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  • Tips for Effective Campaign Signs

    Whether you’re running for mayor or class president a good campaign sign is always going to be a vital piece of your marketing strategy.

    The first thing you need to remember when designing campaign signs is that most onlookers will fly by your sign and have only seconds to take it in, so keeping things simple is important. Using basic colors such as blue, red, black, or green is effective in capturing the attention of individuals passing by without overwhelming them. Think about how well the ‘Vote for Pedro’ signs worked; it doesn’t take glitter and ribbons to capture a voter’s attention.  Using standard colors like red and blue can also help clear up what side of the political spectrum you represent such as red for republican and blue for democrat.

    Besides a good design the quality of your sign is also important to consider.  Good quality campaign signs are often made of corrugated plastic with a vinyl over lay for the design.  It’s spring time and you know that means frequent rain showers.   Corrugated plastic is able to withstand any punch Mother Nature can swing.

    Another aspect to consider is the placement of your campaign signs. Running for any office means you want to be known and seen.  While you’re out shaking hands and kissing babies, your campaign signs should be doing their part too.  It’s wise to map out your voting area so you can strategically place your signs along possible voter’s routes.

    Campaigning can be stressful but effectively marketing yourself with campaign signs can make all the difference, Super Cheap Signs knows campaign signs, so reach out for more information.

  • State Regulations for Signage

    Please ensure that you follow local and state guidelines for signage! I have listed each state below. Clicking these links will take you to a page that breaks out the states by city. By clicking on your chosen city, you will be presented with that cities codes. Locate the sign ordinance and ensure that you are within the regulations.

    Only post signs within the legal guidelines!Step 1 – Understand the importance of sign ordinances to community beautification efforts. Local conservation groups and community-improvement organizations try to limit the size of signs, preventing them from becoming a distractive nuisance.

    Step 2 – Speak with your city council about regulations restricting the use of signs attached to your buildings. Each community has ordinances that regulate the size, placement and content of signs that may be unique from other communities. In order to obey local laws, you should approach the city council with any unusual signage requests.

    Step 3 – Consult with your state’s highway department about billboards and logos placed on highway exit signs. While private property owners can place any advertisement they want on a billboard, most highway departments help regulate the size of billboards to avoid distractions to drivers. Highway department officials can also help you re-size your logo to meet exit-sign standards and promote your business effectively.

    Step 4 – Make sure you obey signage ordinances that regulate the placement of private business or campaign signs adjacent to public signs. Your signs cannot block those indicating street names, speed limits and traffic warnings because of public safety concerns.

    Step 5 – Avoid violation of city laws that govern the color and design of business signs. While some communities allow business owners freedom to choose their design aesthetics, most cities prohibit bright colors or flashing lights to avoid traffic issues. Likewise, city councils will often prevent business owners from creating signage that is lewd or inappropriate for children.

    Step 6 – Learn about the National Scenic Byways Program. Featured on Byways.org, it is devoted to protecting highways and waterways from over development, including excessive signage.

    State Ordinances:

    Texas
    Washington
    Oregon
    California
    Idaho
    Nevada

    Arizona
    Utah
    Wyoming
    Montana
    Colorado
    New Mexico
    Oklahoma
    Kansas
    Nebraska
    S Dakota
    N Dakota
    Minnesota
    Iowa
    Missouri
    Arkansas
    Louisiana
    Wisconsin
    Illinois
    Tennessee
    Mississippi
    Indiana
    Alabama
    Kentucky
    Michigan
    Ohio
    West Virginia
    Virginia
    N Carolina
    S Carolina
    Georgia
    Florida
    Pennsylvania
    Maryland
    Delaware
    New Jersey
    Connecticut
    New York
    Massachusetts
    Rhode Island
    Vermont
    New Hampshire
    Maine
    Hawaii
    Alaska

    If you have information pertaining to any of these ordinances (changes that are not listed, etc.), please email me!

  • 10 Marketing Tips: Yard Signs & Banners

    Table of Contents

    The importance of marketing with yard signs and banners

    Stationary outdoor advertising normally includes the use of billboards, bus benches, yard signs, and banners.  On the other hand, mobile outdoor advertising includes the use of ad signs placed on buses, taxis, or even your own vehicle (i.e. car magnets or magnetic signs).  For the purposes of this post, we have chosen to focus on certain aspects of using cheap yard signs and banners based on their cost-effectiveness.  It is well known that yard signs and banners are not only the most economical venues, but they are also quite functional and practical.

    Using yard signs and banners to promote your business

    The following is a list of ten marketing tips for using cheap yard signs and banners to promote and increase your business:

    1.    Always use a legible text that is clear, concise, and simple to read
    2.    The larger more legible fonts work best – examples include Arial, Sans Serif, or Verdana
    3.    Stick to a single idea or message when designing your cheap yard signs and banners – if the idea or message is too complex, it will not have a positive impact on those commuters who are trying to read it as they pass the yard sign or banner
    4.    Make it short and sweet – in other words, keep the message brief but get your point across and include an image, a company or product logo, or both.
    5.    Bold, bright colors work best – to an extent that is.  Granted, we realize that you do want your cheap yard signs and banners to attract attention.  However, if they are overly garish in appearance, the commuter won’t even try to read them
    6.    Choose the image you plan to use very carefully – this is especially true if you are placing an image of your face on the yard sign or banner.  We recommend using no more than three visual elements and staying away from complex scenes or landscapes.
    7.    Identify what or who the advertising pertains to – your name and location are paramount because your idea or message means nothing to the consumer if they don’t know who you are and where to find you.
    8.    Keep the background of your cheap yard signs and banners as simple as possible – white backgrounds always work best as other colors used will stand out more effectively and attract more attention.
    9.    Don’t overdo the amount of white background that you use – granted, you do want images and messages bordered by the white background.  However, if there is too much white, the yard sign or banner won’t be as appealing to the commuter passing them.
    10.    Test your cheap yard signs or banners – have a family member or friend pass by your yard sign or banner and get their reaction.  Remember, that the commuter only has about 5-6 seconds when passing by to read your message, so use that as a criterion when testing their effectiveness.

    Ready to get the signage your business deserves without breaking the bank? Visit our Super Cheap Signs today and discover the perfect solution at an unbeatable price. Click here to start saving!

  • Yard Sign Placement Strategies

    Yard Signs and their many uses

    Yard signs are one of the most cost-effective forms of advertising. Whether you are promoting your home-based business or some type of event, yard signs are a great way to get the word out. Yard signs are used for a variety of reasons besides advertising a business or products, such as:

    o Selling a vehicle
    o Houses for sale
    o Property rentals
    o Political campaigning
    o Network Marketing entities
    o Loan and mortgage companies
    o Landscapers and lawn maintenance
    o Churches
    o Builders and contractors

    Because yard signs are such an effective form of advertising, all types of businesses and organizations can benefit from using them. When you take the cost of yard signs into consideration, you’re looking at one of the most affordable forms of advertising that a business or organization can use.

    Things to consider when placing your signs

    It is always recommended yard signs be colorful so they attract the attention of the people driving by. However, the key aspect here is: if you have a nice looking piece of property, you do not want the yard signs to detract from the looks of the property. Make sure that you signs have pleasing and easy to read color combinations and deigns. A nice sign is all well and good, but without a placement strategy, it may not be as effective. Here are a few tips to consider where the placement of your yard signs is concerned.

    The placement of your signs is typically determined by the location of your property. In other words, if your house or place of business is located in the middle of the block, you’ll obviously want to place your signs at both ends of your property. If your lot is longer, you might want to consider placing an additional sign in the middle of your property as well as the ones on each end. We also suggest that the signs at the ends of your property are angled slightly so that they face the oncoming traffic as well as the street.

    Additional strategies include the following:

    • Signs should be placed in an upright position so that they are at a 90° angle to the ground and should not lean either backward or forward.
    • The signs should be sitting between 6 inches and a foot above the ground once you have them staked in.
    • Place the signs as close to the road as what city regulations will allow – it’s a good idea to check with your local authorities about the rules and regulations involved.
    • Another strategy involves the clumping of business or campaign signs in groups of from three to five yard signs using the same message on each, or a message that reads as a sentence from sign to sign.
    • Timing should also be a part of your sign placement strategy – in other words, if you’re planning a special time-sensitive sale, put your signs out the night before the sale begins and be sure to remove them the evening that your sale ends.

  • Five Marketing Cheat Codes That Will Help You Win at Small Business

    I grew up with a mom who was adamant that I always follow the rules.  Never hit, always do your homework, never cheat… It was while playing CatchPhrase this weekend with some friends that I discovered cheating is OK.  Bear with me for a moment. If you don’t know CatchPhrase, it’s a hand held electronic game that shows a short phrase on it’s digital readout while the beep beep beep increases with speed while you try to get your friends to guess the phrase so you can pass it to the next person for their turn.  After playing this thing all weekend, my wife and I noticed the phrases starting to repeat themselves.  My wife and I suggested we should find a new category or game to play.  But our friends never stopped!  They kept right on going along playing the game and passing it along.  It was then I realized that they weren’t cheating (as my mom would have told me), they were just getting better because they had played the game enough to have seen all the phrases and they weren’t going to let the fact that they knew the answers get in the way of their enjoyment of winning.

    So with my wonderfully competitive friends in mind, and the competitive space getting increasingly more threatening, this list can help you cut through the self imposed regulations you put on yourself that keep you from getting the success you deserve in your small business.

    Set Easy Goals

    Why bother with sky-high goals? Not saying you shouldn’t write down “Be a millionaire”, this is more about having something specific to shoot for like, “Sell Widgits”. Keeping it simple like this make sure that everything else you do is built around this primary purpose. It’s too easy to get distracted in today’s world with “value ads”, “it’s not what you sell, it’s how you sell it”, etc. Write this on the top of your to do list every day to remind you what your primary purpose is; it will keep you from getting off track.

    Take short-cuts

    My mom had me thinking it was better to take an “F” on my book report than to read the Cliff Notes.  I can understand that reading “Huck Finn” is a more than just book, but give me the gist of the story now and I’ll do the full read on my next vacation. I f there is a way to shave off time or money to get the job done, take advantage of it!

    Get Help

    It’s out there, and in more forms than you might think.  Sure, you could spend money on good consulting help – nothing wrong with bringing in an expert.  But I’m a people person.  I like surrounding myself with people that are smarter than me.  In addition, there are oodles of podcasts, RSS feeds, blogs, magazines, tweets, etc. that will give you  little bits of great information.  This kind of atmosphere keeps me learning, and keeps me humble enough to keep asking when I don’t know – or even when I think I do!

    Compromise

    There are two main types of compromise.  First is the kind where my wife is involved, not what I’m talking about here.  The kind of compromise I’m talking about is the Information Compromise.  It’s nice when you can make a fully informed decision.  Nice but rare.  My operations guy is detail oriented to the nth degree which is great! But he’ll spend 15 minutes mining data to get 80% of what we need, and several hours trying to get that last 20%.  Making decisions with partial information is a compromise, and I say make the decision and move on to the next one.

    Copy Somebody Else

    Mom said not to copy others so I naturally thought that I had to come up with completely original ideas.  Wrong!  Some of the best ideas is taking some other idea and improving on it! Just make sure to add you own spin to it to keep your business unique.

    Laugh

    Don’t take yourself too seriously.  Remember that creativity comes much easier when you’re not trying so hard.