master design decals

Thank you! These are the things that never change, no matter how seasoned you are. I bet we could all write one heck of a book about our experiences. Just when I think that I have seen it all, something else happens. I had a guy literally crap his pants in the shop last week, or in other words, sharted. It was one of those times where I started giggling, tried to hide it and the more I tried to stop, the harder I laughed and ended up to where I could not stop. I tried thinking of something sad but went right back to laughing so hard I was crying. That is when I realized it was time for a long Labor Day weekend. It was super gross and really embarassing for him but there was nothing I could do except show him to the bathroom and hand him a whole roll of paper towels. I know he could hear me roaring out there and spraying Febreeze. He has not returned. I'm kind of embarassed for laughing so hard but it was one of those times that happens to humans when you overload the "proper composure" scale and all rules are broken. Keep in mind that when I seem to rag about customers, I am meaning that most of them are perfect, but there are the few of them running around loose in society that seem to have a way of changing my outlook on things. I do have a great bunch of customers that are so loyal and are truly a pleasure to work with. It just takes one to screw everything up. What are the best and worst you all have seen?

Hi everyone. I don't post on here very often but I do read alot of your posts. This is the ONLY forum anywhere that does not blast you for asking a simple question. You are all great people and I appreciate your posts because you have answered numerous questions, all politely, which goes a long way with alot of people. So, I thought I would contribute my top 20 things that I have learned as I make the decision to put in another 10 years or switch to something else. Please feel free to add your own lessons. The money is decent but it comes at a cost. 20. Copyright laws are in place for a reason. 19. Bartering is bad. The sign guy loses every time. 18. Churches expect you to donate everything. They rake in thousands of dollars every Wednesday and Sunday but refuse to spend it and expect you to foot their bill. This is not meant to cause a religion debate….I’m just stating a fact. 17. Charge something upfront for your any job. Making stickers is time and supply consuming. They come in, want this intricate design done in a huge hurry for the festival this coming weekend. Then you never hear from them again. Charge something upfront so you don’t feel too bad tossing out 600 “rush job” stickers that have been on your shelf for a year. 16. No artwork should be free. The artwork is time consuming and you always have to redo it 3 times before they approve it. Then they want you to email it to a printing shop for their letterhead and business cards to be printed. You just wasted a lot of time and money and in this business, time is money. 15. Static is very costly. Whoever invented static guard is a friggin genius. 14. Humidity is a pain. A dehumidifier is worth its weight in gold. 13. The wind always blows at the worst possible time, you know, that nice spring day and you have the doors and windows open as you prepare to apply lettering to that 8 foot long banner. All of a sudden...... 12. Sometimes 2 rolls of the same brand of vinyl, the same color, the same size are actually different. 11. Wraps are a pain in the ass. 10. Being self employed, every single one of your friends or family members want a job but nobody wants to work. 9. Being the cheapest bidder on a job has tons of consequences and it never pays off in your favor. Uncle Bob down the street can do it for "xxx" according to the customer. I have started recommending them just going to Uncle Bob but somehow the customers end up coming back to my shop. I dunno. Stand your ground with your bid. 8. It never ever ever pays to be in a hurry. 7. Avoid cheap vinyl on multi-layer jobs. 6. Application tape quality matters, alot. 5. It is hard to make any money lettering racecars. They want a $600.00 job done for $100.00 and want it done in 2 hours. I love racers, my husband is one, but... 4. It is impossible to please customers who buy off of your website because they can't read the application instructions, then they screw up the sticker, then blame you for it being "low quality". I guess that is the stickers fault?! I learned to read as a child. I think 99.6% of internet buyers didn't. 3. People are very rarely rude, unreasonable and abusive to your face, but are borderline criminal in an email. That AMAZES me how someone can be so rude in writing. 2. I love my dog, she never argues, lies, steals, and she could care less about different shades of beige. 1. The number one thing I have learned and please remember this....The less money you make on someone, the biggest pain in the ass they are. If you give an inch to a customer, they take 10 miles. Refrain from the "buddy deal". With that being said, I guess I know what to expect in the next 10 years. I wish someone would have told me about all of the pros and cons, but in all reality, would I have listened? Probably not.

I have 3 of them. Need new couch, shoes, underwear, socks, drywall, rug doctor........But, I love them more than anything. Choco, the one in the photo, I just lost him January 4th. I don't think I will ever get over it. He made it to 13 years old and we woke up that morning and he had died overnight in our bed with us. It was awful. We did replace the mattress to make me feel better emotionally but it's like losing a kid. I can go all day without crying now but we have another old one that we got when we got him, so I worry alot about that day with her. Then we have 2 pups that are running us to death. Life is hectic but worth it.

VERY good idea! I do have the app instruction on the website and I send them a sheet but I will make that disclaimer. Thats perfect. Thank you!!!

Hey there. Does anybody have any suggestions of some sort of disclaimer for my website somewhere along the line "if you can't read, I am not responsible"? I am getting irritated with abusive emails from people because they don't read the dimensions of a sticker or application instructions properly and they screw something up. I know it's a full moon and it gets like this, but, being the "kind" person that I am, I always fix the problems for people but still, one hispanic gentleman told me in broken english that my company is like a circus because my application instructions didn't tell him not to let the app tape stick together. Then, the decal was larger than he expected. Help. Please?! Casey

Yeah, that's kind of where I was too, but I wasn't sure. Thank you very much, it's good to know that I'm not out of line!! Have a good afternoon and thank you very much!! Casey

Hi. I am just providing the decals. They want to apply them themselves. Thanks!!

Hi everyone. I have a 11.5 feet by 3 foot tall sign to be done with translucent vinyl, 3 colors. I'm not too sure what to charge. Thank you!!

How do you do that?

One more thing...I lettered the back window of my truck with my company name and phone number. Had a little incident in traffic last week. My middle finger happened to get stuck erect for about half a mile down the interstate. I almost had to change my phone number. Just a reminder to all..watch out.

Yeah! I had a second phone line installed and got a free phone book. I truly didn't know they made them anymore either! They do make great booster seats and paperweights.

Hey there. Sorry for the delay. Hectic week. It is BNSF in Kansas City, KS. I went with the 300 for the decal and 100 to install and I have to do them this monday. So, thanks a bunch everyone!!! You rock.

Hi. I did that on my other ones and he was still able to remove the watermark somehow and vectorize the image. Thank you though! Casey

Hi there. Hope you are all going good! I am trying to figure out the steps in Photoshop CS3 to create a transparent overlay to help protect my images on my website as well as some that are on ebay. I want them to show up as a blank image if they right click it. There is some jackass selling on another website that stole my copyrighted images, vectorized them, ignored a cease and desist from my lawyer, and continues on his merry way and I am trying to protect new designs that I have made. I can figure out just about anything except this and I'm sure it's just an easy miss on my part, but any help would be appreciated very much. Thanks a million! Casey

Thanks jfought, I managed to work out my tiling in signcut with my 24 inch cutter and was able to cut it in sections to where all I have to do is line it all up. It came out in 3 sections, the top wing, the larger font then the smaller. I hope it's easier to install that way. I usually do everything in 1 piece, but my helper flew the coop on me, I think she is having a mid-life crisis and being a small business, I'm going thru trust issues on hiring anyone else. I have had 2 different so-called "friends" work with me and both of them were thieves. This latest one was a great worker but she got a divorce, started drinking ALOT, calling in late or sick, had a fake seizure to get the attention of some guy, right there on an install, then dropped off of the face of the earth. I know lots of you have been there with help issues too. With this economy, I would love to do my part and hire someone but I can't afford even the tiniest loss right now. SO, it's just me and my husband when he has time, which he never does. Thanks! Casey