Find the Tools.
The sources we learned from and still use, grouped by the job they help with, plus a glossary of the terms you will hear along the way. We take no referral fees from anyone listed.
Frank Rolfe's school for billboard investing, and the one resource we depended on starting out. Free articles, a newsletter, a forum and a free book, plus paid books and a boot camp.
Free + PaidFrank Rolfe on finding, negotiating, permitting, building and renting signs. Good listening for the drive to a site.
FreeDaily trade news on running an out of home business: legal, finance, sales and digital signs.
Free + PaidThe industry trade association. Revenue reports, marketing research, guidelines and a member directory.
Free + PaidThe federal statute behind the Highway Beautification Act, including the 660-foot rule. Read it once, start to finish.
FreeThe federal regulations that put the statute into practice, including outdoor advertising control and nonconforming signs.
FreeThe Federal Highway Administration's program page. Your state DOT runs the permit program day to day, so find its outdoor advertising office next.
FreeHosts more than 3,300 local codes for municipalities and counties. Start here for most jurisdictions.
FreeThe second big code publisher. If a municipality or county is not on Municode, check here.
FreeAnother major code publisher. Also check the local government's own website: newly adopted ordinances often appear there before the online code is updated.
Free + PaidFederal highway data, including traffic volumes by segment. Pair it with your state DOT's traffic count map.
FreeCity and county boundaries from the Census Bureau. Use it to prove which jurisdiction a site actually sits in.
FreeRead the annual reports of the public operators, such as Lamar Advertising, OUTFRONT Media and Clear Channel Outdoor, to see how the business makes money.
FreeThe national nonprofit that opposes billboards. Know its arguments before you stand up at a hearing.
FreeA billboard brokerage and valuation firm with a public list of signs and portfolios for sale, plus a clear walkthrough of how a billboard sale works. Our recommended contact there is Jared Pace, Portfolio Advisor: jared@signvalue.com or (480) 326-6507.
FreeThe industry's long-running classifieds board. Billboards and small portfolios for sale, plus buyers, structures, equipment and service providers. Listings come from owners, brokers and buyers.
FreeA listing site for billboards for sale, searchable by state and city.
FreeBefore you buy, confirm each sign's state and local permit, the remaining term on its ground lease and whether it is legally conforming. A sign with a short lease or a questionable permit is worth far less than its revenue suggests.
Talk Like You Have Done This Before.
The terms you will hear from operators, planners and landowners, in plain English.
- 660-Foot Corridor
- The zone within 660 feet of the right-of-way where signs visible from the road are regulated.
- AADT
- Annual average daily traffic: the average number of vehicles passing a point each day.
- Bulletin
- The large format seen on interstates, typically a 14 by 48 foot face.
- Conditional Use
- A use allowed in a district only after a public review and approval with conditions.
- Controlled Route
- An interstate or primary highway where federal and state outdoor advertising control applies.
- Digital Billboard
- An LED face that rotates several ads in turn. Usually held to stricter rules on brightness, dwell time and spacing.
- DMA
- Designated market area: a media market, used to describe where signs and advertisers are.
- Dwell Time
- How long each ad stays on a digital face before it changes. Often set by state or local rules.
- Easement
- A right to cross or use part of someone's land, like a path for a work truck or a power line.
- Entitlement
- Securing the approvals needed to use land for a purpose, such as permits, a conditional use or a variance.
- Extraterritorial Jurisdiction
- An area outside city limits where a city can apply some of its rules. In some states that can include its sign rules.
- Flip
- Selling a signed lease and permit to an operator before the sign is built.
- Frontage
- The edge of a property that runs along a road. For a billboard, it needs to face a highway.
- Ground Lease
- The landowner leases a small pad for the sign and keeps the rest of the property.
- Nonconforming
- A sign that was legal when built but does not meet today's rules. It can usually stay, with limits on changes.
- Off-Premise Sign
- A sign that advertises something not sold or offered on the property where it stands. Billboards are off-premise signs.
- Operator
- The company that owns and runs the structure and sells the ad space.
- Out of Home (OOH)
- The industry name for billboards and other ads people see outside their homes.
- Permit
- Official approval from the local jurisdiction (a city, township or county), and usually the state, to build a sign.
- Relocation
- Rules that allow a new sign when an existing one is removed, sometimes at a set ratio.
- Right-of-Way
- The land a public road occupies, including shoulders and slopes, controlled by the state or local government.
- Setback
- The minimum distance a structure must sit from a property line or right-of-way.
- Sign Easement
- A recorded right to keep a sign on the land, usually bought with a one-time payment.
- Spacing
- The minimum distance required between signs, and often from interchanges, homes or parks.
- V-Build
- Two faces angled in a V so each faces one direction of traffic.
- Variance
- Relief from a specific rule, such as height or setback, granted by a zoning board.
- Wallscape
- Large-format advertising on the side of a building: printed vinyl, hand-painted or digital. Usually regulated as an off-premise sign. More on building wall ads.
General information about the industry, not legal or financial advice. Rules vary by state and jurisdiction; always read the current code and confirm with the permitting office.