The main strip in Utila is a thirteen foot wide concrete road about two miles long. Call it the business district. These businesses are: grocery stores, dive shops, hotels, bars, and  restaurants. More than a few are a combination of the above categories.
The most common would be restaurants, it seems as though anyone with a stove or an outdoor grill was putting up a restaurant sign. With so many to choose from we relied heavily on recommendations from locals, other travelers, and online reviews from travel sites like Lonely Planet. What emerges is far from a comprehensive dining guide.

RJ’s – open only a few days each week, the food here is excellent. Grilled fish and grilled pork were the best we had on the island, and the tres leche dessert was amazing.

Munchies Cafe – offering free wi-fi and breakfast served all day this was a great place to refuel after a morning dive.

Bundu Cafe – free wi-fi and tasty breakfast burritos made this place a good morning stop.

El Picante – Formerly the Mariposa Cafe, this restaurant serves delicious Mexican food from a second floor covered patio overlooking the harbor, enjoy a great meal and enjoy the sunset.

La Piccola – this was the most expensive meal we had on Utila with two entrees an appetizer, and cocktails running close to $30, pricey by Utila standards, but very good.

Evelyn’s – a popular choice for many locals, I found the food somewhat disappointing.

Lydia’s Bakery Cafe – good place for a breakfast sandwich and freshly baked cinnamon bun.

Big Mamma’s – clean and comfortable, the food was good but unremarkable.

So once you’ve picked Utila as your destination the question then becomes: where do I stay? There are many “hotels” in Utila, some even offer private bathroom facilities in your room, and hot water, many others do not. Remember, there are no big hotel chains in Utila.

As typical spoiled American tourists we wanted all the amenities: hot and cold running water, our own bathroom, and a clean comfortable air conditioned room.

The Lighthouse Hotel proved to be an exceptional choice. Run by an older couple, Oneil and Thelma run a very professional operation. Clean by most standards, the Lighthouse is surgically clean by Utila standards. The room is cleaned, and the towels replaced daily. Thelma greets her guests personally and provides a briefing she calls Utila & Lighthouse 101. Her recommendations for dining in Utila are well presented and accurate.
The hotel is built over the water at the entrance to the lagoon. A wrap around deck offers a beautiful view of the harbor. The building is set well back from the road and the grounds are immaculately maintained. The
Lighthouse Hotel might very well be Utila’s version of five star accommodations.

Sent from Bundu Cafe

After our 30″ plus snowfall this past December it became apparent that a warm weather vacation was needed. In the course of considering different options I was introduced to Utila, Honduras. The phrase “off the beaten path” could have been invented to describe Utila. Located in the Bay of Honduras, Utila is a five mile long island that the resorts have passed over in favor of its larger cousin Roatan.
The prime attraction of Utila is its reef system, and the entire local economy seems to revolve around scuba related tourism. The ultimate claim to fame of Utila is its place in the migratory path of the whale shark. Divers travel from all points of the globe for the chance to be in the water with this great fish. Another great plus that emerges when researching Utila is how inexpensive food, lodging and activities seem.
These plusses need to be measured against the fact that you are travelling to an under-developed area. A place with very little infrastructure and no luxury amenities.
Once comparisons were made we decided in favor of Utila and here we are.

Sent from Parrots Dive Center – Utila

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, wishing you happiness and success in 2010.  If you’re like me you’ve been working on the things you want to improve in your business next year.  Upgrades, improvements, changes, and maybe looking for a little extra that might give you an edge.

Here at Sign A Rama we’ve spent a lot of effort this past year with business networking, and it has been very rewarding,  we also started to experiment with computer networking. Sites like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook are fast becoming a great way to stay in touch with clients and spread the word to prospects and  let’s not discount the positive effect they can have on your website’s SEO.

At a recent search engine optimization seminar I attended the presenter made an excellent point. We must not fall into the trap of thinking that Search Engines are the only way people find our business. Of the many different ways that people find our businesses the one I found myself thinking of lately was the Points of Interest feature of their portable GPS units. I frequently use this feature when I’m in an unfamiliar area and want to find a specific type of location, like a gas station or a convenience store.  If you’re Wawa, Dunkin Donuts, or  Exxon you are already reaping the benefits of this feature, so I went to Google and asked how Sign A Rama of Egg Harbor Township could get on the map.

Google search listed a good number of sites with advice on how to get placed on the map as a POI. After sampling the most relevant search results they each returned the same 3 major map data providers used by portable GPS device manufacturers. These three providers, InfoUSA, NavTeq, and TeleAtlas all have an interface and process for adding your listing.  All three are linked on the Sign A Rama of Egg Harbor Township website on our learning center page  www.SignsEHT.com/info.

Submit your location to all three providers at your earliest opportunity and keep checking back to our website www.SignsEHT.com for more ideas on how to market your business, and let’s not forget to identify your business with a professional Sign A Rama sign so that customers who follow their GPS to your location know they have arrived at a first class establishment.

When I see a sign like this I wonder whether they also do graphic design and marketing.

While this is an extreme example, I’ve seen many other businesses damage their image with poor signage. Many of us have been told “It’s not what you say,  it’s how you say it”  Professional signage is all about how you say it. There is always more than one message in every communication.  Signs can communicate with the copy and with the medium. By medium I mean the material used , the type of sign (i.e. lighted sign vs. banner) and the overall appearance of the sign.

The sign shown in this picture might be ok for a child’s lemonade stand or a yard sale, but it’s completely inappropriate for a computer repair business.

Are you directing customers through your business with paper print-outs from your desktop printer, or notes handwritten with black magic marker? What message are you sending along with what was written on the paper.

December 1999, James Brownhill handed the keys to his Sign A Rama franchise over to me and wished me luck.  I look at the calendar now and have difficulty believing that I’ve been operating Sign A Rama of Egg Harbor Township for almost a decade.

As I look back over the years I’m proud of what was accomplished, how much I’ve learned and glad for the friendships I’ve made.  My staff and I have designed, created, built, and installed thousands of signs throughout NJ, NY and PA. We’ve repaired and replaced neon signs, we’ve refurbished sandblasted signs and we’ve installed every type of sign imaginable.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all our clients, past and present, for your patronage and I look forward to helping you grow your businesses for at least another decade.

Thank You,

David Finch

Owner, Sign A Rama of Egg Harbor Township, NJ

Website:  SignsEHT.com

Twitter:  Twitter.com/SignsEHT.com

LinkedIn: LinkedIn.com/in/SignsEHT