By Braun Bleamer
Posted on Friday, September 27th, 2024
I am not a salesman. I don’t want to be. But I do believe in getting my customers the most bang for their buck. For that reason, I offer everyone who comes in the door custom bundle packaging for the image of their business.
Many business owners have no clue that everything they have can match. It is simply a couple clicks of the mouse after I’ve created the master design, and they can have their very own bundle of business cards, site signs, t-shirts, billboards, office signage and vehicle lettering.
Oftentimes customers come through the door, wanting one type of sign and may not have ever given any thought to adding anything else. When the idea is presented to do multiple pieces of advertising from their one new design, the reaction ranges from amazement that I can do it all from my shop to relief that it’s one less thing they have to worry about getting somewhere else. I can offer a killer bundle package, and my customers get everything they’ve ever needed. It also means that they walk out the door satisfied.
I am a firm believer that everything for your business needs to match and look consistent. It makes you look much more legitimate and professional. Brand identity is important when the customers are looking for their signs to indicate who they are at a quick glance when the vehicle is driving by. When everything is consistent, it makes you look bigger—no matter if you’re a solo entrepreneur or a corporate fleet. You appear professional.
In today’s shopping world, everyone views the Walmarts and Best Buys as the big guys. That is because you see them everywhere and big business sells. The more you bundle your business into a look and feel that is consistent, the bigger and more powerful you become.
Bundle #1: Lawn’n I’ve been an acquaintance of Chris Talotta, through mountain biking, for years but never on the professional level. He had been saying forever that he needed to get his truck to me to be lettered. I finally got him to give me a business card complete with “Ren & Stimpy” artwork. This one needed help.
All Chris wanted was his trailer lettered. I asked a few questions, inquiring about the truck, as well. I went from wrapping the trailer in silver to showing him a mockup of his silver Chevy truck with lettering, as well as decking out the trailer. His response: “When can you do it?”
After two years of talking about it, he approved it on the spot. I decided to take it one step further and showed him a t-shirt design, site signs and business cards to match the truck and trailer. The approval came instantly on these, too. Until I introduced the bundle, he had never given any thought to having shirts with his logo or leaving a site sign behind on a job. The pricing was more than he initially wanted to spend, but the 20% to 25% discount on the bundle made the decision easy.
Bundle #2: Little Gap Landscaping Eric Costenbader is a young, local business owner who had his landscaping truck lettered by a cousin in “cookie cutter” mailbox letters. He came to me six or seven years ago to have a dump truck lettered. I had seen him around town, but it wasn’t until he bought a new F250 that he came back to the shop for more work.
I tweaked my original logo for the new truck design and recommended that he should also leave a site sign on his projects, wear his logo on a t-shirt and think about updating his business cards. He is a phenomenal landscaper who does incredible paver work but didn’t have the image to go with it. For years, Eric never had a site sign on the job. Now, he is in every week for more signs, and we can barely keep up with him!
Bundle #3: Grant Homes This homebuilder has been around since the ’70s and came to me, looking for an update. Their logo is now a newer version of what they had. I simply polished the look without veering too far from their original design to maintain their image with their established following. They originally came to the shop for site signs. They got wind of the bundle package and ended up going with new business cards, t-shirts, a new office sign and, ultimately, lettering on a fleet of vans. For them, the decision was a no-brainer.
Bundle #4: Braun Construction Last, but definitely not least of my bundle packaging customers that we have here is my dad, Gregg, owner of Braun Construction. In business since I was a kid in ’87, his first wave of trucks were lettered with standard, run-of-the-mill graphics. My first sales pitch as a teenager when I entered into business was begging him to let me letter his trucks, but he insisted they were “Okay.” I told you—I’m not much of a salesman.
My dad is a humble guy. Not flashy. Not wanting to be noticed. His talent, however, begs to be recognized. Whether it’s on the sports field or the construction site, my dad is definitely a force to be reckoned with. The guy who could’ve gotten all of his lettering for free didn’t feel the need for any of it.
That’s where he and I differ. I am of the mentality that when you’re good, you have every right to be flashy and noticed. It became my goal to give my dad’s business the look and feel worthy of who he is.
I eventually won out, convincing my dad that I couldn’t go around lettering other vehicles if I hadn’t even lettered my own dad’s! Now, years after he gave me the green light to run with making him become more visible, he wears his Braun Construction shirt to work every day. His van streaks by with the custom gold lettering. The latest home additions have his site signs proudly displayed. And, he has a business card every time he’s asked for one.
Any business from sole proprietorship to a major corporation has the need to take advantage of multiple marketing opportunities. The bundle package is a great way to educate them on tools they may not have even considered. And they can have them at a more affordable price, and quick turnaround time, by allowing me to turn one piece of artwork into five or six pieces of high-visibility advertising—delivering the consistent look that will build their image.
Braun Bleamer’s shop, Jet Signs, www.jetsigns.net, is in Palmerton, Pennsylvania.
This article appeared in the January/February 2013 issue of SignCraft Magazine.
