John Musick has over 50 years experience in the out of home business including 29 years at Missouri Neon and 21 years running his own out of home company. Billboard Insider will run a series of interviews with Musick about what he’s learned. Today he talks about getting started
Tell me how you entered the out-of-home business?
I graduated from college with a degree in marketing in ’69, served in the Air Force for four years, and got out in ’73. Jobs were hard to find. I applied for a position at Missouri Neon & Plastics and discovered the owner and general manager were both veterans — they had a sign in the entry that said as much. I got my chance right there.
Was Missouri Neon doing on-premise signs, billboards, or both?
They did both — on-premise signs and about 400 billboard faces at that time. I started out selling on-premise, but it didn’t take me long to realize I’d get a bigger check if I got into billboards. So I started doing both. It really opened doors. When you sell someone an on-premise sign, they’re already your friend, so they’re open to outdoor billboards too. You could go in and say, ‘Mr. Pest Control, here’s your on-premise sign — by the way, would you like some billboards to promote your business?’ You didn’t have to sell yourself. You just had to listen.
Take me on your journey from Missouri Neon to becoming an entrepreneur.
Over 29 years with Missouri Neon, I developed hundreds of billboard sites in Missouri — I-44, Highway 65, the Branson/Silver Dollar City area. It went hand in hand with the on-premise work. But I didn’t get paid to find a location — I only got paid when someone leased it. So I had to pre-sell locations, show people a picture of what the sign would look like, convince landowners it was worth it, do a financial presentation on payout, then order the signs and install them myself. What ultimately pushed me out on my own was the advent of high-resolution vinyl. Once I realized I could do my own artwork and just hire contractors, I didn’t need a big company anymore. I could order my art, hire local contractors, and go from there.
You can contact John at john@musicoutdoorllc.com.
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