Facebook Page vs. Website


RJsumthn

Recommended Posts

Not to poop on the whole thing, but I think a website is a waste of time and money until you have a fairly broad portfolio established with a range of pieces that have been professionally photographed. If people go to your site and all they see is "I'm a woodworker," they'll be gone in a second. They need to see what you've done and what you're capable of doing before they'll be willing to commission you.

Start building for friends and family, use FB to spread the word that you're available to build for people you know, and take *any job* you're able to break even on, just so you can begin developing a portfolio. Use a part of the profits to have the piece photographed by a pro...unless you're capable of taking pro-quality photos yourself...nothing says "hack" like poorly-lit iphone pics and cheesy linen backdrops...that's good enough to show your buddies here online, but not good enough for a professional's website. Then once you have some work under your belt and some pictures to prove it, think about building a website and advertising to strangers.

*By "any job" I mean any job that's worthy of your effort and up to your high standards. If someone comes to you and wants a screwed-together particle board painted bookshelf, pass...unless that's the kind of work you intend to do. Try to convince your potential "customers" to use higher-quality materials and to allow you to use higher-level techniques, even if it means less profit for you in the beginning...again, the goal is to establish a portfolio of higher-end work. Try to think of the lack of profit in the beginning as an investment in your future.

After thinking about it, your explanation makes the most sense. Wait until you have some work to show, and then build a site. But, in the meantime, build it offline. Have everything ready to go on your home computer, or home server. When you are ready to publish the site, just buy your domain and host and upload everything. Worst investment is to buy your host before you actually have a site. It can take someone who have never done web building months before they are ready. By then, you will have wasted $50-$60 of money you could spend on advertising through business cards and such.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not to poop on the whole thing, but I think a website is a waste of time and money until you have a fairly broad portfolio established with a range of pieces that have been professionally photographed.  If people go to your site and all they see is "I'm a woodworker," they'll be gone in a second.  

 

While I totally agree he should have a decent portfolio of high quality images of his work, I disagree that starting the website is a waste of time/money. The internet is like a river of potential customers. If you don't have a line in the water, you can't catch fish. Even if your bait isn't all that tasty, at least your line is out there. You can always use better bait later. If you don't throw a line in the water, you can't fish. 

 

So having a presence on the web, even a very basic one, is essential (in my opinion). At the very least it will begin to help bolster his domain's rankings in local searches like "custom furniture Kansas City." By the time he's ready to invest more in time and effort into the web presence, he'll have an established domain with some SEO weight that he can use to his benefit. He'll also be more comfortable with the medium itself. And if/when the mood strikes him, he'll have a place to put content that will help tremendously in terms of building a web presence and SEO. 

 

Now none of this should be done at the expense of all the other stuff he needs to do as a business. But he can have this site up in a weekend and it won't take much to maintain it. Additionally, a simple economy hosting plan for a low-traffic site is about $4-$5/month, which is a pretty low price to have a line in the water.

 

Being on the internet is like a free advertisement for your business. Some will see it, some won't, some won't like what they see when they get there and some will. But at least you have an opportunity to be seen. 

 

Just an FYI, even back in 2006 when I started my business, I got nearly ALL of my local customers from a cheap yahoo website. I didn't have any real content and the site was basically a limited portfolio with crappy pics and some info about who we were. That was enough to put some food on the table.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

True, good points.  And I should have added the disclaimer that I know nothing about the topic in question because I'm not in business nor do I ever intend to be.  I guess I just see things going in a particular order...and the first of which would be having something to advertise.  Having a line in the water might snag a few passers-by, but without bait on the hook it's gonna be a tough day of fishing.  :)

 

In the end, though, I guess you're right...if a website can really be built and maintained for that little and can bring in a job or two, why not.  I still think the portfolio is the most important aspect of a website, though.  It can be a great looking site with high SEO and all that, but without some good stuff for a potential customer to look at, it's kind of a lost cause, IMO.  Cart before the horse, in other words.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would be some what cautious of what gets posted. It still needs to look somewhat professional. I would get at least something even if its a blank placeholder and email. I transferred my domain to blogger which is really google hosting go daddy domains because it was so cheap and only cost $10 a year instead of $50 that I was paying. Keep in mind its a business site not your hobby site so keep the two seperate. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

LOL I should let you moderate my YouTube comments for a day so you can see how many people make a hobby out of disagreeing with me. :)

You should make a video series like thintz's (YouTube user) "I Get Email"

 

Or a blog post of the most outrageous posts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For what is worth, I don't hire anyone unless (1) they have a decent website or (2) have a great review on Angie's List.  While, in our minds, woodworking might be a pristine, highly respected craft, to potential customers you are just another, potentially shady, contractor.  Everyone has been burned by a contractor at some point.   Word of mouth is nice, but again I have been burned by guys that came highly recommended.   A good website helps to establish credibility.  I know any idiot can start a web page, but it is just one of the "ingredients" to creating credibility.   My definition of a good website:  All the links work (please no "pictures coming soon" or "under construction"), your phone number and physical address are easy to locate (if you have a decent shop, show some photos so people can see the thousands of dollar you have invested in equipment), and high quality photos of projects.  If you have a crew, maybe put them in matching polo shirts and get their picture up there too.  Definitely get a good photo of yourself in the shop or with a project and a short bio. Seriously, it all reinforces that you are real person and a real business.  Also, people should get a sense for what you specialize in.  "you dream it, I build it" sounds good on paper, but if I am having a dining table made, I'd hire the guy who has done 15 dining tables, not the guy who does built-ins and crown molding but could "do that too".    And someone else mentioned this, but the ability to take credit cards also establishes credibility.   Even if I plan on writing a check, which I am happy to do for large purchases, I don't do business with "cash only" guys. 

 

 The internet is like a David Copperfield side show. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One other thing to keep in mind is that you do not control Facebook, nor are you Facebook's customer. The people that make money for FB are advertisers - those are the people FB listens to when making changes. You do not control your content - neither presentation nor delivery. From little things like Facebook re-compressing your photos into oblivion to big changes like Timeline - those are up to the whims of Facebook, whereas on a website, even a simple template from Squarespace or Wordpress, you control everything end-to-end. 

 

I'll join the people who say to do both. FB is a great way to keep people up to date and communicate, but even a simple website (intro statement, photos, contact info) is just as valuable and is something that will always be YOURS.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

For me, if I were to look at as a business stand point, Facebook is one of many avenues for getting your company's information out.  I was just reading from a user on twitter how facebook inserted related ads directly into someone's page making it look like an endorsement.  The terms of service tends to be a bit a vague as to who owns the content and how it is used once you post to facebook.  As a hobbyist this still bugged me, and if I were to go into business tomorrow, it would worry me.  This was one (of many) reason why I started my own blog (with my own domain name and hosting service I pay for), as I can control how it looks and how the content is used.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

If you stop wasting time on forum like here, your website would be up and running already =P

 

Basically:

Open a Beer

Buy a domain (mywoodisbiggerthanyour.com) and a hosting plan (if its at the same company/website, its usually easier to setup).

All the decent hosting company offer Content Management. I would personally try wordpress, but there is 12-14 good for sure.

So Install wordpress and check the admin section.

Open a Beer

Apply a theme that look profesionnal and you are 80% done. (http://wordpress.org/themes/)

Add some header pictures of your work, information, contact, links and you are set for a very long time.

Open another Beer

Do some test, learn how to publish stuff

That would be it.

 

in the futur you also have option like to add modules like a shopping cart etc. If you ever need that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you stop wasting time on forum like here, your website would be up and running already =P

 

Basically:

Open a Beer

Buy a domain (mywoodisbiggerthanyour.com) and a hosting plan (if its at the same company/website, its usually easier to setup).

All the decent hosting company offer Content Management. I would personally try wordpress, but there is 12-14 good for sure.

So Install wordpress and check the admin section.

Open a Beer

Apply a theme that look profesionnal and you are 80% done. (http://wordpress.org/themes/)

Add some header pictures of your work, information, contact, links and you are set for a very long time.

Open another Beer

Do some test, learn how to publish stuff

That would be it.

 

in the futur you also have option like to add modules like a shopping cart etc. If you ever need that.

 Carl forgot the last and most important step. That is to open another Beer and celebrate :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you stop wasting time on forum like here, your website would be up and running already =P

Basically:

Open a Beer

Buy a domain (mywoodisbiggerthanyour.com) and a hosting plan (if its at the same company/website, its usually easier to setup).

All the decent hosting company offer Content Management. I would personally try wordpress, but there is 12-14 good for sure.

So Install wordpress and check the admin section.

Open a Beer

Apply a theme that look profesionnal and you are 80% done. (http://wordpress.org/themes/)

Add some header pictures of your work, information, contact, links and you are set for a very long time.

Open another Beer

Do some test, learn how to publish stuff

That would be it.

in the futur you also have option like to add modules like a shopping cart etc. If you ever need that.

Not enough beer.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.