Starting up my contracting business, and considering a logo, vehicle sign, and yes, even uniforms (I like the professional image that uniforms present). Anyone here care to share a picture of their logo or vehicle sign? Anyone else here use uniforms? Any stories related to same? Thanks!
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We get caps, t-shirts, polo shirts, jackets and car signs from NEBS online. Their "Company Colors" stuff is pretty good quality.
Nothing fancy, but it's a step up from the others.
I'm thankful for the loyal opposition! It's hard to learn much from those who simply agree with you.
I try to be helpful without being encouraging.
"We get caps, t-shirts, polo shirts, jackets and car signs from NEBS online. Their "Company Colors" stuff is pretty good quality. Nothing fancy, but it's a step up from the others."
So does the whole crew wear the uniform shirts? Do you think it helps your company image? Have any of your customers commented on it? (BTW, what kind of work do you guys do?)
Edited 4/11/2005 8:08 pm ET by Huck
Guess I should have added that: DW and I work together in a small real estate company with only two others besides ourselves.
I used to be in construction, thus the online name.
Yes, regardless of what business, the use of such products is known as "branding" and clearly is a business benefit to pretty much all businesses.
Quick, make a mental picture of what the Maytag repairman wears!I'm thankful for the loyal opposition! It's hard to learn much from those who simply agree with you.
I try to be helpful without being encouraging.
Bob got me a hat from his new company. His company also has embroidered chambray shirts and t-shirts, but they don't require that employees wear them.
So when do we get to see the tee shirt ?; )
The person you offend today, may have been your best friend tomorrow It is easy to be friends with someone you always agree with.
This is our logo.
The design is a adaptation of Mike Smith's logo.
Hopefully soon we will be getting uniforms. I'm not sure what kind of uniforms though. I have thought about Tees, polos, turn-key systems fron Cintas, etc.
Jon Blakemore
Forgot pic.Truck needs to be washed.
Jon Blakemore
Nice logo. I didn't know where you were from. We just built a garage/ apt. building on the Northern Neck last month. (Lancaster).Greg Werner- Werner Building & Remodeling
Huntingdon PA
Greg,Yeah, we've been down here since September. I have a maternal aunt who lives in Mollusk.I also have a sister who lives in Huntingdon.How did you get a job so far away?
Jon Blakemore
I'm in the process now of having an advertising company design a new logo. They came back with 6 different logos from which I have to choose one. I can't make my mind up! They will design my logo, business card, envelopes and letterhead for $700.00. From what I've seen what they did for my wife's business, and the first logos for me....I'd recommend the process. I guess it would be similar to recommending an architect to a customer for a sizeable project. With something as important as your image, I would highly recommend a professional to design your stuff...IMHO.jocobeMy Old Logo:View Image
I'd like to see your new logo. The old one seems quaint but a little too "busy". I'm guessing the new one will be somewhat streamlined? Do you want a better image for advertising purposes? Is your old logo on the side of your vehicle, t-shirts, etc.?
Good past customer from up here. If you're ever up here in Huntingdon stop in to see me, I always share my beer.Greg Werner- Werner Building & Remodeling
Huntingdon PA
Man, you should be paying Mike some big royalties.; )
The person you offend today, may have been your best friend tomorrow It is easy to be friends with someone you always agree with.
I offered...He said he likes Outback but he's eaten there too much recently?
Jon Blakemore
Oh man, I can't believe he is turning down Outback !!That's ok, I'll eat his. Just send it to me.; )
The person you offend today, may have been your best friend tomorrow It is easy to be friends with someone you always agree with.
Nice logo! Any comments on it? Any leads from people seeing your sign on the truck?
>>>>"Any leads from people seeing your sign on the truck?"Well the truck lettering is about a week old right now. I know it will make us look more reputable and professional.I just saw our newest job sign for the first time tonight. We have a 1200 sq. ft. addition on a 4 lane road that is packed with traffic most of the day. Ordered two 3x6 prints which we applied to white MDO, mounted on 4x4 posts. I'm excited for the name recognition potential.
Jon Blakemore
Sorry everybody; I deleted my previous message because the pdf attachment I uploaded crashed my IE everytime I tried to look at it once it was up on the board. Possibly it was just my IE but WTF....
I'll try again with an rtf version of just the logo
Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
Okay, that works better.
I use this logo just on paperwork so far; no clothing (I don't wear tee shirts of BB caps very often anyway) and if I put it on my truck, I'd have to pay for a commercial plate which would cost more than the truck is worth, LOL!
Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
Cool. Design it yourself?
jon... that looks great ! i'm flattered..
View Image
here's mine.. on March 1st
View Image
Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Edited 4/11/2005 10:44 pm ET by Mike Smith
Actually, no. I picked it off the clip-art file that came with the computer's OS. I have modified it to include the company name but that version isn't easily available to upload except on pdf, which I was having trouble with tonight (or maybe Prospero doesn't like pdf documents?).
I may actually print it on a few inexpensive golf shirts this year; that's fairly easy to do with iron-on transfer sheets you can print on most ink-jet printers. But they don't last through a lot of launderings without yellowing.Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
Here's mine - I had the logo screen printed on 4 black t-shirts and 2 black polo shirts (and two women's red shirts!). I wear the t-shirts to build in and the polos for appointments. I have the same logo on both truck doors and the tailgate. 2'x2' laminated signs with the same logo go in the yards when I'm working on a project.I definitely think that a potential customer is going to trust in me more if he/she feels that I am a "professional" business person. That's the key, they've got to trust that you're going to do the job right if you want to get the job. Good marketing (including branding yourself) indicates professionalism and subconciously, your client is already deciding to go with you.I'm building a brand - me! Good luck in your quest to do the same.MacView Image
"I definitely think that a potential customer is going to trust in me more if he/she feels that I am a "professional" business person. That's the key, they've got to trust that you're going to do the job right if you want to get the job. Good marketing (including branding yourself) indicates professionalism and subconciously, your client is already deciding to go with you."
That's what I'm aiming for also. I'm trying to get away from being another face in the crowd. I'm going to go for a niche market, and I want to present an image that sets me further apart yet. So I'm thinking vehicle sign and uniform, with a logo.
Your logo is impressive, looks like a product label, which is I guess what you're aiming for. BTW, for some reason the red shirt in that pic looks a lot better to me that the other whatever-colored one. ;)
Edited 4/13/2005 1:51 am ET by Huck
My wife was my not-so-secret weapon at the Home Show this year! Not only is she a draw for customers to come to the booth, she's a kick-#### sales lady too!Getting away from being "another face in the crowd" means giving them something to remember you by. Get some help from graphic designers. They know what colors people are drawn to, what shapes make them subconsciously pull out their checkbook (only kidding!)You don't have to spend $1,000 to get an identity (although plenty of people would be willing to take it from you!). Post a request in your local coffee shop or University Center. Hell, give me some ideas as to what you're looking for and what your company name is and I'll try to come up with something! I was a graphic designer in my previous life and designed my Built By MAC logo.What's your specialty?MacView Image
Thanks for your generous offer! I'm just going with a simplified logo, so I don't need a design as nice as yours, but the offer is tempting. Anyway, I used to be a graphic designer way back when we used to draw with handmade ink on leather scrolls (before computers took over), so I can muddle my way through it. But tell me honestly - you're saying your logo ISN'T worth $1,000? Come on, now.
Oh hell yeah, it's worth $1,000! I just wouldn't pay someone else that $1,000 to come up with it!If I get one signature on a contract because someone liked my logo, it paid for itself. Check this out, I got an engraver up in Wilsonville to make me some metal plaques to go on my projects. He sent me a picture of the finished product, I pick them up next week.View Image
"Oh hell yeah, it's worth $1,000! I just wouldn't pay someone else that $1,000 to come up with it!"
Now I remember why I got out of graphic design! =)BTW, those metal plates are way cool!
Huck,I should've been more specific - I too, was a graphic designer in my past life. Since I was able to build my own design and save myself $$, I did. If I was not graphically inclined, I would've paid someone else to design me something cool. Your logo, your brand will stick in people's memory (or maybe it won't). It's worth it to me to create something memorable.I pay people to do the jobs I can't. If we're talking car repair, I'm clueless! Just tell me you replaced the blinker fluid and how much to write the check for!MacView Image
Thats funny Mac!
Your logo is memorable and that is a good thing!
blueJust because you can, doesn't mean you should!
Warning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. There are some in here who think I'm a hackmeister...they might be right! Of course, they might be wrong too!
OK, what I was getting at, in a rounabout way, is that your logo, nice as it is, would have been worth paying 1K for. I just had to razz you a little because you and I have both had to convince people that money spent on creating a memorable logo is an investment in the future of their business. Big corporations spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on the development of a corporate logo. Mulitple options are explored, variations are tinkered with, surveys are conducted, renderings produced showing how it will look on vehicles, buildings, signage, etc. They do this because they know the value of a good, lasting, impression. BTW, if you're paying a thousand dollars for blinker fluid, you're getting ripped off. My mechanic changes mine for only $300.
--BTW, if you're paying a thousand dollars for blinker fluid, you're getting ripped off. My mechanic changes mine for only $300--Hey now, my guy says that the fluid he installs will last me 50,000 blinks whereas that "other" blinker fluid will only get 23,000!MacView Image
Both of ya being screwed.
While they discuss the blink capacity of the fluid, your missing the fact that the gear lube in yer 5 speed hubcaps hasnt been changed.
Geeze, doncha know nothin? :-)
Everything, 100% of it, depends on how you look at it.
DW
And I'll bet neither one of them ever even thought to have the muffler bearings checked.I like those new super nylon ones. Much quieter...
The person you offend today, may have been your best friend tomorrow It is easy to be friends with someone you always agree with.
I just had to chuckle when I saw your logo. I posted an electronic version of my business card here (I hope, it's my first attachment). I also use this on my paperwork. I guess I have to congratulate you on having a good eye for a catchy logo. ;)
Yep, looks familiar all right.
Clip art has a long and honourable history in graphic design; not every job is worth the money it costs for an artist to produce multiple renderings until something strikes the client's fancy enough for him to say 'That's it!' Taking a good piece of clip art and working with it as a design element is equivalent to taking a stock moulding and incorporating it artistically into a trim plan. Not every house project has the budget for custom mouldings, either....
Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
you're correct but there are so many programs out there to change the existing images. Here is one I"ve used for over 30 years (back in the day). Many still find the humor.
Edited 4/11/2005 11:49 pm ET by Lukes
lukes... that wasn't viewable to me..
did you convert it to a bitmap... or a .jpg ?
small .jpg (under 100K ) post bestMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
sorry, i used a drawing program and saved it as a jpeg. hope new attachment works
maybe this will work
Huck, here's a picture of our business card. We're in the process of getting all our stuff done and we will be doing EVERYTHING.
A while back someone asked my how much the logo design cost. I checked with Frank yesterday and he thought it was about $100. We like the shop where we started our marketing efforts and we are using them to do all of our stuff.
I'm going to talk to Frank about using Jon's idea of applying a vinyl to MDO board and framing it. I like the idea and I want to put out some very high quality looking signs on any of our works in progress.
The picture called "proof" is the same as the logo without background. I resized it for the bandwith impaired.
More than 50% of the people that take my card gives it a double take and most of them offer a compliment. The card definitly creates an impact. I sent one along to Eric in the book. I'll be interested to hear his reaction.
blue
Just because you can, doesn't mean you should!
Warning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. There are some in here who think I'm a hackmeister...they might be right! Of course, they might be wrong too!
Blue - that is a pretty eye-catching business card! Would definitely be pretty noticeable as a jobsite sign also.
I'm going for something more graphic, concise, and simplified. I've had a lot of different logos over the years, and designed quite a few for others (used to be a graphic designer). Going to try a different approach this time, nothing "construction-looking". Just something that looks clean and professional.
Like you, I got out of framing - in my case, it was several years back when I added up all my actual time, compared it to my income, and realized as the contractor I was the lowest paid guy on my crew!
I'm getting a fictitious name aimed at a narrow niche of the repair market, with the potential for leads into smaller general remodel projects. My vision is to be able to pull up in a clean, shiny vehicle with a nice logo/name on the side, get out in a company uniform, and submit my proposal on a professionally printed form. I generally work alone, but I want to look like I'm part of a bigger operation, and just happen to be the guy they sent on this one.
BTW, about your sign - when we had a bookstore, I designed my own sign, but didn't want to pay to have it professionally painted. It would be out in extreme weather, and I was worried about vinyl curling over time. So I purchased sign board, painted it, put vinyl pre-cut lettering down, then re-painted a different color, and peeled up the vinyl letters. In other words, I used the vinyl lettering as a reverse stencil, then removed it. It came out great, and I got several offers to do others' signs.View Image
We worked up a relatively simple logo for signs and the website (see kzconstruction.com), but I would second the opinion that you should use a professional service if you want a complete package. A number of factors can come into play that you typically don't think about, especially when you're dealing with clothing (screen printing gets progressively more expensive with each additional logo color; fine details will get lost; etc.)
A number of web-based companies are available to do this, with prices ranging from about $300 to $700 or more.
Brian O'Dell
Kevin Zetterberg Construction
Perkins, OK
http://www.kzconstruction.com
Thanks Brian, that's good advice. I agree about the value of a simplified design for multipurpose application, most bigger corporations do the same, for the reasons you stated. That's a nice website, has it brought you any work? I'm curious about the effectiveness of internet advertising / website presence as a marketing tool. Some guys here do real well with it, but they're in a narrow niche.Do you have uniforms or company shirts with your logo? Are you using it on all your vehicles?
Thanks Huck, but no, I haven't gotten any work from it. The logo is used on the website, signs we post at the job sites, the owner's business cards, and as a letterhead on faxes, invoices, and the like. We do not have it on clothing or on vehicles, though the owner has [had?] plans to put it on jackets for the crews and on his truck (the only company vehicle per se --- its a small outfit).As for the effectiveness of the website as a marketing tool, I don't know that we've gotten many jobs exclusively as a result of the website. There may be a few, but for a small, local company such as Kevin's, word of mouth still seems to bring in the bulk of the work. The website has proven invaluable, however, as a way to give potential customers easy access to samples of his projects. With that in mind, one of the problems we've encountered is in trying to keep the website updated with new photos. I created the website in PHP (a type of programming language), but, unfortunately, it takes someone similarly versed in computer programming to make changes to the website. This was my biggest mistake. I'm now in the process of reworking it to make it more easily updated. (FYI: One of the options I'm looking into is the Gallery package [http://gallery.menalto.com/] --- one of many portfolio packages available. You might also consider Macromedia Contribute.)In the end, I suppose it always comes down to economics. I would think you could get a basic website developed for somewhere around $500-700, though this could vary widely depending on the number of pages, complexity, etc. (For a less expensive route, several vendors offer website templates which you can download and customize for $200 or so.) Domain name registration is less than $10/year, and good site hosting is available for about $75/year. On top of that is the maintenance cost: digital camera, time for photos, editing, and uploading --- whether you do it yourself or have someone else do it for you.
Brian O'Dell
Kevin Zetterberg Construction
Perkins, OK
http://www.kzconstruction.com
You did a very nice job with that website, I hope they compensated you well! You make a good point about using the website as a "scrapbook". A lot of clients would like to see samples of what I do/have done, and I can see the potential for a website being used very effectively that way. My wife used a template for her bookselling website, but its set up just for booksellers. Any template-type websites you can recommend?BTW - did you design the logo also?
I can't recommend anyone in particular, as I haven't used any of them before. A quick Google search brings up thousands of options, which isn't much help. At one time, I had gone through and found a few promising ones for another project, but i think that list is on another computer. I'll try to locate it later today and post it here.I appreciate the compliment! And yes, I designed the logo also.
Brian O'Dell
Kevin Zetterberg Construction
Perkins, OK
http://www.kzconstruction.com
Huck, you might try Yahoo's web hosting service.
http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/webhosting/?p=1
The "starter" level would probably suit your needs for $12/mo. It includes the domain registration (ie www . huckconstruction . com), 2 gig of hosting space (that's plenty), and a bunch of other things. One neat thing is that they'll host email for you with your domain name, so you could have "huck @ huckconstruction . com" (spaces added to keep it from showing up as a link).
The closer you can get your website name to your company name, the better off you'll be. You can see if your domain name is available by going to a 'who is' site such as:
http://www.networksolutions.com/
And type in your desired domain name. ".com" is usually best for a business.
You can try to use one of Yahoo's templates to create your website, or you can pay someone else to set it up. Just make sure they design it in such a manner so that you can go in and EASILY update pics and such.
As Brian mentioned, you're not so much trying to drum up business from 1,000 miles away but rather you're giving local folks the ability to see your work. Brian's website is very nice, professional, and clean looking.
jt8
Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow. -- Mark Twain
thanks, I'll look into it.
I get lots of positive feedback from my logo.
My web designer used my sketch to create a 3-d design that is printed on vinyl for the truck.
we also use a three color for t-shirts and an embriodery set for hats and jackets
mike
Nice logo, very eye-cathing. Do you give t-shirts or hats to customers, or just employees? I noticed you're incorporated. What made you decide to incorporate? Was it difficult? Are you glad you did?
I give all the employees shirts and hats, and I usually make some for the holidays and give them out to our favorite clients.The hats always go real quick.
The original corp. was set up by a lawyer, so it wasn't difficult for me at all. Was it the right thing to do? it depends on who I talk to. You should talk to an accountant to determine what's best for you and your company.
Best of luck,mike