Marketing and Reaching Out Directly to Schools and Facility Directors, and More To-Do Items for Sign Managers in July

JULY 2-8

PLANNING July sees many shops — including Sign-On Enterprises (Burkburnett, TX), Image360 Tucker (Tucker, GA) and Signarama Covina (Covina, CA) — marketing and reaching out directly to schools and facility directors in preparation for the upcoming school year. Rita Siprak-Weill of Minuteman Press Annapolis (Annapolis, MD) actually looks ahead to the Christmas season. She picks out promo items, giveaways, orders her calendar and chooses a design for her holiday card. “Once fall hits, it’s hard to catch my breath,” she says.

OPERATIONS Meanwhile, Brett Jeltema from Fresh Coast Signs and Graphics (Spring Lake, MI) just wants to survive the summer rush.

JULY 9-15

ORGANIZING In the event that you have a slow week or two during the summer — like Melvin La Pan from Fastsigns of Augusta (Augusta, GA) — he suggests, “Before you find yourself in the middle of a slow period with nothing to do, have a cleaning/maintenance plan in place!”

HOUSEKEEPING Junk or sell materials and other stuff not being used, advises Frank Murch, Signs for San Diego (Oceanside, CA). “Things seem to accumulate in the shop and the available work space shrinks,” he observes. Murch is clearing out old signs, cutoffs, hardware used once, broken tools, the trash from past installs, truck parts and more.

JULY 16-22

ANALYSIS Several companies plan to review and evaluate processes — Studio Dzo (Austin, TX), progress — Atchley Graphics (Columbus, OH), and sales targets — SmithCraft Signs (Phoenix). The results will determine any changes that need to be implemented in the second half of the year.

FACILITIES Painting and restyling the company showroom is on the list for John Samples from Signs 4 Less Inc. (Erie, PA), as is installing a paint booth for Cincinnati Custom Signs (Cincinnati) “I’m hoping that permitting will be done by July,” says Carl Heinlein.

JULY 23-29

MARKETING Dawn Homa reports that Signarama Brighton (Brighton, CO) is holding its sixth annual open house, a combined event with four area chambers of commerce. “This year is a Hollywood theme called ‘Reach for the Signs’ and we will have full-size cutouts of celebrities with a step and repeat,” she says. Farther west, Adam Montoya, Image360 South Bay-Manhattan Beach (El Segundo, CA), will be continuing his shop’s “Shock & Awe” campaign: calling on large construction projects.

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Goin’ Mobile

A mobile-optimized, small business website leads to increased traffic and engagement, improved user experience, and higher search engine rankings. It can also lead to significantly longer page visit times, lower bounce rates, faster load times and increased online visibility. Here are some tips for optimizing your website for mobile devices:

• Use Responsive Design. Automatically adjusts the layout and content of your website to fit the screen size of the device being used to access it.
• Optimize Images and Videos. Compress images and videos to reduce file size and improve load times. Large files slow download times.
• Simplify Navigation. A hamburger menu or other mobile-friendly navigation options make it easier for users to find what they’re looking for.
• Prioritize Content. Make sure your most important information is easy to find and prominently displayed on your site.

Take the time to evaluate your website’s mobile optimization and make the necessary changes to ensure your site is optimized for all devices. Don’t forget to track your progress and make adjustments as needed to continually improve your mobile optimization strategy.

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