Austin Texas Real Estate Blog

I must have seen the same guy in our town... funny though i was sure it was a Real Estate agent........  heheheh

Can you imagine an OPEN HOUSE sign or an AGENT ON DUTY sandwich board.  Maybe thats what we need to get buyers to our open houses (too bad its getting so much colder)

 

Thanks for the "old timey voice"

Jason, on a serious note- I have seen developers and builders do this here.  I'm wondering the same thing...wth?

I would say more but I'll stop.  :)

Jason, around here there has been a furniture store supposedly going out of business for about a year now. Just about every weekend you'll find some guys standing near all of the local highway on and off ramps holding these signs proclaiming "Going out of Business" and "Deep Discounts" and they stand there for hours upon hours. They look bored to tears and I always wonder how they can stand there for so long and not have to use a bathroom - lol.

That is pretty cute!  I like your suggestions.  Your job is what you make of it, however.

BTW, I did read all of it...it just made me think about that.  :)

I think it's hard to look bored in a afro wig as well and while it does scream maybe it's a little less pathetic!

We have learned to tune out the static sign.  We NEED a dynamic disply.  The guy carrying the sandwich board is a dynamic display. 

Oh my goodness! True story from 2 weekends ago. I have a Seiko watch with the original band and about a month ago I caught the watch on a corner in a rental home and bent the pin that holds the band to the watch frame. Easy enough, I just stop at the drug store and get a kit. Wrong. All the pins I can find and all the pins that have accumulated in "that box" over the last 20 or so years are double the size I need. Anyway, my wife and I were driving past Town Center in Kennesaw, GA one Sunday afternoon and there was a guy, about 40, long hair and scruffy face (there is a homeless center about 2 miles away) and what did I notice? "Look, honey, that dude is picking his nose!" But ... BUT ... what is he holding? Big tacky sign, not even well done: "We buy gold and jewelry. Watch repair." It worked, we stopped in. No luck - I have to go to a specialized repair center. Next time I buy a cheap watch. Do they still make Swatches?

We have a lot of those guys around here too!  Especially the ones for builders and they are always looking bored...an really hot.  We passed one today that had given up holding his sign and waving it...he was sitting in his car.  I always feel so sad for them that they have that job and in Arizona o all places.  When we passed today I mentioned to my husband that it just doesn't make me want to do business there.  People know who the builders are and when they are looking for a house, they go to the builder they like.  We also have some for a tax place...Liberty something and a couple of other stores that do it. 

Jason:  I thought those guys ALL lived in Charlotte?!!

The sandwich sign thing has been going here in California for a few years now. It also started with the builders. Now it seems to have spread to other places of business.

Our community mascot for a local eatery caused the town to rewrite its' entire sign code. One little chicken waving the American flag on the side of the highway inspired a verbal community brawl.

To this day the chicken man still waves on side of the highway.

Jason,

Thanks for the post. This does make you wonder if the proprietor does any kind of analysis to determine how effective this approach is. I for one have never been encouraged by the roadside marketeer holding up a sign advertising a going out of business sale. I do find those in costumes humorous, but I often relate their image to that of children, can't say that I have ever gone into a store because of their efforts either. So much for developing traffic.

Jason, I generally use those bored looking people as warnings to my children.  Only half kiddingly I tell them that this is the kind of job you get without a good education!  Or if I am by myself and I have been having my own little pity party, I use them as an opportunity to remind myself that there are worse jobs!  Lol!  Sometimes, you can see them look like they are having fun with it, so I beep and wave at them!  But, now that I think of it, I have never frequented a store because it was brought to my attention by a teenager standing outside in a costume! 

Jason - I have heard of an agent that wears a sandwich board before her open houses start. And yeah, that's why I always go for the $24 web cam, those $20 ones are so cheap. (Ok, I confess, my laptop has a built-in web cam).

 

Jason,

The one that gets me is the bank teller chewing/smacking on gum at the window while taking care of the customer and is more interested in working the gum than they are me the customer.  Talk about meking me feel welcome.

Jason-I see these poor people all the time...we got the Statue of Liberty during tax time..we have Quizno's doing it...large animals for car dealers...there has got to be a better way!  Although it makes great conversation..I always try to honk my horn..or wave...I really feel bad for anyone in Florida wearing these suits...how does Mickey do it??????

Jason,

HA!  FUNNY stuff.  You are soooo right, rainbow afro wig is the way to go without a doubt!  I see one guy on the major highway right before I turn for my house w/a sign (I think he's advertising mattresses) but he points his finger, winks and then gives a thumbs up.  It get's reallllly busy at this intersection & you can sit there for quite awhile, this guy doesn't stop.  He has a small radio out there & earphones on & just keeps on pointing, winking & thumb upping.  Seriously, I don't get it either.  I am curious who came up with this idea & thought it was a spectacular marketing tool.  NOT I!  KM

P.S. - Wasn't cherry phosphate before your time?

I don't like the sign "flipper"-"juggling" guys - that really irritates me at redlights.  Besides, they are flipping the signs so much I can't read what they are for.  I do agree with you that if you are going to hire someone to do it then yes, have it be something of value and give them small amenities like you mentioned, water, an umbrella, etc.

Jason ~ They do that here too, from furniture stores to I don't even know what.  Sometimes they are dressed up.  I like when the costume place here has someone out in costume at this time of year, that seems to make sense at least.  I feel bad for the people that are dressed up in some kind of costume in the middle of the summer, and on the main roads that have no shade. 

Wheres the rainbo Afro?!?!??? And by the way, I told ya to not get the cheapest :p

Jason - Personally, when I see someone walking around in a silly suit trying to attract customers, I feel embarrasses for the person and go in the other direction...  :)

Jason is that an Active Rain Member who needed a 2nd job? Just asking:)

Jason, that is pretty pitiful. What are we coming to? How do you remember the Phosphate? You're too young for all that. I remember them. Although they weren't a nickle...they were still a bargain. There was a store closing out here in Huntsville last summer and they hired a homeless man to sit on the corner with their sell out sign.

I was use to seeing him around but I was glad to see him making a little money. Did his sign entice me to go to the store? Not a chance...

Later in the rain~Deb

Jason, if I am having a difficult time understanding these types of schemes and I am not a mental genius, then it is probably a pretty good indication that it is not working. Why insult the intelligence of the public with such ridiculous advertising mehods. I am with you on this one!

Bo

Jason- We have many of those types of advertisements here. Many of the people look so bored and dejected. Some however, look like they are truly have a hoot. I find myself considering going to the business where the people look like they are having fun and avoiding the ones that they look like they are bored to tears. Is this fair to the business? YES! make sure you control what your public image looks like!

Best,

Scott

I was just wondering this today when I saw some kind of sign being held haphazardly by an unenthusiastic participant on the side of the road.  I thought when did this become the way?  I'm glad for work for the less fortunate ( which in some cases is what is being done).  I agree better pay might help, and the animals suits in Florida heat CRAZY.  I hope this advertising method improves or goes away...  sometimes it's good to just chat about whatever and not real estate so thanks for this post.

I kind of cringe at that too.... And it is a turn off for me.

Especially when it is a furniture company going out of business for 3yrs.

 

I kept waiting for you to tie the Fry's 'you get what you pay for' analogy together with the individual standing on the corner holding the sign.  I can't figure out who I'm more disturbed by.  The person who is, presumably, getting paid and doing the absolute bare minimum job requirement OR the builder/devolper who doesn't have any more respect for his own business than to hire the cheapest labor possible to advertise their multi-million dollar business.

I see home builders hiring folks that appear to have come straight from homeless shelters in order to advertise new communities. 

Hi Jason,

I've seen similar things here in Southern CA.  Can you believe it?  That's the critical FIRST impression people have about that development!  Makes absolutely no sense to me.

There are a few sign twirlers who seem to get a real kick out of what they're doing, but the majority are simply passing time, and not with any sense of joy.

Funny this came up Jason. We just helped a woman rent a commercial space for a new restaurant and she had two girls, in bad clothes holding poster board signs (didn't even spring for the sandwich boards) trying to waive people in. When we seen this we bought her some nice sandwich boards professionally painted and attached balloons instead of people. She was grateful and I don't have to look at tacky people on the street corner anymore....truly a win/win situation!

Saw a guy holding a directional sign a few days ago and the arrow was pointing in the wrong direction. Got my attention.

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