Billboard advertising in a small town??

[Dusty Bowling]

Hi everyone, I am a flipper in a small town in central Indiana. I own 15 or so rentals and am fortunate to own a house on the main highway coming into town from both sides. I am currently flipping 3 to 4 houses per year and am trying to increase to 10-20 next year. I was going to put up 2 large billboards with my main concern being to buy houses. I also have rentals and rent to owns, renovate with my own crew of handymen, and sell my flips through FSBO. I was thinking of creating a sign that would promote all the aspects of my business but was wondering if it would be to wordy or confusing. Was thinking something like WE BUY HOUSES in big and bold and underneath a bullet point for

Rent to Own/ Rent : Why slum it when redone is available

Sell: Completely remodeled and 10% below market value!!

Renovate: All your home improvement needs

Call Angie at 123-345-6789

Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated.

[Michael Quarles]

@Dusty Bowling

I think its a great idea... You may consider a trailer over a constructed billboard for cost and multitasking. However I have put many billboards ups. Here are some pics..

I will have to post them from my iphone since the desktop picture ability is offline. GRR

[Michael Quarles]

I know the last one isn't a billboard however does do a lot of good.

[Dusty Bowling]

Thanks Michael, sorry I'm a little new what do you mean by a trailer. Also looked at your site and love the new color postcards. I will be starting a postcard campaign in the next couple of months, are you able to custom make postcards? Would be interested in a cards with we buy houses on the front and other services on the back. Also with this being a small town do you think it would be a good idea for a small picture of me and my wife on the cards, I'm thinking more of a personal touch because of reputation and familiarity of us by word of mouth? I'm a local deputy sheriff and the town size is around 3,000 and we are the only flippers in town. We've built a good reputation over the years with 15 or so flips while only using word of mouth advertising. I am trying to step it up at the beginning of the year and go from flipping 3 or 4 a year to 10-20. I have the rehab team in place and wondering what your thoughts would be on a marketing campaign. So far there are no other major rehab outfits, no bandit signs, no mailings, basically an untapped market. My bread and butter are smaller 3 bed 2 bath homes buying for 40-50 putting 25-40 into and selling for 120,00.

Also could you elaborate on whether you think a sign offering so many services would be to wordy and leave the consumer without a definite message. Thanks for the response

[Brad Chandler]

I would think multiple messages would be confusing. I would absolutely take advantage of the traffic but I would stick to one main message.

[Dev Horn]

I agree with @Brad Chandler - billboards must be brief and only deal with ONE MESSAGE / CALL TO ACTION or otherwise it will communicate NOTHING.

We have a licensee (Drew Johnson) in West Virginia that just put up 10 bb's throughout his 2-county area and the response and ROI have been excellent! His signs also feature the people that work on his team, such as Nick Palkovic here:

The point is this - Drew is also the #1 RE agent in W. Virginia - but he is not trying to communicate that he buys and sells and lists and renovates properties with these signs. He has put them up for only 1 reason - to get motivated sellers to call...

[Dusty Bowling]

Thanks for the tips, I think I agree. I feel pretty strong about putting our picture on the board I think it gives a much better message of small town approachability instead of an unknown company.