Vinyl Banners - Easy as 1-2-3

Recently I have had several of my clients contact me directly to order their vinyl banners, which is good. The reason the have done this though is not so good. It has been because they said that my website is just too complicated.

Now standing so close to my website as I do it is very difficult for me (if not impossible) to accurately judge how simple or how complicated my vinyl banners site is to use.

Obviously my aim with my site is to help as many people as I can with a good quality - cheap vinyl banner, and the more people I can help get what they want in the form of a vinyl banner, the better it is for me. I have always believed that in business as well as other aspects my life that everything should always be a “Win Win” situation.

So in this post I am going to explain how simple getting your own vinyl banner can be. To do this I have broken the banner ordering process into three simple steps.

The Three Steps to Owning a Cheap Vinyl Banner;

1. Decide on the size of vinyl banner you need. This is not too difficult, the only considerations you need make are what size of vinyl banner you need in conjunction with how much you want to spend. My cheapest vinyl banner is my 1800mm by 600mm entry level banner. These start at just $99 (Australian Dollars). Easy.

2. Step two is to decide on what you want your banner to say. This may include a picture of your choice that you want to include on your banner (check out my new vinyl photo banners), or just settle on the message you would like to get across to people who will be looking at your banner. Nothing really tough here either… well I hope not. You can also just send me a copy of your artwork or email me your ideas. I will happily create a draft copy of your banner ideas for you, and email it to you for approval or for any changes you would like. Once you are happy with your design we can get started.

3. Now step three is where things get complicated. Once you know the size of your vinyl banner, and you have decided on your message and design, you send me an email telling me what you want and I make it happen for you. Of course I will expect some payment from you for your banner, though Ill bet you guessed that anyway!

That’s about it. You decide what you want, the size, your design and special message. Then all you have to do is to let me know about it. Now that’s not too difficult is it?

By the way, if you do have any suggestions that you think will make my website easier for you to use, to say thank you I will give you 10% of the price of your next vinyl banner order (this offer doesn’t include my specials – they’re cheap enough as it is!).

Thanks for reading

Wishing you the best of success

Steve

Or How to Erect a Mini Billboard. – Part 2

Welcome to part two of “How to Erect a Mini Billboard” using your vinyl banner.

We have already covered steps one and two about keeping your vinyl banner level and making sure you get it as high as possible. This week I will cover the third and in my opinion, just as important step “How to tie your Vinyl Banner”.

I will assume you have already have an appropriate location in mind, one with high visibility, and plenty of passing traffic and somewhere where your local council won’t take your vinyl banner down for you – unannounced.

What we want to achieve is a way of tying your banner so it won’t sag over time. There is no point in going to the trouble of making sure it is the right height off the ground and that it is nice and level if it sags within 24 hours of your putting there in the first place.

I usually use nylon rope to tie up my vinyl banners, it is cheap and very strong. I tie the rope to the eyelets in each corner of my banner making a small loop that goes through the eyelet rather than not it directly. This allows the eyelet some degree of freedom to move and it helps prevent the banner scrunching up in the corners.

Most of the banners I use personally are the temporary Billboard style that you see while driving down a road. The one pictured above is my $99 banner, the size being 1800mm x 600mm, you can see that this size can be very effective (see my previous post).

I look for two trees about a third further apart than the width of my vinyl banner (so in this case about 2.4 metres apart), I want them to be angled in such a way that they will allow the banner to face the on coming traffic squarely at about 100-150 metres. This is allows my banner to come into maximum view while it is at a range where it will catch the eye as well as able to be read.

To make certain that your banner remains neat and easy to read, tie your ropes so they split the corner of you banner. Imagine your banner was on a “Rack” and you wanted to stretch it in all four directions at once. This helps keep your banner surface flat, exposing the maximum message potential of your vinyl banner in the clearest manner possible. If it sags without your holding it or a wind pressing against it, chances are that it needs to be tighter or the ropes need to be spread further apart. (see last weeks post)

As I said I tie my banners along road ways, and usually to trees. My favourite trees for this use are one solid sturdy tree with a younger flexible, partner (a bit like life really – however I digress).

Tying you banner between these two types of trees allows you to load the smaller tree a little. This not only acts as a shock absorber in a high wind, it will help keep your vinyl banner looking neat and tidy as a result of the gentle pressure being applied by the smaller tree. This is very important to keep getting the most from your investment over a period of weeks.

I hope this helps you get the maximum from your banner, if you gave any thoughts or need some help, email me or leave a comment on the blog. I will get back to you as soon as I can.

Cheers

Steve

Or How to Erect a Mini Billboard. – Part 1

Once you have your vinyl banner it is obvious it will do you no good at all until someone sees it. So this week I have decided to share three simple steps I always use to make sure my banners look their best and as a result give me the most impact for my dollar (ROI for all you Accounting types).

Today I will cover the first two steps and next week I will cover the remaining step of how to tie your vinyl banner.

Pictured above is an example of how I like to display my vinyl banners (yes I do use my own vinyl banners to promote my website and yes Vinyl Banners do work!).

This image is one I took this morning on the way into the office (with my iPhone). I put this one up early last evening. It is hanging at the entrance to an industrial estate in the Lake Macquarie town of Morisset in New South Wales (about 20 minutes drive from my office).

The first thing to make sure of when displaying your vinyl banner is to make certain it is as close to level as you can make it. Few things look more slipshod than a vinyl banner at an odd angle, this is a definite No No!

The second most important thing to consider is the height of your banner. I have touched on this in a previous post so I won’t go into to too much detail here. You want to have your banners base (the bottom seam or lower ropes) ay least 2 meters of the ground. Ideally we are trying to keep it above hand height for two important reasons.

Firstly the higher you banner is from the ground, the more easily it will be seen, secondly by keeping it above normal hand height it will be fairly safe from being removed and also safe from vandalism.

You may need to invest in a ladder if you don’t already have one. A medium size step ladder should do fine and you will still be able to stow it in the boot of your car.

I will finish up next time with the all important third step. How to select a good location for your vinyl banner and how to tie your banner so it will remain looking good for the maximum time possible.

I will post Part 2 Next week…

Cheers

Steve

Vinyl banners colour & size are important

To get the most impact from your vinyl banner, you not only have to consider the size of the font (the character size) you use. Proper use of colours is also vitally important to the overall effect.

New vinyl banner buyers will often concentrate on making their new banner look nice. Now this is certainly very important, though keep in mind the main purpose of your banner is to deliver your message.

Company colours of course have to be taken into account, though if your message gets lost because of your company colour considerations there is no point in having a vinyl banner to promote your business or organization in the first place.
One of the most important factors in choosing good colours for your vinyl banner is contrast. The colours with the highest level of contrast (no surprise here) are black and white. I know that these are not really colours in the true sense but lets not get side tracked.

Black text on a white background is usually the best, though white on black is also OK if you have some degree of back lighting. White on black for instance is fine for ads on your computer monitor.

The reason we don’t see much black and white used for advertising purposes in the real world (apart from news print) is mainly because it is boring. Think of the last newspaper you read, your eyes usually gravitate towards the coloured ads, not the black and white.

That said, this does not mean that we should use all the colours of the rainbow either. Ideally what we are looking for is a combination of high contrast, eye catchability (yes, I just made up that word), as well as something that is easy for us to digest visually.

The simple answer here is yellow background and black text. This combination answers the contrast question, yellow and black demonstrates about 70% of the contrast of black and white while at the same time offering an eye catching space to look at that is also easy to read.

Have a look at the example image included with this post, examine it from several different distances and see which colour combinations are the easiest for you to read.

There are certain situations where you have no choice with the colours you have to use on your vinyl banner. In some instances we can cheat a little by adding a fine black border to the banner text we use.

This increases the contrast around the text as well as helping our eyes to separate the text from the background. This technique is used when the overall contrast is low. Have a look at the sales banners and business banners in the b2bjv.com website. You will see I have used this method on many of the banners to improve there legibility.

If you have any questions about this feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I will be happy to help you.

Cheers

Steve

Banner Text Size and Distance

As I mentioned in my last post I am going to start to pass on my experience with using vinyl banners as promotion and marketing tools for your business. In this first instalment we will the important aspect of banner size.

Many people think that bigger is better when it comes to a vinyl business banner and to a degree this is true. A larger banner can help to get your message across though in my experience it is not the most important factor to consider.

By their nature a vinyl business banner should be viewed in terms of a vehicle to deliver one simple business message. Trying to fit as much information as possible on your banner is a self defeating proposition.

The more information you try to cram onto your banner in an effort to get your monies worth, they less effective your banner becomes.

I am sure you have seen vinyl banners waving proudly in the breeze so filled with text and images that you would need to be standing in front of the banner for 5 minutes to take it all in…. this is the wrong approach.

Most vinyl banners have to be digested in 3 to 5 seconds and that being the case you want a message that can be read in about this amount of time. Banners do their best work in catching the eye of passing motorists or pedestrians, and regardless of how intriguing and important we think our messages are, your banner at best has only one chance to plant your message in the mind of your prospects.

There are of course some exceptions to this. If your vinyl business banner is indoor where people are milling past, like a trade show for instance more information is fine. Though to catch people – clients outside of this type of venue, short and straight to the point is the order of the day.

At this point it is important for you to know what size your banner text (or font) needs to be to so it can be read at the distances over which it will be seen. The numbers in the table above are a rule of thumb guide and you should allow a little extra margin for error to allow for easy digestion of your message as well as catering for your prospects who don’t have their glasses (spectacles) with them.

Well that’s all for this time round, my next post will cover the colours and contrast you should consider when selecting a vinyl banner for your business.

Best of success with your next promotion.

Steve

Get Your Vinyl Banner Right

For anyone in business, the search for cheap effective ways to promote your organisation is an ongoing battle.

Getting your businesses noticed, whether it is a brand recognition campaign, a sales promotion or merely reminding new and existing customers about your products or services, promotion is one of the most important functions we have as business owners.

One answer to this problem is the humble vinyl business banner. The vinyl banner is a cheap, effective, mobile and long lasting solution to promoting any business.

When you compare the price of a custom vinyl business banner with other forms of advertising, the Yellow Pages or a local news paper ad for instance, the economy of a vinyl banner becomes very obvious.

The trouble is that so many people who decide to use a vinyl banner as a promotional tool simply get it wrong.

How many times have you seen a vinyl business banner along a busy road or outside a place of business where you could simply not tell what the banners message was? The answer to this (at least in my case) is more often than not.

At this point many business owners throw their hands in the air and say, vinyl banners don’t work. This is not the case. If you get your business banner right, they can help drive more business your way, sometimes for years at an extremely small cost.

Over the next few weeks I will pass on a few tips about what I have discovered on how to get the most out of your next vinyl banner promotion. I hope these insights help you and your business to become even more successful.

Merry Christmas to you and yours, and a very Successful year in 2009.

Cheers

Steve.