I passed my signwriting exams some years back and know that it's what my soul wants to do for it's living!
I can only work part-time currently due to personal reasons, but eventually, I want to be in this business full time by painting away for myself.
I would like to know if anyone could offer me advice on setting up "an armed and fully operational" sign business and getting clients. (Sorry, my love of Star Wars slipped out there for a minute!) Any help on pricing jobs would be a big help to me too!
I have got jobs back from other jobs I have done in the past and I place ads on supermarket bulletin boards and public notices etc as I also love painting murals. This has generated interest too but I feel that I lack "oomph" in recruiting clients. I would like to get more work in. How did you all get going full-time? I'd love to hear your stories.
Thanks for your time spent with my query. Greetings to you from Ireland! Yours, Jo.
You have picked an honorable profession...since you are from Cork could we assume you have been under the tutiledge of friend Gerry Fitzgibbon and the FAS school?
If so you already have a good sense of where you are headed. Will it be hand lettering or computerized? Or a little of both?
Since you are going to do this on a part time basis to start I wouldn't be overly concerned about a time table for creating a clientele.
Take some time to decide what interests you the most...maybe you are a muralist...maybe vehicle lettering interests you more...perhaps pub signing. Maybe you are like me and love every aspect of signage, if so take a run at everything you can lay your hands on and do it all as tho you were sending it before a review board...price it at a fair rate (fair to you and the customer) try not to give anything away.
Don't be afraid to make "cold calls" on customers you have never met...just leave a card (don't take up their time unless they invite you to. Find out where the local contractors "hang out" and let them know you're in the business.
Don't be afraid to take "repaints" (you'll learn a lot from doing them).
Take only the jobs you can achieve in a reasonable mount of time and don't overload yourself with work. Nothing worse than making people unhappy when you're just getting started.
My wife and I were in Cork in 1999 for the "Spell with the Wizards" meet <http://www.letterhead.com/meets/cork99/index.html> and hope to be back this year if the Kilkenny meet hasn't been cancelled. (Eeoin Quigley will be missed by many, we hope someone will honor him by continuing with the meet.)
Feel free to e-mail me anytime...I'd be glad to help in any way I can.
There are some great people in the trade in Ireland...don't be afraid to "hook-up" with a few.
In any event Welcomr to Letterville and good luck to you.
[ February 17, 2003, 12:55 AM: Message edited by: Monte Jumper ]
-------------------- "Werks fer me...it'll werk fer you"
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