That's a great image to have before you even have to do anything!

To utilize billboard advertising though, you must plan ahead. You can't decide on a whim that you want to advertise on a billboard tomorrow. Most billboards are rented for a minimum of one month. This means you don't want to advertise your limited time only special on a billboard, or any other kind of timely event unless that event will last for months. Lead time is long to get a billboard up. It isn't like poster printing where you can drop off your design and pick it up the next day.

There are two types of billboards: painted and poster (paper) boards. The poster boards are more popular nowadays because they can be changed a lot easier than painted billboards. You'll need to find a custom poster printing shop to handle your billboard poster printing needs.

If your billboards aren't getting the response you think they should, or if you've never used a billboard before, here are some tips to make sure your billboard shines.

1. Buy at least a ?50 showing.? This means that 50 percent of the population will see it at least once a day. Do this every other month. Oftentimes, if a board isn't rented after your time has run out, your ad will remain up for free until someone else rents it.

2. Choose stand alone instead of stacked boards. Stacked boards are billboards that have two boards, one right on top of another. They're both facing the same way. If your billboard is that close to another one, it's hard to tell which billboard will get the drivers? attention.

3. Choose billboards that have lights. You'll miss out on a lot of potential customers if people can't read or see your billboard at night.

4. Pick your location. Do some research. Don't let the salesperson tell you where the best locations are. Drive around and find out for yourself.

5. Keep it short. Most of the time people will be zooming past your ad, so you need to convey your message in as few words as possible. Tout your benefit or solution to their problem.

6. Eight words + one picture = billboard heaven. This is the magic number for billboard success.

7. Focus on the customer. Remember, a billboard is supposed to catch potential customers? attention, not to show them a picture of your beautiful face or handsome facility.

8. Plan in advance. Factor in billboard rental into your budget and spend a lot of time creating the impression you want to give. Remember, billboards stay up for 30 days or longer and you're paying a lot of money for custom poster printing. Use it wisely.