Billboard Insider is running an interview series with John Musick who has more than 50 years experience in the out of home business.  John has talked about getting into out of home,  building signs,  installing solar and writing leases.  Today he talks about what it’s like to run a do it yourself out of home company.

How did you run the business?

I ran a kitchen-table business with my wife as the boss. I stayed with local contractors and tried to operate in areas where you didn’t need certified drawings, because those cost so much more. I still used wind-loaded drawings, but with local contractors doing the work I was able to pay off a structure in three to five years or less.

Who handled your billing and invoicing?

I did all my invoices in Microsoft Word — full color, with pictures, start dates, end dates, and contract terms. I learned the importance of that at my previous company, because when an advertiser calls in and asks what their agreement says, you need to have it documented. I was doing about 90 of those a month. It took a lot of time, but I always did it. There are programs now — like Sign Dash — that can automate a lot of that, but I still wanted control over what went through my side.

What kind of structures did you build?

All monopoles — anywhere from 8×16 to 12×24. About 25% were lighted. I was a small operator and I just wanted the face sales. With LED lights now, you can just say, ‘Hey, you’ve got them all night.’

Who did your fabrication?

I had a local company in Hannibal, MO do all of my graphics and vinyls. I would not order vinyl if it didn’t have UV-resistant ink. It costs more, but I got comments for years about why my signs held up so much better than Lamar’s or whoever else was out there. I wanted my signs to look good.

Any digital signs?

Never got into digital because I never had to borrow money, and I didn’t want to start. Digital has its place, but it doesn’t hold up on cost per thousand. If you’ve got 10,000 vehicles going by and you’ve got eight digital advertisers plus a few PSAs, you’re down to one-tenth of the traffic count and paying twice as much for the sign. I always sold on cost per thousand.

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