The right sign can attract customers to your door
By Christine Selvig • Bankrate.com

"HERE I AM!"

That's what the signs you install outside your business call out to customers every time they pass your location.

Done right, signs do more than locate you. They inform and beckon, too.

You can spend a lot or a little on signs, but if you think about the number of people who pass by your business each day, signs are more than your company's welcome mat -- they're a great advertising investment.

Consider, for example, a sign that will last for five years, displayed on a relatively quiet street.

That CPM -- cost per 1,000 impressions -- is a fraction of the CPM cost of advertisements in newspapers, local TV or magazines.

Sign costs vary
The price of your sign will be affected by its size, quality and even where you are.

For instance, a 4 feet by 8 feet illuminated sign from the SignsByWeb.com Web site ranges in cost from $960 to $1,920, depending on the options selected.

Patrick Hanrahan, President of Mulholland Harper Company, a Maryland-based production-sign company, compares buying signs to shopping for a new car.

Establish your budget first and then and create a list of options that are important to you, Hanrahan advises. Knowing what you want and how much you want to spend will help you decide the kind of company you want to deal with.

The companies that make signs
There are five different types of sign companies, according to Hanrahan:

• Commercial companies produce large quantities of simple signs. Silk-screened products are among their specialties.
• Custom shops cater to local customers, making custom signs out of basic materials such as sheet aluminum.
• Production sign companies rely on economies of scale to give their customers reasonably priced, specially designed signs. Franchises or businesses with multiple stores frequently use production sign companies. Production sign companies often are associated with discount sign companies.
• Specialty shops usually offer a range of sign services, but generally excel at producing one or two types.
• Discount production companies reuse the tooling produced for earlier custom-designed orders to produce basic-sized signs for their clients at reduced prices.

If you plan to franchise your business or are developing a single company with numerous locations, you may want to start by checking with a production or discount production company. Commercial, specialty or custom shops should be able to meet most of the sign needs of a small business.

Think before ordering
The Yellow Pages offer a healthy selection of sign companies. Before making your first call, though, think about what you want to get from your new sign and try to determine the type and size sign and message you want to display.

Sometimes the sign type you choose is out of your hands. Landlords and city and county governments often have rules about what signs you can use. Mike Garbacz says governmental red tape delayed installation of the outdoor sign for his Jupiter, Fla., store, Golftime, for over a month.

Figuring out what a city requires is not always easy. Broomfield, Colo., for example, has 35 pages of rules and regulations about signs, according to the city's plans examiner, Don Gisi. While most signs are approved in 15 to 20 minutes, Gisi says, sometimes the permit process can take six months to complete.

-- Posted: Nov. 22, 1999