A signwritten van is the cheapest advertising you will ever buy. It works while you are mowing, while you are at the shop, while it sits parked in someone's street.

However, the sign wiring needs a few things to do its job well.

I owned a signwriting business back in the early eighties, and I have signwritten my vehicles ever since. Here is what I would tell you before you spend a cent.

Get your logo sorted first: Get a portrait version and a landscape version. Your signwriter needs both, and you will use them everywhere else too.

Do not fully sign an old, dented van. Good signage lasts up to 10 years. If the van will not last another year, do the doors and the back only and save the full job for the next one.

White is best. Black is second. Manufacturers change their colors constantly, so matching anything else later is a headache.

Ask for cast-exterior vinyl, 5-7 year. Not "promotional" vinyl. Promotional shrinks will not sit on curves and leave glue residue when you pull it off. It costs less for a reason.

Six bullet points max on your service list. Two or three fonts, no more. Light-colored text on windows, never dark.

Put a call to action on it. "Ask for a free quote" or "Call us now."

One more thing. Do not reverse-write your text so it reads in rearview mirrors. That is for emergency vehicles. It does nothing for you.

Then do the distance test. Before you sign off on the design, print it out. Stand five steps back. Then ten. Get someone who has never seen it to do the same. If they cannot read what you do and how to reach you, it is not finished.

I once saw a builder's van with bullet points with a lot of the butlers slightly wrong but readable. Underneath it said, "Not much of a speller but a bloody good builder." He knew exactly what he was doing.

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Here is the part people miss.

Someone reads your van at the lights. They do not call you right then. They google your business name that night, from the couch.

If nothing comes up, that job is gone, and you will never know it existed.

Your signage and your website do the same job at different times of the day. One without the other leads to missed calls. If you want a website sorted, the details are below.

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Reply and tell me what your van says. I want to know if you have a call to action on it or just your name and number like most of us started with.

Until next time, get out there, mow lawns and have fun
Stuart
Lawnmowing101

PS. Want a $59/month website?​
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