Walter Valiant, President of AmeriStamp Sign-A-Rama, is once again out of the building! I wonder if presidents of other companies spend as much time away from their building as Walter does. Anyway, here he is complete with hard hat, reflective vest, and what appear to be sturdy work boots. Where’s Walter, and what’s with the outfit?
The shiny blue fleet of cars with the bold Vibrant Home Healthcare name was unveiled this morning at the Washington Avenue office in Evansville, Indiana. These vehicles are sure to grab attention and help Vibrant ensure brand recognition in the 21 counties they currently serve.
Fleet vehicle graphics are an inexpensive way to consistently brand the vehicles of delivery personnel, technicians, maintenance workers, and other groups of mobile personnel your company employs. Learn more about our vehicle graphics solutions.
Another perk that the Vibrant team has recognized is by utilizing company-owned vehicles, less wear-and-tear damages the driver’s personal vehicles. This is very much appreciated by the Vibrant team members whose job it is to travel sometimes hundreds of miles a day to care for those entrusted to them. Well done, Vibrant, in taking care of your team!
“Vibrant Home Health Care has been providing home health services since 1991, is Medicare Certified and licensed in the State of Indiana, and serves 21 counties. We are dedicated to superior client care. When you choose Vibrant for yourself or a family member, you can take comfort in the fact that you have chosen the experts. Remember, you have a home health care choice!” – learn more on Vibrant’s website
Learn about other cultures by visiting the various booths at the event. Try your hand at making crafts. Experience cuisine from other parts of the world.
This custom rainbow-shaped sign will be announcing their “Read the Rainbow” program encouraging reading books from and about other cultures. A wide world of new experiences await! Give them a call at (270) 684-0211 for more information.
What books are you currently reading? And for bonus points, what was the last book you read that dealt primarily with another culture?
Diversification – the number of options for marketing your business has exploded. Gone are the days when a successful marketing campaign included in its entirety a phone book ad and a monthly fax-blast (remember those?). Traditional media like television, radio and billboards have definitely taken a hit due to “new media” like facebook, search engine marketing and vehicle wraps (hey, I HAD to throw that one in there). But, traditional media is not dead: Digital billboards, satellite radio and compelling cable programming have reinvigorated and kept these mature forms of media relevant. Since I know you’re going to ask about the Phone book, remember that scene in Monty Python’s Search for the Holy Grail: “Bring out yer dead…”; “I’m not dead yet”; “You will be in a minute”. Yeah, it’s kinda like that.
Perception – The perception of a company has always been a vital aspect of marketing success but in a day where a mis-handled facebook comment can send the perception of your company’s brand plummeting within 24 hours, you must be continuously watchful in how your brand is seen by your audience and agile enough to immediately (and graciously) handle negative comments. Domino’s Pizza has recently turned a very negative event (employees filming and posting a video of themselves doing rather disgraceful things while make pizzas) into an incredibly successful strategy of openness, customer involvement, and marketing using the same media that nearly crippled them. Nestle, on the other hand is still reeling from a couple of poorly handled situations involving their logo and environmental sustainability (read more). I won’t go any further with this but if you want more ideas on how perception drives marketing check out how Toyota has handled their safety perception issues and how BP has handled the aftermath of the oil spill.
Audience – your audience’s attention is fractured. No longer can you count on one marketing technique to hit your demographic consistently. However, this may be the most exciting change when you realize how to take advantage of it. Marketing metrics are scary-smart. For example, on facebook, you can target your ads to such a degree that George Orwell would be looking over his shoulder to see who is watching. Want to target fans of the Beatles who are Conservative and have had at least one job? No problem. Scary-smart. And if I’m not in your scope, I don’t have to hear about the products I’m probably not interested in anyway. And that’s kinda cool too.
What do you do now? So, as a business owner bombarded with marketing options, how do you choose a direction? You first have to start at the part of marketing that hasn’t changed much over the past several millenia and probably won’t change going forward.
Know your business – This should be the easiest one for you. What makes your business unique? What is your reputation? Why would someone buy from you and not the guy down the street?
Know your audience – Where are your audience’s eyeballs and ears? How and where do they spend their time?
Know your market – Offer your products and services at a price that matches the value they bring to the customer.
For each business, a unique marketing plan should exist. Beware the marketing company that tries to mash your marketing needs into their playdoh mold.
A few in-depth questions and potential scenarios for you to think about:
Is your target audience >55 years old? The fastest growing facebook demo is 55-65 year old females. (source socialnomics.net)
When someone approaches your store, what do they see? Does your storefront or exterior signs need an overhaul?
If you are sending out email campaigns through a service like Constant Contact, are you keeping an eye on clickthroughs, opt-outs, and your open rates? Do you need to revise your email strategy? Have you integrated your emails with your website, blog and Social Media presence?
When was the last time you took your best clients out to dinner to pick their brains about how they see your company?
Are companies in your area using LinkedIn? LinkedIn has one of the quickest ways to find the names of executives that you may like doing business with
What are people on twitter saying about your company, your products and your industry? Twitter offers this unedited, unfiltered, raw feedback of what people think.
What are some ways your company is marketing differently now than 2 years ago?
The Sign-A-Rama World Expo is consistently one of the biggest events of the year for us. Read more about our World Expo experiences. Each Expo, one of the nights is dedicated to a ‘theme’ party. This year’s theme: the 80′s! What are some of your favorite memories of the 1980′s?
shopSIGNARAMA.com is our latest advance in customer service excellence! Choose from 1000′s of templates or start your design from scratch. Your design is in your hands. It’s easy to use… play around with it and let us know what you think.
But have no fear, if you’d rather not be bothered with kerning and colors, our professional designers are here to assist you in promoting your brand and message to the world.
Choose from many different types of signs including:
Carolyn Wills has been with us since the Reagan administration. Joining our team in 1987, she has been instrumental in our rubber stamp division. If you have purchased a rubber stamp from us in the past 20 years, chances are, Carolyn had a hand in fulfilling your order.
It would be conservative to say that Carolyn has made hundreds of thousands of rubber stamps, self-inking stamps and pre-inked stamps. Her work spans the entire globe going to such far away places as Russia and Japan. Along with assembling rubber stamps and operating the laser engraver, Carolyn pitches in anywhere else we need a hand.
Always ready with a laugh, Carolyn definitely brightens the day. Thank you, Carolyn for your years of service!
The Sign-A-Rama World Expo was held in Orlando, Florida from July 28 – August 1. The Sign-A-Rama World Expo is an excellent time of learning, comraderie, and motivation for the hundreds of Sign-A-Rama franchisees and team members who participate.
This year, we were able to take one of our team members, Allison Hendricks, our Marketing Director. It is always an overwhelming experience as we talk with dozens of vendors, hundreds of Sign-A-Rama owners from around the world. But it is all so that we can come back to our independently owned and operated location and continue to grow and serve our community.
The 
So, as a business owner bombarded with marketing options, how do you choose a direction? You first have to start at the part of marketing that hasn’t changed much over the past several millenia and probably won’t change going forward.
A few in-depth questions and potential scenarios for you to think about:
shopSIGNARAMA.com
Carolyn Wills has been with us since the Reagan administration. Joining our team in 1987, she has been instrumental in our 
Well, we couldn’t find Walter but we did find a Wally!
