What if you happen to may earn $3,000 a 12 months from a whiteboard you give away totally free?
John Schierman of MegansDailyDish.com locations free chalkboards and whiteboards in eating places and different busy venues.
The venue makes use of the board for every day specials. John sells small advert spots alongside the underside to native companies.
He’s positioned greater than 200 of those boards to date. Every one brings in round $3,000 a 12 months.
(Take a look at John’s Community Boards program! New college students get a free 15-minute teaching name with John and a free board!)
Tune in to Episode 763 of the Aspect Hustle Present to study:
- the right way to place free chalkboards and whiteboards in eating places and different high-traffic venues
- the right way to value, promote, and fill advertiser spots across the board
- the right way to flip one placement right into a referral engine for extra areas and extra advertisers
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John used to promote coupons printed on the again of grocery retailer receipt tapes. The advertisements labored, however they price small companies $8,000 to $12,000 a 12 months for a single retailer.
That made them a troublesome promote for mom-and-pop retailers.
Then he walked into McCoy’s in Elk River, Minnesota, and noticed a wood-framed whiteboard on the wall. A small gold plaque named the corporate that made it. That firm was simply half-hour from his home.
John went down the rabbit gap. He discovered an operator in Alabama who ran shared menu magnets, joined his group, and determined to launch his personal boards.
How the Enterprise Mannequin Works
The pitch to a restaurant is straightforward: John provides them a free chalkboard or whiteboard, mounted on an easel, a wall, or the hostess stand with Command Strips.
The venue makes use of it to publish every day specials, completely happy hour promos, or upcoming occasions. In change, John sells promoting area in a handful of small advert slots alongside the underside of the board.
Eating places are primed to say sure as a result of they’re used to free stuff, from beer distributor sidewalk boards to placemat advertisements.
The catch, when there may be one, will get addressed upfront: John exhibits the bodily board so homeowners can see precisely what they’re moving into.
What He Expenses Advertisers
Boards include 3 or 6 advert spots. About two-thirds of his placements are the 6-spot dimension. Right here’s the mathematics on a 6-spot board:
- Value: below $400, together with the board ($350), markers, an easel, and Command Strips
- Worth: $50 a month or $600 a 12 months per spot, with a reduction for paying in full
- Revenue: over $3,000 a 12 months per location
No one has chosen month-to-month billing. John now launches 4 boards at a time in a metropolis and pitches a spot on all 4 for $200.
That may usher in $6,000 to $8,000 for every week to 10 days of labor.
He’s additionally examined bundled presents like purchase 2, get 2, or purchase 3, get 1 free, to maneuver sooner on new placements.
Getting Heat Leads for Advertisers
Somewhat than cold-knocking each enterprise, John constructed a referral system.
After a venue agrees to host a board, he follows them on social media, leaves a 5-star Google Enterprise Evaluation, then asks two key questions:
- Who shouldn’t be on this board?
- Who must be on this board?
That second query virtually at all times surfaces a listing of distributors the venue already trusts. For instance:
- the insurance coverage agent who leads their Rotary assembly
- the plumber who unclogs their bogs
- or the electrician who wires their fryers
John then sends a brief e-mail name-dropping the referring enterprise proprietor, which he says converts at a 70% shut charge.
Why Advertisers Purchase
Every board is category-exclusive, that means just one realtor, one insurance coverage agent, one HVAC firm per board.
That exclusivity, plus the implied endorsement of the venue, makes the sale simpler than a chilly pitch.
John compares the impact to the “seen 7 to 9 instances earlier than you’re high of thoughts” rule of thumb, and references a close-by billboard vendor’s “7-word rule” for protecting advert copy easy with a transparent name to motion, often a QR code.
Discovering Venues With AI
To scout a brand new metropolis, John asks Gemini for 12 to 14 top-rated spots with excessive foot visitors and large seating capability.
Then he plugs the listing into Apple Maps to plan the quickest route. In case you go to in particular person, skip the frenzy. A sluggish time like 2:30 within the afternoon works finest.
John additionally likes to pair launches with an extended weekend away. He locations boards on Friday and enjoys the weekend. He sends his referral emails Monday and is finished by the following Friday.
Renewals and Retention
John reviews an 80% renewal charge amongst advertisers and roughly 98% retention on board placements themselves. He asks venues to decide to protecting the board up for a 12 months.
The one board he’s had eliminated was from a location purchased out by a sequence that didn’t match their “motif.”
When an advertiser doesn’t renew, John doesn’t exchange the entire board. He has a neighborhood printer make a non-see-through sticker to cowl simply that one advert slot, protecting prices low.
He additionally retains a small stash of backup boards at every venue in case one will get broken or, in a single case, a bored child peels off the sticker.
Errors to Keep away from
On his very first board, John didn’t ask who shouldn’t be included.
He ended up inserting a hair salon advert that conflicted with a private dispute the restaurant proprietor’s spouse had with a salon worker.
He needed to cowl the advert with a sticker and refund the advertiser, although the salon proprietor merely requested to be moved to a distinct board.
The incident additionally led to a wave of referrals as soon as the couple began recommending different restaurant homeowners of their community.
Instruments/Tech
- Square – fee processing for advertiser funds
- Canva – designing the advertisements that go on every board
- ChatGPT and Gemini – brainstorming advert copy and researching high-traffic areas to focus on
- Apple Maps – routing probably the most environment friendly path between potential venues
What’s Subsequent for John?
John hasn’t touched a number of main venues in his personal metropolis but, together with a on line casino, an amusement park, and an 18,000-seat outside amphitheater, so he doesn’t see a saturation level regionally.
He’s stayed away from nationwide chains to date, although he has positioned boards in a single native chain with a number of areas.
He’s additionally began selecting up adjoining work from advertisers who ask “what else do you’ve gotten,” together with postcard promoting (the shared postcard model covered in a past episode with Rachel and Dalton) and one-off initiatives like serving to a flight teacher with a separate advert.
John’s #1 Tip for Aspect Hustle Nation
“Don’t overthink it, don’t overanalyze it, don’t assume that you simply’ve received to have all of your geese in a row earlier than you exit and do that.”
As John put it, referencing Rachel and Dalton’s phrase, “do it soiled.”
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