Change!
Stanley's is changing the way they bring you useful industry, technical, and management information. Instead of this blog and a monthly email, there will be a Monday-morning "newsmail" with two items of information to help you kick off the week.
Talk to Stanley’s first about Roland equipment
It doesn't matter if you've been in the sign game for some time or if you’re new to the industry and perhaps considering opening a sign shop, you should know that Roland offers impressive equipment. They have advanced eco-solvent printers and printer-cutters equipped with cutting-edge...
Mentoring
I’m a great believer in mentoring. I want to encourage you to be too, either as a mentor or a mentee. An excerpt from my book, Characters Who Can Make or Break Your Small Business, explains, “In the world of small business, ‘mentor’ describes an experienced and knowledgeable person willing to...
Roland introduces great new colour options
You should visit Roland's website to find out about their new colour options. Per Roland: "True Rich Colour has been refined to provide greater flexibility and control over colour output, while maintaining the core benefits of natural colour reproduction and ink maximization." Roland DG Inkjets...
Generosity as a marketing tool
Does your sign shop use generosity as a marketing tool? I recently unearthed a saved article that featured a sign company that every year gives away thousands in donated and discounted signs. This struck me as incredibly generous but then I realized that it is also a clever marketing strategy....
The difference between a good and a great designer?
This is some great short-and-sweet advice for new designers and a reminder for experienced designers from Mike Monteiro, co-founder and design director of Mule Design . . . ”A good designer finds an elegant way to put everything you need on a page (or sign or billboard). A great designer convinces...
Know and understand your margins
You don’t have to be a financial genius to know that profitability starts with margins. Margin in this case meaning “gross profit margin” which is the amount by which the selling price of the product exceeds the cost (all costs) to produce it. You need this margin because without it you won’t be...
Revisiting employee rewards
Employee rewards are a great way to boost morale but the usual, predictable, annual “rewards” like the Christmas party are not appreciated as much as you might think they are. Some of these events are among the most awkward and unenjoyable ever attended in my career. I've seen it all; feeling that...
Small doesn’t mean sloppy
The sign industry consists of printing companies large and small; some as small as one-person home-based shops. The problem for the smaller shops is that they are often competing for the same business as the bigger shops. And often the smaller shops are their own worst enemy in these situations by...
Textile shop featured in a sign industry magazine?
The Sign Canada September online magazine is out today and contains a surprise. A Toronto textile manual screen printing shop, Sugarbomb, is featured in an article titled, Stirring Up Passion and Precision. The question is, why? Why would a sign industry magazine feature a textile screen printing...
Sign Media annual salary survey
It's time again for the Sign Media Canada annual salary survey. And, as usual, you should consider participating mostly because it makes good business sense to support initiatives by one's industry associations.The more shops that participate, the better the quality of the results and the more...
The essence of customer service
How often have you had to deal with a “customer service” rep who didn’t have a clue what the job really involved? Haven’t you found that some of them are so poorly trained or unsuited to the job (which is really a management problem in either case) that you, the customer, far from receiving...
You can’t sell without product knowledge
In literature about hiring sales people it’s often stressed that in-depth product knowledge is an absolute necessity. You must know what it does, how to use it, what customers want from it, how to adapt it to unusual requirements, and so forth. But in many cases, given that the Canadian graphics...
Sign consultant?
I was looking through my collection of articles recently and found one about outdoor signs which advised sign customers that the role of signage in their businesses was too significant to forgo having an expert consultant. It urged sign buyers to think of the “sign consultant” not only as an...
Quality-checking signs
How carefully does your shop edit sign or billboard text? Here are some examples of billboard “typos” that probably cost the print shops in question each a repeat customer . . . Not eveything needs to be done in a New York Minute. ABC Chilren’s AcademySpotting typos Be a Biomedical Technincian...
Roland reducing waste with paper ink cartridges.
Roland has announced that in line with their commitment to environmental sustainability, they are replacing their plastic ink cartridges with eco-friendly paper cartridges. To clarify the impacts of this change, here are some question-and-answer explanations directly from the Roland website: Do I...
Partnership pitfalls
It goes without saying that a sign shop is not going to be successful if the necessary technical expertise is not there. But the other area of expertise that shop ownership demands is business management. Without it a business is severely handicapped. In fact, it’s usually the lack of one or more...
A deal from Roland and Stanley’s
Here's a limited-time deal that might interest you . . . The powerful VersaSTUDIO BY-20 printer bundled with the Vastex Powder-to-film Coating System with integral Conveyor Dryer. The price set by Roland is USD12,995 (a saving of USD995). The offer lasts until September 23rd. This is just some of...
Are you challenging your employees?
Hewitt Associates once published a statement of their business philosophy that included this piece of wisdom: "We believe that most people have capabilities beyond those they are called on to demonstrate in their jobs." My experience would lead me to agree with this. How often have you challenged...
Do you know this about blade and cutter settings?
According to Roland, one of the most common questions asked by printers new to the business or unfamiliar with Roland equipment, is about blade and cutter settings. Roland provides a Cutter Blade Reference Guide on their support page but, not surprisingly, it is often overlooked (even printers...
Do you deliver more than expected?
Larry Page (co-founder of Google) is quoted as having once said, "Always deliver more than expected." This is very good advice that the difficult conditions around COViD 19 pandemic drove home. Businesses were in tough against competitors all chasing fewer customers in a depressed market. It was a...
Does social media marketing really pay off for you?
I've just read yet another article in which the author recommends social media as an inexpensive way to brand and market a small business such as, for instance, a sign shop. It sounds so simple and, most importantly, the fact that it's said to be inexpensive can seem attractive. "Inexpensive" or...
A terms test. Do you know your stuff?
Some time ago, Roland wanted to know how many of these printing terms can you define. It's worth another visit. A link to the answers will be at the end. No cheating . . . Define: Die cut Kiss cut Colour gamut Spot colours Vector files Raster files DPI Spot UV effects RIP software Designs software...
Quick cleaning tip for your Roland
Roland has some important tips for keeping your printer working smoothly. And it's not just about routine cleaning and maintenance when the operator is at the shop, it's also about making use of the time that the machine is not working when the operator is away. Which means that this applies to...
How quickly do you respond to inquiries?
I recently had an all-too-common frustrating experience with arborists not answering their phones or returning voicemail messages and emails. I needed to have a 60-foot white pine trimmed and topped before the hurricane season down here on the South Shore of Nova Scotia. This is not just an...
The key to online banking safety
When you hire a new employee you'll usually give them the keys to whatever they have to access—possibly everything from the petty cash box to the front door—and you'll remind them about the importance of securing the building and all that's in it. You'll warn them about any possible threats and...
LATTE for frustrated customers.
A mnemonic used by Starbucks to train baristas for dealing with frustrated customers could be useful for your shop as well. Staff dealing with frustrated customers can directly affect your business. And there is no way to escape the frustrated customer—they're going to pop up once in a while. And...
Older posts are archived
For about 8 years, this blog has been steaming along at the rate of two posts a week. This last post is here merely to explain that older posts are archived and that we only show three-month's worth of posts in order to keep the site current and limited to a reasonable length. But, not to worry,...