Hello San Antonio! We need your help! Our beloved van, Chuck Norris Etta James is looking a bit worn down. The Sign A Rama team has decide to create a new van wrap, that is colorful, attention getting and informative. Unfortunately our designers couldn't agree who had the best idea. Our first thought was to settle this with an old fashion 80's dance off, but since they are all too old and I am pretty sure our insurance won't cover it, we have decided to have a design showdown.
So we need your help in choosing a winner and the new look for our beloved van "Chuck Norris Etta James".
The Rules: Make itn informative, attention getting and awesome!
The Contestants: Juan "the oracle" Hernandez
Roland "Ochenta" Zavala
Auggie "Ice Man" Bravo
The Prize: For Us: Design Supremacy!
For You: Your participation will enter you for a chance to win a small business package consisting of: 3x6 full color banner. 1000 Business Cards, free vehicle wrap design and 3 months of advertising on "Sir Chuck Norris".
Stay tuned more to come...
The challenge of running your business and growing your business can be overwhelming. It is important to balance your time between the high value activities that will have the greatest impact on your organization.
Recently our team look at focusing on time management to increase our efficiency and how we delivered to our customers. In doing so we came across Brian Tracy's "Eat That Frog". Which talks about taking on the activities you must complete on task at a time. Here are few lessons we learned and have adopted peronally and as a team. We think they are great tools for any person or organization looking to improve their outcome in life.
1.Set the table: Decide exactly what you want. Clarity is essential. Write out your goals and objectives before you begin;
2. Plan every day in advance: Think on paper. Every minute you spend in planning can save you five or ten minutes in execution;
3. Apply the 80/20 Rule to everything: Twenty percent of your activities will account for eighty percent of your results. Always concentrate your efforts on that top twenty percent;
4. Consider the consequences: Your most important tasks and priorities are those that can have the most serious consequences, positive or negative, on your life or work. Focus on these above all else;
5. Practice the ABCDE Method continually: Before you begin work on a list of tasks, take a few moments to organize them by value and priority so you can be sure of working on your most important activities:
6. Focus on key result areas: Identify and determine those results that you absolutely, positively have to get to do your job well, and work on them all day long;
7. The Law of Forced Efficiency: There is never enough time to do everything but there is always enough time to do the most important things.
8. Prepare thoroughly before you begin: Proper prior preparation prevents poor performance;
9. Do your homework: The more knowledgeable and skilled you become at your key tasks, the faster you start them and the sooner you get them done;
10. Leverage your special talents: Determine exactly what it is that you are very good at doing, or could be very good at, and throw your whole heart into doing those specific things very, very well:
11. Identify your key constraints: Determine the bottlenecks or chokepoints, internally or externally, that set the speed at which you achieve your most important goals and focus on alleviating them;
12. Take it one oil barrel at a time: You can accomplish the biggest and most complicated job if you just complete it one step at a time;
13. Put the pressure on yourself: Imagine that you have to leave town for a month and work as if you had to get all your major tasks completed before you left;
14. Maximize your personal powers: Identify your periods of highest mental and physical energy each day and structure your most important and demanding tasks around these times. Get lots of rest so you can perform at your best;
15. Motivate yourself into action: Be your own cheerleader. Look for the good in every situation. Focus on the solution rather than the problem. Always be optimistic and constructive;
16. Practice creative procrastination: Since you can’t do everything, you must learn to deliberately put off those tasks that are of low value so that you have enough time to do the few things that really count;
17. Do the most difficult task first: Begin each day with your most difficult task, the one task that can make the greatest contribution to yourself and your work, and resolve to stay at it until it is complete:
18. Slice and dice the task: Break large, complex tasks down into bite sized pieces and then just do one small part of the task to get started;
19. Create large chunks of time: Organize your days around large blocks of time where you can concentrate for extended periods on your most important tasks;
20. Develop a sense of urgency: Make a habit of moving fast on your key tasks. Become known as a person who does things quickly and well;
21. Single handle every task: Set clear priorities, start immediately on your most important task and then work without stopping until the job is 100% complete. This is the real key to high performance and maximum personal productivity.
Practicing these principles each day will drive you toward sucess in achieving your goals and maximizing your time and efforts more wisely. All you have to do is "eat that frog". Our fearless leader Daniel Peavy may have taken the metaphor a little too literally as he challenged us all to do just that EAT THAT FROG!
Small business may often see a disconnet between there sales and marketing efforts. This can be a costly mistake leading to missed sales goals. Aligning your sales and marketing is an essential piece to business success. A recent study of sales and marketing professionals found that 70% believed there is room for improvement of their alignment of sales and marketing iniatives.
Marketing and sales are both necessary to generate revenue and both need to be in perfect alignment; as marketing is the strategic approach, while sales is the tactical actions necessary to generate sales and increase profits.
Some of advantages to aligning your sales and marketing efforts include
- Creates customer demand
- Brand & Communication consistency
- Transition customer through buying cycle
- Design customer oriented messages
- Align product/services with customer needs
- Increase efficiency of sales cycle
Customers today have greater options and are looking for the best value to meet their needs. By aligning sales and marketing process small business can increase the percieved value of there brand and meet customer needs, while making the buying experience seamless. The results will be an increase in sales conversion rates and increase revenue.
When I was younger my dad and I use to paint flouresent acrylic graphics for the holidays. It was a great way for us to make extra christmas money and something that we shared together.
When I moved from LA to San Antonio, I never really picked it back up and as I got married, got busy with work, had kids, My tradition soon fell to the wayside.
I called my dad the other day to see if he still does it but like me it soon stops when I moved. I told him when he comes down next Christmas maybe we can hit the art store and pick up this great sign makers holiday tradition. Who knows maybe this can be something I can continue with my kiddos. ~ AB
One of the busiest shopping days of the year is less than two weeks away and stores are gearing up for the onslaught of customers. The Tweets are going out, advertisements are being leaked, and social media is buzzing with speculation on this year’s great deals. What is your business doing to stand out on Black Friday?
With thousands of shoppers moving past your doors on Black Friday you need something to grab their attention and make them want to come inside your store. Facebook, email, and the internet are becoming the preferred way of reaching out to customers, but stores often overlook the traditional advertising mediums. Banners, window graphics, and point of purchase displays are all great ways to attract customers and increase sales as they scour the malls. The message, however, is as important as the medium. You need to have a great hook to draw the customers in. All stores are having a “SALE!” You need to do something that will stand out – “2 for 1, 50% OFF, FREE SNUGGIE WITH YOUR PURCHASE.” Give customers a reason to come into your store! Good luck during the shopping season!
“A business without signs is a sign of no business.”
Over the last 20 years and certainly during the internet boom of the 90’s, the sign industry has grown and changed with technology. One of my favorite tools that I like to use with designing signs is the internet. I use web images to incorporate with my sign designs, look for corporate logos that customers don’t have and use cleaner images the internet may have that a customer does not. Some of the tools that I used to use like scanners or clipart disk are still helpful but getting used less and starting to collect dust from inactivity.
The internet not only helps with the quality of the sign design but the speed of the design. Before I would have to scan an image, import it into Photoshop to clean it up then import it back to design or look for a book of clipart with 2,000 pages of images that would sometimes not have what I was looking for. On the internet, I just type what I’m looking for and within seconds, I’ll have the image I was looking for. The internet has really made my job a lot easier and has helped me create quality signs for our satisfied customers.
Roland Zavila, Graphic Designer