by MyVinylDesigner
21. May 2009 04:43
When a church, school, scout, or other organizational activity centers around making a vinyl project, may we suggest a few pointers ... for you, the event coordinator, and the people involved. Most often, you will need to kindly "coach" the coordinator with tips for running a successful vinyl event.
1- If people are looking to make a vinyl project inexpensively, avoid suggesting that they "weed" their own vinyl. People will inevitably lose dots, commas, or other design elements and ask you to recut them. It will save you a LOT of heartache!
2- Suggest that people do not paint, stain, or sand raw wood at the activity. The process generally takes too long. Projects should be simple enough for people have a positive vinyl experience. If they must paint, suggest using the craft paint that dries quickly, and maybe having a couple hairdryers to speed up drying process.
3- Suggest that people bring their own prepared surfaces to the event ... this way, everyone likes what they have. For instance, if someone is providing raw wood for people to paint, send that wood home with people a few weeks prior to the event. Or let people bring their own tiles, glass blocks, holiday plates, etc. Alternatively, event organizers can bring the non-prep surfaces to the event and distribute everything in "packages", which is sometimes the easiest.
4- Suggest that project samples be the exact replicas of what people will make. It is beyond frustrating to receive something smaller, larger, or different than the sample. People want to get what they see.
5- Suggest that people prepay before attending the event. Otherwise, people tend to "forget" their money and it creates more work for the event organizer.
6- Request that you receive one lump sum payment, not a bunch of little payments at the time the vinyl is picked up. You don't want everyone trying to individually pay you ... too much time involved. Try not to cut too early, because orders generally change at the last minute.
7- Request that the final order be submitted to you a couple weeks before the event, but be flexible with last minute changes. Again, it's all about creating a positive vinyl experience for everyone, including the event organizer.
8- Quietly decide in your mind to offer free replacements for mess-ups. You don't need to announce it, but this act of generosity will carry you a long way in the vinyl business. This can be done the week AFTER the event.
9- Offer easels in vinyl tile projects as another way to increase revenue. You can buy the easels at wholesale prices, then offer them for twice as much. They'll still cost less than in the store. Remember, you run a business! Here is some info about our favorite easel supplier. Be sure to ask about their wholesale pricing.
10- Offer discounts on volume orders. When people know you are offering a special savings for a particular organization, they will generally buy more. People like to save money. You will still make good money if everything is priced right. (The pricing shown on our Group Pricing Sheet example is the actual pricing we charge for most groups.)
11- When the event organizer first approaches you about doing vinyl, offer a one-page sheet of suggestions (if they don't have an idea already) that she can take back to her committee for selection. Suggest that they offer a few designs at different price points. Some 12x12 designs could cost $7-$8 and others could cost $13-$15. This allows more people to participate in the project.
12- Once they've determined which designs they want, then offer to lay them on out on a sign-up sheet and print them off for the event coordinator. She will LOVE you for this! It will be her tool for gathering information and collecting money in a neat, orderly way. It will also save you a TON of time and ensure that you get all the info you need.
13- Lastly, ask for the sign-up sheets at the time of the order (you can always return it when the order is picked up). This sheet will become your right hand in making sure such a large vinyl order is properly done.
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by MyVinylDesigner
20. May 2009 12:11
I am trying to place these vector images onto other jpeg images of rooms to show examples of what these decals would look like in the home. That way when I build my website, customers can see an image of the copywrited image up close AND one that shows an example of how it will look in an actual room. I was wondering if you have sample room pics or if you have transparent images of these vectors. I am using Serif Draw Plus X2 and it doesn't seem to layer right. It either shows a white background or it pixelizes the room image. Any help at all would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for your recent purchase of our CD ... we'd be happy to help!
1- Here are some steps for overlaying text on a stock photo: http://www.myvinyldesigner.com/blog/post/Adding-a-Vinyl-Design-to-Stock-Photos.aspx. It's quite easy once you get going.
2- We invite everyone to use the tools, including the rotating photo albums, on My Vinyl Supplier, a website that we created for our customer's customers, with no reference to us. Here's an explanation of it all: http://www.myvinyldesigner.com/blog/category/My-Vinyl-Supplier-Info.aspx.
3- For the sizing of photos using our designs, when no background is used, we ask that our designs be displayed as low resolution, smaller size images. We ask that photos, having no background, be sized no larger than 170x170px, and that the resolution be no higher than 72. Otherwise, people can instantly take that photo and vectorize, or recreate, the very image we sell. We appreciate our customers taking the time to protect our vector artwork from third-party misuse.
4- All of our vectors are transparent layers ... the secret lies in how you use the vectors. If you import the stock photo into your cutter software, then import your vector design on top, working in layers, you can export all the elements as a finished jpg.
We hope this helps. Let us know if there's anything else we can do. Be sure to follow us on facebook for all the fun contests, giveaways, sales, and how-to's that we share. :) Welcome!
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by MyVinylDesigner
9. May 2009 04:39
Our favorite easel supplier is Elegance in Easels at http://www.easels.com/ ... they offer low minimums and great customer service. (520) 325-8286 / 1-800-325-8286 Be sure to request their wholesale prices as the links provided are to their retail site. Wholesale prices are about half of what is listed on their retail site. Each box has 12 easels. The specific easels we like are:
Black wrought iron stand (for 6x6 tiles) ..... #SHB02
Black wrought iron stand (for 12x12 tiles) ..... #AFB13
If the little foot protectors fall off in shipping, just hot glue them back on the easel legs. They stand just a little taller than the tiles, have swirls at the bottom and top, and simply look classy. A custom vinyl image on a 12x12 tile with the large easel generally retails for around $25.
They also have the simple black and brown wooden easels, as shown in the photo below.
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by MyVinylDesigner
8. May 2009 08:35
coming soon
Good evening! Unfortunately, I'm not sure what to tell you on this project. Not knowing your clock hands size, I cannot say for sure. You will just want to buy hands made for a ten inch clock. I do know on larger clocks you need the high torque movements or your clock will become slow quickly.
Sorry not to be more help!
Good evening! You will love creating clocks! Good for you. I believe you can get the wall clock units from http://www.clockparts.com
Good Morning!!
I would like to install the clock designs on a 12x12 tile. Do I make the design 10"? I wasn't sure if the hands of the clock would hit the numbers at the correct {time}. And, can I make them larger for say, a 16x16 or 18x18?
Thanks! You guys are amazing!!
Good evening! You should be able to cut any of the clock faces to fit on a 12x12 tile. I certainly do not recommend smaller than that. It would be preferable to go like a 13x13 or bigger depending on the complexity of the clockface and your preceision of your cutter.
Hope that helps! Good luck on your projects!
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by MyVinylDesigner
7. May 2009 08:44
coming soon
The sheet metal that is often used in crafts can be found in a couple of places. First, and easiest is a craft store. Depending on where you live...Porters, Michaels, or Roberts Crafts usually have a selection of cut metal sheets. If you do not live near any of these stores, you will find a local plumber supply store to be helpful. . . perferably one that will also cut the metal for you. This way is usually much cheaper, but you do have to buy more at a time.
I keep seeing magnetic strips or sheets attached to wood on some of your samples. Can you tell me where I can buy this? I have looked at local hardware and home improvement stores and find some sheets but they are too large and don't have the shiney, textured look that I am seeing in your samples. Thanks for your help!
Good morning! Thanks for all your kind words! We are ever a work in progress!
I find that plumbing supply stores carry sheet metal the cheapest. However, they are not always able to cut it. They can usually recommend someone with a lathe to cut it though. This will be the most economical way to get sheet metal. Craft stores like Roberts or Michaels will also carry sheet metal, but they will cost quite a bit more.
As for magnets, I do not know what that person used for a magnet, but I do like using EARTH magnets as they are super strong. I normally go to my local Army Surplus store for these.
Hope that helps! This is a great time of year to get that vinyl business up and going!
You site just gets better all the time. I haven't been too into my vinyl business but looking at all your designs is getting me inspired to give it a push.
I have a question. Do you know where to purchase the metal sheeting that is used on projects such as the snowflake Christmas calendar? Also, do you know what the person used for the magnet that looked like a snowball?
Thank you very much!
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by MyVinylDesigner
1. May 2009 03:07
A vinyl application fluid is a must when working with frosted vinyl, large glass and mirror projects, cold exterior doors and windows, and large vinyl projects in general. (It is not required for large wall decals that have fine-lined text and graphics.) It allows you to more quickly and easily press out the bubbles that form between the vinyl and the substrate. It also speeds up the installation process, allows one person to do the job, and helps vinyl to adhere better in cold temperatures.
RapidTac offers a few different sprays, depending on what your needs are. A little goes a long way and saves you a TON of time and grief. Vinyl application sprays are generally purchased through your preferred vinyl supplier. We thought the following tutorial best showed the process for using a vinyl application fluid:
CLICK HERE for info related to applying exterior vinyl in cold weather conditions
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