[Zeke]

Also print ads are nothing more than something to get a prospect to do something. In many cases web sites would be overlooked w/o other media advertising. I mean look at the travel sites that use TV to to you over to the site. All the info needed should be on your site. A promise for 24 hour email turnaround is vital. Phones need to be answered by a person. If you treat every customer like your baby, every time they show off their car, you will get the mention you want. Word of mouth is free advertising and brings the overall cost per unit of volume down. Most retail operations spend around 5- 10% of their gross sales for the advertising budget. If you're a niche business, that money needs to be very well targeted, not shotgunned.

If there are any old geezers left that don't use the Net, I'd be surprised they had enough succe$$ to be able to afford your services. That's a big generalization, I know. But I did know someone who made custom acrylic display cases on very nice hardwood bases. Any size within reason. He found that he reached the model plane, ship, car customer using print magazines that catered to models and model collecting and building. He had so much business and grew so fast that he had a heart attack and had to quit. His work was beautiful. And he had a LOT of competition but most of it was for stock sizes and knock-down kits you had to assemble/glue yourself. He sent out a ready to set up and display product. His stuff was the most expensive on the market and it showed.

Interestingly enough, he contracted with a UPS store to pack and ship. They took full responsibility for delivering an undamaged product. It wasn't that much more by the time he figured in packing materials and labor, usually a whole separate dept at many businesses with employee costs and all that jazz. Plus he would have still had the hassle for broken shipments. This way once he dropped off product, he was free of that hassle as UPS payed for the stated value of any damaged shipment. You can bet UPS knows which packages to not throw 10 feet.

I thought that was one hell of a smart move since most of that shipping cost was borne by the customer.

You don't need that level of protection but stuff does get lost, so make sure you're covered. (Another subject)