smellslike$tome

People will be driving by mostly. They won't have time to absorb too much info. Keep it simple unless it's a situation where you know that people will be sitting in their cars in plain view of the sign i.e. sign is on or next door to a corner lot of a busy 4 way stop sign or traffic light. If they are just driving by, your best bet is simply the company name and the phone # as large as you can make them. People will assume the satisfied customer part by virtue of the fact that they allowed you to put your sign in their yard.

A few years ago I bought a bunch of those chloroplast signs and put them up on telephone poles and trees and what not. They worked ok and were cheap. The only problem was that there was an epidemic of them, to which I added. It was getting to be where every corner telephone pole would have these signs stacked. Driving down the road you would see them all over the place on trees. About a month after I jumped on the band wagon, the county passed an ordinance banning them and began a removal campaign. I even got a phone call informing me that this was a warning and fines would follow. In retrospect, I have to say that this was not a bad ordinance. The place really was getting trashed up and the signs were so cheap that everybody and his brother was using them.

Anyway, they were somewhat effective. Mine simply read, "Master Plumber ***-***X". Short, sweet, and to the point. I did it this way because I realized that most of the time, I could not absorb all of the pertinent information from a lot of these signs as I was driving down the road. I was trying to see what the sign said and often could not. You have about .8 seconds to tell them something, make it as easy as possible.

RealLivePlumber

I agree with short and sweet. Let them just remember the name, not try to read text while driving by.

Just the company logo, and phone number.

(does the area code matter where you are located?)

looks good, though.

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RealLivePlumber
You can make it happen, you can watch it happen, or you can wonder wtf happened.
Phil Harris 2009

PLUMBER_BILL

I'd just change the fonts ... dress it up IE:

Attached Files

For a quality job_protech.doc (23.5 KB, 18 views)

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Bill Parr LMP
www.parrsplumbing.com

click on ... A little of this and a little of that

TheMaster

Could someone explain why you would need a yard sign when your trucks usually out on the street anyway like a billboard? Do you plan on leaving the sign in the customers front yard and leaving the job? When i see heavy advertising I automatically assume the advertised business charges more than the company that doesn't advertise heavy and the reason why they hafta advertise so heavy is because they CHARGE TOO MUCH. Most logical potential customers realize THEY are the ones who will pay for all that B.S. So in other words your method of advertising will bring you a particular type of customer......and your advertising on yard signs....goodluck!!! Its a waste of money.....sombody write that down. Ok now i want to hear about the million $ job sombody got from advertising with yard signs and how I'm an idiot

ChrisConnor

Sometimes you are in the parked in the driveway and people can't see your truck.

It makes it easy for the inspector to find the house.

I've never got a "million $ job" from a yard sign, but I have received several jobs worth several thousand dollars for septic tank to public sewer conversions in certain neighborhoods.

If you get one customer call you because they saw your fifteen dollar yard sign, then it is worth it.

TheMaster

Those are valid points but the time it takes to design the signage,order it,unpack it,load it on the van,take it out of the van and place it in the yard,remove it from the yard,pay for the sign,etc. I would rather just sit and figure out a way to make my overhead go down and for my prices to be cheaper than the competition BUT make a higher profit ratio for hours invested than the competition. I'm a one man shop and i have way too much work and always have,you guys are running multiple trucks then I understand the saturation effort. I wish all of you sucess,its tough to get 4 or 5 people all to work seamless enough to make a profit equal to your efforts. I liked your post chrisconner

stillaround

I thought the sign would be if he's not there. How ya gonna outdo that box he drives

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ChrisConnor

The design only takes a few minutes as it's usually just a logo and a number. The sign shop can do it for you, usually at no charge. I just put in on the truck when I do a day long job or if there is significant work in a neighborhood like the septic to sewer conversions we did in '08. It doesn't take up much space because it's flat and can even fit behind the seats or shelves. They aren't the "greatest thing since sliced bread", but still a good tool considering the cost/effectiveness ratio.

njoy plumbing

We have two signs, 1- for larger rono's or projects that are ongoing. these can be more detailed. 2.-service work has co. logo & phone number.
we get good feed back. We've had people notice the ongoing job signs, and go back around the block to get more details.
Its just money outa your advertising budget.

Protech

That pretty much sums it up.

The only thing I would add is that when you are in neighborhoods during the day most people are at work and will never see your truck. If you leave a yard sign when you are done it will stay there for a few days and people will see it when they get home from work.

Most nosy neighbors will ask "Hey Jim, did you have some plumbing trouble?"

Jim then responds "Well Bill, I had my 3rd copper slab leak and I decided to have the house repiped completely. I had Pro-Tech Plumbing out and they did the whole thing with doing any damage to the house and the guys were really neat and professional. The building inspector even commented on what a great job they did. Plus, I have a 25 year warranty against leaks now."

<Bill will now call me when his house has a slab leak>

I use this example because it has worked for me several times.

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