cohesion 0 Posted January 12, 2009 I was wondering in your experience, where do you get more customers from? Ebay, your local folks or from your web site? How do you go about getting local people? Thanks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Benr98 40 Posted January 12, 2009 You can try all 3 avenues to get yourself developing some customer base. Problem with ebay is their fees. You can make up some flyers and hand deliver them around your area. Run some promotional specials..................do a freebie, etc. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NutttSo 0 Posted January 12, 2009 I agree all 3, just keep in mind it takes a while to build up a customer base, I started the vinyl business over a year ago and am just now getting repeat calls, just do good work and charge a fare price and you can make it, NutttSo Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
veddderman123 0 Posted January 13, 2009 Agreed the Problem with ebay, is the fees but more fustrating you ether sell the same crap as everyone else or you come up with an original design or creative use of vinyl and in a week 20 other people have ripped off your ideas. It gets fustrating especially when they low ball you and sell it for practically nothing. Thats my experiance with ebay and vinyl. But at the same time there is always money to be made on ebay. I've just started doing local business and it seems like its all word of mouth. The more people I tell about my skills the more business it generates. As for a website thats still something I want to do but generating traffic to your site is the key to any website. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cohesion 0 Posted January 13, 2009 Agreed the Problem with ebay, is the fees but more fustrating you ether sell the same crap as everyone else or you come up with an original design or creative use of vinyl and in a week 20 other people have ripped off your ideas. It gets fustrating especially when they low ball you and sell it for practically nothing. Thats my experiance with ebay and vinyl. But at the same time there is always money to be made on ebay. I've just started doing local business and it seems like its all word of mouth. The more people I tell about my skills the more business it generates. As for a website thats still something I want to do but generating traffic to your site is the key to any website. Yeah, Ebay does look like it's full of slimy people selling decals. Thanks, for the tips, I guess I just need to network. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fbomb 0 Posted January 13, 2009 Hello from West Chester, PA...I a lot of clothing sales from my website and ebay, with a fair amount of locals. My vinyl sales are mainly from local word of mouth. IMO, people don't really understand vinyl and it's applications. I try to always have a cut sample to give away, and picks (on my phone) to show them different applications. But thats just me, vinyl is side work for me, so I go off word of mouth. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cohesion 0 Posted January 13, 2009 Hello from West Chester, PA...I a lot of clothing sales from my website and ebay, with a fair amount of locals. My vinyl sales are mainly from local word of mouth. IMO, people don't really understand vinyl and it's applications. I try to always have a cut sample to give away, and picks (on my phone) to show them different applications. But thats just me, vinyl is side work for me, so I go off word of mouth. Thanks! I think for the most part this will be side work for me too, but I'm pregnant and I would like to build some kind of customer base before I have to stop working at my "real" job. It will give me something to do, plus I'll need any extra cash I can get. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fbomb 0 Posted January 13, 2009 Start off with some business cards...Use pregnancy to your advantage...Get some Oracal 631 for wall words/images for a baby's room. This way, you can make something for your child to be's room. Take a pic and then you have a nice conversation/transition piece to show other mothers to be you come in contact with...Stir up some business with them since you are more likely to come in contact with a lot of them and they'd feel connected to you. Its a good way to bring up business. For example if a friend, coworker, lemaz classmate (spelling?) or acquaintance asks if you're ready for the baby to come, you can bring up how you cut some design or wall word for the babies room and how awesome it is. It's smoother that way vs. trying to force feed sales! Start with a niche and branch out from there! Other newborn ideas for you. -baby on board decals -decorated picture frames -decorated toy chests -personalized stroller decals (maybe use reflective vinyl) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
2GuysSign 4 Posted January 13, 2009 We have 3 specials right now... 20% off sign repair 15% off Sign Refacing and 10% off banners. Right now we are doing well on sign repair and banners but Refacing is kinda slow! Also when i get my "new" bucket truck, that would be like a mobile billboard! Like Below Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dnewcomb 0 Posted January 14, 2009 Well, my business is just a side/hobby thing. I do it for the fun of it I got a website, which is almost finished, so I'll need to populate it. My next step is going to the local markets, which is on once a month. I'll get charged a whopping $10 to setup in there (that was sarcasim ) and I'm planning on taking alot of colored stickers of things I presume will sell kind of well. I'm in a rural coal mining town, so people love their V8s, hunting and beer. Should be easy to figure stuff out. Along with that, I'll be giving out business cards. Good thing about mining is that all cars that go onsite are required to have particular signage, and at the moment there isn't any local people that do the work, so that's something to work towards. After working things out locally, I'm planning to go 200kms to a larger town to go to their markets. But I think that's about 6 months away. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cohesion 0 Posted January 14, 2009 Start off with some business cards...Use pregnancy to your advantage...Get some Oracal 631 for wall words/images for a baby's room. This way, you can make something for your child to be's room. Take a pic and then you have a nice conversation/transition piece to show other mothers to be you come in contact with...Stir up some business with them since you are more likely to come in contact with a lot of them and they'd feel connected to you. Its a good way to bring up business. For example if a friend, coworker, lemaz classmate (spelling?) or acquaintance asks if you're ready for the baby to come, you can bring up how you cut some design or wall word for the babies room and how awesome it is. It's smoother that way vs. trying to force feed sales! Start with a niche and branch out from there! Other newborn ideas for you. -baby on board decals -decorated picture frames -decorated toy chests -personalized stroller decals (maybe use reflective vinyl) This is a really awsome idea! Even showing the babyroom to people at work might start them talking about what I could do for their 6year old's room or something. I would've never even thought of that. THANKS! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Benr98 40 Posted January 14, 2009 Hey you could also make a smaller tile with baby stats on it! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
