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HOW TO START YOUR OWN BULLETIN BOARD ADVERTISING SERVICEBelieve it or not, bulletin boards actually work as traffic builders for just about any small business. They serve to enhance the community relations image of a business and the space required to locate a bulletin board can be written off as a tax deduction when listed as advertising or public relations expense. People use local business-provided bulletin boards to advertise items they wish to sell, home-based businesses, and to list anything they might want to trade for or buy. They regularly come back by the business to check on their ad or to see who else has an announcement posted. They may not feel an obligation to buy something each time they come into the business owner's store or shop, but of course the business owner has another opportunity to sell or at least get his merchandise out before the potential buyer. What type of advertising could be less expensive or more effective? Almost anyone can organize a route of bulletin boards. It simply involves charging the advertisers a small monthly fee and keeping the boards up-to-date and neat (which will make the business owner happy), allowing you to make some easy money in the process. First, contact as many businesses in your area as possible. Visit the managers or owners of all the grocery stores, drugstores, barber shops, beauty salons, service stations, quick print shops, rental shops, mobile home parks, shopping centers, and apartment complexes that have foyers or recreation rooms where a bulletin board might be displayed and seen by lots of folks. The possibilities are endless. Suggest to the managers in each of the possible locations the idea of allowing you to install and maintain a bulletin board service for them. Emphasize the community service, the tax write-off, and the fact that you'll be the one to maintain the board and keep it neat. Their business will experience added traffic, sales will likely increase, and all at a cost of only a few feet of wall space. Let the manager know that you will be by weekly to maintain the board, post new ads, and remove those that have expired. Show him or her a sample board (one-half or one-quarter that of the real thing), and illustrate how simple, yet effective, a tool it will be for enhancing his business. When you get ten or more signed to allow you to set up a board, you're ready to start making the bulletin boards themselves. The best and most economical plan is to make your own. Cut a piece of corkboard 3 feet by 4 feet, mount a 3/4 by 1 inch frame around the edge, and cover this frame with a 3 foot by 4 foot piece of plastic or plexiglass. Mount the plastic with hinges at the top and a hasp at the bottom. This will keep the ads protected from either blowing away or being removed by vandals. On the back of the corkboard, install a couple of hooks for hanging it, and you're ready to go. Make up a sign - you can even type it out and use it as another bulletin board
announcement---something like this: CITY-WIDE BULLETIN Your advertising, message, or announcement displayed here for only $5 per month! For
more information, call 123-4567. Put your sign or announcement on each of your bulletin boards, lock them up, and install them in all your locations. Ten bulletin boards with only 30 announcements per board will bring you an easy $1500 per month. As people call in for more information, you give them the address to which they can send their payment and ad. When their ad arrives, simply copy the text onto a 3x5 card you have had printed at the copy shop with a place for name, address, telephone number, and several lines for the text of the ad. In the upper right hand corner mark on each ad the date the "run of display" ends before you put it up on each of your bulletin boards. If you have a personal computer, you may wish to typeset each ad on your computer and print it out on your own printer. Even without a computer or typewriter, you could hand letter the ads in a clear, easy-to-read handwriting. If you put an announcement from the same person up on more than one board, charge them $5 per month for each announcement on each bulletin board. In all likelihood, you'll have people waiting for space on your bulletin boards. Keeping records should be very simple and easy. Start with a loose-leaf notebook, blank paper, and a couple of packages of 3x5 cards. In your notebook, write down the date, the amount of money received, the number of announcements the customer has on display, and the contract expiration date. On the 3x5 cards write the name, address, phone number, and expiration date of each contract, and designate each location of the bulletin boards on which that particular announcement is featured. Arrange the cards in chronological order according to expiration date, and file them in a storage box. Once you get rolling, you shouldn't have to service your bulletin boards more than once a week. As more people see them, more businesses will want you to put one in their business location, and more people will want to display an announcement. Simple, easy, and a real money-maker for you. That's the plan. It's not difficult, and depending upon the population density of your
area, it could very well be the thing you've been looking for to supply you an extra
income. It demands little investment and time, and no special training or education. But,
as with any business venture, it takes ACTION on your part. You must get out there and set
it up, and work at making it a success for you! It's really up to you, and we wish you
success in it. |
