FAQ’s

There really isn't a short answer to this question. Some jobs can be produced in minutes and some may take weeks or months. Let us know when you need your job completed and we'll let you know if it can be done. We go to great lengths to meet your most stringent demands.

Most banners and small signs we like to complete within 24 - 48 hours. We do offer faster turnaround but expect to pay a rush fee for such emergencies.

A proof is a way of ensuring that we have set your type accurately and that everything is positioned according to your requirements. Typically, we will produce a proof which will be sent to you online or printed on paper which can be viewed in our store or delivered to you in person. Many proofs are sent via fax and obviously appear in black and white.

On multiple color jobs, we can produce a color proof on our color output device to show an accurate representation of the final product. We do email proofs as jpg files so that you can view them in color.

We employ human beings to produce your work and, last time we checked, humans are not perfect. Your approval on the final proof is assurance that you have looked over every aspect of our work and approve it as accurate. It benefits everyone if errors are caught in the proofing process rather than after the job is completed and delivered.

A lot of our repeat customers do not require proofs for some of the simpler projects. We put forth every effort to fulfill your expectations and produce quality work.

It may seem like a proof wouldn't be needed in this case but it really is. Output devices process digital information using a variety of processing languages. Your approval of the proof which we will provide assures that the output device used has correctly interpreted and processed the information you have provided.

Well, since you are here, we would suggest you use our online estimate request form.   Provide us with as much information as you can as to size, color, placement, and what you want to accomplish with the sign.  Otherwise, the best way to ensure that we get all the information necessary to do an accurate quote, give us a call and talk with one of our customer service representatives.

We can advise you on this.

If it is a face change, probably not, but if it is a new sign you probably will.

Yes, large signs can be leased.

We can put in touch with a leasing company who will work with you on your financial information.  Typically there is a small admin fee, plus one or two months lease payment when submitting the lease application.  Once the lease is approved, the leasing company will directly pay us a 50% deposit on the sign job which include the sign, installation and permitting.  We will be fabrication of your signs.

Upon completion of the sign installation, you are required to sign off on all aspects of the job and notify the leasing company, who will then pay us the balance.

For a sign permit you will need the following:

1.  Plot Plan of the property

2.  Legal Description of the property

3.  Letter from the landlord giving you permission to install the sign

4.  Elevation Drawing showing sign  (we typically provide this with a rendering of the new sign)

Usually items 1 and 2 are in your lease contract as well as sign requirements for your facility.  When contacting your sign company, a copy of your lease (or the part with the sign requirements) may be helpful.

Local ordinances dictate the size of sign authorized.  This is typically based on building frontage and height.  This varies from community to community.

Electronic Message Centers are an investment in your business and provide the best and most cost-effective forms of paid advertising.

“with an electronic message display, the owners typically see an increase in business of 15% to 150%. Using the smaller number, consider the following example.”

A small business generating $1,000 a day in revenue adds an electronic message center. The business soon increases by 15%, adding another $150 per day in total revenue. That translates into an additional $1,050 a week in revenue, or $54,600.00 per year.

It has been said that in retailing, "the last dollars are the best dollars," meaning that each additional customer adds a greater marginal percentage to the business's bottom line profit.

EMCs communicate variable messages as people pass by, allowing greater flexibility in

communicating to the public.

An electronic or variable message center offers a unique way to capture the attention of these passers-by. An EMC allows you to communicate more effectively with the typical person passing by at a particular time day by changing the message and graphic of your sign to match the profile on the street.

EMCs act as your "salesman on the street," attracting new customers to your business                location.

EMCs allow you to market your products and services to your immediate trade              area and prevent wasteful advertising expenses.

The business owner can change the message as needed to provide information to                specific retail customers, and can be used for political, social or community events.

Electronic message centers are not a distraction to drivers; it is quite the contrary. Their exceptional readability and conspicuity means that EMCs actually increase driver safety.               The federal government and other reviewers, after conducting numerous studies, analyzing court cases, and reviewing the available literature, have concluded that signs and electronic message centers, if used properly, are traffic safety enhancement devices.

Motorists often spot electronic message centers quickly because the copy changes, the letters are illuminated, and the signs have traditionally been used as public service devices. Additionally, electronic message centers may have greater visibility from further distances, especially in poor lighting conditions, giving the motorist additional time to read the message displayed while safely maneuvering his or her vehicle.

Message Centers act as a consolidating type of advertising. In other words, they offer businesses a way of posting a variety of information in one place rather than relying on numerous signs and banners displayed in windows, for example. This can be a real advantage for a business located in a district with strict rules about temporary signs.

Most importantly, the electronic message center almost always increases a business's share of revenue. This is a result of the "branding" of the site through the use of specific logos, reinforcement of other advertising messages, allowing for public service notices, generating exact impulse stops, and helping to change customers' buying habits once they have stopped.

Is an electronic message center a cost-effective advertising medium?

Yes. Businesses often select their advertising medium, and messages, based upon the cost per thousand exposures of their message to the public. ON this basis, no other form of advertising comes close to matching the efficiency and cost-effectiveness, dollar for dollar, of an electronic message display. Compare the figures below:

• • Newspaper advertising - the cost on average is about $7.39 for 1000 exposures within a 10-mile radius of the business location.
  • Television advertising - The cost on average is approximately $6.26 per 1000 exposures.
  • Radio advertising - The cost is about $5.47 per 1000 exposures.
  • New LED electronic message center display - The cost is less than $0.15 per 1000 exposures. How? Assume, for example, that you spend $30,000.00 on this type of system, and that its useful life is about ten years. The amortized daily cost of the message center would equal about $2.74. Add to this the daily cost of electricity for this new LED unit (approximately $0.20), thus giving your business a daily message center expense total of $8.82. With a daily traffic count of 20,000 vehicles passing your business, you would have a cost of less than $0.45 per thousand exposures (counting drivers only)!

• • Using this same formula: A Finest LED electronic message center that costs $3000 would have a cost of less then 2 cents per 1000 exposures

Best of all, with an electronic message center, a business does not have to worry about missing its target audience, becoming "yesterday's news," or facing expensive production costs for changing its message, as happens frequently with the other forms of advertising mentioned.

This information was reprinted from the Website of the United States Small Business Administration

http://www.sba.gov/smallbusinessplanner/start/pickalocation/signage/emcfaq.html

http://www.sba.gov/smallbusinessplanner/start/pickalocation/signage/features.html