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Making Videos

Robert Armerding

Listen Sharp
The most exciting signs come in several flavors for me:

Getting to see a design your really proud of come to life and seeing the look on the customer's face. I install other people's projects now, and I still enjoy this aspect of the industry.

A sign or project that pushes your boundaries, and you have to overcome obstacles by pre-planning and solving problems during production. You can hate these types of signs, but there is a sense of pride when they turn out how you envisioned them.

Another scenario is about the volume of projects; driving around town with a friend. "We made that; I installed that..." They hate it, but it's like marking your territory and gives you a sense of accomplishment. Same with a team on a huge fleet install and seeing all the cars or vans lined up at the end.
Jester1167 What you wrote here is very much appreciated. Do you still make signs, or are you only an installer?
 

Texas_Signmaker

Very Active Signmaker
Texas_Signmaker We operated out of one location in California. We sold the tall banners in many different cities all over the United States. To me, that makes a difference between a local mom-and-pop shop and a national shop.

So you were working at a sign company and then this other one started and you went to work for them? How long were you at that new sign company?
 

RaymondLoewy

Pretty fly for a Sign Guy
Texas_Signmaker We operated out of one location in California. We sold the tall banners in many different cities all over the United States. To me, that makes a difference between a local mom-and-pop shop and a national shop.
Hell, Tex sends stuff all over the Southwest from his home. Do you think getting his mother involved might be a good idea?
 

Robert Armerding

Listen Sharp
So you were working at a sign company and then this other one started and you went to work for them? How long were you at that new sign company?
Texas_Signmaker I worked there for about a year. The business was growing. He obtained a loan to help it grow. His close friend borrowed the money "only for a couple of weeks." Never paid it back. The company went bankrupt and closed down.
Within a few weeks, I was working at the wholesale sign supply warehouse in San Jose CA where I worked for twenty years. I would still be there except the owner sold it to Glantz. Glantz did all of their purchasing in Kentucky. Davey asked me to help with the transition. I did. And that was that.
 

TomK

New Member
Texas_Signmaker We operated out of one location in California. We sold the tall banners in many different cities all over the United States. To me, that makes a difference between a local mom-and-pop shop and a national shop.

Yea, that's gonna be a negative ghost rider. I know some basement dwellers that sell on Etsy and ship all over the world, I would hardly call them a global company.
 

Texas_Signmaker

Very Active Signmaker
Texas_Signmaker I worked there for about a year. The business was growing. He obtained a loan to help it grow. His close friend borrowed the money "only for a couple of weeks." Never paid it back. The company went bankrupt and closed down.
Within a few weeks, I was working at the wholesale sign supply warehouse in San Jose CA where I worked for twenty years. I would still be there except the owner sold it to Glantz. Glantz did all of their purchasing in Kentucky. Davey asked me to help with the transition. I did. And that was that.

That's a bummer about that whole loan bankruptcy business. What did you do after Glantz bought them out?
 

Notarealsignguy

Arial - it's almost helvetica
Robert, not sure why but I'm rooting for you here. Be more candid about your experience(s). You have mentioned connecting multiple times, you need to connect with your potential clients just the same. Don't be bashful, there is a line between arrogance and confidence, push the envelope to find that sweet spot. It sounds like you have the temperament and knowledge to be helpful but you have to exude confidence in what you have to offer in order to lure people in. Remember, nice guys finish last.
 

Robert Armerding

Listen Sharp
That's a bummer about that whole loan bankruptcy business. What did you do after Glantz bought them out?
Texas_Signmaker I did two things. I started reaching out to sign makers with the intent of helping them solve challenges. One began to work with me and is still with me.
The effort to find more sign makers who would work with me to solve their challenges proved to be its own challenge.
In October 2015, I bought a Prius and started driving for Uber and Lyft. I enjoyed that work.
Then, last March, my children asked me to stop driving for those companies and offered to support me. As it turned out, I did not need their support but certainly appreciated their offer.
Since last March, I have been able to manage my finances and have done some work for sign makers, continuing with the one who started with me way back when.
The sign-making industry is my favorite, by far. So, I will keep my passion to make it work. Many bumps in the road.
 

Robert Armerding

Listen Sharp
Robert, not sure why but I'm rooting for you here. Be more candid about your experience(s). You have mentioned connecting multiple times, you need to connect with your potential clients just the same. Don't be bashful, there is a line between arrogance and confidence, push the envelope to find that sweet spot. It sounds like you have the temperament and knowledge to be helpful but you have to exude confidence in what you have to offer in order to lure people in. Remember, nice guys finish last.
Notarealsignguy Thank you. I will take your advice and continue to look for that "find that sweet spot."
 

Robert Armerding

Listen Sharp
Yea, that's gonna be a negative ghost rider. I know some basement dwellers that sell on Etsy and ship all over the world, I would hardly call them a global company.
TomK How you want to describe a business Is certainly your privilege. I described it as national only because we sold the tall banners in many states. Let me ask you, what term would you prefer that I use?
 

Texas_Signmaker

Very Active Signmaker
Texas_Signmaker I did two things. I started reaching out to sign makers with the intent of helping them solve challenges. One began to work with me and is still with me.
The effort to find more sign makers who would work with me to solve their challenges proved to be its own challenge.
In October 2015, I bought a Prius and started driving for Uber and Lyft. I enjoyed that work.
Then, last March, my children asked me to stop driving for those companies and offered to support me. As it turned out, I did not need their support but certainly appreciated their offer.
Since last March, I have been able to manage my finances and have done some work for sign makers, continuing with the one who started with me way back when.
The sign-making industry is my favorite, by far. So, I will keep my passion to make it work. Many bumps in the road.

Well, keep it up... sounds like you got it going on. Don't get too caught up in finding notareal's sweet spot.. that thing is hard to find.

How many clients do you have right now? How many do you want to have?
 

Robert Armerding

Listen Sharp
Well, keep it up... sounds like you got it going on. Don't get too caught up in finding notareal's sweet spot.. that thing is hard to find.

How many clients do you have right now? How many do you want to have?
Texas_Signmaker I am grateful for your encouragement. As to how many do I have, I have the one who started years ago. They have made it very clear that they want to work with me for many years to come.
How many others right now? Several have begun to have conversations with me to get acquainted and begin to sort out what is best to do next. They are all facing the idea that habits are hard to change. Two are wishing to sell their business and retire. They would like to do what I am attempting to get going. They also are facing challenges. Three are looking to hire new employees. They struggle with high turnover. Again, they are having some challenges. (My personal perspective is this: If you do not have a waiting list of qualified people who want to work for you, then there is plenty of room for improvement. That is just the way I see it.) And then, I have had conversations with those just starting out. And, a few have had one or two conversations and decided it was not a good fit at the time. Maybe later.
All of these potential long-term clients are thinking through whether they just want to fly by the seat of their pants or also keep an eye on the dashboard.
How many would I like to have? I am watching to see how that plays out. I am projecting that maybe somewhere between ten and twenty might be the number, but I will wait and see. One at a time.
My intent is to be helpful with the business management side of sign-making.
In the last few months, I have developed a network of people who are state-of-the-art business coaches on numerous topics. All of these wonderful people are available to me if I should need them. Everything is moving forward, with many bumps and boulders in the road. We shall see which way the wind blows.
I often remind myself of the challenges Thomas Edison faced before the light turned on.
 
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Texas_Signmaker

Very Active Signmaker
Texas_Signmaker I am grateful for your encouragement. As to how many do I have, I have the one who started years ago. They have made it very clear that they want to work with me for many years to come.
How many others right now? Several have begun to have conversations with me to get acquainted and begin to sort out what is best to do next. They are all facing the idea that habits are hard to change. Two are wishing to sell their business and retire. They would like to do what I am attempting to get going. They also are facing challenges. Three are looking to hire new employees. They struggle with high turnover. Again, they are having some challenges. (My personal perspective is this: If you do not have a waiting list of qualified people who want to work for you, then there is plenty of room for improvement. That is just the way I see it.) And then, I have had conversations with those just starting out. And, a few have had one or two conversations and decided it was not a good fit at the time. Maybe later.
All of these potential long-term clients are thinking through whether they just want to fly by the seat of their pants or also keep an eye on the dashboard.
How many would I like to have? I am watching to see how that plays out. I am projecting that maybe somewhere between ten and twenty might be the number, but I will wait and see. One at a time.
My intent is to be helpful with the business management side of sign-making.
In the last few months, I have developed a network of people who are state-of-the-art business coaches on numerous topics. All of these wonderful people are available to me if I should need them. Everything is moving forward, with many bumps and boulders in the road. We shall see which way the wind blows.
I often remind myself of the challenges Thomas Edison faced before the light turned on.

If the wind is blowing down wind of Gino, I'd suggest stepping out of the way... especially after onion harvest.
 

Eternity

New Member
Not sure why everyone is hating on this idea lol. There's a niche for everything and an audience for anything.

In videography, editing is where all the magick happens, as OP mentioned in a previous reply. We normally shoot all our videos on an android galaxy note 9 and newer. We have a gimbal and toyed around with a drone.

Yes it is far away from sign making but look at it this way. Our customers are almost exclusively businesses. Who would be the most interested in paying for a video service? Businesses. In my opinion, if we find ways to keep all their business under one roof, it's a win. Granted there does have to be someone dedicated to handling each aspect of the business in order to scal correctly. It would be hard to manage all the sign making and videography solo lol
 
Ray Miller Again, thank you for your willingness to reply. Let me ask you just one question. Do you have a certain type of sign that you really enjoy making?

Not really. I enjoy all areas of signmaking but I'm talking about real signs where you design it with a customer's needs in mind. It seems most people today just take some clip art and either use it or copy it to some extent, then put some copy on it and use the living daylights out of photoshop effects and plugins. Most of today's signs can't stand up on their own feet if you took effects and color out of the end scene. Everything is geared towards sensory overload. Most things are no longer easy to look at or figure out what the customer had in mind. Just that the designer pulled out all the stops to make something pop.. They play silly head games with hidden symbolisms and invisible representations.

I admire many kinds of signs and give credit for what the fabricator made and the knowledge and insight which went into it. A simple hand painted show card is one I really like to study.

I'm new here, but I've been reading things from time to time when I get the chance. Robert, you seem to be very vague and not to the point on anything. I could be wrong, but reading many of your posts and threads it's really hard to make heads or tails out of your intentions or what results you want.
So in closing this whole conversation seems to be you looking for something but afraid to ask what's really on your mind.

If someone in this field wanted to better themselves, I would suggest studying art composition books. Whether you are creating a sign, or a fine arts painting.. all the same principles still stand. Studying the color wheel will stop many of these outrageous designs. Last, get all the books from Mike Stevens and try to understand what this industry is all about. Telling people to learn about making videos and listen is all nonsense until you master the knowledge of what you are making or fabricating. Going into business101 is not for the people of what I see here at this site. And those who are already there seem to have those areas covered.

I would almost invite you to work on your ability to concentrate on what you are here to do and become more genuine. Most of the threads I've read of yours about 2/3s or 3/4s of the people are continuously lost and asking you to explain yourself. What then would the common denominator be?
 

signheremd

New Member
Texas_Signmaker I am grateful for your encouragement. ... Everything is moving forward, with many bumps and boulders in the road. We shall see which way the wind blows.
I often remind myself of the challenges Thomas Edison faced before the light turned on.

FYI - Edison stole much of his solutions to his challenges from a talented young scientist to whom he promised many financial returns and to which he never delivered. That young man was the creator of AC voltage - Nickola Tesla. Edison electrocuted an Elephant with AC to try and prove how dangerous it was compared to DC - that didn't work out the way he hoped. Edison might not be the best character to use in an aspiring way...

Other than that, I am rooting for you too. You have conducted yourself as a gentleman, and the world needs that now as much as it needs the Jedi. [sic. The Men Who Stare at Goats] Wish you well.
 
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