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Lower Your Taxable Income by Adding Signage To Your Car
Tip #443 - It's a Wrap
Dear Tip of the Weeker,
One of Bob's favorite sayings is, "It's not your customers' job to remember you, it's your job to be remembered."
Whether you've been in business for 2 years or 28, you can never rest on your laurels. You have to come up with new ways to get noticed! This fun branding and customer acquisition idea comes from an email sent in by Tip of the Weeker, Donelle McAdams, a quilt store owner in Indiana.
Dear Bob and Susan,
In October, I had the back third of my Chrysler Town & Country van 'wrapped' in a quilt. Truly, it is called a wrap. The van is light teal blue and the quilt is teals, tan and brown. My store name, address, phone, and website address are overlayed on the quilt on each side and the back window.
It's a moving billboard, seen all over town and durable up to 3 years. It cost me the price of 3 months of a regular billboard.
And all I can say is WOW!
I had no idea the attention it would get from the community. They are used to seeing the contractors, plumbers, electricians, etc. with that kind of signage but not the quilt store! My son's high school buddies stop me and talk about the van, students at the college talk about the quilt van, check-out people ask me about it, and the servers in the eateries ask me if I am "driving that quilt?" It certainly gets attention!
However, more importantly, we have seen a whole slew of new customers, new sew-ers wanting to learn quilting, people coming out of the woodwork during what is usually a slow time for us.
I have been in business for 28 years, 26 in the same location, and I am hearing from these people, "I didn't know you were here."
The only thing I can attribute it to is my QUILT MOBILE!
But a word of caution, when you do it, you are now visible everywhere you go. People know when you go to the post office, the bank, out to lunch, etc. And they tell you where you were. They will let you know that they saw you! To me, that just justifies why I did it. Keep the name and the thought in front of them. On the lighter side, after I convinced my husband, he said, "What will that look like going to a funeral?" I said, "If it's mine, put me in it!"
Just an idea, but it is working for me!
Donelle McAdams, SEW BIZ Inc., Marion, IN
Of course, we had to have a picture of the "QuiltMobile" to share with you, so we asked Donelle to send a snapshot...
Very fun!
And talk to your accountant - this kind of signage could make your car a business expense and lower your taxable income.
If you're interested in wrapping your own car, just type 'car wraps' with your zip code into your favorite search engine. You'll have a myriad of possibilities to choose from!
Wishing you great sales and lots of fun,
