W.J. Strickler Signs

Posts Tagged ‘electric signs’

Do you think it is important to market and advertise? Have you had serious doubts about the effectiveness of your past and current advertising efforts? Do you wish you could measure its effectiveness? Would you use advertising that has proven itself? If you have answered yes to any of these questions, please read on.

It’s long been said that signage is the most cost-effective form of marketing. According to a new survey, it ranks pretty high in overall marketing effectiveness as well.

The recently released survey was conducted by Brand Spark International in conjunction with Better Homes and Gardens. The survey sampled 100,000 North American Shoppers representing the largest consumer survey of its kind.

The survey results surprised this “old sign guy” even!

• Would you believe data gleaned from the survey indicated outdoor signage ranked higher than the internet, radio and TV in its ability to advertised new products?
•  Some 29% of the the survey respondants said that they had been drawn into a store based on the quality of the exterior signage.
• More than 33% of those surveyed said that their assessment of a store’s quality was based on how attractive the stores signs were.
• Almost half of the respondents (49%) said they had driven by or failed to find a store because of unclear or effective signage.

So there you have it, signs do make a difference! Please visit our website http://www.stricklersigns.com/ to discover how you can benefit just like our customers have.

Stand Out From the Crowd
Welcome! 2011 is in full swing and one of the first words that comes to mind is Growth. We already know Spring time brings new growth to the trees and fields abroad, however this year I believe that growth has a double meaning. As our economy begins the long climb from a global recession, we too will begin to re-establish our market share and grow our businesses.

Spring Time is slowly coming to our neighborhoods, and that means that seasonal products and promotions will be making their way to the forefront of our “to do” lists. There is no getting around them! And I can’t think of a better way to assist you in the task then your Electronic Message Center (EMC) Sign.

Whether it be a seasonal product, promotion, event, etc., let your EMC work for you. Plan aggressive schedules now for spring time events and let your EMC put the word out and grow your customers enthusiasm.

Be Direct with Your Message!  It’s All About Presentation…
Speaking the truth is a good thing, just be careful how you say it.  Promoting honesty and integrity is a GREAT way to run a business.  Never belittle your audience.  Keep the content positive and precise.  In most cases you only have a brief amount of time to “get the word across”. 

Programming Tip – Spell Check is a Good Thing!
Don’t let an image of your sign be the next Internet sensation because of a spelling error.  Make sure to use the Spell Check feature located within the software before updating your sign.

Strickler Signs would like to welcome the following customers to our family of EMC Sign programmers.

Advanced Vein & Laser

Apple Automovive

Arooga’s Grille House & Sports Bar

Bob Ruth Ford

Grease Monkey

Heritage Valley FCU

Mountz Jewelers

SAVES Company 29

Universal Athletic Club

Thank You again for your continued support of W.J. Strickler Signs, and we look forward to being able to further assist you with all your onsite advertising needs again in 2011.  Please feel free to contact us if you have something you would like to see in future newsletters.

Bank monument sign with EMC

Electric highway sign with LED message center

On premise pylon sign with electronic message center

I will finish with a quote from a bank that utilizes message centers at all of their branches where local zoning allows. “It’s amazing to see how the offices with the LED signs tend to open more accounts than the offices without the sign, especially when we are advertising rate driven products on the message centers.

No doubt, the present may be the most economically tying time  most of us will experience in our lifetimes. It is imperative business owners and managers take care of themselves as well as the people they lead. What are you doing to stay positive and how are you helping those in your sphere of influence?

Keeping a positive mental outlook has been trying for me Our industry has been negatively impacted since November of 2007, and that is a long time to be in the ”trenches” battling to remain profitable. One can sometimes feel like a lab rat trapped in a maze and every attempt to exit the maze results in hitting a wall sooner or later.  I have had to make some tough decisions in reaction to reduced revenue, whereas these decisions take a toll on a compassionate individual, they also help to make us more business savvy. This new found acuity will serve as well as we move into the recovery phase. Our sharpened skills will improve our profitability in the future. This is one of my coping mechanisms helping me to rationalize our difficulties.

If you are abusiness leader, how are you coping? Are you sharing your thoughts with those close to you? Even though your compenstation has decresased, are you taking vacations? Are you connecting with your spouse and sharing your frustrations with them? Are you being proactive by creating plans to grow your business as the recovery continues? Are you doing something I have not mentioned?

Please don’t forget about your people. Maybe business leaders have more overall challenges than the rank and file during this time but the average employee is probably frustrated and a little scared right now. Those who have lost their jobs or had their income cut enough to produce financial hardship may have bigger problems than some CEOs and Presidents. What are doing to take care of your people? I have concentrated on being as translucent as prudent. We conduct quarterly State of the Union Addresses where I explain: where we have been, where we are now, and where we are heading. These meetings are very informal and much data and feelings are exchanged. It is critical to be open with your people and tell them the scary stuff as well as the hope for the future. If they do not know the state of the business it is very easy for their imaginations to fill in the blanks with very negative notions. It is your job to let them know as much as you can and in the process reduce their stress levels. Your employees can not function properly or provide proper customer care if they are working in a high level of anxiety, and besides, caring about them should always be your concern.

“However good or bad a situation is, it will change!”

In the second year of the Strickler Signs Fantasy football league, the league crown’s Jeff Kauffman (Estimator) 2010 league champion after he defeated Ron Phillips ( sign service tech) 107 to 102 in the leagues Superbowl.
Scott Kosack (routing & graphics) defeated Tim Wagner (installition & service) 87 to 61 to finish 3rd in league, while 2009 champion Bryan Strickler (company president) finished 5th by defeating your’s truly (shop manager/league commisssioner).
Here at Strickler Signs fantasy football is one way that we interact with each other as a family & group of friends to let off some steam and enjoy some friendly competition after working hours.
Other team owners in the Strickler Sign family league are Teresa Hall (office manager), Bill Hynosky(installation manager/estimator),Derek Gebhart (graphic design/EMC.tech),and Tammy Duff (office/billing).
In the fall and winter months of the year at Strickler Signs it’s game on. The spirit that flow’s thru the shop and office in the football season is unlike any other time of the year then again I love football and my spirit is always up in football season the fantasy league is just the icing on the cake.

Hey, are you aware of an exciting new business opportunity? The opportunity is a bright shiny new LED message center in your own front yard. Please click on the link to see what “Willie Days” has to say.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsaZ4RVrnpY

Willie knows that the power of and LED sign: WILL increase foot traffic, WILL increase revenue and WILL increase profit for your business! Remember, it’s fast, it’s easy! In all seriousness we have greatly increased our customer’s business in the past with message centers and we plan to keep on doing it. Here is a sampling of excerpts from actual customer testimonials; “I feel it is the best advertising dollars I ever spent”, “Our business increased about 25%”, and ” I personally was not sure we would notice a big difference, although we have!!!”.

 There you have it, a way to increase your business by making a one time capital investment that will bare fruit for many years to come.

Electronic LED signs have, and continue to increase our restaurant customer’s sales with double digit increase being the norm!

First off, let’s talk about what an on premise freestanding business sign really is, it’s “on site advertising”!  Please think about it, a sign is advertising to thousands of prospective customers every day. A properly designed sign is portraying who you are to twenty, thirty maybe forty thousand customers per day. These people have a lot of choices where to eat, using an eye catching sign increases your top of mind awareness. Adding an electronic LED message sign magnifies the affect. Stand out from the crowd, people need to eat at your restaurant, not your competitor’s.

An electronic LED message board gives you the capability to advertise your product and services on your own TV screen. You can say what you want, when you want to. For instance you can day-part. Imagine being able to advertise the food matching the time of day such as breakfast, lunch and dinner. You can advertise: specials, banquet capabilities, hours of operation, website address, awards and so on. By owning an electronic sign you control your own advertising destiny!

Here are some quotes from some of our customers. “One last note…we have seen a dramatic increase in our business since the sign was installed’,from John Stonik of The Corner Stable in Cockeysville MD. Frank Marciano owner of Genovas Restaurant said, ” Our business increased about 25% the year the pylon sign was installed, and we are confident the sign helped tremendously in that increase.” So there you have it, directly from real people.

The federal government even loves signs! Here is an excerpt from the SBA website “It is estimated that 35-50 percent of the consumer population today shops outside their local area. Legible, conspicuous on-premise signage will assist in attracting a large percentage of these non-local and newcomer consumers. Further, an effective on-premise sign provides 24-hour exposure of its message to a large pool of potential customers at a fraction of the cost (when depreciated over several years) of other media. The lower the cost to obtain customer memory or top-of-mind awareness, the higher the return on advertising dollars.” Please take the time to visit theSmall Business Administarion’s website for more facts about the value of signs

Freestanding business sign with full color LED message board

Business sign with LED electronic message board

Freestanding business sign with monochrome LED electronic message

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Have you noticed many businesses touting themselves as being green? I wonder how many really are.

 ”Being green” is the new cool thing, it can be a great way to attract web traffic to your site and add “curb appeal”.

I have noticed businesses in our industry, electric sign manufacturing, are using the green initiative to promote their business, when in reality they are merely using components common to our industry and projecting their actions as being cutting edge. Maybe you have experienced the same in your industry?

That’s enough about signs. Maybe some of the measures we have taken as a company could be used at your business?

My people have taken great satisfaction from planning through implementation of many earth friendly measures at Strickler Signs. We have a 12,000 square foot production area that was previously illuminated by fluorescent lamps powered by magnetic ballasts. We are saving about $175.00 of electric per month after converting the ballasts to energy efficient electronic ballasts. For years we have recycled our scrap aluminum, steel and copper. All of our waste cardboard and plastic sign faces are stored in bins with the contents being gathered periodically by the Adams County Rescue Mission, who then forward the material to the recyclers. Everybody also discards their plastic bottles and containers into a tub with the contents also going to the mission. Although it is time consuming, we collect all used mercury fluorescent lamps from our service department. When we have collected enough of these lamps we have them removed by a professional mercury recycling company. Now that’s how you do it! The everyday, humble, behind the scenes efforts make the most impact on saving our earth.

What are you doing? What could you be doing? I believe we all need to develop the proper mindset toward the environment. Environmental legislation helps, but real change must come from all of us being good stewards of the earth, and executing those little actions everyday that make a real impact from recycling to planting trees and much more.

Check out the following video to hear another expert opinion

Throw your bottles here for them to live again

Cardboard waiting to be used again

Plastic to be re-used instead of setting in a landfill for a thousand years!

You probably are familiar with LEDs in one shape or form, from LED flashlights to LED clusters replacing traditional bulbs or tubes. LEDs are actually “grown” and the acronym stands for “light emitting diode”. It takes very little current to illuminate an LED and that is a beautiful thing indeed! If you value saving money and the earth, stay alert, you will have many opportunities to purchase many new and exciting LED products as they are being unveiled daily.

The introduction of LED’s into the sign industry has been dramatic. Strickler Signs offers the following LED products: electronic message centers, fuel product price signs and Led illuminated channel letters.

Message center signs have experienced the greatest transformation with the introduction of multi colored units. Strickler Signs utilizes message boards from: Watchfire, Daktronics and Yesco. These signs have become very powerful weapons in the hands of small business owners. With the availability of displaying products and services on their sign through photos or video, owners are able to advertise to thousands of passing motorists and pedestrians daily. We have many testimonials relating our customer’s success.

Another “hot” LED seller is fuel product price signs. These eye catching LED signs display fuel prices at gas stations and convenience stores. They allow the owner to quickly change prices through their POS system. LED illuminated gas digits improve fuel sales.

LEDs are a great development. They are enabling us to communicate in ways that were previously impossible. They are allowing to save energy and help the environment. We have only begun to see their potential.

Full color electronic message center

 harris tv