How To Make A Lot Of Money With Outdoor Billboards

Posted on September 6th, 2010

With umemployment hovering at its highest levels in decades, many people are concerned about job security and tired of living with the risk of receiving a pink slip with little or no warning. How can an individual replace their annual salary? One option may be to consider the billboard business.

What is the billboard business?
A billboard owner effectively rents land, builds a billboard structure, and then rents the advertising space. Profit represents the difference between the ad revenue and the cost of operation such as the rent for land and the cost to install and light the ad. The industry is very old and, in the U.S., has been in continual operation since the 1850s.

Who else is doing it?
The billboard business is very lucrative. There are many individuals in the U.S. that own billboards, ranging from one unit to thousands of units.Ted Turner’s empire started with a stake in a billboard company in Atlanta. John Kluge is another billionaire billboard veteran, and there are several others in the Forbes 400.

How does it work?
The billboard industry is effectively regulated by the government, which designates where billboards can be built along the nation’s highways. City streets fall under a different set of local ordinances. Your job is to find legal locations to build a billboard once you have learned the rules. The other part of your job is to negotiate an acceptable ground lease with the landowner on these legal locations. Then you determine the size and height to build the sign and, after construction, you rent the advertising space on the sign – normally on a one year lease. Alternatively, you can flip the ground lease by selling the rights to a large billboard company without even building the sign.

So how can you make $100,000 a year doing that?
The billboard business has several niches. Wooden signs in emerging marketings is one of the best areas to focus on right now. These structures cost approximately $6,000 to build and generate $3,000 or more per year in net income. If you want to make $100,000 per year, you’ll need to build 30 signs in your spare time. There are individuals who have amassed a hundred or more of these type of billboards in their spare time. All it takes is the effort to learn how to do it and then to find the sites.

Of course, you determine how much effort you’re willing to put in. If you are not trying to replace your day job income, you could build just a few to pay for your kid’s college or leave them a nice legacy.

How fast can I start doing this?
As fast as you can learn how to do it. Step one is to learn the ordinances in your state. Also, you may have to get a license from the state. Normally there is no test or school required, just the payment of a small fee.

Conclusion
If you want to replace an income of up to $100,000, or just build a profitable hobby business, you need to investigate the billboard business. It’s been a winner for thousands of Americans for over a century.

About Frank Rolfe

Frank Rolfe became the one of the largest private billboard operators in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. He eventually sold his billboard empire to a public company 14 years later and is now sharing his expertise to anyone interested in getting involved with outdoor billboards.

Rolfe is the author of the Billboard Home Study Course, which teaches you the secrets of building a successful outdoor billboard business. For more information, go to http://www.outdoorbillboardsecrets.com.

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