Page 99 - 101 Ways to Market Your Business

101 WAYS TO MARKET YOUR BUSINESS

33 Take your message on the road with a mobile
billboard

Local government restrictions can limit the size and loca-
tion of signs in public places. Always consider this before
putting any signs in high profile locations. Several years
ago I built a mobile billboard. It was exactly the same size
as a normal roadside billboard except that I could hook it
up to the back of a four wheel drive and tow it all over
the city. It was a very high profile advertising tool that I
hired out for a daily rate of about $300. The billboard cost
approximately $6000 to build so it soon paid for itself.

Now there are a number of companies offering this
service. Mobile billboards are an accepted part of any
outdoor advertising campaign.

You can always do this on a smaller scale by putting
some signs on the side of your average box trailer and
parking it near your business. As mentioned, local govern-
ments may not be happy about it but in most cases they
cannot stop you from doing it. Remember a few points to
avoid complaints—don’t block driveways or lines of sight
on corners, park it out of the way after hours and if
someone complains always move the sign.

I adopted these principles when hiring out my mobile
billboard and I never had a single complaint. After I sold
the business the new operator made a few mistakes. First,
the new owner would leave the billboard unattended for
days on end, often in public places, blocking lines of sight
at intersections and traffic lights. The complaints started to
roll in. The next mistake they made was during a promo-
tion for a shopping centre. One centre was advertised on
the billboard and the operators of the mobile sign then
proceeded to park it in front of a competing centre. This
resulted in a lot of complaints, as one would expect, and
now the local government authorities will probably ban the
mobile billboard operator.

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