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Upholstery Shop Web sites


Guest cj

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I have been in the furniture upholstery business for 9 years and am looking for ways to get a little more business in. The only advertising I do is in the phone book and dropping off business cards to local fabric stores. Of course-word of mouth works great! I am curious from anyone that does uphostery (doesnt matter what kind) if they have a web site and how much business they get from their web site. I still think people pull out the yellow pages when they want to find a local business-and I don't usually use the web to locate a local business so I don't think other people do either. Any input is appreciated. Thanks cj

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Guest sewing_guy

I've had www.prostitchauto.com up for quite awhile. Unfortunately, it's been stagnant for a long time because I just dont have time to develop it and update it. I had someone else design it, but they didn't have time for proper maintenance. When I learn Dreamweaver, I hope to get it up to date.

Still, even though it's getting outdated, it is still a contact point for people. I have the website address on my business cards, the one advertisement that we do, on my T-shirts, on flyers at car shows, and any correspondence. That way people can head to it and find my e-mail for contact purposes. It does show a few projects we've done so people can get an idea of what we do in the shop.

I stopped using yellow pages several years ago. It was a trap. You start out with a regular ad. Then the next year they will give you a discount if you increase the ad. And on and on. But if you stay the same, the cost goes up. It's a racket. And I was lucky if I got one call a year from it. Not very cost efficient. The biggest problem is knowing where you should be in the book. There are upholstery slots under auto, home, and just plain upholstery. But it's hard to find specifics in the book. So instead I have a display ad in a local free shopper, and I do the rest through presence at car shows and swap meets.

For your business, you should check out home shows that go on during the Winter, or other home interior related events. Builder shows. Heck, even bridal shows, because the bride and groom have to think about setting up their house as soon as they're married, and custom furniture is a way to go.

With a website, just make sure the URL is something that makes sense and is easy for someone to remember. I know some people use MySpace for their website. That is a way to do it, but I prefer having my own URL just for the professional presence it seems to convey. We're not fly-by-night or just someone's hobby that they throw up on MySpace along with their favorite bands. It's a solid, trusted company.

The only drawback that I've had on very rare occasions is someone calling up and talking about interior work and they are so far away that it's impossible to help them. They've done a google search, seen my pics, and then call without really knowing where I'm at. I had a guy from southern California call one time. Not that we wouldn't do the work, but that is a hefty shipping charge to have the car sent to Illinois. But, I have had a couple people call from Chicago and seemed serious about having work done. That's only about three hours, a drop in the bucket for someone serious about a nice job on their interior.

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Guest fabricclick

Hello All

I am web designer and if you still need a site I would be happy to do it for you, you can have a look at one of my current site here at www.fabricclick.com it's a designer fabric E-commerce website

check it out and let me know, thanks and good luck

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Guest KDI_CUSTOMS

Hello everyone!!

I wanted to know how many of you are using Yahoo, Google, or MSN as a source for your website and how well do they work? I see that Yahoo is offering a website for $9 a month for 2 months then it goes up to $12 for the rest of the year. Its under their small business stuff. I just started my business full time August of 08. I dont have much cash and Im trying to find ways to promote it besides the usual. I still hand out biz cards at car shows and go to body shops, rim shops and dealerships. I have even thought about local high school/college newspaper ads. How can I get my name out there? What worked for you guys?

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Guest sewing_guy

Business cards, flyers at car shows (a couple thousand every year), signs on the van and truck, T-shirts. It all creates word of mouth. I only pay for one advertisement, in an area free paper. Any car show I go to, whether setting up my booth or just passing out flyers, I stop at the registration booth and give them mugs, pens and T-shirts for door prizes. That gets your name said over the PA. And people like stuff, and I have had people find me later and thank me for a mug and pen.

I've blown off yellow pages and radio or TV. Tried that and got the tire kickers taking my time, and blew a whole lot of money for nothing. And you have to have good production for radio or TV. I've seen some ads around here for electronic shops and auto related that will make you wretch. Looks and sounds like they did it in a basement somewhere instead of professionally done. That's usually the result of inhouse production at the TV or radio station and an owner trying to do their own voiceover.

My website sits on it's own address, using a private server provider. It doesn't cost much to buy your website name and find a location. I don't care for MySpace and FaceBook and all the larger places that let you have a sub directory for a site. It seems tacky and amateurish to me. One section you talk about your favorite music and the fluff crap people waste their time on, and next to it, "oh yeah. We also want you to trust us with your project car at this professionally run business." Although, it is a way to get the site up and going.

I've been doing it over 8 years now, so getting the market saturated. I've got a shop full and four cars waiting, so busy into late Spring right now. And by then, the car shows have started up again.

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Guest Exotic Leather

A web site is the biggest tool that you possess to get your name out there!! In our business, I have done a few websites, and in the past few months, we have seen a huge growth in orders, and all of them are from new customers! I build www.exoticleatherco.com, www.nuvtex.com, www.skintex-vinyl.com, and I'm working on some others.

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