Thanks to all who responded to my introduction last week I was surprised and moved.
As I mentioned before I now live in a small tourist town (pop.8,000) and after doing my first job, was excited to do more so I pounded the pavement doing cold calls for the last week. I first dropped in on the people who have billboards that are in bad shape along the main highway, then hit some of the smaller retail places with a hello, business card and a colour flyer ( as per your instructions in the archives )....nothing!
They ALL told me they have a "sign guy". When I asked them why their signs were not done they said "he is too busy" but will get around to it. Do they not realize the city folk have opened their cottages already and the beaches are packed?...Anyways, it turns out they all went to school with the guy and he has been doing their signs for years.
I had visions of nice blasted-carved-dimensional signs for the area and all they want is vinyl on wood. That is o.k. but he has a waiting list a mile long. For vinyl on wood our work is the same and so is the price.
Now the question....A buddy has offered me shop space in the town I used to have my shop in( pop. 110,000 ). I can get some of my clients back no problem. The deal though is to cut "stickers" for autos. He runs a car detailing shop and has many dealership accounts. He says there is big money in it.
Am I missing something here?....is there money in "no fear" stickers and "heavy chevy" stuff?. I spent last night on the pinstriper.com site and the Americans seem to be doing well, I can produce airbrush stuff(lettering only)and have a few Auto Graphic mags and could probably learn to make custom graphics for the side and back and used to use a sword years ago, but I can't see it being a money maker up here in Canada.
Is there a market I don't know about?
I really want to "tuff it out up here" but did sorta get turned on by these pinstripers, a few by the way are also respected members of this board
The bills are growing...gotta make some money.
Any advice or thoughts would be appreciated
Thanks again Mark
------------------ Mark Fuller Fuller Signs Keswick, Ontario
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Mark, GIVE THEM TIME... If your work is good, GIVE THEM TIME...
When I started out, there was a quickie stickieshop, no offense, as usual, & an old man, an artist, amazing screenprinting, but buys crappy materials... & then there's the one that everyone knows, work nice (when they want to)The last one is IMHO the one that does the best work, & I've gotten quite a few of his clients in a few months. I've only been in business 2.5 Yrs... Don't give up without a fight... I hope I'm not too drunk to make this sound right!!
------------------ Marcano-Welch Signs Luquillo, Puerto Rico 787-889-6608
Posts: 2287 | From: Luquillo, Puerto Rico, USA | Registered: Nov 2000
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& a'nudder thing, I can't wait 'till I make it to The Meet in Wisconsin to learn sumpthin' from all these nice (& sometimes cranky) Ol (& young) men (& ladies)!!!
------------------ Marcano-Welch Signs Luquillo, Puerto Rico 787-889-6608
Posts: 2287 | From: Luquillo, Puerto Rico, USA | Registered: Nov 2000
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Make sure your vehicle has splashy signs and even if you don't have a commercial location try and work out something with someone to put up the hottest sign in town in a prominent location. Barter has a way of opening peoples minds to possibilities. I've gained some of my best clients that way. Above all keep the faith and stay in their faces because enthusiasm eventually impresses clients. Out of sight is out of mind. You don't have to hard sell either, just pay a quick social visit. Peoples minds and priorities can change in a blink.
Happy Signing......Marty
------------------ Marty Happy Signmaker Since 1974 Happy Ad Sign & Design Regina SK, Canada S4N 5K4
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Small town of 8000?? The town I had my shop in was 400 people with the BIG city down the road being about 2-3000!!
And that town had 4 sign shops!!
One shop was the one I worked for. They were pretty busy and had a good reputation. But they decided to sell, and the people that bought it never did a sign before (she thought it would be fun!). Needless to say, wasn't long before things drove me buggy and I was outta there and started my own shop.
And a very good friend of mine moved and opened a shop in the 'big' town in the other direction. It has taken him about a year to really get going. In the meantime he is working at the local hardware store, with his truck sitting in the parking lot! Works alot in the paint dept (well ya know, when I paint a sign this is how I prep... you paint signs? ...)
You don't need a storefront or anything. I worked out of my basement (don't EVEN ask about toting 4x8's up and down the stairs!!) and he works out of his garage. Luckily I got some space to work in, but I never even put up a sign. Just don't take on anything you can't afford right away.
Having something really cool on your vehicle is really important. But in little towns, word of mouth will totally make or break you, and people have a tendency of being very loyal.
First thing I did was join the Chamber of Commerce and go to meetings and introduce myself. Turned out I was the only sign shop that did. And contact the local newspaper to come out and do an introductory article on you and your shop. You also need to be familiar with the work of the other shops in town, and stress what you do that is a step above. (For me no one else did roller fades, odd shapes, textured lookin backgrounds or even krylon on vinyl!)
Bartering worked GREAT for me - put meat in the freezer, got the dog groomed and I a root canal in my mouth - and I put my lil logo dinosaur guy on all the GOOD signs. I also got involved in the group starting the local humane shelter, did the signs and banners for that, as well as meeting more people.
The hardest part is the waiting until people start coming to you. Like I said, in lil towns they are VERY loyal. It takes either waiting and waiting and waiting just TOO long or someone really pissing them off before they consider someone else, unless you can offer them something someone else can't or won't.
Don't spend too much on advertising or yellow pages. I had a listing the first year and never got a call. I spent a whopping $46 on advertising - and that was a thank you ad at the end of my first year listing all my clients!
Word of mouth is what will do it for you. Once you do a few and they get out there, and the people start talking to other people, it will come. You might want to consider 'upgrading' a client's sign with something that the other shops don't usually do.
There were a couple signs that I asked if the client would be willing to let me do a textured background, without the extra charge, if it was ok that I sent people to their place to see it as an example. Usually they said ok fine, then when they saw the finished product, they were thrilled, and also told their friends.
But in the meantime you might want to look into a job where you will at least get your face out there and recognizable, something like retail.
Good luck!!
------------------ Dana Aaron docs-gal on chat
I joined a health club last year, spent about 400 bucks. Haven't lost a pound. Apparently, you have to show up.
Yes, there is money makin decals for vehicles but it's not in "No Fear" stickers..
The money is in accent graphic kits and full graphic kits.
Now, the guys with the show cars wont put vinyl on their vehicles unless it's a small decal with their club name..
But the kids with the rice rockets will want full vehicle vinyl wraps.. because they will change the graphics in a few months.
If you can airbrush, that's as good as spraying money! $5 worth of vinyl can turn into $200 pretty easily when you start airbrushing on it.
If there's alot of dealer work, you might want to check out some of the pre-made graphic kits available cause dealers arent gonna pay alot for a custom kit.
If yer buddy has a fair deal of young guys coming through, you might want to develop some of your own designs and put a catalog out on the counter. This way, the only place they can get that design is through you.
Otherwise if you want to build up business where you are now I suggest going to the most popular restaurant in town and offering some small carved signage in trade for a few meals. Maybe you can attract some higher end work, or at least attract the tourists that are visiting from larger areas and convince them to see you about their signage.
------------------ Mike Pipes Digital Illusion Custom Graphics Lake Havasu City, AZ http://www.stickerpimp.com
Posts: 8746 | From: Lake Havasu, AZ USA | Registered: Jun 2000
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Nothing personal but how can you expect to make a living in a town with only 8000 people? If you could redo all the billboards how many years would it be before they needed redoing again,what do you do then but wait? Seems like a very hard way to ever make any money? Just courious. I've never lived in a small town since I waas a child of 6.
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Consistency! when advertising its the key. You can not expect immediate results (although you will get some samll immediate results) with any type of marketing. I hired my Mother-in-Law (a post in itself) to telemarket a couple of days a week. She makes less cold calls now and mostly does follow ups with existing customers we have not heard from in a while. We also try to send out postcards or flyers every quarter as reminders that we are around. I get calls all the time from people who have been holding on to our stuff for years and fimally need a sign. After 8 years we are now at apoint that we have enough repeat customers we are really hopin'. Keep on it...
------------------ 425-898-9817 Brian Stoddard Expressions Signs Sammamish WA
Posts: 790 | From: Monroe, WA | Registered: Nov 1998
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I'm glad you're keeping in touch here. Great advice heads! I'm impressed!
Don't be afraid to tell folks yer startin out and need work, like yesterday! They may assume yer too busy to chase down "a friend" who needs blah blah blah.
If your handing out cards, do it in line at restaurants, grocery stores, video stores, (just go through the phone book), ask if you can put one up, if it's available, or a short stack at the register...funny, when there's only 3 sitting there, 5 people will fight over em hahaha.
You could run across a logo or sign that you are impressed with, ask if they need touch up, coz you'd be excited to do it for em! It will make them feel good...and possibly more comfortable about letting you "try."
The "do it for exposure" angle really helps in most cases. I've done that a lot. I've even had to explain to the person i was painting for, "...hay it's free!" because so many people were stopping and asking for cards. Leave a stack on the edge of your "table" for people to grab without disturbing you while you work. (some folks are like that...don't want to be committed right away, but will study your work a bit first.) Give em something to see!
It would be nice if you could come together with the exsisting guy a bit, to get started at least. If he's back ordered for 3 generations, it might be a relief to him.
Tell him about Letterheads and see what happens. Not all sign people are mean people hahaha!
Good Luck to you and remember that you get what you look for! Expect miracles. I'll pray on my end, let's see what the Big Guy can do!
I wish you luck in your small town market. As you've no doubt learned, there is an element of personal politics you are trying to buck. That is the loyalty thing others have posted here: no one wants to anger the "the sign guy" in town.
Here is my idea. Since "the sign guy" is backed up from here to next year, why not cozy up to him and see if he'll throw some work your way on a sub-contract basis. This can take some of the pressure off of him and establish you at the same time. If you take this approach, you must be very clear to him that you will never contact his customers in order to steal them from him. You will not even let anyone know that the work you are doing for him, even if he is passing it off as his own, is indeed yours. Everyone knows what a small world a small town can be, and sooner or later the truth will come out and you will get your props and new customers will begin to approach you.
This is kind of a backdoor strategy, but might get you a foot in the door.
Best of luck to you.
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Posts: 237 | From: ft. collins, colorado,usa | Registered: Mar 2001
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I also got involved in the group starting the local humane shelter, did the signs and banners for that, as well as meeting more people.
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