How to Start a Bulletin Board Business: $30K/Month Part-Time

Billboards are timeless.

It remains a successful advertising strategy even with the advent of digital technology.

However, you probably never imagined that a solopreneur could make $30,000 a month from it (part-time!).

But that’s exactly what Chris Brown is Signs of goodness and wantmore.org I did for the past decade.

Chris took early retirement at the age of 42 and now owns approximately 30 billboards throughout Bentonville, Arkansas.

Watch Episode 608 of The Side Hustle Show to learn:

• How to find billboards for sale
• Find places where you can put one
• How to fill that ad space
• How negative it is once you’re up and running

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Stumble upon the side bulletin board

Chris, who dropped out of college and is in debt, has just gotten married.

While only earning $8 per hour In a precarious pharmaceutical job that could get him laid off at any time, Chris realized something wasn’t working with his finances and began on how to build wealth and get out of debt.

After passing the same dilapidated billboard every day, he sensed an opportunity.

He looked up the property owner, made an offer, and bought the neglected sign (plus the land) for $75,000.

Maybe he was lucky because the owner was on the verge of bankruptcy, but they both took advantage of it anyway.

With his prime location between neighborhoods and schools, he priced each ad facet at $600, for a total of $2,400 per month.

It has become so profitable and a true passive income source that some advertisers have remained for over a decade.

Expansion: More billboards, more upfront costs

With the success of his first billboard, Chris felt the desire to continue growing his inventory.

Chris’s next project involved building two duplex billboard structures on a 3-acre commercial lot he acquired.

Between the purchase price of the land and the construction costs, the total upfront price was present $200,000.

However, Chris can generate more than that $8000 Monthly billboard rental income from the eight available advertising faces.

“This math works well all day long,” Chris said of the impressive potential gains, even after considering the huge investment required.

Why are billboards a limited commodity?

While the upfront costs of building or acquiring billboards can be prohibitive, billboard owners have a huge advantage – there is a very limited supply of these advertising assets available.

Thanks to this rarity Highway beautification law Passed by Congress in 1965. This law placed severe restrictions on where new billboards could be installed along federal highway systems.

“About a hundred years ago, billboards weren’t banned anywhere,” Chris explained. “You can put it anywhere you want, so it’s not worth much at all.”

So when you have too much supply, demand decreases because there are not a lot of prices to discover on it.

Naturally, this same legislation has made it very difficult to obtain approval for new billboards today. The licensing process requires clearing several regulatory hurdles Federal, state, provincial and municipal levels.

Attract advertisers and maximize billboard revenue

One of the simplest ways is to simply paste your phone number or website on any vacant billboard with something like “Your ad is here!” A call to action.

“People will drive by those signs, see them. By default, they will call or be interested if they have a business or want to run it.” Chris said.

Posting temporary signs or vinyl wraps makes it easy for any interested business to inquire about available inventory.

Pricing models: terms, traffic, and what’s available

As for pricing, a typical billboard lease is a minimum of 12 months to offset the initial costs of printed vinyl wraps and installation. “Some get shorter in just one to six months depending on location,” Chris noted.

The most important factors that affect monthly rates are the number of visits and the number of advertising faces already active in a given region.

You can get higher prices on a single billboard for miles along a highway, even if initial traffic numbers are lower than in busier areas. It’s a classic supply and demand game.

State highway traffic counts are publicly available data points used to estimate the likely number of impressions. However, factors such as trade density and competing inventory affect prices.

It is also industry standard for advertisers to cover printing and installation costs separately.

Static billboards versus digital billboards: pros and cons

There are also key differences between traditional static billboards and newer digital/LED displays.

Static billboards are large format printed vinyl covers that display the same ad 24/7 until the lease expires or the advertiser makes a change. They have low ongoing maintenance costs but require reprinting expenses with any new creative advertising updates.

Digital billboards rotate different ads in a repeating cycle, usually every 6-8 seconds.

This allows for more ad inventory per digital face compared to static panels.

However, the initial costs and operating costs of digital panels are much higher with large LED displays to operate and maintain. Advertisers may be able to get away with shorter lease terms on digital displays rather than annual commitments.

“Personally, I actually like the old-fashioned static flags best. There’s no maintenance; they’re always on unless the wind hits them,” Chris said of choosing between static or digital billboards.

The upside of stock in bulletin board ownership

While the monthly cash flow from renting billboards is attractive, the real wealth-building potential lies in the growth of its stock Income generating assets.

Major national companies such as Lamar Advertising and Front media Independent billboards routinely obtain valuations ranging from 7 to 12 times their annual revenue stream.

These big players are always looking to grow their networks through mergers/acquisitions. So, any time an individual or group decides to sell their billboard assets, they can demand high prices from potential buyers.

Let’s say you have some billboards that you bring in 100 thousand dollars Annually after expenses and everything is paid. This means your billboard business will be worth between $700,000 and $1.2 million!

Technologies/Tools

You may be surprised, but Chris keeps his processes remarkably simple and streamlined.

There’s no need for fancy proprietary software or complex systems.

Most often, they use basic spreadsheets to track everything — advertiser contacts, contract histories, income statements, and all the basics.

One of the notable tools that Chris uses is… Landglidewhich he uses Real estate And explore potential new locations for billboards. This app shows you “who owns what, where it is, a lot of lines, and all that kind of stuff.”

It basically charts county parcel data and property records in an easily accessible, mobile interface.

Location scouting is key because ideal advertising placements require careful evaluation of nearby properties, road visibility, and more.

A (mostly) negative day in Chris’ life

With so much complexity involved in zoning, permits, and the logistics of new construction, you might think that running a bunch of billboards is a full-time operation.

According to Chris, it’s relative nowadays negative In addition to some basic administrative work.

“It was kind of boring,” Chris shared.

Most weeks, he only spends about 5 hours or so on the basic tasks of running a billboard business. Responding to inquiries from potential new advertisers, dealing with contract renewals, and things like that.

Mistakes or surprises along the way

Chris expressed his surprise that more people do not value consistency and long-term investing methods and instead prefer quick money schemes.

Everyone wants an overnight success story, but those are the extreme exceptions, not the rule.

In fact, shortcuts may further delay your financial freedom.

Building real wealth takes time and sustained effort, as small actions make a big difference over a decade.

What’s next for Chris?

Chris’ goal for this year is to double the number of billboard faces in his portfolio over the next two years and launch a new course called Billboard Academy.

This will be an opportunity for him to pull back the curtain and give people a proven blueprint they can follow.

“I want to help others build wealth, Get out of the rat raceAnd achieve that financial freedom.”

So stay tuned because it’s coming in the next couple of months.

Interested students can obtain Free preview on Chris’s website. There, visitors can download a free guide that introduces the passive income potential of billboard ownership.

Chris also hopes that his entrepreneurial story will inspire others to take control of their lives and financial futures, just as he did from humble beginnings.

His non-profit organization Signs of goodness It links the principles of entrepreneurship and giving back.

Chris’s #1 tip for side hustles nation

“It’s about who you are becoming, not who you were.”

Episode links

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