Real Estate Street Signs / Bandit Signs
 

FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions

What are Bandit Signs?
Bandit Signs are a form of Guerilla marketing, and it’s Guerilla marketing at it’s best. Bandit Signs are often called by many other names; “road signs”, “roadside signs”, “yard signs”, and “street signs”. Our Bandit Signs are like mini billboards, and they work for you, delivering your message day and night. Your message will be seen by thousands, and for that kind of exposure, Bandit Signs should cost A LOT more than they do, but they don’t.

Bandit Signs are printed on corrugated plastic in a wide variety of colors. They can be printed in a variety of sizes too; 6” x 8”, 6” x 24”, 24” x 36”, 12” x 18” and the most common size being 18” x 24”.

You’ve seen Bandit Signs everywhere…For Sale, Lease Purchase, Lease Option, Garage Sale, Owner Finance, directional signs…and just about anything else you can imagine. You’ve probably seen them when you’re out driving around on street corners, or on telephone poles.

Everyone uses them! Political parties, builders, realtors, real estate investors, credit repair businesses, roofers, landscapers, home buyers and sellers, car buyers and sellers, renters, cleaning companies, swimming pool services, t-shirt companies.

We pre-print signs for most every type of business or occasion, which allows you to order from our In-stock selection at lower than normal pricing. This way, we take the guess work out of what your Bandit Signs should say.

Bandit Signs are simple, yet they are very aggressive in getting the phones ringing and helping businesses boom. They are the most cost effective way to market your business.

Metal or Wood Stakes?
Everyday we are asked about which stake is best when using Bandit Signs, Metal or Wood? You may think that this is not a big issue, but believe it or not, it does matter. Through the years, we have heard many theories when it comes to which stake is best to use but in the end, it all comes down to a matter of preference.

When it comes to using the wooden stakes, the signs hold up better in the wind and in the ground. The only thing you have to worry about is your sign bending in half, but there is a simple solution to that. When using wood stakes, it is a great idea to see if the sign is available with the flutes in the sign running horizontal. This will help strengthen the sign against the wind and keep it from bending in the middle. Another great thing about the wooden stakes is that you can find them at any local Home Depot or Lowe's at a fraction of the cost of metal stakes. You also have to purchase 1 inch roofing nails to attach the sign to the stake. If you don’t mind putting in the labor of attaching the wood stakes to the signs and hammering the signs in the ground, then it is well worth it for you to get wood stakes if want you signs to stay up longer and sit straight up for the world to see.

Now don't get us wrong, the metal stakes are great and we sell them mainly as a convenience to our customers. The great thing about these is there is hardly any labor involved in attaching them to the sign, and placing them into the ground is simple because you just have to step on them, (metal stakes are also referred to as step stakes). They hold up fairly well in the wind, but they tend to sway back and forth. These are perfect for your double-sided signs and for anybody who just doesn't have the time to sit there and hammer roofing nails in the signs to attach the wooden stakes.

Either type of stake you choose to use is correct because you have made the right choice in using BanditSigns.com in the first place. Bandit Signs do the marketing for you, and they work no matter what stake you use with them because they will get the word out about your business and increase your sales. They are the best marketing investment you can make for the money.

Phone Numbers & Web Addresses
In order to get your contact information as big and bold as possible we do not print the "1" in front of your phone number or put your area codes in parentheses

1. It is common knowledge to dial "1" before a long distance or an 800 number.
2. If your prospect forgets - a recording will tell them to do so.
3. The sign is easier to read and can can seen at a greater distance.
4. The brain assimilates the information easier and quicker.

Consider leaving off the "www." and capitalizing the first letter in each word in your web address. This allows us to get your address bigger and bolder.

1. "www." is like the "1" in front of your number.
2. Browsers are no longer case sensitive.
3. It allows the eye to decipher and the brain to retain the info easier.

How to Use Bandit Signs Effectively.
The 18"x24" size sign is the easiest to read as traffic is going by at 30-50 mph, or even at major intersections when stopped in traffic, they can be seen from a far distance. The 12"x18" size signs are less noticeable and should be used in areas where a complete stop is required, or in the inner regions of a neighborhood.

Your call volume will increase dramatically after a weekend of using 18"x24" Bandit Signs; contrasted with the 12"x18" size, the calls will come in but probably not as high as with the 18"x24"s.

The 12"x18", however, will typically be out for a little longer. You can expect the 18"x24"s to last about the same amount of time as running an ad in the newspaper (3 days to a week), but with tons more exposure.

We’ve tested every color under the sun for our Bandit Signs, so the colors we offer are colors that work. Some people swear by a certain color combination, others swear that another works better; it comes down to regional areas at times, but we’ve had the best results with blue and white.

Your message is the most important thing besides your phone number that you can put on your signs. Your message should be short and simple. If you’re driving down the road at 40 mph, you have about 3-5 seconds to read the sign. If your message has five or more lines of text, most of your audience (those that are driving) aren’t going to be able to read it in those few seconds, so the "KISS" rule applies. You need to keep the message simple and to the point.

In our experience and tests, we have found that using a phone number on your Bandit Signs is strongly recommended over using a website. This is mainly because people tend to write a phone number down, while with a website, they try to memorize it, then by the time they get home, they probably only remember part of it or none at all. And if they get to searching online, they’re going to be able to look at all your competition. A phone number on your Bandit Signs works much better.

There’s also some question as to what type of phone number you should put on your signs (cell, office, voicemail, home, 800 numbers). We feel voicemails are a great way to track the results of different marketing messages. You can set up different voicemails though services like RingCentral.com, and you can assign a different voicemail number to different signs. This way, you can track which signs are working better and in which areas, and so on. In our experience, we found that local numbers perform better than 800 numbers. An exception to that is a vanity 800 number like 800-BUY-KWIK.

We recommend that you put out 20-25 signs in an area in which you wish to market. If you order 500 signs, do not put them all out in that area you’re marketing -- city ordinances do not allow that. After you put your 20-25 signs out in one area, begin rotating areas. Saturate an area to a point to where people will notice them -- not ignore them because there are so many. People will notice these signs when the message targets what they need; when you tell your customer what you do, rather than who you are.

Prime areas to target: major intersections and off ramps from the highway. My favorite areas are long stretches of 40 mph roads. Put the signs out on the side of the road, about 10-20 feet off the road, and a quarter- to a half-mile apart, going both ways.

The best times to put out Bandit Signs are late on Friday afternoons and evenings.

With these tips, you will have a great experience using Bandit Signs!