I got a call this morning from an angry bylaw officer saying I have 7 days to take down all 300 of my house washing signs around town. Was my only advertising method. Ill be fined $100 per sign, so just a warning to other guys who use signs. I might have to close my doors for good. Best of luck to the rest of you.
I know you don’t want to hear this now, but…
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
That’s a bummer, though. Time to get savvy on more professional advertising methods. Google My Business, Facebook page and advertising, door hangers, etc. Just browse the marketing subcategory on this forum.
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I have google my business setup with a website, but my competition are huge companies and they have their local seo locked down. Google ads is also really competitive where I am, clicks are 15 bucks on average. I borrowed 2k for new signs and they’ve already been shipped, so I dont think theres too much hope left in my situation.
Oh, dang.
You could knock on doors offering deeply discounted power washing in exchange for placing your signs in their yards (maybe even offering to do the front walkway or something like that for free). Most jurisdictions don’t have anything against temporary yard signs placed on private property with the homeowner’s permission.
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he said i cant do them on peoples properties either
I would check your local sign laws. That sounds like bs to me. If it’s not in the county/city right-of-way, and it’s within size limits, it’s legal.
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I cant afford to drive around and take them all down. Gas is very expensive here. If they do start fining me I may have no choice. But i have house washing booked for every day this week so i have no time. and how is 7 days fair? doesn’t seem long enough. then again i know its my own fault. to be honest I had no idea it was even illegal.
I meant placing them in customers’ yards shouldn’t be illegal. I would think gas isn’t $30k expensive. Those signs are. Can’t pay the fine, then you’ll probably end up doing quite a few days behind bars. Pay a teen a dollar or 2 per sign to go take them down for you. $300’s a heck of a lot less than $30k.
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well I I doubt they would fine me all at once, it would probably start small
Yes, unfortunately it’s illegal…
The only way you can get away with it is if you don’t use your registered legal business name. Something generic like just “pressure washing service” and use a prepaid phone that isn’t linked to your business like a metro pcs phone… No way they can track you down that way…
The system is intended for you to spend on advertising, Although I don’t condone what I just suggested to you, If you can use it just to get your self up, I strongly suggest you look at other more professional long term advertising options.
I wish you well!
Do you really believe this?
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This situation doesn’t make sense to me.
As a business owner you will come across far greater hurdles than the one you are currently faced with.
Take a breath and figure it out it’s not the end unless you want it to be.
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Glad that tackiness is in a city far from me 
Go knock doors if you have no money for advertising. That’s what I did. It is a lot better than tacking litter to something you don’t own.
If you have 7 days worth of work lined up in the same week then it sounds like business could be good for you. I would imagine that if you are doing good work then your name should be being passed around as a referral from at least some of your past customers.
I understand that it is no fun to go and take down all of your signs, but many places do have similar ordinances. I did some weekend work when I was younger working for a large home builder back in Colorado where they would have me set up 450 signs advertising “New Construction”, “Model Home This Way”, “Great Amenities”, etc, and all of this had to be done after 8pm on a Friday but before 7am on Saturday. Then, on Sunday starting at 4pm I had to take them all back down again and ensure that they were removed by 7am on Monday or the city ordinance officials would fine the home builder for each sign left out. The worst I had it was when I would install all the signs, a snow storm would come in and the plow trucks would push the snow up onto the curbs either knocking over the signs or completely covering them to where I couldn’t see them when it was time to pick them up. It can be done!
I second what was suggested earlier - pay some high school / college kids $1 or $2 for every sign that they bring back to you. That way you don’t have to take time away from your jobs that you have lined up.
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Geesh, go take them down. Even if you have to ride a bicycle all night and stay awake for 24 hours, get it done.
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Don’t give up! Go take the signs down and while you are there write down the street and find a house number or 2. Then when you are back in your office put together “an apology” flier and let them know that you didnt realize it was not allowed and you are just trying to start an honest business, etc , etc. and throw in a business card if you have some. You get the idea. If you want, go ahead and offer them a little discount off your regular rates. I bet you get some customers who appreciate your apology. Even if it’s one or 2 it’ll help offset your expense for the signs and removing them, etc. Just one way to turn a negative into a positive. Good luck.
Jeeez I could have told you that it wasn’t legal to post up your signs all over city property… It’s common sense. What did you think was going to happen with the signs over time? Where you planning on picking them back up after they get weathered and unreadable? They call them bandit signs for a reason. Go grab your signs back before you get fined. If you work at someone’s property you can put your sign up regardless of what he says.
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I have jobs lined up for a while so once I bang em off I’ll have new marketing money, so your right. I tend to over react and then calm down after a day or two lol
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This has worked for me too
I will do this
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