• If you take your sign down will your customers still come?

    Posted on December 9th, 2009 by and currently 6 commenting.

    During the last WOMMA Summit in Las Vegas, I made plans to visit my friends at Stay True Tattoo and get some new ink work done by tattoo artist Jason Murphy. I did my usual routine – go to the taxi line at the hotel and give the driver the street address. My cab driver knew where I was going. He told me he took a couple to that same address several months ago. They told him they came to Vegas not to gamble, but to get their tattoos at Stay True.

    We had a good chat and came up to the address. But my drive stopped suddenly he said, “What the hell? Where is the sign?” I spotted the number on the door, paid the driver, and headed towards the building. The driver was right – there was no sign, just a blacked out door with only the building number and the words “ By Appointment Only.” I open the door and yep, this is the place.

    Jason’s drawing away on my new tattoo design and the first words out of my mouth are “What happened to your sign?” Jason laughs as we walk outside and he shows me where they painted over the entire sign.

    He tells me they did it for their customers, because it gives them a feeling of mystery. I totally got it. This is MY place, and I walk in the door with sense of knowing that pain is right around the corner. But the place gives me comfort to sit in that barber chair and get carved on for four hours. I like that it’s not surrounded by panoramic windows, people shopping for cool t-shirts, and just wanting to watch.

    The no-sign entrance is really the perfect first impression for a place that is surrounded by personal belongings of art and work. It’s the artists sharing their work with their customers… the folks that trust them to bring that art to life on their skin.

    Stay True Tattoo is busy and going strong despite not having a fancy Vegas strip identity. They’re not concerned with selling shirts or other gear. All they want to do is the craft. I find it refreshing in today’s times of long-tail thinking, that stripping down and going with the basics can be rewarding for the business and the customer.

  • Pingback: AllThingsM (AllThingsM)

  • Pingback: GoodProspects (Good Prospects)

  • Pingback: Alltop_Social (Alltop)

  • Pingback: socialmediajs (Brendan McManus)

  • http://vitkunbrands.wordpress.com Jeff Vitkun

    Some businesses use this as a strategy. In DC their is a very posh/expensive night club called the 18th street lounge that has never had a sign.

    Anyone who shows up there already feels hip and in the know just for being there.

    It has a speakeasy vibe to it.

    Interesting post.

  • http://www.missinglink.co.za Rich…!

    Great post Geno, and great tatt :)

    Missing Link has no sign…!