I am planning on putting up a small billboard for my business on a piece of ground my inlaws own along a state highway. while planning this I realized this would be a good way to make money I should look into putting up a few more so I am. My question is probably a stupid one but ill ask anyway how do these billboard companies put up hundreds of billboards all over the county surely they dont own every piece of land they are putting a sign on. Do they lease the ground? what if its state own land? I guess I just need an overview of how the hole Billboard Business works. I'm not interested in doing hundereds like a billbaord co. but to have a few would be a nice source of income I like some of the ones Ive seen in SignCraft from guys like Bob Behonick they have a little more class then your ordinary run of the mill billboard. any help on the subject would be appreciated
Posted by Raymond Chapman (Member # 361) on :
While every state has different laws concerning billboards, or the lack of billboards, I can give you a little information about how it works in Texas.
First, you have to have permission from the landowner to put a billboard on his property. This usually means that you lease the land that is used by the billboard on a yearly basis.
Here, you have to obtain a permit from the state for off-premise advertising, even though the sign is on private property. You cannot put billboards on state property or right-of-way. There are certain restrictions on how close the sign can be to the road and how close they can be to other billboards.
Once you begin to research what has to be done you will find out why the rental space on those things are so high.
In my opinion, the amount that you have to invest and the cost of upkeep and changes is not worth the initial outlay unless you have several boards located in high traffic areas. Remember, when the boards have no one advertising on them, you don't get any money, but you are still paying for land lease and the initial investment of building the board and keeping it looking attractive.
The Highway Beautification Act was inacted during the Lyndon Johnson years (I think) and Lady Bird Johnson was a big advocate of getting rid of all billboards. She is still alive and living on the LBJ ranch in Central Texas. And you can drive in that area and not see one billboard anywhere.
Good luck.
[ September 05, 2002, 03:27 PM: Message edited by: Raymond Chapman ]
Posted by Scott Moyer (Member # 1433) on :
What ray said but here in pa ya better have deep pockets if your gunna beat the zoning laws, I would look for privately owned boards and try to buy them or rent them, fixup and re lease,
Posted by Jeff Ogden (Member # 3184) on :
In Florida it is like what was just said about Texas, but you also need a license from the state DOT to put them up, as well as a permit for each individual board. Also,any new board has to be on either commercial or industrial zoning. All the ones you see on farmland are older sites that have been grandfathered in. If you start looking around for new sites, you find out real quick that there are very few or none available along the higher traffic areas. I have run across people who own com. or indust land, and they all say they have been approached many times by people scouting out new locations for billboard companies.Maybe in your area its not as bad as down here. Anyhow I don't relish the idea of driving miles on backroads only to find the last 1/4 mile into the board so wet and overgrown that you have to park the truck and haul all your gear through a swamp so you can spend all day on a south facing board gettin' sunburnt and bug-bit.
Posted by Jon Aston (Member # 1725) on :
A different perspective for you...
Fleet Graphics are a far more cost effective form of advertising than are billboards. Even if you (or maybe some of your customers) only have a fleet of one vehicle, I believe these articles are still worth your consideration...
Jeff I know all to well about getting into those boards I painted for white co, 3m, harry moody etc. all over you area for 6 years. I know a guy who bought the old sunken gardens boards email me if you like i will give you a name & phone # they have some good locations on I75,4,44, 41,19 etc.
Posted by Richard Doyle (Member # 2919) on :
Thanx guys thats kind of how I thought things worked and it definitly sounds like it can be a big hassle but im going to look more into it anyway
