cbscreative
08-06-2008, 12:20 PM
Hi everyone,
Many of you joining this board will know us fairly well from the old SBF, but here is where I get to share a few things you would have to dig deeper there to find out.
I began my first company back in 1986 as a 25 year old who looked 18; that's not exactly a great way to have everyone take you seriously as a business person, but many people did respect what I was doing and I did form some good relationships. My current company was started over 6 years ago, but the experience behind it goes back over 25 years.
One valuable lesson I learned with my first business, which was a sign company, is the very reason for my current company, Creative Business Services. I learned the hard way how important effective marketing is. Back in 1986, the only competition in signs was other talented sign painters, and there was plenty enough work out there for all of us. Within a few years, that changed dramatically, and talent was no longer enough.
What happened? The very tool that was designed to make our business easier, faster, and better opened us up to a situation we never had to face before. Computer sign making was a wonderful invention; however, it was also used by people who had no talent. That's no problem, we thought, nobody would buy that ugly stuff from people located in a strip mall who don't know what they're doing. But they had one thing they effectively used to their advantage. They knew how to market.
So, these days I do many of the same things I did years ago. If I design a sign or t-shirt graphic, I know how to set it up so it actually works (you'd be surprised how many "professional" designers don't). But at the heart of it is marketing. I don't just design nice looking graphics and web sites, I do "business services" so it helps business people market effectively.
I believe in small business. That's why I do what I do professionally to help them succeed. That's also why I believe this forum is so much needed as a resource where we can all learn from each other. And I'm glad it is now being run by people who share that same commitment.
Many of you joining this board will know us fairly well from the old SBF, but here is where I get to share a few things you would have to dig deeper there to find out.
I began my first company back in 1986 as a 25 year old who looked 18; that's not exactly a great way to have everyone take you seriously as a business person, but many people did respect what I was doing and I did form some good relationships. My current company was started over 6 years ago, but the experience behind it goes back over 25 years.
One valuable lesson I learned with my first business, which was a sign company, is the very reason for my current company, Creative Business Services. I learned the hard way how important effective marketing is. Back in 1986, the only competition in signs was other talented sign painters, and there was plenty enough work out there for all of us. Within a few years, that changed dramatically, and talent was no longer enough.
What happened? The very tool that was designed to make our business easier, faster, and better opened us up to a situation we never had to face before. Computer sign making was a wonderful invention; however, it was also used by people who had no talent. That's no problem, we thought, nobody would buy that ugly stuff from people located in a strip mall who don't know what they're doing. But they had one thing they effectively used to their advantage. They knew how to market.
So, these days I do many of the same things I did years ago. If I design a sign or t-shirt graphic, I know how to set it up so it actually works (you'd be surprised how many "professional" designers don't). But at the heart of it is marketing. I don't just design nice looking graphics and web sites, I do "business services" so it helps business people market effectively.
I believe in small business. That's why I do what I do professionally to help them succeed. That's also why I believe this forum is so much needed as a resource where we can all learn from each other. And I'm glad it is now being run by people who share that same commitment.