Just launched my new website

[dnoraker]

Reflections Auto Detailing

Home (http://www.RADetailing.com)

It's a work in progress, as I just completed it last night. I need more pics and I'm working on getting testimonials from recent clients. I may also make some slight tweaks to my pricing as I shop the competition. I also noticed that I didn't explain that I do most of my work from my garage, but can negotiate mobile work as needed.

Just for a frame of reference, this is the first year I've gotten insurance and will be treating it as a legal business for my summer income. I'm about to get a window decal for my car that will basically follow the color and font theme of the website.

I think I got the idea for the "small, medium, large; light, medium, heavy" concept from Joe of SuperiorShine. I really like having set prices, but still have the ability to bump up the price if it's covered in tar and sap, for instance.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!!

[AV8R]

Before/After photos might be more effective if you have done some nasty vehicles as they would show what you can do with something that has been neglected as most cars are.

[gewb]

Hmm, the site address is "radetailing.com" but the contact email address is "redetailing.com" - seems odd to me.

Regards,
GEWB

[Birdhunter]

Hmm, the site address is "radetailing.com" but the contact email address is "redetailing.com" - seems odd to me.

Regards,
GEWB

This is normal for most web sites. In fact I would guess the AG emails or @autogeek.net.

Anyway your site looks good and you prices look more then fair.

Good luck,
Scott

[dnoraker]

"redetailing" was a type-o. Thanks for catching it! I will fix that tonight.

I tried to put the prices near other detail shops in the area that post their prices. There are some places that charge a lot more, but I don't have my name out yet. Keep in mind that a full exterior for me right now is basically a deep cleaning, and doesn't involve swirl removal. Just wash, clay and wax/sealant. Most of the work I did last year invloved extra buffing, including some compounding, and my exterior jobs were running about $200-340, the former being a midsize with a rotary and DA step inserted and the latter being a full size SUV with some compounding on some of the panels. Even at these prices, most people's eyes get really wide!

If anyone in the Minneapolis area thinks my prices are too low for what I'm doing (considering I'm new as a FT seasonal, insured business, but I've been serious for about 5-6 years) please let me know. I hate working too hard for my money.

Thanks!

[fancyfootwork]

Hey, website looks pretty good. I live over in Plymouth!

[dnoraker]

Sweet! We should have an Autogeek hangout this summer in Minneapolis area.

I'm in Coon Rapids. Not many cool cars around here, but my wife is hooking me up with a Bentley from a guy at work!

[Zivman]

Sweet! We should have an Autogeek hangout this summer in Minneapolis area.

I'm in Coon Rapids. Not many cool cars around here, but my wife is hooking me up with a Bentley from a guy at work!

As the owner of a pretty 'cool' Z-car I take offense to that last statement. Ever been to cars and coffee at motorplex? you would be surprised at the number of cool cars in our area. That said, the number of people willing to spend decent money on their cars is few, but they are out there.


Congrats on the site. I too agree that before and afters would be helpful. maybe even 50/50 shots. Good luck

pic of my car for reference:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v715/Zivman/Strosek/strosekz3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v715/Zivman/APS%20Z/DynoSheet.jpg

[fancyfootwork]

That's awesome man, my buddy has a friend who started an auto blog last year and he has got so many hits on his website that Porsche just let him test drive a new Panamera 4S last week!

I'm just starting to get heavy into detailing. I've always been big into cleaning my cars but never had proper technique or supplies. This past week I bought a lot of stuff including a PC. So i'm hoping this weekend (weather permitting, you know our MN weather) I can get out and get started. :hungry:

By the way, what is your daily driver?

[dnoraker]

Hey Zivman- no offense intended, but there is a big difference driving around SW metro vs. Coon Rapids! We're known for the most dead cars per household in the metro. Yikes! I'll have to get a picture of my cousin's ('73?) Datsun "Z" that I buffed out onto the website. My uncle dropped a Chevy 350, headers and exhaust into it.

Eric- Congrats on the PC. You'll love it.

I drive an '06 Nissan Altima 3.5 SE 5-speed manual (the one in my avatar). I have two kids, so no Z for me at this point.

[dnoraker]

I neglected to mention that I used Homestead by Intuit to build this site. It's pretty user-friendly, and you can get 10 domain names and up to 3 sites for under $20/mo. Homestead won an award in one of the major computer magazines for ease of use and abilities and such. I highly recommend it!

[Zivman]

Hey Zivman- no offense intended, but there is a big difference driving around SW metro vs. Coon Rapids! We're known for the most dead cars per household in the metro. Yikes! I'll have to get a picture of my cousin's ('73?) Datsun "Z" that I buffed out onto the website. My uncle dropped a Chevy 350, headers and exhaust into it.

Eric- Congrats on the PC. You'll love it.

I drive an '06 Nissan Altima 3.5 SE 5-speed manual (the one in my avatar). I have two kids, so no Z for me at this point.
you live in MN, so you go by the proximity to the "cities". as long as you are in the twin cities area, you are in the same area.

The Z is way too impractical, even more so now that mine is boosted. I have way too much money into it to ever sell it, so I guess I will have to be buried in it

[ZimRandy]

Site looks good. :xyxthumbs:



I'm in Coon Rapids. Not many cool cars around here, but my wife is hooking me up with a Bentley from a guy at work!

:iagree: There aren't very many exotic cars in the north metro.:laughing:


That said, the number of people willing to spend decent money on their cars is few, but they are out there.

:iagree: I quoted a guy for paint correction and he replied "I can get the whole car painted for that!" :laughing:


Randy

[dnoraker]

I got some before and after shots posted on my site last night. I need to work more this year on taking them from the same angles and doing more taped off sections and so forth to show off the difference in finish.

[Mike Phillips]

Looks good!

Building a website is a lot of work, building a GREAT website is even more work, I'm not a great website builder so I don't want to give any advice in this area but here's some general advice...

When marketing, use the SWAT technique, that is think like your customer and your customer thinks like this...




You: I can detail your car

Customer: So what?

You: I can do the hard work for you and produce better results. I have excellent references, use the best products and have a gallery of before and after pictures to showcase my work for other satisfied customers.


Customer: I'm impressed, when can you do my car.





People think just like you and I think and that is they want to know what's in it for me? That is, before they give you their money they want to know what they get in it's place and they have to see and believe that what's in it for them is a good and even better deal then having their money.

So think like your customer and when you can answer the So What question, you'll at a minimum be going down the right path to earning a new customer.


SWAT Technique = Running the two words... So and What together to equal SWAT

There's a book on this called, "How to make your words sell" (http://myws.sitesell.com/) It's a good read and the author Ken Evoy is right, words sell. Scroll down the page of the above link and you can read more about the SWAT technique.



You have mere seconds to get someone's attention...
Also, when a customer lands on your homepage, you have just seconds to get their attention before they click away... people are scanners and don't want to read a lot of text until they are convinced their in the right place and now want to gather information.

I'm thinking a GREAT side-by-side before and after picture on the home page would get anyone's attention if they have the same problem. Then maybe ask a question and the question is a link that goes to the text that shares what you did to create the dramatic before and after differences, not how you did it but what you did.



High Dollar Detail
Before and After
http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/gallery/data/500/2600_bmwbeforeandafter.jpg


Click here to see how I transformed this car... (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/wet-sanding-cutting-buffing/21469-rids-feathersanding-highly-specialized-technique-mike-phillips.html)



Just some thoughts...

:)