Advertising pillars are four-sided structures equipped with internal lighting..
They are most often located in large shopping centers.
The advertising business is not in the best condition right now, and such an innovation as the business idea of installing advertising pillars will help you gain a competitive advantage over advertising agencies that cannot provide this service.
How much money do you need to organize the installation of advertising pillars?
You can create a profitable business using the service of installing advertising pillars.
The initial capital can be very modest (from 20 thousand rubles).
If the investment is small, you can purchase a simple fabric-based pillar without a podium.
The cost of such a design is only 14-15 thousand rubles.
If you have more impressive capital, it makes sense to purchase several pillars made of acrylic or polycarbonate.
Such designs are more expensive (from 20 thousand rubles).
The entrepreneur should find a model that is equipped with a timer so that he can turn off the rotation and backlight functions.
As a last resort, you can buy it separately, but you will have to allocate another 1.5 thousand rubles for this.
Advantages and disadvantages
Pillars have many advantages, but also some disadvantages. These are fairly compact advertising structures, so they do not take up much space, which significantly reduces rental fees. They can be installed anywhere - on the street, in a shopping center, subway or in any other room. The presentable appearance allows the structure to be placed even in cultural and historical places of the city.
Due to the fact that most advertising pillars are equipped with LED lighting and can rotate. Advertisements will be visible at any time of the day and in any lighting, wherever the installation is located.
Both outdoor advertising pillars and those located indoors have one significant drawback - high cost. Prices vary from 15 to 40 thousand rubles. However, providing services for placing posters on such structures is not cheap, so if you have clients, the cost will quickly pay off.
Where to start organizing a business installing advertising pillars
To install the pillars you will need only one square meter of area.
The ideal option for placing such an advertising medium is a large shopping center.
The cost of rent in such busy areas depends on the region.
As a rule, it does not exceed 5-6 thousand rubles monthly. Some tenants require payment for the electricity consumed by the pillars.
In some cases, these costs will already be included in the rental price.
If an entrepreneur, for one reason or another, does not want to cooperate with shopping centers, then he can purchase pillars that can be placed on the streets.
However, such structures must have vandal-resistant housings.
The most important stage in such an advertising business is the search for potential customers.
They can be found by sending out a quote by email or by phone.
It is advisable to provide discounts for placing several banners by the same company.
The owner of one pillars only needs to find four advertisers to launch his business.
Pillars: business reviews, step-by-step instructions, pitfalls
Various innovations are constantly appearing in the advertising business. The latest interesting invention was pillars. These are four-sided designs with backlighting and the function of rotation around its axis. They are usually installed in shopping centers.
Is it worth starting a business on pillars? There are a lot of reviews about this idea online. And they are equally positive and negative. Don't be scared and give up right away. In fact, pillars, like any other business, will be profitable if you approach the search for clients wisely and install the structures in the right places. And of course, don’t forget about simple luck.
Initial capital assessment
Business on advertising pillars is good because it does not require exorbitant capital investments. The price of the simplest fabric design without a podium is only 15 thousand rubles. But experienced entrepreneurs still recommend purchasing polycarbonate pillars with a podium. It looks more presentable and increases the chances of quickly finding advertisers.
Additionally, you can purchase a timer or immediately buy a model with this function. This will allow you to turn off rotation and backlighting when they are not needed.
How about payback?
Here are some approximate calculations for business valuation:
- Rent a place in a shopping center – $150.
- The cost of advertising on one of the four sides of the pillar is $150. That is, for 4 parties per month the revenue will be $600.
- It is easy to calculate that the net profit is $450
The cheapest pillars will pay for themselves within a month.
Characteristics of pillars
This design is a rectangular parallelepiped 2 meters high. The required area is only 1 sq.m. The product makes 1 revolution around its axis in approximately 1 minute. Weight – about 25 kg. One advertising edge measures 210×80, but different manufacturers may have different sizes.
What to do about vandalism? Many models stop when you touch them. This will prevent damage.
The pillars are driven by electricity. Therefore, it is necessary that there is an outlet in the immediate vicinity of the installation site. It consumes little power - about 110 watts.
What obstacles will you encounter?
Don’t think that once you buy a pillar, you will immediately install it in one of the nearby shopping centers and instantly find advertisers. On the path to profit, various obstacles will appear in front of you. Here are just a few of them:
- Be prepared that almost all shopping centers will refuse you. For some, the design of the pillars will not fit into the interior of the shopping center, while others will not want to rent out the space. In general, you need to be patient and continue to contact all existing shopping centers. Sometimes a positive answer comes only after 1-2 months.
- The abundance of competitors also interferes with work. Not only is it not easy to find a place for installation, but you also have to share it with others who want to place their structures.
- Finding clients for advertising is not so easy. Here you need not only to know what methods of attracting advertisers exist, but also to be able to use them correctly. The ability to persuade and find contact with any interlocutor will be a valuable asset for you.
Additional income on pillars
You can increase your profit by attaching pockets for business cards and booklets to each side. This is provided that the advertiser agrees. But be prepared to replenish your pockets regularly.
Where to look for clients?
So, a place in the shopping center has been found. The next difficult stage is finding clients. First of all, it is necessary to draw up a competent and attractive commercial proposal. The main thing is not to overdo it with the font size and color scheme so that the letter does not look like spam. You can read how to write advertising letters correctly on the Internet on various sites.
The next way to find customers is cold calling. Call various organizations and offer your services. It is important to reach out to the people who are responsible for these issues in the company, and not offer placement to the first person who picks up the phone. As a rule, your contact person is a marketer, PR manager, advertising specialist or manager if the company is small.
However, you should not limit yourself to a telephone conversation. Make an appointment in person. But before you start calling, it is recommended to read books or watch videos about cold calling techniques.
You can interest the customer by offering a discount for advertising on both sides of the structure at once. For example, if one party per month costs $100, then for two he will pay 180 instead of 200.
Clients are more willing to contact the owners of the pillar network. Therefore, do not limit yourself to one unit, otherwise hardly anyone will want to cooperate with you, doubting the longevity of your company.
And of course, place your advertising offer on the pillar itself while the place is still empty.
Legal aspects of business
In order to start activities, you must register as an individual entrepreneur. You can, of course, open an LLC, but this organizational and legal form has more difficulties with taxation.
You will need to enter into agreements with advertisers. Typical samples can be downloaded on the Internet.
By the way, you shouldn’t limit yourself to shopping centers only. You can install pillars anywhere: hypermarkets, cinemas, nightclubs, fitness centers, beauty salons, fashion stores, solariums, saunas, swimming pools, car dealerships, dry cleaners, universities and technical schools, computer and laptop stores and much more.
The attractiveness of this idea is that a ready-made business plan is not complicated. Anyone can engage in this activity. The main thing is your activity and desire to earn money. It doesn’t matter age, education, gender, no special knowledge is needed. In addition, this is a great start for a full-fledged advertising agency that you can open in the future.
Source: ideya-biznesa.ru
How much can you earn by advertising on advertising pillars?
The cost of placing banners can be set at 5 thousand rubles per month.
In this case, the starting costs for the purchase of pillars can be recouped in just a month of work.
It is advisable to invest the resulting profit in the development of your business, gradually expanding your advertising business.
A network of several pillars will allow the entrepreneur to receive high profits.
In the future, you can reduce the time spent on running a business by hiring a client search manager.
How a simple salesman decided to open his own advertising business
My name is Artem, I started doing the “advertising” business in the city of Kazan in August 2020, that is, quite recently. At the moment, due to inexperience, I failed with this matter and decided to close the “shop”. We are talking about advertising on pillars. I believe that this failure of mine will be a valuable experience for everyone who is thinking about starting their own business.
I am 24 years old, I worked for a large company for a long time, I was a typical office plankton, life flowed like a sluggish trickle. But fate gave me a chance to change jobs, now I have a lot of free time and the opportunity to do something else of my own.
Having filled my pockets with enthusiasm, I began to consider business ideas with minimal investment. Since I worked in sales for more than 4 years, I was drawn to this area: online store, resale of equipment/cars, services of a novice sales manager, etc. However, all my ideas were dashed by the lack of initial capital for a good start, and my knowledge in the field of sales, to put it mildly, was not enough.
Why I chose pillars as an investment
I began to persistently scour the Internet in search of something special - something that is not in our city, and the market in Kazan is extremely dense, and it is not easy to run a business, especially a small one and without investments. After spending a couple of weeks on the Internet, I accidentally came across the website of a manufacturing company, for the sake of confidentiality I’ll call it “X,” which manufactures advertising equipment, namely information stands, video stands and pillars themselves, which I was extremely interested in.
So, what is pillars ? I'll explain in my own words. Pillars are a large parallelepiped (volumetric rectangle) with a side size, in my case, 200 by 80 cm (there are larger and smaller ones), on a rotating base with backlighting inside, on which advertising posters are placed. It looks very attractive in the photo, but it turns out even better in real life.
From the editor : Literally translated from English pillar - pillar, column.
I started hanging out on this site for days and hours and studying the specifics of working with this equipment, especially since everything is described in some detail on the company’s website. I thought about it for several days or weeks, and finally decided to start this business: selling advertising space on my own pillars.
Advertising steles (steles)
The closest “relative” of the pylon is the stele, but it is much taller and larger. Advertising steles, as well as pylons, can be either illuminated or non-illuminated.
In general, such an advertising structure looks much more impressive due to its size, which is why the advertising wall is often placed in large open spaces. In particular, a separate type of advertising and information steles is very popular - gas station steles . They serve not only as advertising guides, but also inform customers about current prices and promotions.
We can offer the production of steles (steles) of any type for various purposes:
- advertising stand;
- information stele;
- stella for gas stations.
Purchase of advertising media
Pillars are a relatively new type of business in the field of advertising, but today in Russia there are several dozen companies offering ready-made equipment of various modifications.
The design of such products is quite simple. A standard pillar consists of a rotating base (stand or podium), inside of which there is a rotation drive, and a metal frame with protective glass. As a rule, manufacturers use an aluminum detachable profile so that assembling the entire structure does not take much time and it is possible to quickly and effortlessly install and change advertising posters.
The average parameters of one advertising space are 180*65 cm with the size of the pillar itself being 205*75 cm. Energy consumption of products can be from 0.17 to 0.21 kW/hour. The structures are illuminated with LED lamps.
Some advertising companies today are setting up their own production of pillars. This type of activity seems very promising, since the demand for these advertising media is growing every year, they are not difficult to make, and the level of competition is still low.
However, if you are interested in this area of business, you should keep in mind that the manufacture of pillars requires mandatory declaration. That is, it is necessary to develop technical specifications for the equipment, carry out testing and testing, and obtain a declaration of conformity to the Technical Regulations of the Customs Union “On the safety of low-voltage equipment.” Such production can be the result of the development of your advertising business, when you have a base of regular customers and opportunities for expansion.
And to get started, you can purchase several designs from manufacturers who already have experience in their manufacture and all the necessary documents. The average price of a pillar with a volumetric podium and internal lighting is 30,000 rubles. As a rule, manufacturers already include a special business package in the price: contract templates, pricing information, examples of commercial proposals, printing of the first set of posters, etc.
Financial results of business
In conclusion, I would like to say that I have been removing my pillars since December. I was able to pay off (from personal funds) 30,000 rubles of debt, that is, I still owe 40,000 rubles. I also have to pay about another 9,000 rubles to the Pension Fund for individual entrepreneurs.
Total minus is about 45,000 rubles (and more than 60,000 rubles were spent, maybe more).
Basically, the closure is due to the lack of the desired income and the inability to fully immerse oneself in one’s own business while having a main job.
Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs
To summarize the above, I would like to give a couple of tips to those starting out “working for themselves” while combining it with their main job:
- Be clear about whether you can devote adequate time to your business.
- Analyze the market for goods and services in detail. Make sure your business is relevant and in demand.
- Be smart about your budget and risk analysis. Answer the questions for yourself: “What happens if you fail?” and “Can I handle this?”
- Work, study, develop.
Features of manufacturing pillars
A special, durable frame protects the images on its own. When making advertising canvases, you should remember that:
- all information should be concise, simple and understandable. After all, most often, they will read it on the go, without stopping. This means that the meaning of the sentence should reach the audience in a matter of seconds;
- avoid unnecessary information that will alienate and confuse viewers;
- use bright, attractive and simple images, without unnecessary details. Short and concise text will be a great addition.
The minimum advertising period usually starts from one month.
Watch how the video pillar at the store works:
Advantages of pillars over other types of advertising structures
- Installed in a crowded shopping center, the pillar will stand out from other advertising structures due to its lighting and advantageous format.
- The ability of the pillars to rotate allows each of your clients to equally effectively demonstrate information about their product or service. The rotation happens on its own. The design makes a full revolution in one minute.
- The pillar is absolutely safe - you can stop it with your hand or twist it in the opposite direction. You don't have to worry about getting an electric shock.
- Pillars consumes only 110 W. You can also additionally install a “pocket” on it, in which you can place unique business cards of the advertiser-client, thus increasing the level of effectiveness of his advertising information.
- The price of rented space can fluctuate greatly - in Moscow entertainment centers and crowded places (hypermarkets, shopping malls) 1 sq. meter will cost many times more than, for example, in the suburbs.
Sample contracts are freely available on the Internet. The use of an outlet is included in the price of the rented area. You can provide the banner design yourself or start collaborating with the operational printing center. If this is not profitable for the advertiser, he can order the layout himself.
