HOW TO START YOUR OWN
BULLETIN BOARD ADVERTISING SERVICE
Believe 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 these "business provided" bulletin boards to
advertise things they want to sell, home-based businesses, and
whatever they might want to trade for or buy. Then, they come
back, sometimes morning, noon, and evening everyday, to check on
them, or to see who else as an announcement posted. Each time
they come into the business owner's store or shop, they may not
feel an obligation to buy something, but of course the business
owner has another opportunity to sell them something . Just about anybody can organize a route of bulletin boards;
charge the advertisers a small monthly fee; keep them up-to-date
and neat, (which will make the business owner happy) and make some
really easy money in the whole process. The first step is to contact as many businesses in your area
as possible. Grocery stores, drugstores, barber shops, beauty
salons, service stations, quick print shops, rental shops, mobile
home parks, shopping centers, apartment complexes that have foyers
or recreation rooms - and the list goes on endlessly. Sell them 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 keep it neat.
When you get ten or more signed to allow you to install a bulletin
board, you're ready to start making your bulletin boards. The best plan (and of course the most economical) 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. Mount the plastic with hinges
at the top and a hasp at the bottom. On the back of the
corkboard, install a couple of hocks 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:
Put your sign or announcement on each of your bulletin boards,
lock them up, and install them in all your locations. Ten such
signs with only 50 announcements per bulletin board should bring
you an easy $500 per month.
When 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. And one other thing: The date the "run of
display" ends should be marked on each announcement you put up on
each of your bulletin boards.
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 3 by 5 cards. In your notebook, write down the
date, the amount of money received and the number of announcements
on display, and the contract expiration date. On the 3 by 5
cards, write the name, address, phone number and expiration date
of each contract, and the location(s) of the bulletin board(s)
that particular announcement is on. 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, and 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.
This kind of business is what the newspapers like to write
about, and the TV stations like to carry as news of what people in
their areas are doing as entrepreneurs. So take the feature
editors out to lunch, make friends with them, and push for all the
free publicity you can get.
That's the plan. It's simple, easy, and depending upon the population density of your area, it could very well be the very thing you've been looking for to supply you an extra income. It demands little investment, not much of your 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.