Has anyone tried billboards?

[CitizensChoices]

I was considering doing some sort of outdoor media that would be a different approach to what others were doing. I havent seen personal billboards in a while and was wondering if anyone has had the guts to try this for their RE proffession

I might go with my banner on a large office building.

Any comments?

[BajaGeoff]

I don't know about your part of the country but out here in San Diego billboards start at around $3000 per month for an average location. More prominent locations will run upwards of $5000 per month. It really depends on what the market is like for your area. It was just not worth it for our business. By chance do they have bench ads in your city? That is a way to get some good outdoor exposure at a lower cost. Lots of real estate agents utilize them here in San Diego.

[iameric]

Billboard advertising is not designed to create an immediate response but is instead designed for brand reaffirmation. This is not to say that this would not be beneficial for a large well established brokerage but unless you have a huge budget, the amount of money it will cost you to get a BB would probably be better served with grass roots efforts or even hiring an assistant to maximize your own marketing productivity.

Eric A. Jacobs, JD MBA
Real Estate Broker, Attorney and Investor
e2properties.com/forums
e2properties.com

[realtek20]

I agree with iameric. I also believe that online advertising is the way to go these days (that is if you have a well developed website). Have you considered looking in to banner advertisements and sponsored listings to place on relative sites? Submitting your site to free directories is also a good method of link development to ultimately increase the traffic to your site without tapping into your marketing budget.