Detailing By Daniel

The business owner and I met at my home to go over his goals and aspirations for his business. We discussed his pricing, branding, connections, timeline, and other aspects necessary to getting his business off the ground. We determined that he needed a website showcasing his skills and work and to start from a place of trust to build a client base because no one in the community knew him very well. He bought a domain, and we got to work.

To ensure the site spoke to the audience that this business owner was going for, I researched and focused on breaking down the key concerns people have with getting their car detailed, and outlined the site content to resolve them. I sketched out several iterations of potential site maps and wireframes to determine the best way to showcase his work on a webpage and motivate people to reach out to him. I also researched his competition in the local market and found several competitor sites. Some were implemented well, and others were outdated. I took elements I liked from the various sites and implemented my own designs to make his site look professional and cohesive with his branding. I reviewed my designs and ideas with the business owner, and he liked what I presented.

I did some heavy keyword research to target keywords relevant to his business and had a high search volume on Google. I wrote the content for the site using a tool called Frase that allowed me to compare the quality of the content against direct competitors for those keywords.

I built the website using modern web technologies outlined in this page's "Tools" section. I used Canva to help me with the logo design, and implemented the site to have multiple pages to showcase his business and generate leads. To collect leads, I built a form that allowed people to get a quote for their car details right on the page so that they knew how much it would cost them. I hooked this form to an Express.js backend using Firebase to collect these leads in a database and send the business owner an email using Send Grid so that he knew to reach out to them.

Once the site was complete, I tested it to ensure it followed accessibility best practices and worked as well on desktop as on mobile. We decided to run a promotion once his website launched to kick start his client base. We launched the site, and the business owner promoted it on social media. Because I have more connections in the community than he did, I placed an ad at my work and talked to some of my friends about his business. I pointed them to his website, and he had over 10 clients in the first 2 weeks, equating to over $1,000 in revenue.

Before this project, I had never started a business from scratch before. Although I had received an education in marketing and had all of the skills, it was exciting to help this business owner find success. It became clear to me in our discussions and through the process that people are less likely to become clients unless they know you or have some way to trust you. Branding and presenting yourself well is the key to success as a business.

To help this business owner find results, we needed to find the key problems with his marketing and understand what his competitors were doing that was helping them find success. This is something that I enjoyed, and it made the business owner and I feel confident that we were doing something worthwhile.

Before this project, I only had a little experience with building a brand from scratch. Creating a logo and defining the colors and materials for the brand was exciting and fun.

Before I helped this business owner, he had no clients or leads. Once we got his site set up and started promoting his business locally, he was able to get more than 10 leads in 2 weeks, equating to over $1,000 in revenue. He was able to quit his $11/hour student job and have more flexibility with this schedule.

One of the highlights of this project was figuring out the business owner's business direction and branding. He now has the assets to present himself as a credible and trustworthy business to the community. He has a plan to retain clients and continue to promote his business going forward.