Tag Archives: investment signs

Signs Make Your Businees Successful

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Signs Make Your Business Successful

OK, apologies up front for the click baiting, as we all know (WE referring to intelligent business folk) this statement is not entirely true, as there are MANY factors that make a business successful.

In general, from what this writer has observed, success in business is more often than not a result of doing the slog work, doing the same correct (that is imperative) behavior over and over and over and over and over – you get the point – beyond the point of boredom, beyond the point of repetition, to the point where one can literally do the task in one’s sleep. This is sometimes referred to as achieving efficiency at the task, and it is said this takes 10,000 HOURS of the same task.

Another part of the success of a business is MARKETING and SELLING. Without sales there is no money for product development, no money to train and pay staff (someone may want to point this out to the current anc leaders who have reportedly managed to bankrupt their 109 year old organization) and no money to grow your business.

Now marketing and sales a re multi faceted and not entirely the focus of this blog, but I would like to focus on #SIGNAGE – the one part of that marketing puzzle that SignForce sells. We do advise on signage in order to ensure your spending on signage is an investment, but we tend to do this for free (not great for our business turnover in the short term, but we never claimed to be great sales people). If anyone wants to take me for a drink I can explain the difference between TECHNICAL SELLERS (SignForce’s sales staff) and GREAT SELLERS (who tend to sell on emotion).

Signs SELL! So does collaboration 🙂

I have known this for many years and have seen many examples from our own billboard on the M1 highway to what happened with STAX (many years ago) when they upgraded their signage at a loss making store that was being prepped for closure, but I was reminded of this a few weeks ago when one of our clients informed the writer that he spotted SignForce when he passed out pylon.

The point of this ramble is that if you want your business to succeed, especially if you are a business that has physical products or a physical premises, you should certainly consider SIGNAGE as an integral – and initial – step in promoting your business.

SignForce LOVES assisting new and small businesses. This does not mean we are going to give you your signs for free, but we will do what we can to make your business visible in a manner that can help your business grow – both to pay us AND to help you grow.

For more information on how SignForce can assist your business contact us now on info@signforce.co.za or call +27(0)11 440 7525

Find out more about #SignForce at http://www.signforce.co.za

Who Will See My Sign

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Who will see your sign – and does it matter?

Every business needs a sign! Ask every business owner, or sign manufacturer, and they will ALL tell you that EVERY business needs a sign, because, as the old – make that ancient – maybe even biblical(?) saying goes – “A Business Without A Sign Is A Sign of No Business”.

But, is this saying still true today in the modern work online, work from home, during and post covid world?

Possibly, in this modern world, the question should not be Who will see my sign, but rather WHAT is the modern definition of a sign?

Traditionally ALL signs were physical visual communications that one could touch, put up and take down. Today, while this is still a LARGE part of signage, it is not necessarily ALL there is to signage, as, while we still believe that signs are essential for every business – of course we are biased, we survive off selling SIGNS – the reality is a ‘traditional’ sign may not be valid for a business which is wholly online. But because a traditional sign is not relevant, does not mean NO sign is relevant (We will get back to this later).

WHO see’s the sign will depend a lot on the placement of the sign, the location of the sign, the type of sign, what – if anything – makes the sign STAND OUT and the state of mind of the potential viewer. That is a LOT of factors, many of which the sign owner has ZERO control over.

It is for this reason that the owner of the sign, together with the sign manufacturer, should look at ALL the factors THEY CAN CONTROL.

Before we look at factors we can control, lets look at the one factor we can never have control over – the state of mind of the potential viewer!

Theory is a wonderful thing., It sometimes even accurately predicts some of the things – incidents, events – that happen IN REAL LIFE. I mention this because there is an interesting – I believe excellent – theory by one Jay Abraham – which states that the viewer will most likely NEVER see your sign, article or whatever UNTIL THEY NEED YOUR PRODUCT.

If Mr Abraham is correct, then it is definitely not worth worrying about those people you cannot attract, as they are simply not interested in what you have to offer. And, once again, if Mr Abraham is correct, then best you focus you attention and energy on the people who DO want what you have to offer.

So how do you catch the attention of those people that MAY want what you have to offer? How do you get potential prospects to SEE your sign?

The viewer will most likely only SEE your sign when it is in their line of sight. It should be obvious that if your sign is out of sight, chances are it will not get seen.

Sadly, because your sign IS in line of sight does not necessarily mean it will be SEEN. The chances are better that it will be seen, but there is no guarantee that it will be seen. Sadly, there is never a guarantee.

So if your sign is in line of sight, and the viewer has an interest in what you have to offer, what would make the viewer SEE your sign?

For starters, the greater the contrast ON the sign – for example Black text on a YELLOW backing is more likely to be seen than a BLACK background with DARK GRAY text. The same applies to the surrounding where the sign is located. If you are the only sign for miles, chances are very high your sign will be seen. On the other hand, if you are the only non-illuminated sign among the flashing neon signs on Fremont Street in Vegas, it is almost as if you should not waste your money and time to place a sign as the flashing neon will totally overshadow your non-illuminated sign. There are many additional factors that we will look at in another blog.

For the sign to be SEEN, it also needs to stand out in whatever way possible. The greater the STAND OUT factor of your sign, the more likely it is to be seen, and it’s message – and your brand – remembered. There is however a point where the message can get lost if the sign is too ‘outstanding’.

If you want signs that are an investment – in that they get SEEN, contact SignForce. Our years of experience in Marketing and Signage mean that we are qualified and will do our best to make sure your signs get SEEN.

Contact SignForce now on +27 (0)11 440 7525 or info@signforce.co.za or find out more about SignForce at http://www.signforce.co.za

What should your sign do? AKA Why sign?

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Warm and Fuzzy

Why spend money on a sign? What should a bushiness sign do? In fact, what should ANY packaging do?

Any item carrying a business’s image should PROMOTE the business, help to ‘move‘ the viewer so that they feel ‘warm and fuzzy’ with the ultimate objective of getting the viewer to WANT – or better yet, NEED to HAVE the product being displayed.

Warm and fuzzy is why marketing experts – who know you better than you know yourself – use ‘lifestyle’ marketing – they want you to associate THEIR product with the LIFESTYLE YOU ASPIRE TO!

The best way achieve the desired outcome (a sale) is to create an associative emotion – something that MOVES us, the viewer – to make us feel that we want to EXPERIENCE what we associate the brand with.

Masters of this technique include nike, coke and apple – all HUGE, multi-billion dollar businesses with exceptionally deep pockets. So how does a small business with a limited budget achieve the same level of desire, and hopefully success?

It all comes down to creating an image that makes our small business compete favorably with the ‘BIG BOYS”

SignForce is a small business who have a large footprint, to a large extent because we understand more than signs, we also understand the psychology of selling.

If you are prepared to make an investment while taping into SignForce’s knowledge base and get the associated benefits contact SignForce now on +27 (0)11 440 7525 or info@signforce.co.za

Why business signs make good financial sense in the modern world

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Why business signs make good financial sense in the modern world

There is an old sign adage that reads: “ A business without a sign is a sign of NO BUSINESS”, and believe it or not, it is as true today as it was a hundred years ago – possibly even more so.

OK, before you all shoot me down, let me elaborate.

Yes, in the modern world, I have to concede that not every business needs a sign, because some businesses simply NEVER see clients. Cyber businesses are one such example.

However, being the human animals that we are, most people still visit stores, not only for the social interaction, but also be cause they want to TOUCH and FEEL the merchandise they are going to purchase. It is an almost primal need to touch, in order to see better. If you are a parent, simply think of how often you have to tell your toddler that they don not need to “touch to see”! (The truth is they DO! We all do)

Because of the desire to touch to see, shops, stores, supermarkets and the like are still going to be around for the foreseeable future, and if they want people to visit them, they have to stand out from the competition. One way to achieve this is to possibly have a bigger, and certainly have a BETTER sign.

BETTER in signage generally refers to LARGER, although this is not always the case. Sometimes a simple sign can make a far bolder statement than the larger, illegible sign that is screaming at you.

In the modern world us human animals are still pretty much unchanged in our habits and nature, and as such we need to remember that while internet marketing, social media, Google and the like are all fantastic tools, they are just that – TOOLS! Like a good electrician, who will have more than a hammer and a set of screwdrivers in their toolbox, a good modern marketer should keep in mind that even if your internet marketing gets the client’s to the shopping centre where your store is located, if the client walks past your store because you do not have a sign, all your marketing effort has been for naught!

There is also the reality that signs tend to be a once off purchase, or at worst an irregular purchase. When one compares the cost of a great sign to the monthly cost of a salaried salesperson who may not have the best client service manner, the cost of the sign tends to be a lot cheaper than the alternatives.

If you are willing to hear OUR truth, and possibly even receive some expert advice on what signs will work for you, SignForce are marketing professionals with experience over multiple medium’s, and we will gladly give you our truth.

If you are in the market for professional looking signs at “FAIR VLAUE”, and would like advice on how best to project your business’s image while making any funds you spend on marketing and signs an investment, please contact the writer at arnold@signforce.co.zaor david@signforce.co.za and use the subject line: ADVICE PLEASE and we will get back to you.

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