.

Oh, something I did on Facebook when I first created my biz page was to post contests for people to win free stuff if they liked my biz page. You need 30 likes to get a vanity url for facebook and with that, I got 30 fairly quick.

Good Luck! Alan

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yes definitely my website is still underconstruction but here is a sample http://eddiesgraphix.yolasite.com/ let me know what else i can do im still figuring out all the bugs .. hmmm i really like that idea about the contest how do you set that up i created a biz page but i have no idea how to use it my wife is more facebook friendly than i am

-eddie

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good close friends understand when ya gotta charge or will find ya some payin jobs to make up for there freebies

B)

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On a site like Yola, they do the best they can to make you get the upgrade. Hence, not allowing you to control the domain without it.. I suggest get the upgrade rather than trying to figure out a backdoor route or someone who would be able to deal with that..

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yes definitely my website is still underconstruction but here is a sample http://eddiesgraphix.yolasite.com/ let me know what else i can do im still figuring out all the bugs .. hmmm i really like that idea about the contest how do you set that up i created a biz page but i have no idea how to use it my wife is more facebook friendly than i am

-eddie

To set up the contest, I already had a personal page with hundreds of friends, so I posted it there... If you don't have that, then you'll have to get creative..

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i have a question for you alan i registered a domain and forwarded it to yola but once the page loads and forwards its still says www.eddiesgraphix.yolasite.com instead of www.eddies-graphix.com how did u get ur site to stay on the .com did u pay for an upgrade to yola.com? its their another way to do it ?

I didn't pay for an upgrade, I jsut forwarded the domain from godaddy... did this through the my account controls on godaddy... I'd consult with godaddy or yola and see what you need to do.

When I first started, yola was called synthasite and things seemed to be simpler then before they went to yola. Good Luck! Alan

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I checked out your site... off to a god start... if you want some constructive criticism? Get pics of your work up there if you don't already have them, just glanced quickly...

And in my opinion, everyone has one, right? I wouldn't put on there that you are home based... I realize that they may find out anyway at some point, but by then, hopefully you;ve made a sale or at least have enough of their interest where it doesn't matter as much...

And don't get me wrong, nothing bad or wrong about being home based, as I'm fulltime at this and I'm homebased, you just in my opinion want to project a brick and mortar image so to speak to increase your value in the customer's eyes.

good Luck! Alan

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Helpful tips guys, I forgot about yola. Gonna have to start setting up my site. Thanks!

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There isn't just a straight answer, so many ways to get business, and any successful business have most likely used many of those ways to get where they are...

In no particular order: cold calling, website, facebook, asking friends/relatives for work, ads on Craigslist (if it's in your area), set up at car shows, sports tourneys, put a sign on your front lawn,ask previouscurrent employers, offer to do things for free or cost to get your work out there. The list goes on and on and on... did I say on? Not to sound like a jerk or crass but there's no easy 1 thing you do and presto, you have a business. You have to work very hard to get the business and then work hard to make sure you keep it.

Go to Google and research: " how to market your small business free" and you'll find plenty of ways to get your name out there. Have cards made and tell everyone you know, everyone you meet, and everybody else that will listen about your new venture. Keep knocking on doors so to speak, do good work at reasonable price and do what you say, and the business will come. "build it and they will come" as the saying goes, you just have to build it.

Not trying to come down on ya or anything but it takes alot of hustle and determination to have a successful business.

Good Luck! Alan (22 years of working for myself doing it the right way, wrong way, and everything in between, but still kickin'" :-)

This is definitely not coming down on anyone, and is SPOT ON POINT!!!!

I ask myself everyday, how and where do I find more customers. Ive offered freebies to many people often asking only for a pic of the installed decal or sign, and find that you go out of your way to do cool things to try and develop a customer base, they in most cases cant even be bothered doing that... FB Page is good, website, whatever.... In the end your gonna have to hammer the bricks, phones, shows, fairs, fests, heck even while standing in line at the grocery store.... Make a logo for your business, make some cards... I prefer using 4x6 index cards because they are cost effective, and dont get tucked away like smaller ones, make shirts with your logo....AND contact info..... and just when you think your cruising... think again, cause when and if you slack up....your next month's bottom line might be found in the toilet....

I totally agree with doing some freebies for a friend or two, but make sure your works going to be seen, and talked about, and promoted positively... Dont get carried away with giving away the house.... because if you do one for free, odds are good that they are gonna tell others that you did it for free.... and then your having to talk your way out of the soup kitchen just to make a buck cutting vinyl....

Someone here also posted a thread titled "The top 25 things Ive learned about the sign business".... I encourage you to read this, and then ironically laugh as these rules begin to apply to your new business...

Im brand new to this, and by this forum and subscribing to SignCraft, has helped ease the curve of trial and error.... But I usually end up doing stuff wrong before doing it right....

Bruce

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