Choosing the Perfect Moniker

Can you guess the profession of these boat owners based on their boat’s name? Fender Bender, Luna Sea, Fire Escape. Fender Bender belongs to the owner of an auto body shop, Luna Sea is owned by a psychiatrist and Fire Escape belongs to, you guessed it, a fireman. These names are not only unique, but as you can see, have special meaning to their owners.

If you have struggled to come up with a name for your boat then you are not alone. What things should you consider when naming your vessel? Certainly you could name your boat something that directly or indirectly relates to your profession as was demonstrated in the previous examples. Is there a special women in your life? Women’s names have always been popular boat names. Betty Ann, Rebecca and Miss Susan are some of the ones I have lettered for their owners. Just make sure the woman in your life will be a permanent fixture unless you don’t mind the hassle of renaming the boat down the road. One of my customers named her boat Mama Mia in memory of her mother. Mama Mia was the pet name bestowed on her mother by the children because she loved the movie bearing the name so much. Since it was money from her mother’s estate that paid for the boat, the daughter thought it only right to name the watercraft after her.

Just make sure the woman in your life will be a permanent fixture unless you don’t mind the hassle of renaming the boat down the road

Another practice is to coin a name that has a nautical spin on it. Sea Saw, Nauti-Girl and Seas the Day are common examples. A similar theme is the sport of fishing itself. Finicky, Cod Father and Holy Mackerel are prime examples. Some are even able to pay homage to both their profession and the love of fishing with a creative name. Click Bait could belong to a web designer and Knot on Call to someone in the medical profession.

Some names should probably be avoided. A boat named Drunk All Day or 3 Sheets in the Wind may draw unwanted attention from the Coast Guard. Also, try to avoid cliches. In the ’80s, sailboats named My Only Vice done in hot pink and teal to emulate Miami Vice, the popular TV series could be found in every marina. Think twice before choosing names with risque double entendres like Wet Dream, Bow Movement and Wasted Seamen. Ask yourself if the possible negative responses to the name is worth the occasional smile it brings to an admirer. Very long names can also be problematic both when using it over the radio and for the sign painter that has to fit it on the back of the boat. A Wave From It All might be a cute play on words but with so many letters and spaces the phrase could be too long to get ample height to make it legible from a distance. There are many names that while acceptable are so popular that they are overused. High Maintenance, Black Pearl and Serenity come to mind.

While I have lettered literally hundreds of boats over the years I have never owned my own boat. Even so, I have tried unsuccessfully to come up with a unique boat name for myself; just in case. I wanted a name that indirectly referenced my profession of sign painting. I suppose if the boat had a red hull and was fast I could name it Red Rocket. Any ideas? What special name did you come up with for your boat and why?

Controlling Traffic to Your Business

In my last blog post I concluded by illustrating how effective branding could save both ourselves and our potential customers a lot of wasted time. The key is knowing who your potential customers are and who they are not. I would like to expound on that with a true experience I recently had. I had to travel to a marina about a 30 minutes drive away to hand paint a name on a boat. My truck was fully loaded with supplies except for the small paper cups (3oz. Dixie) and some varnish I needed to make a glaze. I decided to stop somewhere along the route to the marina to purchase the additional supplies.

My first stop was at an Ace Hardware near my shop. I picked up some varnish but couldn’t find the right paper cups. I also couldn’t find anyone to assist me. I eventually got in line with the varnish and waited for what seemed like an eternity while an older patron at the front of the line divided her purchases into groups to be paid for separately while at the same time disputing each transaction with the cashier. When I had finally had enough I stepped out of line, ditched the varnish and headed a little out of my way to the Home Depot. There I found an even better varnish but still no paper cups. After purchasing the varnish I headed to Yorktown. There, I stopped in a shopping center that has both a Dollar Tree and a Big Lots side by side. Once inside the Dollar Tree I spent a few minutes making a visual search before asking for help. I was directed to the party supply section where I had already looked but was now accompanied by a cashier. She could find red plastic Solo cups but no paper cups. I left the Dollar Tree and as I entered the Big Lots I decide to save some time and just ask someone for help. They assured me that they carried paper cups because they were on sale for the approaching Super Bowl weekend but believed they may have sold out. I was directed to the isle where the cups were located if any were still in stock. No…all gone. Leaving the shopping center I saw a drug store on the corner. I parked, ran in and with the salespeople assisting others I found the paper goods isle on my own and made a thorough search. Again, no paper cups. I recalled that I had passed a WalMart on the opposite side of the road but bypassed it for the sake of time. I then back-tracked to the WalMart was finally able to purchase 3oz. waxless paper cups.

This was a truly frustrating experience for me. What should have taken 30 minutes took an hour and a half. There were many things I should have done differently that would have saved me much of the aggravation. At least I learned a valuable lesson. While there is no way for consumers to know every product that is sold by a retail store, we, as business owners, can be proactive in minimizing the possibility that our potential customers might have a similar experience with us. I can think of many times when a potential client entered my shop only to be disappointed because I couldn’t fulfill their needs. We should make every attempt to inform and educate potential clients as to who we are and what we do, so as not to waste either their or our time.

I certainly can’t comment on your business without knowing who you are, what you do, who you do it for and so on. I can, though, comment on my own business and how this bad experience has made me examine my branding strategy more closely. I am first and foremost a sign painter. I provide hand-crafted and hand-painted signs to local businesses. This includes painted store windows as well as painted graphics on cars, trucks and boats. I also pinstripe vehicles, especially motorcycles. I am often called on to design logos for the businesses I provide signage for. Now I will describe what I don’t do. I don’t provide computer-cut vinyl letters either wholesale or retail. In fact, I don’t sell anything to the consumer to assist them in producing their sign or vehicle lettering on their own. I can only think of two customers whose signage I even use vinyl lettering on. It is what they want, it suits their needs and they have been loyal to me for many years. But with new customers it is paint or nothing.

The problem is that I still have potential customers coming into my shop to get a price on the things I don’t do. Let me rephrase that. Practically every potential customer that enters my shop wants something that I don’t do. I also have a problem with persons coming into my shop who immediately tell me that they don’t want to spend any money. They want whatever is the cheapest sign I have and as soon as they find out that I don’t make vinyl lettered signs they leave. They assume that vinyl is going to be cheaper than hand-painted. I personally believe that there are sign shops that charge as much for their vinyl jobs as I might for some of my hand-lettered jobs. Overhead certainly comes into play in these situations. Not that I really care. The cheap customer is never loyal anyway. They will drop you in a minute if they discover that someone else charges a dollar less.

An effective branding strategy, properly executed could curtail vinyl shoppers from ever entering my shop. I believe the weak link is my storefront. Even though all visible signage is painted; nowhere on the front of my building does it say hand-painted. I shouldn’t assume that the “average Joe” could quickly spot the difference. Also, my building is surrounded by lower income housing in a neighborhood that considers me to be the local sign shop. It is usually the local start-ups that are coming in requesting cheap along with the occassional contractor who only wants vinyl. The business inquiries I receive over the telephone or through the internet seem to know I specialize in hand-painted signs because that is what they ask for.

As I examine my storefront, I can definitely see some options that could help eliminate some of the confusion. I could paint the words, “Hand Painted” in a beautiful script that starts on the first glass containing the word, SIGNS and extends above the sailor girl and over to the end of the phrase, BOAT LETTERING. In my showroom I could add lettering to the area left of the sailor girl mounted behind my front counter that says, “Hand-Painted Like They Used To Be”. This would educate those that may have somehow missed the window lettering.

The point is this; we have to constantly scrutinize our branding strategy to see how it is working. My social media and website presence seem to be doing their job of educating others as to what my business is all about. My storefront and company vehicles however, could be improved upon. This is ironic because much of my social media traffic is either already in the same trade as me or live too far away to ever enlist my services. It is the locals that I should really be targeting.

Examine your own business. Could your branding strategy need tweaking to yield better results. One way to ensure that your business is profitable is to operate it efficiently. Wasting time and energy explaning to someone why you can’t help them benefits no one. Whereas, a well thought out branding strategy properly implemented may be just what your business needs.