Welcome to The Hand Lettering Forum!
This is an interactive Bulletin Board on the topics of Sign making, design, fabrication, History, old Books and of coarse Letterheads, Keepers of the craft. The Hand Lettering Forum features links to resources, sign art history, techniques, and artists profiles. Learn more about Letterheads at https://theletterheads.com. Below you'll see Mchat has been added as a live communication portal for trial, and the Main forum Links are listed below.

Tips on Creating More Business, or being more efficient

Hand Lettering topics: Sign Making, Design, Fabrication, Letterheads, Sign Books.

Moderators: Ron Percell, Mike Jackson, Danny Baronian

Post Reply
Mike Jackson
Site Admin
Posts: 1705
Joined: Tue Apr 06, 2004 11:02 pm
Location: Jackson Hole, WY
Contact:

Tips on Creating More Business, or being more efficient

Post by Mike Jackson »

Hi Forum Readers,
It seems many of us are slower this time of the year in general and this year is slower than most. At least that's the pulse I get when talking to people.

I'd love to let this forum highlight ways of jump starting our businesses during the slower times. If you are doing something that is working for you, or are brainstorming something that you hope would work for you, consider posting it here. If you are finding ways to consolidate expenses, that'd also make a good post.

For example, some people are opting to drop their personal land lines (telephone) and use their cell phones for most of their calls. That can save money, but of course, it is hard for anyone to get your phone number if visiting from out of town. Some people are opting to combine Internet, Phone, and TV into one broadband cable package. I've thought about it, but at the time I was asking questions, the telephone company said it might not work with the analog connections necessary to run my credit card sales. Maybe the cable company has a fix for that?

Some people reduce their yellow page ads during slow periods and others increase the size of their ads? I don't have a strategy for that one but it is worthy of conversation.

Each year, I take a class or two at the Junior College to keep my student classification. Besides the knowledge gained in the Photoshop or Web Design classes, I also get to buy most of my software at student pricing.

So, if you have ideas to share, please do so here on the Forum. Add them to this thread or make your own!

Mike Jackson
Mike Jackson / co-administrator
Golden Era Studios
Vintage Ornamental Clip art
Jackson Hole, WY

Photography site:
Teton Images
Jackson Hole photography blog:
Best of the Tetons
Frank Smith
Posts: 18
Joined: Fri Nov 02, 2007 9:03 am
Location: Albany, NY
Contact:

Re: Tips on Creating More Business, or being more efficient

Post by Frank Smith »

We get all in one service from Road Runner and everything works great; the credit card terminal (omni 3200) has no problems with it, don't know what I'd do without it.

We saved a small fortune by weaning ourselves from the 3 yellow books here in Albany. New business comes from having a great website, which I maintain myself. New business also comes from word of mouth, or reputation (30 years in business).

It also comes from something I learned from a Signcraft article of yours, Mike: good-looking postcards. I address and mail the postcards myself and think twice before wasting postage. Right now thrift shops are a good example. We mailed out about 20 postcards to the local ones because they're currently thriving and might have a few extra dollars for signs and other advertising. My reasoning is that they should want even more success and can get that by looking better than their competitors. We got our first inquiry yesterday and will be repeating the mailing in a week or so.
Post Reply