How not to advertise your business...

Yesterday, I drove past a new business up the road. They sell vinyl etc signs for business advertising, and yet their own sign is a really poor example of what they could offer you.

Although the sign does include the business name, and the fact that they make business advertising signs, it failed to include any basic contact information eg phone number or website address to make an enquiry or look at examples of their portfolio and prices. What does this say about their business?



This business is in the middle of nowhere and is unlikely to pick up any passing trade that isn't on the way to somewhere, and therefore unlikely to take the time to drive down the very long drive to 'drop in' and enquire. More likely to make a quick note of the phone number and ring later.

I'm not having a go at this particular business, especially as I know them, but to me this is a prime example of how you can overlook even the most basic necessities of advertising your business, or worse still, give a poor example of your products and work.

To me that sign says: If they forget the contact details on their own sign, what will they forget on mine?

Another example I saw of this today was on this green energy website. Now, as far as I know, most of the world is looking at eco-friendly solutions to our ever-increasing electricity consumption, so these guys should have an eager audience.

And they had me interested until I came across this promotional cock-up. Check out the photo. Especially the after photo. Now, how long would it have taken to clear the debris out of the bottom of that cupboard, or even Photoshop it out?

In these days of belt tightening by consumers, businesses need to ensure that they stand out from the crowd, and beat their competitors. (scroll down for some other ideas about what you could be doing to beat the credit crunch). You need to show in all your promotional material, even if it is just a photo, that you are the best company to be dealing with, whatever niche you are in.

You need to show that yours are the highest quality products (ie by producing a fantastic sign to advertise your own company), and that you fully understand customer service (ie after we have installed your new smart meter, we tidy up).

How hard can it be?!