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!

Holidays are Here, Let’s Get Festive!

Recently our customers have found our posters, many oversized, effective. Announcing sales, specials or promoting your products or services with a Holiday flair can be fun and productive at a great cost with quick turnaround. With our digital graphic capability let your imagination run wild! Check out our special for this month: Posters, 15% discount!

Customer Communication and Service

Ever had an existing good customer walk in your store or check out your website and say, “I didn’t know you offered those!” Shocking, right? Drives me nuts – good customers, happy with service, product, etc and they don’t know one of your major product lines. There are many ways to remind our customers of our widgets and services: web site updates, announcements, direct mail, and of course in store posters, banners, counter mats, signs and decals to do the silent selling and gentle reminders.

Inspiration for any time of year

Follow up to our blog “Inspiration” on Dawes Eddy who at 66 climbed Mount Everest last spring and who for several days was the oldest American male to do so. At a recent presentation of his feat, he reminded us that if nothing else, keep your “choices” of activities open by taking care of yourself, young or older. He said there are three things most of which we control, that can improve our quality of life:

Good genes – okay, not much we can do about that
Good diet
Regular exercise

No surprises but obviously helped Dawes accomplish his dream, quite a testimony for those wanting to keep “choices” plentiful.

Good Selling!

Recovery? Recession Over?

We’ve all heard the play on words lately! Is the “recovery” in sight or is it as elusive at that almost forgotten word “retirement”. Most businesses have had “survival” as their mantra the past two years and will continue as long as “uncertainty” reigns. Have we “bottomed out” or as Warren Buffet said recently mired at the “plateau at the bottom” not knowing if we’ll be here a day, weeks, or months.

To those of us as business owners or decision makers working in the trenches every day, our outlook will continue to be “cautious” with “restrained optimism”. So as we go forward with the newly defined “business as usual” we need to take advantage of the reported “green shoots” and up tick in the marketplace.

Businesses and consumers have been “hoarding cash” due to the “cloudy horizon”. But as confidence slowly increases and the businesses replenish “depleted inventories” which are at “historic lows” we should be in position to “reap the benefits”.

Those who are consistent with their message and exposure will be the first to have their phones ring and have increased activity on their website – both leading hopefully to sales!

Blogs, direct mail, specials, signs, vehicle graphics, decals, banners, window graphics etc – it’s inexpensive exposure and effective. “Stay on task” for there is still “rough sledding ahead” and we’re definitely not “out of the woods”!

The “good news” is that we have “weathered the storm” and that there is “daylight ahead” and that is exciting!

“Good Selling”

Perhaps the most hated words to our kids and really, most adults. A definite “fun sponge” effect when merely uttered.

However, to most business owners, it also signals activity. From software to signs, and everything in between, most businesses benefit from the increased activity schools generate. Especially important in tough economic times, schools and government should be an important prospect for doing business.

Take the time now to determine who does the buying at the local districts. Although the teachers may have summers off the administrative offices continue to operate and can be helpful.

Good Selling!