Nailed It!

Inspired Ideas – You Gotta Love It!

Have you witnessed within yourself a spark of creative inspiration lately? Perhaps a game changer for your business or even your life?

Here’s a “middle of the night” idea that inspires. Simple, good cause, good timing and great fun. Peter and Andrea plan to get married this summer. How are they going to raise money, a modest amount by today’s standards, to fund their special day?

Cans, wedding cans to be exact. Peter has always been a recycler, melting down cans into ingots, and then accumulating them for a run to the local recycler. So Andrea comes up with the idea in the middle of the night to recycle cans, 400,000 of them, to raise just under $4,000 by the end of July, this year. As of this writing they’ve recycled the equivalent of 75% or 300,000 cans in just three weeks!

They put together a website, www.weddingcans.com where you can track their progress. Like to contribute but you’re in Cucamonga, California? No problem! They have PayPal. Take your cans to the local recycler, catch a latte on the way home, and send the rest thank you very much!

Their web site www.weddingcans.com has gone viral – international, local and national television; the Morning Show (CBS) last week, numerous radio interviews, emails from around the world. Alcoa donated the equivalent of 150,000 cans and said the coverage has been more effective to getting out the recycling message than years of marketing – a worthy investment!

So stay tuned and recycle. Hopefully they will have their special day, at a castle in northern Idaho as planned. Meanwhile we will continue to accumulate cans – Instant Sign Factory is one of the drop-off points – and watch Peter, who runs our digital press, leave daily with bags of loot.

So what is Peter’s take on all this new found fame? He says it’s a fun ride but in addition to financing their wedding, it’s all about the message, “recycle!”

Isn’t it great to see great ideas work? Don’t forget to check out their website.

Get inspired! Good selling!

15% off all Trade show display signs, display graphics and display headers. Instant Sign Factory is a trade show signage specialist. Digital graphic signage for trade show displays and display signs, digital graphic decals on Lexan for trade show headers, vinyl decals or vinyl banners. Sale ends 1-31-10. Call us toll free 877-778-7446 for quote.

When graphical clarity, IMPACT and portability is a must we have the right products for your trade show displays. We can also design your matching vehicle lettering, vehicle graphics or vehicle magnets for your trade show event.

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Trade show promotional products stay in front of get used daily by your customers, and potential customers longer than any other form of advertising, are proven in their ability to draw initial and drive repeat sales. Order customized products to showcase your business and increase top-of-mind awareness with your customer base!

Fine Mineral Show

Window Lettering and Graphics

Why’s this so important? Because it’s all about you and your business! If designed properly, it sends a message, every day, all year long about who you are and what services and products you offer. It may not be as affective as hiring those talented, or not, individuals swinging those signs on corners for quick lube, pizzas or clearance sales – but there it is speaking to those either walking or driving by your business, in all weather conditions.

Affordable
Big bang for the buck on exposure or impressions. Sure, you can get a broader audience on TV or radio but we all know it’s about frequency, so how much can you afford? And it does work for some. But for those who drive by your business, the likelihood of them buying your services is greater than the individual on the other side of the county hearing a sound bite. It’s no wonder it’s one of our top sellers out of all our sales graphics, signs and decals.

What is the material?
Most of what we provide is adhesive backed vinyl. We typically cut lettering and images from a wide variety of vinyl colors but many times we digitally print graphics onto adhesive backed vinyl including pictures and four color graphics. We also offer a digitally printed perforated vinyl, similar to what you see on buses, that allows you to see out the window, but not in.

Easy to install
Although we install window graphics on demand for those in our immediate service area, most of what we sell can and is installed by the end user. We provide directions and rarely have we had to rerun graphics for a botched application in eighteen years.

The vinyl can be applied to the outside of the window which usually has the best visibility since many windows have UV inhibitors which can darken the glass. It can also be applied to inside of the window facing out. That usually applies to businesses on upper floors or in areas of high vandalism which is usually a greater concern than reality.

Design
Here’s the fun part – figure out what you want to say then plug it in to your available window space. If you have large windows, you don’t need to letter the whole area. If you have smaller windows you might have a series of “bullet points” going across a series of windows or even vertically on a window.

Don’t over do it. Be simple and readable for best impact. Good News! We can help you with your layout. Just send us dimensions of your windows and the elements of your message and we’ll send back layouts. Better yet, send us a digital picture of the store front with a few dimensions then we’ll do the rest in the proofing process.

The Static Option
Static clings can be an effective alternative. They can be small, placed near your entry door or they can be oversized, up to 4 feet or longer. We don’t recommend them for a semi permanent application since they have shelf life and the static is not as stable as vinyl over a period of time. Temperature, window grime, dirt, etc also can affect how it performs. But they are great for shorter term sales, promotions, etc.

Tips on Color
Before you decide to put your favorite color on the window check to see if it’s visible. I usually recommend taking a sheet of paper close to your color choice and tape it to the window. Take a look from the typical viewing distance and see if it has impact. The same goes for inside applications. The most popular color is white followed by mostly light colors. White outlines also help bring out other colors. Black disappears on glass – not recommended!

Removal of Vinyl
It’s easy – the materials you need is one of those razor blades with the plastic grip you find at every hardware and drug store and possibly a heat gun or hair drier to help loosen the adhesive. Just carefully lift an edge of the vinyl and pull it off. Sometimes I use either Windex or something similar to act as a lubricant for the blade so you don’t damage the window.

Lead-time
The typical lead-time is 2-3 days from approval of artwork.

Visit our website for window lettering applications to give you some ideas to leverage your business.

Good Selling!

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