Residential signage: use your home to advertise your product or service
Residential signage: Could it work for your small business? I saw something that piqued my interest in my local neighborhood the other day. A local person in my neighborhood, had placed a few signs up around his residential property, saying, “Camera Repairs”. Then he had more signs pointing to his workshop out the back.
“What a cool idea,” I thought, “He can make a bit of money on the side with this business, and people can use a local trader to get their cameras repaired.” So, this got me thinking about how people could potentially use their homes to advertise their services. From babysitting, to gardening, to repairs and counselling services, if you have a small business, could this be an option for you to explore?
Is residential signage on your family property legal?
Before you start with something like this, it will be worth looking up the rules for your property and local area. Where I live (in Sydney, Australia), “Certain types of signs for businesses and other purposes may not require planning permission if the proposed sign meets the relevant development standards set out in Advertising and Signage Exempt Development Code.”
However, Some housing developments won’t allow you to change the appearance of the home’s exterior, and there are some laws out there which prevent residents from using a normal home a corporate space. This should be nice and easy with a quick browse around the web. If you can’t find any results, it’s usually safe to go ahead and start branding after getting the right advice.
Planning your residential signage
This process has to start with a bit of a plan. It will be a good idea to research the options you have before you, deciding which elements of your home you’d like to change. There are loads of companies out there which can help you with this.
Signwriters, shopfitters, and loads of other construction oriented companies will have the resources to advise you while you plan your residential signage. Software tools like Google SketchUp give you the power to make a digital design of your home to test your ideas.
Select the colours that represent your product or service
One of the first steps in changing your home will be the base layer you add. Most brands have a couple of colors which can be used to represent them, and adding this to the outer layer of your home is easy with the right support.
House painters can be found all over the world, with their art being something which takes a very long time to master. Companies like this will be happy to help you to choose the colors on display.
Do you need a logo?
With your background sorted out, it will be time to think about how you’re going to include a logo or your business name. Using a large stencil, you could quite easily paint this onto the side of your home most visible from the surrounding roads. Alternatively, you could have a basic sign made, enabling you to change the content going into the future. Finding something tasteful here could be a challenge, and it will be worth taking it slow.
How will people contact you?
Finally, if you’d like to make it easy for people to get in touch after seeing your residential signage, you could also include some basic contact information, like your email address, website, or phone number. This needs to be very readable, along with avoiding being too eye catching. Neutral colors tend to work best, as this will help to keep your logo as the main attraction. It can be very easy to draw attention away from the important part of a design.
Think outside the box to sell your product or service
Small business experts are always on the lookout for new methods, tricks, tools, and resources which can help companies to get the word out about their brand. Some people invest huge amounts of time on social media, while others will post in local newspapers, magazines, and other publications.
Hopefully, these residential signage ideas will give you everything you need to begin this process with your own home. When you have a resource like this, it’s a shame to waste it, especially when you don’t have to do much to make residential signage better.
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