Income Idea – Billboard Property
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I’m sure this one is being done already but I’ll make note of it since I thought about it again today. There is a road leading to the heart of downtown Brisbane. It’s one of those big roads, three lanes going in and out of the city and chock-a-block full of cars during peak periods. On the side of the road, opposite an Office Works shop is a house-sized plot of land that’s been vacant for a long time. I don’t know why it’s vacant, maybe the owner doesn’t want to build there or maybe for some reason you can’t put property on that land. The thing is that the land is exposed to so much traffic every day it would be perfect for two to four billboards facing both the incoming and outgoing city traffic. It would enjoy exposure to thousands of eyeballs every day.
Many years ago when I first saw this plot of land I thought about billboards and wondered how profitable it was to own one. Surely it is a good asset to have, something that keeps paying out over and over again. So why not make use of property, property you purchase like any other property and discounted because there is no house on it, as a home for advertising billboards. Build a billboard or three on it and start bringing in income. Sure there would be more to it, having the resources to produce new ad mats and the creative talents to produce advertisement campaigns would be important (could you rent your billboard to professional billboard ad agencies so they would handle the clients?), but building a billboard must be a lot cheaper than building a house and I wonder whether the returns would not be better too.
Chances are there is a very good reason why this is an idea that can’t work. Perhaps zoning laws prohibit it, which wouldn’t surprise me, you wouldn’t want every block of land on the sides of major roads to house billboards, it would be worse than commercial television. Regardless though it’s an idea I’d like to share and perhaps others out there know more about it than I do and have even gone as far as researching into the possibilities. I’m always keens on learning about new potential property passive income sources.
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Interesting idea Yaro…
The problem with purchasing the land is that it’s so capital intensive. Another business model would be to find out who owns the land and offer to give the owner a percentage of the advertising revenues to use the land.
I’m sure many of these engagements would be relatively short term (6 months to a year) but if you had a system for easily erecting billboards and taking them to different locations it could work.
Also, the same system could work on the side of buildings etc. Though as you say, I can think of few things worse than having every square metre of vacant space occupied by a %*&%#*& billboard.
Yaro,
I like this idea — and a few years ago I had looked into it — there was a big “for rent” sign on a few billboards that were local here in my hometown — I gave the guy a call and talked to him about being a go-between ….finding suitable advertisers — unfortunetly he didn’t quite get it…and denied to work together. I think he was bringing in something like $800 a month and client had to sign 12 month contracts or something like that — it was pretty good money.
If anyone have a creative advertising idea…I’d like to hear it — I was thinking of making t-shirts that said “your ad here” — but I dunno..I’m trying to find something with a WOW factor.
talk to Goa billboards in Brisbane – very approachable people – they will let you know the deal on billboards…
why buy the land? Leasing it may be more viable…
I remember taking the long drives back and forth between Miami and Orlando in Florida and asking myself what were potential ways of making decent money. I saw a few billboards here and there along the sides of the highway and it hit me – why not do something similar?
I havn’t looked much into it, but I feel it could be a semi-profitable business. I mean, magazines charge anywhere between $2,000 – $5,000 just for a full-page color ad. One of the downsides to billboards is it doesn’t – really – get national coverage like, for example, Maxim magazine.
No matter which way you cut it, properly thinking about the situation could make it a lucrative proposition. Maybe in the future, I’ll look into it again to see what I can dig up.
If anyone else has any other ideas or advice about this, please comment!
Go to local council and see if you can contact the owner. It might even be crown land.
If you think about it, Billboards in general have existed in their current state for many, many years. Few things related to business change SO LITTLE over so long a period of time. Granted, I’ve seen digital billboards and also the occasional rotating billboard (with 3 ads), but there’s not been much innovation in this area as a whole. Given the money that people are typically willing to fork over for advertising, you’d think it would be hard NOT to monetize a new billboard, no matter how extravagant or crazy it might be.
Honestly, I question whether or not landowners are keen on the fact that they could be utilizing the space to make money. Oftentimes zoning restrictions enter the equation, but in many cases, people seem content to sit on their investment and let it accrue value. Although it may seem obvious to us (and believe me, I’d never let something like that slide), it’s quite possible that older, less contemplative individuals simply may not realize what some of their options are.
This all leads to another topic…Investment efficiency as a whole. The people with the money aren’t always out there busting their tails to maximize their investments, and each year, BILLIONS go by the wayside. On the upside, we can come in and take care of all that
In regard to the management of the billboard, there are companies who look after everything (finding advertisers, printing the ads and collecting fees etc) – You will notice ‘Goa’ or other similar brands on the bottom of the billboards in Brisbane/Australia – that’s what they do I believe.
I think using land for income is a marvel idea…but what if the billboard operators do not wish to pay for leasing or using your land? And how would this arrangement really work?
Yaro,
With virtual real estate, virtual billboards (pixel pages, keyword pages), all you have to do is look at reality to find your next opportunity on the web.
I live in Jasper, Texas and have the correct property to put up a large bill board sign, however, I am having trouble locating where I can buy one. I would appreciate it if you could give me some information on that close to my area.
Thanks,
Jeff Martindale
Hi Jeff, coming from Australia I don’t really know anything about your area. You will have to keep searching. Good luck!
Of course, the amount of money you can earn from a billboard is dependent on it’s location. A high traffic area will earn you a decent second income… Location is everything! And Yaro, you’re right, check with the council to make sure you can actually use the land for advertising purposes… Good luck with it.
Although the income on land isn’t as great as on rentals, it’s nice to not have tenants to call you on Sunday mornings. Great post.