During the late 1980s recession, when banks were failing and businesses shutting at the same speed as they are today, I had 300 billboard faces. And I maintained nearly 100% occupancy. Even my bank didn't believe it. Periodically, they'd call me up and make me drive them to all of the signs to actually confirm that there was a live ad on each one.

They were convinced I must be "cooking" my books. Who could keep billboards leased during a recession? Well, it's not that hard if you adopt the same system I used and use the same intensity to keep them sold. There are ten strategies that I used to stay rented during the recession, and here are three of them.

First, before we get to strategies, let's change your mindset for a minute. You see, everybody wants a billboard. Unlike other products, like velvet Elvis wall hangings and lava lamps, every business wants a billboard.

So you do not have to worry about the demand being there to rent it. Your job, as a billboard salesman, is to match the right advertiser to the right sign at the best price. It's classic win/win sales. If you find the right advertiser that the sign can perform well for, then they will stay on that billboard forever.

Similarly, if you have two advertisers who both want a sign, you will have to decide which one is the best for it. Maybe you'll take the highest price. Sometimes you'll take the longer contract. But the point is that you are a matchmaker more than a salesman.

Once you understand this "consultative" role, you'll be able to move much faster and not waste your time trying to educate clients on the value of billboards--they already know.

I try to approach each vacant sign in ten different ways, each one yielding its own subset of top prospects. Here are three of the best angles to use.

1. "Move-over" advertisers

Up and down the street where your billboard is located are other billboards. And those tenants on those existing billboards have already shown a desire to be on that street and already have something in their budget for a billboard on that street. So they are one of the first groups you want to call on.

Since you now realize that you are a "matchmaker," you should have no fear in calling on those advertisers to find out when their contract expires, what they are paying, and what it would take to get them on your sign. And just because they are not coming up on their current lease expiration yet does not mean that you disregard the information.

If your dream advertiser (who will sign a three-year lease) would move over to your sign when his lease comes up in seven months, you can still sign him up today and find another advertiser to fill the gap for seven months. I've signed up deals over a year ahead on highly desirable advertisers.

2. "Combo" advertisers

Particularly in recessions, you may often find that advertisers' budgets are so greatly reduced that they can only afford a half of a billboard, or a third. The solution for that is a "combo" sign that is divided in half or thirds, or as many pieces as necessary, to meet the advertisers' budgets.

For example, you can have a billboard that has an Arby's ad on the left and a Motel 6 ad on the right. As long as you've maximized the rental amount and found the advertisers that can benefit from the sign, it should not matter to you whether that's one advertiser or several together.

I've found after years of experimentation, one important part of a successful "combo" ad is that they must share a common exit and directional line. For example, a motel and a restaurant that are at the same exit are ideal. But a body shop and a hair salon that are at two separate parts of town never works out.

The reason is that the space it takes to describe two different locations makes the ads too small to be effective. A winning ad should really have two parts: a common location line running across the bottom (e.g. "Exit #22, then right three miles") and then identically sized logos and tag lines above that.

A good "combo" sign has maybe more chance of continuity than a single advertiser--mainly because it takes up less of the advertisers' budget.

3. Always have "pre-emptible" advertisers on hand

One way to make sure that you have no vacancy is to have plenty of ads in inventory to put up on signs that go empty. Of course, your preference is for a good, long-term cash customer at the highest rate. But sometimes, as hard as you work it, you can't find that match by the time the existing ad expires.

In those cases, you want to have a selection of "pre-emptible" ads (ones that you can put up and take down at will) sitting in your shop. These advertisers are normally ones that want to reach generic traffic--traffic heading in any direction on any highway.

You sign up those advertisers at 50% of what they normally pay, with an agreement that you will put them up on your empty signs and only bill them for the number of days they are up. You produce the vinyl for them, and the program has begun.

Conclusion

It took me a decade to learn these tricks. Using my 10-point system, it is possible to keep any billboard 100% occupied, even in a recession. Now you know three of the ways. You can learn more in my home study course, Investing in Outdoor Media, available here on the site. Learn all the tricks, shortcuts, and insider secrets that will help you find billboard locations like a pro from day one.

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