Dan Coker from Coker Signs & Graphics

Speaker1: [00:00:07] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Woodstock, Georgia. It’s time for Cherokee Business Radio. Now here’s your host.

Speaker2: [00:00:23] Welcome to Cherokee Business RadioX Stone Payton here with you this morning, and today’s episode is brought to you in part by Alma Coffey, sustainably grown, veteran, owned and direct trade, which of course means from seed to cup. There are no middlemen. Please go check them out at my alma coffee ICOM and go visit their Rotary Café at thirty four or forty eight. Holly Springs Parkway in Canton. As for Harry or the brains of the outfit Letizia and tell them that St. centU you guys are in for a real treat this morning. Please join me in welcoming to the broadcast with Kolker signs and graphics. The man himself, Mr. Dan Coker. Good morning, sir.

Speaker3: [00:01:08] Good morning, Stone. How are you?

Speaker2: [00:01:09] I am doing fine. It’s a real pleasure to have you out. Mission purpose. What are you out there trying to do for folks with Kolker signs and graphics?

Speaker3: [00:01:21] Well, I started the business about 20 years ago when I got married, and my wife is a dental hygienist. She has a very set schedule and is very inflexible. And we needed we needed something that would kind of we needed one of our jobs to be flexible because we were raising kids. And somebody’s going to always go get the kids, take them to the doctor, or or at least have the kids home for summer. I mean, you just don’t want somebody else raising your kids necessarily all the time. We needed we needed a flexible job. And I had avoided creating my own sign business for a long time. So we we decided it was finally time just to do that.

Speaker2: [00:02:05] So when you try to help someone craft a sign, I’m operating under the impression that one way to do it is maybe they already have an existing logo or a set of graphics, and you can reproduce that and make it big and bold and and beautiful. But when that’s not the case, do you do you ever work with businesses who haven’t quite got that package together yet and or. Yeah, maybe it makes sense to fold in my my art and my the the look and feel, but I’m trying to create something for for an event or something totally different. What what is that creative process look like early in in the relationship?

Speaker3: [00:02:46] My my job is when somebody comes to me and tells me what they want, my job is to tell them that they can’t have it. No, of course I’m joking. But but I spent years past working for some bigger sign companies and franchise sign companies. And and one of the things I felt like when I wanted to start my own company was that a lot of folks are just being underserved by those bigger businesses. And it’s it’s hard to get. It’s hard to find somebody that will actually kind of tell you the truth about I mean, they’ve got you come in with what you need and then they’ve got what they need to sell you. And they’re usually going to try and sell you what’s best for them. I’m not criticizing everybody out there. I’m just saying that that’s the way that that the bigger, bigger sign shops and companies have to have to work to to get everybody paid because their overhead is so tremendous. I don’t really have very little overhead.

Speaker2: [00:03:51] Now, how did you pull that off?

Speaker3: [00:03:53] Well, I worked I worked for my home. I have a well, I have a certain I have a certain amount of technology that I use and work from my work, from my basement or from my garage. I have a home office and I’m able to accomplish a whole lot there now. And the bigger signs, you know, larger stuff I just don’t do anymore. I just give a referral. But but on the front end, somebody needs somebody there to be very honest with them about. You know, here’s here’s what that sign is. Here’s what you’re asking for. But you might be better served to to purchase this. It costs less. It’ll last longer and it will be more effective. So somebody needs to be there to tell people that,

Speaker2: [00:04:42] Well, that’s what I need out of a sign company. Right. So, for example, hypothetical. But I think we’re going to see more and more of this, because I think this this type of business for us is opening up again. We were talking about this before we came on air conference and trade show event, kind of a business. You know, having Business RadioX in your booth or at your event can add a nice dimension to it. If I were and I probably will be getting ready to either have signage for my community partners or my clients or for Business RadioX, I would think circumstances, objectives would dictate your council on what to do with respect. To science and graphics, for example, if we were going to be in an outdoor event under some sort of tent, you might have a whole different set of recommendations than if we’re going to be indoors at some, you know, start up pitch contest. Yeah.

Speaker3: [00:05:36] Yeah. Well, I mean, where I usually start with with customers is is it’s Christmas and you have anything you want. So and we’ll work down from there. But but a lot of it and it’s hard to talk about this without talking about how technology has changed things even over the past 15 years. That means that that a lot of stuff out there now costs less, lasts longer. I remember when digital printing was not a thing, and now it’s huge. Digital printing is is huge and it’s fantastic. It’s Carl, there’s a lot of color there. You can get your logo there. You can get a lot of pop. You can get a lot of eyeballs. And and there’s no reason to pay a fortune for it. But but but and there’s a lot of different ways to go. Like if you were doing a tent or something out there. Now, there is a a lot has been done with something called dye sublimation that is printing graphic onto fabric. And you see these tents outside that have graphics all over them. That’s typically the way they’re done now.

Speaker2: [00:06:45] I wasn’t even thinking about that. So you could actually that is one way to do it is to put the graphic on the tent itself.

Speaker3: [00:06:51] Right. And they’re sold that way now. They come as they come as a package. And and I have some friends who do that. And and the price I remember the price of that 10 years ago was outrageous. And now it’s very affordable. And it is something that you can keep and pack up and put in the garage and get it out six months or or whatever and. Right. And it represents your business very well. And and it doesn’t cost as much as it used to. And also, you know, just like giant outdoor banners or. Right. Or anything like that, they’re just a lot of different ways to go. And and I don’t have all of that stuff in the house. I really don’t. But I know the people who do. And a lot of times my job is to crunch the graphic and get it into an acceptable place for the for the printer to do their job.

Speaker2: [00:07:41] Well, here here again, I would feel better about if let’s say I think you mentioned you don’t do the tents, actually. But but if you help me design or redesign or do something special with our art, I would have more confidence in you referring me out to someone whom you believe to be best in class for that thing. I would feel like I was going to get better service. I would feel like you’re a better judge. Otherwise, I’m walking the Yellow Pages. For those of you that are old enough to know Yellow Pages

Speaker3: [00:08:09] Or know you are the only, you and I

Speaker2: [00:08:11] Are the last two, I just lost the whole audience for that reference.

Speaker3: [00:08:15] Now, there are a lot of there are a lot of industries out there now like don’t like to do dye sublimation or that do digital printing that are what’s called to the industry. That is, they’ll sell to me, but they won’t sell to you. And I just did I just did a video and I just posted it, as a matter of fact, a couple of weeks ago on this very subject where my my job is to is to crunch the graphic. My job is to is to kind of massage you and get you and get the graphic. Exactly to be what you want it to be. And at the same time, to be a file that this company can print from. And then they do their work, but they don’t have a graphic designer there. And and and like I said, I just did a video that has, you know, a lot of there are a lot of siin so-called science shops online these days where, you know, if you if you can get what you want from them, then fine. But buyer buyer beware. Chances are, you know, they don’t they don’t have a graphics person there that you can call and say, you know, can you move this logo over to the right a bit or can you make this bigger? That person’s not there. That’s why their prices are are very cheap. If you need to talk to them at seven o’clock at night, then they’re not they’re not there. But that’s just the online world. But but my job is to is to interface with you and to crunch that graphic and get it exactly where you want it and then give that file to the company that can get it printed and then get it in your hands.

Speaker2: [00:09:53] So I’ll share with you one potential example. And I think once again, we’re probably a little bit late in the game, and I don’t even know if it’s the right thing to do, but an idea that surfaced for us at Business RadioX Corporate, which is one of the hats that I wear in the Business RadioX system. We have talk show coffee mugs. You’re not going to get one today because we’re having a supply problem. But I owe you Business RadioX Toxo coffee mug. And we have this, you know, some dark red. You probably know the PMS color or whatever for the big eggs. But I thought in October, I know that is the Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and I thought it might be interesting for a little while to do like a limited edition with the X being pink. I think that could have been a fun thing and probably late again. But I mean, it sounds like you’re the kind of guy I would go to first to maybe get counseling, say Stone. That’s ridiculous. Don’t even do it. Or yes, stone. Cool idea. Let’s get let’s get a look or two together and then let’s think through. Do you really want it on the mugs? Do you want on Mike Flags? Do you want on the wall? You want our hats shirts. But I get the sense where I would start with that whole pursuit. Now that I know who you is, is I would start with you.

Speaker3: [00:11:09] Right. And in that case, in that case, I’m not that guy, but I know that guy.

Speaker2: [00:11:15] Right, for the end product. But you’re the guy to help me think through the strategy and and maybe even get the graphic, right?

Speaker3: [00:11:21] Yes, sure. Absolutely. And like I said, I started I started doing signs when I was 13 years old and I’m 58.

Speaker2: [00:11:31] Boy, you look good for. Oh, yeah. And 58 is not old. I just turned 58 August the 6th.

Speaker3: [00:11:38] Oh, okay. Another 1962, baby? No, I, I started doing signs when I was 13. I was we were talking earlier. I had a kid at an art teacher in middle school who taught art class the line space method of hand lettering.

Speaker2: [00:11:56] Oh, my. That sounds that sounds incredibly.

Speaker3: [00:11:58] And it was fun. It was absolutely fine. And for those of us who wanted a deeper course in in lettering, my art teacher taught us, those of us, how to drag who was called at the time, dragging hands, dragging letters with a paintbrush. And everything was hand lettered back then. And when I was 13, I got my first signed job. The local Baptist church needed their lettering, needed their their name painted on the side of their bus. And that was my first sign job. It was local Baptist church. I misspelled the word Baptist. Ouch.

Speaker2: [00:12:35] And you laugh. You oh, my goodness. You laugh.

Speaker3: [00:12:38] These Baptists did not have that sense of humor that you have, but I fixed it. And what I’m saying is, you know, that started me that started a track years ago when I was 13 of doing something artistic and something that was that was created or around signage. And because it was it was it just seemed like something fun to do and a good way to make money. And so but over the years, you know, I’ve seen technology come and go. You see what different types of things that become very popular at the popular like Rapp’s are really popular today.

Speaker2: [00:13:15] Vehicle raps. Oh, okay. Yeah, he are huge.

Speaker3: [00:13:18] I mean, and they’re absolutely great. I don’t do them at my shop. Right, because I’m a I’m a small one man shop and that takes a bigger shop. It takes expensive technology. You’ve got to have three or four sets of hands on that. You’ve got to have a lot of climate control to do a good job. But I have friends. I have friends who do that.

Speaker2: [00:13:38] You’re the guy that knows the guy.

Speaker3: [00:13:39] I’m the guy that knows the guy. Right. And and and if someone needs that, then I can refer it to them. I can process the artwork and then I can send it to him. So but I’ve just seen a lot of things come and go over the years that were fads or different technology that that I’m. Kind of able to steer people in in a in a different direction if they need to be steered that way.

Speaker2: [00:14:03] So so how is the whole sales and marketing thing work for a guy like you? I guess your work is out there advertising for you all the time. But do you I mean, do you go out and make sales calls or have you been at this long enough? Your phone rings. How does that whole thing work?

Speaker3: [00:14:18] Funny you should ask that. It’s it’s been a really interesting road of how to do that, because I do work from my home and I do work for my shop. Now, I write. You saw my truck outside. I’ve got my business name on my truck. I get a lot of I get calls from still today.

Speaker2: [00:14:38] Well, you have to think about that, guys. He has to do a really good job with that thing on his site, on his truck, because it is a sign advertising sign. It was like when I used to sell sales training. Right. You were expecting that. Go ahead. Yeah. Yeah. So I but yes, I did now.

Speaker3: [00:14:54] No, absolutely. That’s that’s one way. And and someone told me years ago, you’ve got to get a website.

Speaker2: [00:15:01] Oh, yeah. Like says,

Speaker3: [00:15:03] Ok, if I’ve got to get a website, I suppose I’m going to. And and I did. And I got a website. It was like one static page just floating out there in space. And I was that’s really not doing me any good. And then and then and then over the years, I’ve had to I’ve had to I started out going door to door just with business cards, just promoting my business, really. And I found that the that the business with the biggest sign on the door that said no soliciting, I was most likely to make a sale at that place.

Speaker2: [00:15:32] That’s interesting. You got to say more about that.

Speaker3: [00:15:35] They usually want a bigger no soliciting sign, but apparently that one’s not worth it. But no, no, I, I didn’t have I didn’t have a product to sell. I mean, I didn’t have anything in my hand to sell. I was promoting. And usually when you walk into someone’s place of business and have a business card and say, I’m local sign guy, they’re all kind of signs. And you turn around and walk and walk out the door. They usually stop you before you get to the door. And you know they need something, right? Because most businesses need signage of some kind. Right. So and I thought about that when I started to sign business is that people have always needed signs and they always will. So that’s something that I can do and that’s something that I’m pretty sure is going to be around. Even though years ago someone told me that, no, no, you got to get out of signs, because now it’s all websites. The only billboards are going to be on the information superhighway and you’re going to be left in the dust. And I thought that’s probably not true. I think that we’re probably going to have signs around for as long as we have brick and mortar buildings and all that. And that is true. We’re always going to have signs, even though the technology changes. But but for me, that was that was the big step was just and I told you before, I’m an only child. I’m painfully shy. So it’s hard to go door to door, walk in the door and place a business back and and try and start a conversation with somebody that that may be grumpy or be or just be tired of people, students coming in selling paintings or something like that. I mean, but. Yeah, but. But then that part of the business actually that was actually good and doing that was and some of the customers that I approached 20 years ago, our customers that I still have today, and a lot of them are right here in Woodstock. So. Wow.

Speaker2: [00:17:27] Well, that speaks to the quality of your work. And nothing sells, I don’t think, as well as good work.

Speaker3: [00:17:35] That’s that’s true. And I don’t want to spend a lot of time badmouthing, you know, other businesses. It’s just other business models. I spent time at other franchisees, let’s call them that, for to sign shop where we were taught that when someone hit the door, you know, hi, welcome to such and such signs. How will you be paying today? And I saw people I saw people turn around and go right back out the front door without even a word because that’s not what they’re looking for. You know, people want to be people. People want someone to listen to them, to understand what they need and to help them. And I and I felt like there was this huge population out there that was underserved as far as that went. And I was right. I mean, because people want personal service. I know. I do. And and that’s something that was being lost. That’s something that was being overlooked and thrown away in the industry. And I thought, well, it’s really sad, you know, me, because when I was growing up, there was a guy that I knew that painted signs out of his garage. And, you know, but that was back in the day of the giant boards and all the paint and all the sanding and all that kind of stuff. And a lot of that’s gone now. But he he he had customers come to his house and he would sit down with them and draw out a sketch, and they would come to a decision on, you know, what it was that they wanted to sign to look like. And three weeks later, that guy would come back and get his sign. Yeah. And so the guy the guy doing the the lettering, he always had plenty of work. He always had good customers. His customers appreciated him. And if he felt like working one day, he’d work. He felt like going fishing. One day he would go fishing. So I thought there was.

Speaker2: [00:19:26] Oh, that’s beautiful.

Speaker3: [00:19:28] There’s an attraction to that.

Speaker2: [00:19:30] All right. So tell us about your back story. How does one land here? I’m sure it wasn’t a purely direct path. Yeah. Tell us a little bit about your early career and some of the some of the milestones along the way, if you would.

Speaker3: [00:19:47] Well, we were we were talking earlier and I mentioned, you know, being 13 and having a teacher that taught taught art. Yeah, I’m learning the sign trade. What was also happening when I was 13, besides an infatuation with a certain redhead in school, was what was also happening was I just we were talking about this earlier. I loved radio. I mean, I just I really fell in love with radio at the time as well. And and I used to stay up late at night listening to the radio and listening to storytellers more than anything more than music. I didn’t so much get into the music. And then and then later on, when I was 18, I quit college for the first time,

Speaker2: [00:20:38] The first time, first

Speaker3: [00:20:39] Time. And I’ve got an expert at quitting starting and quitting college. But when I you know, when I was 18, I’d quit college. And a friend of mine called me and said that they they need DJs over at the radio station. I said, well, what? So what what am I supposed to do about that? He said, you know, I know you don’t have any job. I know you have a job to get over here and get over here and put in an application. And I said, OK. I mean, sure, why not? And I had all these fantasies about how radio worked. You know, there’s this big steel and glass building with 15 stories high and all these professional people running around and went to I went to this radio station my friend worked at. And it was not that I mean, I mean, it’s like they say making sausage. And it was there’s a there’s just this mystique around radio that that really got destroyed. When I was 18. I saw how it really worked. Yeah. But I put in and I and I got a job working as a deejay at this radio station and spent about a year doing that. But that that station was on the decline. It was on its way out, unfortunately. I mean, it was a small country station. And unfortunately, this is 1981. And it and the and the Oak Ridge Boys had just released the song Elvira. Oh, yeah. And and we played that about 20 times an hour, I think.

Speaker3: [00:22:03] And it was. Which is why I don’t carry a gun. I think I would have probably I would have probably put myself out of my misery back then. But but it was a good experience. I mean, it was a good experience and it was a lot of fun. And then years later, when I went into the Air Force, I went to an open general. I told the Air Force that could do whatever they wanted to with me. I was living in Colorado and I was bored and I didn’t want to go back to school because I knew I would just quit again. So a lot of my family members were military. Hmm. And so I said, I’ll join the military. And I joined the Air Force Open General. And and on the day that we got a dream sheet, what was called a dream sheet and basic training on the back page was radio and television broadcaster. And I thought, well, it looks interesting now. I’ll give that. I’ll see what that. I’ll see if that works. And I got a slot and I got an audition and and I got a slot in armed forces radio and television. So I got to spend the next four years working in an armed forces radio anthologist television for the Air Force. And I got to go to Korea. I spent a year in Korea doing radio mostly.

Speaker2: [00:23:17] I love your attitude toward life. I got to go to Korea. Well, it was you made it. You made it. You made it a positive experience. It you know,

Speaker3: [00:23:28] It was I did not grow up as a as an airplane guy. Right. But at that base. And there’s I don’t think I’m giving away any secrets here. There were two to two divisions of F-16. It was 12 and one and 12 in the other to two different squadrons. And and that was amazing when when just to stand there next to the flight line and watch those guys take off, all 24 of them were full afterburner right about dusk and just ground shakes every time that one would take off. And I would just I would just sit there and go, wow, this is this is amazing. But we did spend a lot of time in chemical warfare training, which was not a lot of fun. But most of the time I just did my radio show in the morning from six to nine. I did a radio show for the base, which is about 2000 people on the base. And you got to talk to people and you got to promote people and you got to be in a place. And I don’t know if you watch cooking shows on TV.

Speaker2: [00:24:34] Oh, yeah. That’s about all I watch.

Speaker3: [00:24:36] Well, Guy Fiete,

Speaker2: [00:24:37] I watched him last night.

Speaker3: [00:24:39] I watched him all the time. And I love that show. But one thing I love about Guy is that he he’ll take a he’ll take a nothing nobody hole in the wall, but was with a corps where people are really making good food and they’re well studied and they’re they’re working for their community and they’re doing good stuff. He takes a big spotlight and puts it on them, you know, and. Yeah, and and I think that’s great to be able to do that. What he does. And I really admire him for that. And I got to do that in the Air Force. I mean, in Korea, it was mostly with radio. You could highlight a program or a person or or whatever you wanted to highlight. And then when I moved on to to Turkey, I spent a year and a half in Turkey doing mostly television, their television news, television news. I was an anchor for a while, a television news anchor, and also did Inji reporting. But that was also a great opportunity to be, you know, in a military installation and and take a big spotlight and just put it on these people that that worked their fannies off and did the hardest jobs in the military.

Speaker3: [00:25:49] I mean, these guys on the were on the flight line in Turkey and Injia, like it was 95 degrees by nine o’clock in the morning on the flight line. And sometimes these guys would be in chem warfare gear for hours at a time. And just. And I mean, I was in the military, but I got to see people that did difficult military jobs and I got to do stories on them. I got to I got to shine the light on them and say, hey, look at this guy, these or look at this unit, look at what they’ve done. And this is a they’ve done an awesome job. They’ve gone from here to there. And, you know, when you see them at the NCO club buying a beer, because this is because they’re doing an outstanding job. So, you know, and I miss that. I miss being able to talk to people on television and and just shine a light on them and show what a great job they’re doing, because that’s that needs to be done.

Speaker2: [00:26:49] Amen. And that’s a large part of our mission at Business RadioX. It’s one of the things that I enjoy about this work, because there are people in our community right here in Cherokee County that are just out there grinding it out and doing great work for, you know, for the market, the profession, the community. So I really do. I genuinely identify with what you’re describing, because I get to live that to live that now. All right. So you’ve got all that background in radio. You’ve got all that you’ve had that very early background in the sign and graphic business. But you are you also kind of you went beyond just the broadcasting aspect of using these resources. And you’re you’re neck deep in the book and audio book world as well, speak to that, if you would. Before we wrap, I’d love to hear a little bit more about that. And I know we talked about a little before we went on air. I’d like our listeners to know about that, because that’s another way you’ve chosen to serve.

Speaker3: [00:27:52] Yeah, if you want to. Yeah, if you want to put it that way. Well, like we were discussing earlier on, I grew up around storytellers. Yeah. My dad, my grandfather, I had a bunch of uncles, you know, whenever there was a fish fry or whenever there was a campfire, whenever there’s a family get together, there were going to be stories told. There were going to be jokes told. And I grew up around this this this atmosphere of storytelling. And when I wanted to go into theater, I mean, I wanted to go in to drama when I was went into college. My parents kind of scratch their heads, I think. Where did this come from? You know, but but it’s like I’ve grown up with this year. This came from you. You’re the ones that you’re the ones that introduced me to this world of storytelling and and theater and stage and all that. And radio and television. A lot of it is storytelling. But the best

Speaker2: [00:28:45] Of it, I think, is storytelling. Yeah.

Speaker3: [00:28:48] Yeah, absolutely. And and to find a story that’s worth telling is just a is a great thing. But when I when I left the I left Armed Forces Radio and television in 1990, came to the Atlanta area. I didn’t want to be in broadcasting anymore. I wanted to be in production, didn’t want to necessarily be in broadcasting anymore. I love the writing part. I loved the performance part. I love the editing part. Loved shooting video, loved all a lot of aspects of production, but found it hard because the technology was changing. We got any technology in the Air Force. It was already worn out. We didn’t get anything. We didn’t get anything over the television camera or whatever until it was already worn out.

Speaker2: [00:29:35] Well, you mentioned before we went on air, I have technology right here in this little table that was probably every bit of as sophisticated, maybe beyond capability of some of the stuff you worked on that might have taken up a room, right?

Speaker3: [00:29:47] Absolutely. And now now you can do what giant radio station could do. Gosh, it would have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. And you’ve got it on your desktop. Right, is amazing. And it’s and it’s very awesome. But but I was I missed writing when I left the Air Force, and I didn’t I didn’t have to write for television news anymore. I missed writing. And a few years after that, I mean, I started thinking about all the things that happened, you know, maybe a little PTSD going on. But there was just a lot of and I’m a weirdness magnet. I mean, whatever’s weird, something’s weird is going to stick to me or it’s going to come around me. And for some reason, I started thinking about all these stories and all these things that happened, you know, and and a friend of mine turned me on to audiobooks. I thought, oh, that’s kind of cool. And I thought, I’d like to make an audio book out of out of all these stories and stuff. And then I found out that I could not until I had copyrighted material. So a friend of mine saw had a shoebox in my in my sign shop. It was literally full of stuff that just paper on stacked on paper of stuff that I written. He said, why don’t you publish it? And I said, nobody’s going to publish. Nobody’s going to publish that in a book. Nobody’s going to do that. And he said, well, don’t worry about it. Just just publish it. Do self publishing.

Speaker2: [00:31:15] Oh, good for him or her or whoever. It was good for them for telling you to just don’t don’t don’t wait to be true to yourself. Yeah, I like that.

Speaker3: [00:31:23] Exactly. And I said that’s that’s a thing. I didn’t know that was a thing. And at the time, the the online the online way was through create space, which is now Kindle publishing, I think.

Speaker2: [00:31:37] Okay.

Speaker3: [00:31:38] But but I, I started looking into audiobooks because I missed a performance aspect. I love my sign shop. I’ve still got my sign shop running. And and I created a small audio studio in my basement. And and I had to sit down and I had to write this book because these are things that I wanted to publish. But I had to turn it into a book first. So I went through Kindle Publishing and created a copyrighted book that I could then take to to a audiobook creation exchange acts and created my book. And by the time I got my own first audio book done on my book, I had already produced 10 audio books for other people. Wow. Because that’s how easy it was

Speaker2: [00:32:25] And doesn’t sound easy to me. But apparently it comes easy to do. And I’m no stranger to the microphone, but I just you know, I. But it must be it must come easy to you.

Speaker3: [00:32:34] Well, again, and the technology has changed over the years. When I was in when I was in the Air Force, if you had a microphone, if you touched it, or if you acted like you were going to touch it. Engineers would pop out like these like ninjas, you know, and they would slap you on the hand. You couldn’t touch anything of the equipment. But now now with all the advancements in technology, with with microphones, et cetera, it’s right. You know, I spent a hundred dollars on my first microphone, which was not as a USB a plugs into the USB port. Yeah. And I was amazed at that. And and I started working with that and working with the audio editing software that’s out there now. When I started out, we were editing audio reel to reel with a grease pencil and a razor blade and some tape. That was the way audio was edited back then. And I could not believe I could not believe the advancements and just having a desktop editing software. And it’s it turned out to be very easy to do that, that editing job. Yeah, but getting in a studio and finding a book that I wanted to do, finding a book that an author wanted done, and then making the agreement with them to do that audio book for them. Just a godsend. I mean, just a just a lot of fun. And and sometimes you make some money. But but today I’ve done up to I’ve done about 35 audio books.

Speaker2: [00:34:14] Oh, wow. You have quite the portfolio and you’ve authored books.

Speaker3: [00:34:17] Right. I, I kept at it. And again, I just I tend to write. What I’m thinking? Yeah. Years ago, a friend introduced me to an author by the name, two of my favorite authors were Louis Grizzard.

Speaker2: [00:34:33] Yeah, I love this.

Speaker3: [00:34:34] I got to hear him speak years ago. And he was a funny guy and a great guy. And he’s one of my favorite authors. And also Dave Barry. Yeah, I’m from I think from Miami Times.

Speaker2: [00:34:46] I don’t think I’ve ever heard Dave Barry, but of course, I’ve read

Speaker3: [00:34:50] Dave Barry and I a friend handed me a book written by Dave Barry, and I read it and I thought, you can write like this. You can you can do that. Because I was in such a structured program of writing for television and radio. So much structure in it. And there was it was done a certain way. But he wrote Dave Barry just wrote, you could tell that it was just his brain. It was spilling out into the under the page. And he is a funny, funny guy. I mean, he just I’ve got all of his. Oh, yeah. He just cracks me up. And I’m not I wasn’t trying to be like him in my writing. It’s just that I, I learned a lesson from him that that I can write like I think. Yeah. So a lot of stories from growing up in South Georgia, having a bunch of, you know, being a young redneck youth and doing all sorts of things that probably I shouldn’t have lived through. And my cousins and I would probably be dead 100 times. But just stories from then, memoirs from my four years in the armed forces, radio and television, memoirs, things that happened there just it dawned on me just just get them down. You’ve got Microsoft Word on your computer, right? Just get them down. Just just get it out, you know, and who cares if nobody ever sees it? Somebody might.

Speaker3: [00:36:16] But if you don’t get it down, if you don’t write it, then it’s just going to evaporate one day and nobody will know it. And and a lot of these stories, I tell them, I try to tell my kids and they’re like, oh, dad, please. Oh, not again. And so I think, well, maybe one day when I’m dead and gone, you know, maybe maybe then they’ll read it. That’s a curious about their old man, you know, but but a lot of stuff I write is just and it’s just an attempt at humor. Uh huh. But and I always put it this way and I always put it this way, that that with my books, each chapter is there’s like a bag of potato chips. Each chapter is greasy and it’s salty and it has zero zero nutritional value. But sometimes that’s exactly what you need. Sometimes, as you know, is exactly what you need is a big old bag of greasy, salty chips. And it’s a fine thing to sit down with. And and I hope that I can I hope that I can pass on something that that makes someone laugh or make someone understand what life is like on in another part of the world or for someone else.

Speaker2: [00:37:25] So. Well, I have no doubt at all that you will be able to do that and that you’re already doing that. So on the on this side of your professional life, you are taking on clients to do audio books. Is that is sure that that’s business that you take on?

Speaker3: [00:37:43] Sure. That’s an ongoing thing. And I, I do my best to seek out local groups, local writers, groups. Oh, OK. And what I consider real writers now, not like myself, real writers. And you had Mike seen on the. Yeah. A few a couple of weeks ago.

Speaker2: [00:38:00] Yeah. Yeah. What a great idea, I thought.

Speaker3: [00:38:03] Yeah, I’ve known most and I know Mike for like four years. And and one day I realized he had a book and I thought, why haven’t you done that? Is an audio book. He said, I have no idea how. I said, well, let’s let’s get to it, man. Come on. I mean, and produce this audio book for him. And it was a lot of fun.

Speaker2: [00:38:21] And now and try to go to any establishment, certainly any any place where two or more are gathered and they already know mike it and think the world of him. And I know I’ve lived here for months now as of this live taping here, but I don’t know that I’ve ever met anyone in Cherokee County that didn’t already know and think the world of Mike Z.

Speaker3: [00:38:47] And it’s impossible not to be friends if it’s impossible not to be friends with Mike.

Speaker2: [00:38:51] Oh, no, no. You got you’ve got some real challenges if you can’t be buddies with me. And for a lot of reasons, not the least of which, here’s a guy whose first thought is, what can I do to help you? That’s that’s where his mind goes immediately.

Speaker3: [00:39:05] And I owe him I owe him owe Mike a lot.

Speaker2: [00:39:09] So I expect a lot of folks.

Speaker3: [00:39:11] He’s a great friend. He’s a great friend. Yeah. And I enjoy doing his book because I you know, I learned something from it. I don’t know. I don’t know money. I don’t I don’t deal with money. Well, I’m not good with money.

Speaker2: [00:39:22] That’s Mike’s thing.

Speaker3: [00:39:23] That’s his thing. That’s right. That’s right. That’s his thing. But I learn a lot. And I enjoyed being in the studio, reading, reading his book and then editing it. You know, you get a double dose of whatever you do. Right. But but that’s definitely enjoyable. So, I mean, I’ve tried to meet up groups in different, different different author places. Yeah, different places to meet authors and kind of preach the gospel of audiobooks where if you’re if you’ve written a book and you feel like it could be an audiobook, you just don’t know where to start, then it can be done. And and you should look into it. And if I can help anybody do that, I’d love to help. And I have signed customers that I realize that they’ve written a book. I’ve got others, other customers in my same business. And and I’ve realized that they’ve written them, written a book. And and I

Speaker2: [00:40:10] Said, oh, about that to make

Speaker3: [00:40:11] It into an audio book. Come on. I mean, there are ways to do it where it doesn’t cost anything up front, which is is unbelievable. It’s unbelievable today. But that’s because of that. That’s because of the technology and it’s because of the way things are done now, which which is a great advancement. So.

Speaker2: [00:40:29] Well, I think it’s marvelous. I think it’s incredible the way that opportunities continue to expand, but only for those who can see them. And you are you are clearly one of those folks, an idea that struck me as you were talking, and it might be fun. Maybe we should do a special episode where we feature some local authors and I’ll shut up and just run the board if you want me to, or if you want you. And I can kind of co-host it. But it might be fun to find a handful of local authors and have them come in for like a special episode. Let them talk a little bit about their work and their book, as if that’s something you’re up for. Maybe will. Well, I would love to do this scheme around that over a beer or something that with any any excuse

Speaker3: [00:41:10] Use to go to an information. No, that’s good. And and the joy in that is the joy that I felt when when I, I looked at publishing a book as something that was insurmountable. It just wasn’t all right, wasn’t something that somebody like me did. It’s not something that you do, Dan. And then having a friend that encouraged me to do it and then looking into it and then going through the process and learning a lot right through it and then getting to the end and having your own published book, you know, in your hand going, wow, that’s oh, yeah, that’s kind of cool. And then but no, to have a room full of people who who are at that place where they’ve published something for the first time are very excited about it. Right. That would be a lot of fun. Yeah.

Speaker2: [00:41:57] All right. Well, stay tuned. We might get that get that put together. Ok, before we wrap here, let’s make sure that our listeners know where to go. Points of contact, if they’d like to have a conversation with you or your team about the graphics and the signs and graphics work and or the audio or whatever you think is appropriate. Email, phone number, website, whatever you feel like is the the the best place for them to reach out and have a conversation.

Speaker3: [00:42:25] Well, my my science site. You can. Well, if you type in science, Canton, Georgia, in your browser, you’ll eventually get there. But it is under Kolker signs and graphics. And my website is Kolker saw Canton, Georgia dot com. And the two the other way would be through my voiceover site, which would be Dan Kolker voice over dot com for voice over work and things like that. But but find me online. And you know, if you need a sign and we’ll get you on a sign, whether I make it or not.

Speaker2: [00:43:04] Well, it has been an absolute delight having you in the studio doing quite sincere about maybe wanting to find a way to to work and play together some more. Thank you so much for coming and sharing your story and your your insight. And let’s do let’s let’s find a way to do some more mail.

Speaker3: [00:43:22] Thanks for inviting me. I appreciate it. And who doesn’t love to talk about themselves?

Speaker2: [00:43:26] Ahmed. All right. This is Stone Payton for our guest today, Dan Kolker with Kolker Signs and Graphics and everyone here at the Business RadioX family saying we’ll see you next time on Cherokee Business Radio.