Signage For Your Business

Signage For Your Business

Signage at your business's location is a very important part of your marketing. Your sign creates awareness about your business to the public. In a marketing series written by James and Susan Claus on the importance of signage for your business they note that when a when a site has been successfully "branded" with signage it reduces the need for a lot of other advertising in the area. Signs are there to get people's attention. Some locations rely totally on a sign to let people know that the business exists at all. Making the site planning become "signcentric" or based around the signage (Claus). In The Importance of Signage the Claus's also state that for a freeway business, almost 50% of their customers are not local so that a sign may be the only way to get their attention.

Signs must be the right height, size, easily read, and well lit to be effective. The content of the sign must be bold enough and not overly cluttered with information. A sign is trying to get your point across in the time frame that a passerby would have to read the sign. Having an effective sign at your location can be so important that it could even make or break your venture.

Source Cite

By. R. James Claus, PhD and Susan L.Claus, Marketing Series, Importance of Signage, Showcasing Your Business on the Street, www.danitesign.com

Pricing For Your Time

In a service based business, pricing for your time is very important. We never want to price too high or too low. If you price too high, people will want to go with a more affordable option, if there is one. If you price too low you may look cheap and people may think that your services are not valuable. Then there is the dilemma we all face when we work for ourselves and have to charge a friend or family member for service. I have made the mistake over and over again of not charging enough for my work, especially with people I know well.

Part of the reason people do not charge enough for their time is because they do not value their own skills. Sometime we may not feel as qualified as we really are and we sell ourselves too low. Being afraid of offending someone we care about if we charge them too much is a problem many of us deal with.

At the end of the day we go into business to support ourselves and our family. Your services are valuable and your time is as well. Even if you are working for people that you know. Many of my clients have became good friends over time and if I did not charge them a fair price I would not be able to do their service at all because I would have to go get a job somewhere else. People will pay for what they value and  those that know you well will pay you if they value you. There is nothing wrong with cutting people a deal sometimes if you can afford to but you have to take care of yourself and charge what is fair for you and your business to succeed.

Michael Jordan and Nike

Many celebrities make money from their endorsements of products and from their own brands, but one particularly impressive earner has been Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan signed on as celebrity endorser for Nike over 30 years ago. There was a deal set that if Michael Jordan did not sell at least $4 million dollars worth of shoes by the third year, then Nike could cancel his deal. Nike went on to sell $70 million in Air Jordans in the first couple of months. Even though this brand started so many years ago, and there are many popular athletes endorsing products now, Jordan's brand still brings in $2.5 billion in sales per year. The Jordan brand is still a very dominant one. Jordan has made a lot more money from his brand and endorsements than he did from his athletic career. He still makes $100 million a year from his sneaker deal. Jordan has also made millions from his endorsements of companies like Gatorade and Hanes.

Bundling

Product bundling is combining two or more services or products together to make the offer more appealing to the customer. Everybody likes to get more out of their money. Bundling can increase sales but it can also be risky if it is not done right.

Many different kinds of businesses bundle their products and services. Insurance companies and fast food restaurants are some of the first that come to my mind. Fast food restaurants offer combos that allow you to get the whole meal for just a couple dollars more than the sandwich alone. When you look at the cost of the items individually you see that you are saving money. Customers need to be careful when they purchase bundles to make sure that they are saving on the individual items, and to make sure that they are not paying for services that they do not use. Sometimes a customer will choose to try a new service or product that they would normally not try, because of a bundle deal, and then be interested in paying for that service or product again in the future.

Time is an important thing to think about when choosing to offer bundle deals. Some services require a lot more of your time to complete that others. If you offer a bundle option on services that take too much of your time for a lot less profit then you are losing money. This can also impact quality of service, because you may feel the need to rush to get more services done in time.