[ January 06, 2002: Message edited by: Mike Lavallee ]

[ January 06, 2002: Message edited by: old paint ]

Dianne and I were just having the conversation this morning....about the direction we want our business to take in 2002.

1. More orginization.

2. More focus on getting the work done faster.

I agree Mike...there is plenty of money in this business....you just have to figure out how you can bring that to your business.

Dianne and I are going to start EVERY morning with an intention that we keep our focus....we noticed that we are getting REAL lax of late....NO MO!!!

hay Shep, letz sail spelckerz!

[ January 06, 2002: Message edited by: Mike Lavallee ]

[ January 06, 2002: Message edited by: Mike Lavallee ]

Kind of like keeping in touch with whats hot so to speak & whats not,...Like per say the window splash explosion in the late eighties & early nineties.

I also buy mailboxes on sale, do them up with paint and vinyl and make good money on them . The same with mirrors, you can use etch look vinyl on them.

Use your scraps of magnetic sheeting to make refrigerator mags or apply your logo or bus. card and give to customers.

[ January 07, 2002: Message edited by: CJ Allan ]

I can’t make the meets even though I’d love to…………perhaps I’ll plan one in conjunction with a holiday in the near future.

Here’s a little “customer service money making” add on that I’ve been doing.

Many people who buy banners from me want them to travel to trade shows or for presentations on the road.
So what I started doing was selling them a nice travel tube with a custom made address decal to go along with it. It’s a great way to preserve and store the banner as well.

I've seen these really cool and stylish peronal Home signs, Like The "Johnsons's" with a base that reflects the style of the home and could involve some design element of the local area, or something thats personal to the home owners, like horses etc. the Idea I had was instead of the new home owner coming to you for a sign, You go to the home builders, Designers, and real estate agents. you show them a mock up of a sign, make it nice, tell the real estate agent that you will make a sign for their new owners, the real estate agent could use it as a free gift as a thanks for the sale, the price of the sign is built into the cost of the home. the agent could mark them up to make an extra couple of bucks on the sale and you can create new business for your company. the home owner thinks they're getting something for nothing and while they're on a " buyers high" would be very interested in making ther new home "personal". the signs could be of different price ranges also, a simple MDO sign for a less expensive home or a dimentional sign with landscaping for the higherpriced homes. even if you dont sell the idea to the agents / builders you can offer the sign idea to their customers. when you think of all the builders/ real estate agents there are the possibilities are endless.

Here's one more on a lesser scale, how about peronlized mailboxes as a housewarming gift from real estate agents, they could fill em with local discount dinner coupons, etc. kind of like the old welcome wagon basket idea. that one is a no-brainer! Mike

[ January 07, 2002: Message edited by: Mike Lavallee ]

you'd be suprised how many people will want to know where they got that COOL sign! rent em or sell em to those people who have that permanent yard sale going on. you can advertise the rental of these signs everywhere with a simple flyer. it sounds like a simple idea but people love stuff like that. OR, Happy birthday , over the hill signs or congrat's graduate signs or holiday signs with the same idea. the list is endless

[ January 07, 2002: Message edited by: Mike Lavallee ]

http://www.classicflames.com/products.htm#TOP

these companies have been very consistent with their orders.

seek out those "bread and butter jobs"
call your local iron shop today!

Wet Bars
55 Chevy Chair

Shep'55 Chevy Lamps

[ January 07, 2002: Message edited by: Arvil Shep' Shepherd ]

I recommend we all post our ideas right here in this forum. Experience has taught us that users prefer to get their info in one spot instead of jumping between a bunch of speciality forums.

Let's decide on a "Post Title" for these marketing ideas. As time goes on, we'll move all your ideas to a special "read only" archive forum similar to the current Tips & Tricks Forum.

Reading the different posts within this thread reminded me of a conversation I had with Rick Glawson last year. There is a thin line between signwork and art. Rick crossed this line many years ago. Today his "signs" are found in private homes all over the country. Consider creating a product that appeals to the art collector.

I am under the impression that you don't see chalk board art on menu boards etc. in Restaurants and Take away food bars over there so I am setting up a step by step on a job I am doing that will be finished today. You will see it in the next few days.

I find these boards great fun and easy to do, they are a good sideline and were a big money spinner when they first took off over here, they are not as much in demand now tho.

I've been trying to come up with something relatively cheap but not lame to give to customers. A lot of places do the magnetic business cards and if one more person gives me a coffee mug, pen or letter opener, I think I'll scream. I was trying to have it something useful and original. How about those break away knives you get at Lowes? I think they're 2/$1. Cut your name and number out of vinyl and stick it on there. I think these would work for any type of business your shop deals with. Garages, stores, even office staff always need a knife to cut open boxes.

Whatcha think?

Oh, one more thing. Does anyone know where I can get some nekkid lil' chizlers? I was thinking I would do my name & number on these to give to the auto body shops around here to peel stripes off when they need to. All the ones I have have the name of wherever I got them.

[ January 07, 2002: Message edited by: Kissymatina ]

A wedding banner you sell to the Bride and Groom.

Offer your services to all the churches around town.

But there is a twist to this one.
Do the banner on a durable product like Tyvek and add a Sharpie pen to it..

Now as the receiption gets under way the best man can take the banner down and pass it around the room for all the guest to sign or leave a message to the newly weds!

This is something they will have forever with all the guest wishing them well.

[ January 07, 2002: Message edited by: Stephen Deveau ]

Dana and i did that for our wedding with this twist... we took the "logo" from the invite and large format printed it on a piece of 24 x 36 inch satin vinyl.

We then stuck it to a piece of foamcore and left it on the the gift table with a couple of sharpie markers for people to sign it.

We have had several request for these from our friends that have gotten married. No paying ones yet but I could see that happening some time or another.

Sheesh... My brain is about to explode from all these great ideas! WOW!

Thanks all!

My idea is to make wind chimes out of logos.

You can cut out the pieces of the logo and string them up so they hang right and add copper tubes (an energy balancing metal) across the bottom...at least, that's what a friend of mine did for me when I was using the silver eagle logo. I put it in front of my house and folks were fascinated by it when they came by. Mine was cut out of thick gauge steel, but you could make it out of wood, plexiglass, whatever you have layin around. Some that look like stained glass would look kewl, too! Just tell the customer that a wind chime over their door balances the chi (energy) when the door rings it and their logo would be the bomb! Let's bring back custom stuff!

And clocks could be done with logos as well...I wish I had the tools to do wood carving, etc!

Oops, another brain fart, had I been born a sand blaster I would be trying to get folks to let me etch the glass over their front doors...like for instance the Last name of the family and the year the home was established. I've thought about that for years, after a couple I knew in the mountains were afraid of their property being taken by developers, if it had been an "historic site," then it wouldn't have been an issue.

Mailboxes are fun to do, but I've seen a few wooden creations that sit on mailboxes, like Christmas for example, one neighbor had a Rudolph head that sat on the mailbox...why not a cupid, a fire cracker or a pumpkin? A set of twelve could be fun to create! Again, their company logo, finely crafted, might be nice.

How about some little cut outs around the mailbox or in the bushes area around the house? Down here, it's so hot and dry over the summer, it's hard to keep the grass alive, not to mention flowerdy stuff. Why not paint little spikes to look like flowers, pansies, lavender, etc.

I was thinking about making a sign for our 6 foot privacy fence that said "Beware of the Dog," and painting a picture of George in the center of it, with his name in a ribbon under his smiling face. Some dog owners might pay a big coin to have that done.

But the thing is that I cannot tell you about it until I have the copyright and Industrial patients to it first.

It will require some investment to project the item.
A small investment will give you a heavenly reward.

I have to talk to my Attorney /Barrister first.

Making sure that the "Waiver" given to you all that are interested will not be breeched.

This is the first step over a matter of time.

The initial cost set up is around $750,000 to 1,500,000 dollars.
I am not sure yet on machinery and Add placement for this product..
But sooner or later everyone will like to have or use one!