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This issue of the OutdoorBillboard.com Newsletter
includes:
Important Change:
At the request of site users, and to keep with advancements in the Internet marketplace, we are overhauling and redesigning the vendor section of the site for maximum efficiency and results.
As you are aware,
currently the site has generic lists of
vendors in several basic categories -- and
many vendors don't even really fit in those
categories.
In addition, the site user must then call each vendor individually, which is not only inefficient but not fair to those near the end of the list, since the user probably gives up after about 2-3 calls.
The first item we are
changing is to regroup all vendors into
tighter, more accurate groupings. We are
doing our best to make sure that you are in
the appropriate grouping, but please check
the site in the next few weeks and make sure
that you are where you want to be. We will
also be expanding the scope of our groupings
to make way for these new, more focused
categories.
The other major change we
are making is to convert our system into a "
lead generator" one. In this system, the
customer will fill out a "lead" sheet and
email it to us, and we will in turn email it
to the members of the "lead generator"
group.
Anyone can join this group until it is full. Under this system, you will be charged only $1-$2 for every lead you receive from the site. We will limit the number of companies receiving leads in each category to a maximum of 5 @ $2 per lead or 10 @ $1 per lead. If you do not want to participate, you will still be placed in the generic list that the customer will have access to after emailing to us their "lead" sheet, but you will not receive any lead information unless the customer calls you directly from this list. We believe that you will find $1-$2 a lead to be a bargain for this service. If you do not feel that it is working for you, you will have the right to cancel at any time. Once we have the categories more defined we will send out an email to the current advertisers in each category to join the program. We have been working diligently to increase the traffic to the site but we are going to take this to the next level over the next few months. Our search engine rankings are increasing and for the phrases we are not ranking well we will be purchasing Pay-per-Click advertising to generate even more targeted traffic.
Thank you again for your
participation in the site.
Sincerely,
Dave Reynolds
We have a lofty goal with our Billboards for Rent section... We are redesigning this section so that it is separated by State and then by Market and also by Type of Outdoor Media. In the process of making the change we will be requesting this information from all Outdoor Advertising Companies and then will be updating each page at least monthly. Each company will be allowed to have one page under the For Rent/Lease page for each state. Initially we will be adding these manually and then will redesign the site to allow each company to login and update their listings as often as necessary. The next step will be to implement a new search function that will allow our visitors to nail down their requirements. Also in creating each page we will start collecting leads from those looking to start an advertising campaign. We will start sending those leads to the companies that are in that market and have the requested media type. We will send out a separate email on this with instructions on how to update your pages as well as join the lead program. If you have any comments or would be available to critique our ideas as we progress please let Dave or Diane know by sending an email to info@outdoorbillboard.com or calling 1-800-937-6151. ARE YOU A LANDOWNER WHO NEEDS HELP NEGOTIATION A NEW OR EXISTING BILLBOARD GROUND LEASE TO MAXIMIZE INCOME? Our new coaching service helps to make sure that you get absolutely the top dollar for your billboard ground lease income. We review the lease and market comparables, and help you construct a strategy to get top dollar. We also work with you during the negotiation process and, at your request, can negotiate on your behalf. In a world in which real estate income is valued at a multiple of ten to determine value, a $300 enhancement of your monthly income can mean a $36,000 increase in property value. And our rate for this service is only $495 -- about what it would cost to have an attorney talk to you for only one hour. We offer the only service of this kind on the market today. Contact Frank at 573-535-0206 or Dave at 800-937-6151 for more details. Thank you for helping me negotiate my billboard lease renewal. You made me about $2,000 per year in more income, and I feel confident that I am getting my fair share of the ad rents. Your service is an amazing value! - Ronald C., California Excerpt from: Making Money in Billboards: A CASE STUDY... MY BEST 50 DEALS AND WHAT MADE THEM GREAT.
By Frank Rolfe THE 20/20/20 RULE If you want to be successful in the billboard business, you only have to remember one number: 20. This number is essential for three key reasons: 1. You never want to exceed this amount as a percent of revenue for ground rent. Many novices offer the landowner a much higher amount, like 30% or 40% to get the deal, only to find that they never make any money with it, and can’t even sell it because other companies won’t touch a lease much over 20%. Do anything to get the deal signed without going over 20% -- you are much better off giving the landowner a signing bonus rather than an extra 10%. 2. You never want to build or buy a sign that offers you an immediate return of less than 20% on total debt and equity (cap rate). Never forget that the business has a fair amount of risk. Your sign can be obliterated with an obstruction, blown down in a storm, or your ground lease cancelled. As a result, you must never think in terms of “bond” yields. You’ve got to get that sign paid off in 5 to 7 years so that you have mitigated your risk. Also, you need to get a high level of compensation for all the time, effort and risk of operating a billboard. 3. You never want to build a billboard with an expected life expectancy of less than 20 years. Never say “20” to a landowner – its 10 years with a 10 year option. If you build a billboard that will come down within 10 years, you have only achieved maybe three years of profitability, and that’s not nearly enough. If you have a deal that comes up short in any of these three areas, THEN SIGN IT UP ANYWAY. That’s right SIGN UP EVERY GROUND LEASE YOU CAN! WHY? BECAUSE YOU CAN FLIP EVEN A BAD LEASE TO A COMPETITOR FOR SIGNIFICANT MONEY! Billboard leases, even bad leases, are that rare. THE REAL ESSENTIAL TO MAKING MONEY IN THE BILLBOARD BUSINESS After all the number crunching and formulas, there is only one real essential to making money in the billboard business that overshadows all of the others. And that is that 99.9% of making money in billboards is finding locations. In a world in which even bad billboard leases are marketable assets, the most essential skill, by far, is finding legal locations. That’s why I have devoted this book to real-life examples of how I found locations. Many of the techniques and trick shared in this book will equally work in your market. YOU WILL ALWAYS MAKE MONEY IF YOU CAN FIND LEGAL LOCATIONS. If you never build a single billboard in your lifetime, you can make a very comfortable income just flipping billboard leases and permits. I know people who have made a fortune doing just that, without ever risking a penny of capital themselves, and often just as a part-time interest. Don’t waste a lot of time agonizing over the details and “to-the-penny” estimations of sign costs. Put ALL of you time and energy into finding legal sign locations. Think about every example in this book, including the lessons learned, and try to figure out how to perform the same stunt in your market. For example, you will notice a pattern of acquiring “bad” signs from larger competitors. Place a call to these companies, for example, and start the process to be in the pipeline for these type of deals. Or start meeting with city councils regarding a variance in trade for “welcome to …” signage, as described in the book. Remember to think outside of the box and to find every path to signing up every legal location. Be persistent, and never forget to focus on finding legal locations – that’s what this business is all about! FREE Q&A Session: Don't Forget our FREE weekly Q&A show with Frank Rolfe. You can call in for FREE on Monday nights at 5:00 Pacific, 6:00 Mountain, 7:00 Central, or 8:00 Eastern and ask any Outdoor Advertising Question you would like. The Q&A sessions are 1 hour in length as long as questions are being asked. Here is the call in info: Dial in Number: 620-294-3005 Participant Passcode: 5539# OutdoorBillboard.com is the place for:
Outdoor Advertising National Directory: this
is our one-of-a-kind directory of Outdoor Advertising
Industry Companies and it is FREE to list your
company in the directory. We will also link directly
to your website and all we ask is for a reciprocal link back
to OutdoorBillboard.com. OutdoorBillboard is committed to the industry and dedicated to helping your company succeed!
We have just added several more banners and links to our affiliate program. If you would like to earn some additional money by referring people to our site and books and resources then be sure to check out our generous commissions at the OutdoorBillboard.com Affiliate Program Featured Company: BillboardConnection - All Outdoor - 1-800-920-9527 Thousands of available billboards, buses, trains, subways, mobile billboards and so much more available nationwide. Call today for a free list of avails PLAN FOR DEVELOPMENT -- AND SAVE YOUR SIGN! In the over 300 billboard signs I have owned, only two have been lost to development. I achieved this not out of sheer luck, although I have been lucky, but by being proactive about avoiding risks and mitigating the risks I can’t avoid. In most billboard ground leases, you have to give the property owner a right to terminate in the event of development. Obviously, few people will tie up their land for years when it might sour a huge development offer down the road. As a result, your billboard is at risk of being removed at any time with so many days of advance notice. When this is the case, there are several things you can do to reduce or eliminate this risk. FLIP IT IF THE LAND IS HOT Anyone can see land parcels that have a huge risk of immediate development. If you see a piece of raw land between two office buildings, or a piece of raw land between a Wal-Mart and Home Depot, then you are looking development right in the eye. Except for cases of environmental pollution or unsuitable terrain, such a relationship makes buildings a billboard a bad idea if you are hoping for longevity. Don’t skip this location, just get a ground lease and permit and immediately sell it to another billboard company. You can use this capital to finance a more permanent location. In just about every case in which I predicted development, it has come to pass. Not that I’m some sort of mind-reader: it just made sense that the land was too hot not to be developed in the near future. ADD TWO PROVISIONS QUIETLY INTO YOUR GROUND LEASE TERMINATION PROVISION Be sure that your termination provision requires a building permit requiring removal of the billboard, and that it also includes language restricting any billboard to be built on the property for a period of at least 5 years. This is to ensure that the owner does not use the development “out” to replace you with a higher paying competitor. BUILD YOUR BILLBOARD IN AREAS THAT CAN’T BE BUILT ON If you want to sleep soundly at night, deliberately build your billboard within the setback requirements for whatever can be built on the land. For example, if your sign is on multifamily land, and is less than 20 feet inside the property line. Most billboard setbacks are less than the building setbacks. I like to build signs right on the property line using “ full-flag offset” monopole designs that make this possible. I also like to build on the edge of ravines or other obstructions that would also be impossible to build on. DON’T GIVE UP WHEN YOU GET A TERMINATION LETTER When you get a termination letter, which I hope you never do, the first step is to cordially request a meeting with the landowner. You still have several attempts to save the sign: ¬ Offer him more money. Sometimes, you can “greenmail” your way out of your problem. If he was getting 20% of the gross, offer to change to a 50/50 split of the net, or some other highly ulcerative option. ¬ Offer him one side of the sign for free for a certain period of time to promote his development. ¬ Ask him to allow your sign to stay until the construction is completed (this can take about a year). Sometimes, while your sign is still there, the development project crashes, and the whole problem goes away (lost financing, lost anchor tenant, etc.) ¬ Offer to sell him the sign for what you have in it to become his own premise sign for the development. If you follow these steps you will greatly reduce or eliminate your exposure to losing your sign to development. Being proactive can save you a fortune and a lot of mental anguish, which you can put to better use building more sings. About the Author: Frank Rolfe is the author of the book... Big Bucks From Big Signs and just recently finished a new series on how to succeed and make money in the Billboard Business. A series of 6 one hour tele-seminars on CD and available for instant download.
Rolfe started his
billboard empire from his coffee table, as a
fresh graduate from Stanford University. It
began as a resume builder for graduate school
applications, and ended with a sale to a public
company 14 years later. |
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Your feedback matters to us! Why not forward this newsletter to a friend or associate? Visit us at www.outdoorbillboard.com Sincerely, Dave Reynolds 18923 Highway 65 |
