posted
I just down loaded the estimate software trial yesterday and it has already helped me make more money. for whatever reason I haven't downloaded it until now is beyond me.. I should of down loaded it years ago..
I am making 10 .080 alum signs and with my old pricing method I would have sold them for $1100. and with the help of estimate I am selling them for $1450.
This software will be a new addition to my shop and will pay for it self on the first and second job it helps me with..
Anyone who doesn't have it should definatly give it a shot!!
Thanks
Jason Davie
-------------------- Jason Davie 193 Front Street Deposit, NY 13754 Posts: 976 | From: USA | Registered: Jul 2001
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posted
I've had my EstiMate for a few years, and if nothing else, I get to spend more time designing and being creative, and less time figuring out pricing. I love mine.
posted
I'm guilty of not using mine yet. I have played around a little with it, but know I need to get serious about it soon.
From what little I have worked with it, it makes me realize my overhead cost a lot better. I think we all need to "run the numbers" in our businesses more often. The price of insurance and supplies are going up at a rapid rate.
You are right, it will pay for itself in no time. I just need to get serious about it. NOW
Pam
-------------------- Pam Eddy Niles, MI ple@qtm.net Posts: 460 | From: Michigan | Registered: Dec 2000
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Just don't get lazy! Periodically, check that the costs in it are still your costs. Prices have a way of creeping up on us and either the increases aren't noticed or people just forget to update the costs in estimate.
-------------------- Chris Welker Wildfire Signs Indiana, Pa Posts: 4254 | From: Indiana, PA | Registered: Mar 2001
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Thanks to the fine folks right here at Letterville, I have Estimate and absolutely love it! I won it in the Letterhead resident Draw in November. Still tweaking the congfigurations, but, it is a great trade specific software.
""Good judgment comes from experience; and a lot of that comes from bad judgment" - Will Rogers Posts: 3485 | From: Beautiful Newaygo, Michigan | Registered: Mar 2003
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I'm guilty like Pam... but will deal with it this month. I met Mark & Myra at USSC this year & Mark showed me a little about the setting up of it & helped me realize that it will not be as time consuming as I feared.
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I have realized more sales just because I can present them with a computer generated written estimate very quickly, with note typed in. people trust that price. works great if for nothing else that to generate business, but it does much more!
-------------------- Michael A Latham Tee's Me Shirt & Sign 16462 Jefferson Davis Highway Colonial Heights Va. 804-835-3299 signdogopie@aol.com Posts: 379 | From: Colonial Heights, Virginia | Registered: Feb 2004
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Jason, Alphonse, Pam, Chris, Rick, Doug and Michael - Thanks for your comments! It means a lot to me to see my Letterville friends supporting my work. I'm thrilled to have had an impact on your businesses.
And Rovelle, that's a wild story - I've never heard of a customer handling things that way. Gets around the design issue and everything. WOW!
Just hold your nose and move on to the next guy.
[ January 21, 2005, 11:05 AM: Message edited by: Mark Smith ]
-------------------- Best Regards, Mark Smith EstiMate Sign Pricing Software It's Not Luck. It's EstiMate. http://www.EstiMateSoftware.com 1-888-304-3300 Posts: 724 | From: Asheville, NC, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
I think that there are many of us needing a visit from Mark or Myra to get us jump started into a love affair with EstiMate. We need the help, they need the vacations.
-------------------- The SignShop Mendocino, California
Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity. Charles Mingus Posts: 6714 | From: Mendocino, CA. USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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Rove, come by my shop. I have a 5 gal bucket of laquer thinner and a spray bottle for ya. Go by said furniture store and spray the other guys lettering once every week.
-------------------- Ricky Jackson Signs Now 614 Russell Parkway Warner Robins, GA (478) 923-7722 signpimp50@hotmail.com
"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." Sir Issac Newton Posts: 3528 | From: Warner Robins, GA | Registered: Oct 2004
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Sung to the Coffeemate jingle... "Estimate works great, estimate smooths your quote process, so let Estimate, make your bottom line look great." Thankyou, thankyou very much...
-------------------- Harris Kohen K-Man Pinstriping and Graphix Trenton, NJ "Showing the world that even I can strategically place the pigment where its got to go." Posts: 1739 | From: Trenton, NJ, USA | Registered: Jun 2001
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posted
I must agree Todd, but somewhere somehow you will find a way to put it into your budget eventually, you wont regret it Im sure.
I didnt intend to belittle you or make you feel bad about things, and IM sure that neither did anyone else.
We just feel that this program is very good and is a great tool to have in your arsenal of tools.
I actually dont have it yet myself, but know that if and when I do go fulltime in this business I WILL own a copy of it then. Mark and I have talked a few times about this and he knows my intentions regarding the purchase of Estimate in the future.
-------------------- Harris Kohen K-Man Pinstriping and Graphix Trenton, NJ "Showing the world that even I can strategically place the pigment where its got to go." Posts: 1739 | From: Trenton, NJ, USA | Registered: Jun 2001
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Todd...I am not going to comment on whether or not you can afford to buy "Estimate".
Every single one of us has certain levels of income and expenditure. And they are all different.
What one person considers a large expenditure is a mere drop in the bucket to another. Unfortunate but true.
What I would comment is this....If you tried the trial version and liked it...Did it improve your estimating capabilities? (I know that estimating/quoting sucks, almost as much as 'cold calling')
I have been self employed for most of my life and the one thing I have learned is that you have to learn to ask HIGH prices in order to succeed. Constantly trying to get every job that you quote will only lead eventually to failure in business. If not failure, it will lead to a life of constantly "treading water" instead of swimming upstream. I learned THAT about 20 years too late myself!!!!!!
I don't have Estimate, but will be interested to hear Mark explain it in chat this week.
Mark...if you are following this thread...would I be advised to download the trial version before joining in on your chat "tutorial"?
Sorry for the rambling post.
-------------------- Dave Grundy retired in Chelem,Yucatan,Mexico/Hensall,Ontario,Canada 1-519-262-3651 Canada 011-52-1-999-102-2923 Mexico cell 1-226-785-8957 Canada/Mexico home
Everyone I've talked to who bought estimate saw their profits go up because they were more accurately and more consistently quoting, not forgetting to add in some costs or just flat out saved themselves a lot of time doing estimates, that saved time is more time to actually get the work done.
If you can't afford to buy it, then you really can't afford not to.
-------------------- Chris Welker Wildfire Signs Indiana, Pa Posts: 4254 | From: Indiana, PA | Registered: Mar 2001
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This allows you to pay only 9.95 for shipping, and get everything you need to get started:
EstiMate
Learning EstiMate Training CD
Telephone Training Session
60 Days of free Phone Support
You keep the software for 30 days and use it; if after you've taken your training session, you want to send it back, go for it. Otherwise we charge your card 4 times for $99.75 and you're paid for.
We've always said that EstiMate will pay for itself so we decided to prove it. Sounds like Jason who started this thread knows what we're talking about!
As far as the chat goes, I am currently waiting to hear from Steve about the time and I will be testing PalTalk for the first time today at 2:00.
Dave, either get the 9.95 trial (you can download immediately after ordering) or watch the 12 minute EstiMate video here before the chat:
Steve, I feel a little weird about posting this because I know it's not in accordance with BB policy, but it seems to be appropriate since people are asking. Hope that's OK.
[ January 25, 2005, 10:27 AM: Message edited by: Mark Smith ]
-------------------- Best Regards, Mark Smith EstiMate Sign Pricing Software It's Not Luck. It's EstiMate. http://www.EstiMateSoftware.com 1-888-304-3300 Posts: 724 | From: Asheville, NC, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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Rovelle, I'm on the Scorpion submarine parked outside the Queen Mary looking in the periscope. I keep meaning to send a new photo to Steve and Barb, so it will change soon.
-------------------- Best Regards, Mark Smith EstiMate Sign Pricing Software It's Not Luck. It's EstiMate. http://www.EstiMateSoftware.com 1-888-304-3300 Posts: 724 | From: Asheville, NC, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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I don't wana answer for Steve, but Mark, you aren't selling your product or pushing it in this forum, , you're addressing the questions and giving information. I personally LOVE it when suppliers do that and hold high respect for them!
posted
I'm no different Donna. Mark is simply responding to comments posted by Letterville users. He's a longtime supporter of this site, and a paying Merchant. Nothing wrong with what Mark is doing at all.
Now if Mark initiated the post that would be a different story. If he was a non-Merchant, that would be just wrong. Everybody needs to make a buck. We used to sell signs. These days we sell advertising. Until that glorious day arrives that everything is free, making a buck is just another necessary evil.
Are you all serious about learning more about the money end of our business? Even if you work for others, learning to budget your personal income is the same animal.
Mark will be with us live, via the PalTalk program, on Thursday night from 8:30-9:30pm EST. You really don't want to miss this!
If you haven't installed PalTalk, go to the link below and follow the instructions. The Letterville Chat Room will be open from 8-12 midnight tonight.
Former PalTalk Support guru, Sassy, will once again be with us from 10pm - Midnight. If you have any questions, she is the one to ask. She will also lead us thru the setup process and explain the settings.
""Good judgment comes from experience; and a lot of that comes from bad judgment" - Will Rogers Posts: 3485 | From: Beautiful Newaygo, Michigan | Registered: Mar 2003
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Estimate. I LOVE ESTIMATE!!! Periodically I check time, material, etc. just to ...Bingo!!! I don't have to worry with Estimate. I DO have to worry if I'm coming up with something from scratch - especially under pressure. I have to be careful about the "general difficulty level"- sometimes I forget to raise it and cheat myself. I have more hair since I purchased Estimate (I don't pull it out) and my stress level is, well, directed elsewhere. Never a regret for that purchase. As a matter of fact, I just purchased the Thermal print plug-in so I would have it when my DC3 got here.
-------------------- Share-in Y Reardon Carter's sign shop, inc. 2365 Francis Av., Naples, FL Posts: 29 | From: naples,fl,usa | Registered: Apr 2000
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