Branding expert Peter Montoya says that your marketing should attract the customers you want, and repel everyone else. That might seem strong, but by choosing to appeal to one group of customers, you may be alienating or even angering others.

Your first reaction might be that you do not want to lose anyone who might possibly become a customer. However, the people who are repelled by your targeted marketing would probably never have become your customers, anyway. You have not lost anything.

As an example, a radio station advertised their shock jock morning show with billboards calculated to offend all the people who would never listen to the show anyway. But the people who would enjoy the show responded to the billboards and even to the controversy they generated. The station clearly knew its market.

It is also important to remember that not all customers are of equal value to you. A software company wanted to increase their customer base, so they offered a drastic price reduction on one of their products for a limited time. This did not attract as many new customers as they thought it would, causing the company to realize that their customers were not as sensitive to price as they had imagined.

And they made an unpleasant discovery about their new customers. The people who bought from them because of the low price were very different from their usual customers. For one thing, they required much more attention than those who had paid full price. While the full price customers were sophisticated users who were able to install and use the software with very little assistance from the vendor, the discount buyers needed much more help. The net result was more work for less revenue—certainly not what they had in mind.

Pricing, packaging, advertising, image—all work to attract the customers you want. A strong message not only attracts those customers, it repels the ones that are not a good fit with the unique qualities of your product.

After all, if your product is like everyone else’s why should anyone notice or buy? To get the attention of customers, products have to be remarkable. In his book, “Purple Cow,” Seth Godin says that success and growth come with products that annoy, offend, don’t appeal, are too expensive, too cheap, too heavy, too complicated, too simple—too something. That means that while many people will not be attracted to your product, it will be absolutely perfect for others. They are your market.

This advice is especially important to small businesses. Most small companies can’t afford to compete with the big guys on the big guys’ terms. Instead, shake up your industry with a creative innovation and capture your niche while your competitors are busy making compromises to try to hold on to their sliver of the market.

Do not try to be all things to all people. Instead, focus on how you can make a remarkable product (or service) to appeal to exactly the customers you want.

Good signage can make new customers aware of your business, and help those looking for you to easily find your location. 

How often have you looked for a business and been frustrated because you couldn’t see the sign and there were no street numbers on the buildings?

Many areas have restrictions about the size, type and number of signs you may post. Make sure your signs are in compliance and get any required permits before erecting signs.

Your sign should reflect your business. A law firm might have a simple, dignified sign, while a toy store could use bright colors and images. An upscale salon would want to portray a different image than a discount hair cutter.

Make the sign easy to read, even when customers are driving past. Letters should be bold, in an easy to read font. If you have a recognizable logo or color scheme, use it on your sign. Consider using a sign cut in a shape that relates to your business, such as a car-shaped sign for an auto repair shop.

Will customers be looking for your business name, or another name? Are you an authorized dealer or repair center for major brands? Putting those brand names and logos on your signage may attract customers.

Whether it is on your sign or the building, make your street number easy to read from the street.

If your location is hard to find, put up signs to direct customers to you. For example, if you are located behind another building and not visible from the street, put up one or more signs pointing customers to your building. Of course, make sure you are allowed to post signs in those locations.

Once customers find you, make it easy for them to park and enter. If there is any confusion about where they are allowed to park, or if they can be towed if they park in the wrong place, put up signs to direct them to appropriate parking areas. If the entrance isn’t obvious, make sure signs lead them to you.

Some businesses use a marquee to make announcements, highlight sales, tell of the arrival of new products and show other promotions. Change the message periodically so the marquee displays news. Some businesses post funny sayings or proverbs to get attention from customers.

Signs in your windows can serve many of same functions as marquees. Use professionally created signs or hire a sign painter to paint signs on your front windows.

Check work orders carefully to avoid incorrect words, misspellings and grammatical errors. Don’t count on the sign maker to do it for you.

Don’t forget other places you can put signs. Get magnetic signs for your vehicles. If you work at customer sites, use yard signs. Roofers and remodelers do this all the time. When they do a job, they post a sign in the customer’s yard announcing who is doing the work.

Signs put your message in front of customers and helps lead them to you. Well-designed signage is a great investment in your business.