Hey guys i have been thinking about using yard signs, has any body tried using them? Any success?
I was thinking at using them for customers that live on high traffic streets and maybe a few other places.
Thanks
Pros: Good exposure. You’ll get some jobs from them.
Cons:Competition will steal them. City ordinances for the most part are against them. Check with the signage rules for your community or the communities you work in. I know that most cities will allow them if it is on the property that you did the work on. Some exceptions are the gated and golf course communities. They have really strict rules on yard signs. They view them as clutter. Ive never seen a “another job done by” sign in any of the gated/golf course communities that I have done work in.
Steve
We have used yard signs in the past. Very good for the neighbors to see and for passers by. But, they always seemed to get lost or damaged. Weather they flew out of the back of the truck or had equipment dragged over them. Some how… they all disappeared. Keep in mind, this was not over night, it was over about 2 or 3 years. All and all, I feel they are a great investment. You can have them made for relatively inexpensive and they will pay off fast.
And sometimes forgetting them in a very nice neighborhood is not the worst thing in the world.
Yeah - and I never intend to drive around and pick them up. Mine cost me $4 each, and I think of it as “residual” advertising for my company for the days and weeks after a residential job is completed.
I let the homeowner dispose of it when they’re sick of looking at it. Usually averages a few days.
I tried the “leaving it on the side of the road” method, and my results were not impressive. In fact, it probably irritated many prospective clients, harming my company’s image.
I don’t recommend that you do that with them, now.
were did you get them for 4 dollars each
They are simple ‘wire-frame’ signs, printed on white plastic bags.
Sounds primitive, but does the trick.
I got them from a local printer. Minimum order of 100.
So, $400, including the wire frames.
We use yard signs at every job. when the guys pull up to a house they stick a sign out front. When they are done with the job they take the sign out. The reason we do this is because we work in mostly high end neighborhoods and people don’t want a sign left out in front of their house. This system has worked really great for us so far.
Doesn’t your lettered vehicle serve the same purpose?
Have you been able to track how many job you got from this? Not doubting you but great is a relative term, could you be a little more specific?
Not to get off the subject too far, but I thought I’d share something that I learned at this years convention that I thought was a good/unique idea.
One thing Jason Evers mentioned in his professional image presentation was that they park on the street and put out BIG safety cones whenever they are at a job - why? Like he said - what to you do when you see safey cones? You slow down and look to see what’s going on. This draws attention to you.
Like Larry said, I feel the my van/lettering serves the same purpose as a yard sign (at least as long as you’re at the property).
As Larry said - doesn’t your van do the same job? I’d like to see an example of the yard sign, from anyone that has one.
Jason - if I put cones out, they would get stolen!
The truck does serve the same purpose. However, our signs are bright yellow with Black Lettering, our trucks are not. Also, we usually park in the driveway and not on the street. Like I said we work in very high end neighborhoods and sometimes the driveways are very long and you can’t see the trucks.
Our signs are very bright yellow with black lettering, they have our logo and phone number. They are easy to read!! The more we put them out the more apt people are to see them over and over again which is where brand recognition comes in. We want people to remember us when they think about window cleaning.
We also happen to live on a main road and keep a sign out in front of our house all the time!!
Our lettered trucks are great advertising and do get us quite a bit of work, but when people can’t see the trucks they do us no good.
By great, we get at least 2 jobs a week from yard signs. I guess its great because the signs were inexpensive, around $5.00 so and the first job we got from them more than than paid for them, so any job from then on is just fluff.
They’re in reality like free advertising.
Post a picture for us?
How many signs do you have out at any one time?
we run three crews so at any one time we have 3 signs out. Sometimes if a person lives on a main road we will ask to leave a sign out for a few days.
That’s a great return. Love the sign BTW. Most sign I see like this use the same generic lettering and text. “Window Cleaning, Free Estimates, Call 555-3927” BORING!
Thanks we like the sign too… bold, easy to read!!! It really serves the purpose on Brand Name recognition for us. Truly yard signs have been a very small investment with big return!!!
I post 'em up in front of the customer’s home, whenever I can.
And actually leave 'em there when I finish … gets me lots of calls!
Some (CC) country club’s I work inside of won’t allow 'em in the yards, so I learn 'em against the front and back end of my truck.
That way folks can see 'em as their com’n towards me in each direction.
Another great investment for your company that will pay for it’s self, times over!
when we have a job in a filthy rich neighborhood ill put up a sign at the entrance a couple days before we start, then when thewy see u working in there we usually get a couple more 
