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5121 N Santa Fe OKC 73118 405 620 5708 |
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Edmond Life & Leisure January 20, 2005 Local billboard company helps teen get date If you want to ask someone out on a date and want to make a big splash, don't waste your time with a simple telephone call or worse yet, an e-mail or text message. Everybody does that. Instead, use a billboard. Not only will you be assured of a positive response, but you'll also be the talk of your high school. That's what one client of John Arnold did. Arnold, owner of Arnold Outdoor, Inc., owns more than 300 billboards that canvas central Oklahoma. One day, a young teenager with limited funs, wanted to take a boy to her Christmas dance. Because Arnold had a couple of 6-food by 12-foot billboards not in use, he charged the girl only $125 for his printing costs. In just a short time, the formerly blank billboards read: "Russell, will you go to the Christmas dance with me?" Arnold didn't make any money on the deal but made a girl happy. As an entrepreneur, he can't afford to do this too many times, but this case was just too irresistible. Before opening up his own shop, Arnold worked for Tyler Media Group, Inc. for about 15 years. This Oklahoma City billboard company was taken over by Lamar Advertising Company in 2000 and Arnold didn't last long after that. "I was a Lamar employee for about 15 minutes, " he joked. He always wanted to have his own business but for one reason or another, he never took the giant step until he was forced into this huge decision. To more people, being fired is not a celebratory time; for Arnold, it was great. "Its worked out very well," he said about his company. The giant Lamar company gave Arnold a push off the proverbial business lake dock. Instead of the 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday work schedule, he can not make his own hours. He can be home in the morning to make pancake breakfasts for his three children before he heads off to work, at time. However, life is not all peaches and cream because he still needs to put in the hours to make his company thrive. "I work every weekend," he admitted. "Growing a company can be very addictive." In fact, he sees fellow business owners toiling at their desks most weekends, holidays and early mornings while many people are snoozing away in dreamland. Although he took off this past Christmas, that wasn't the case for New Year's Day. he started out this year be seeing an old friend and client laboriously struggling over financial statements. This man wanted to ensure all the books were in perfect order for 2004. New Year's Day 2004, Arnold spent part of the 2004 holiday, sharing a bowl of black-eyed peas with a fellow entrepreneur who also couldn't stay away from his business. Not only are weekends and the early hours excellent time to acquire business, but it's also a great time to develop relationships and listen to stories. He loves hearing the tales from owners, how their business started, what they were doing prior to this particular venture, and how their life has changed since becoming a business owner. "It's fun hearing these stories how they acquired the property," Arnold said about these entrepreneurs. Arnold is truly fascinated by people and it shows in his business practices. 'We are very customer oriented," he said. "If you listen to people you can get a real education." For example, when he started Arnold Outdoor Inc., he realized people in Oklahoma re generally straight forward and either want his product and service, or they don't, Arnold noted. They don't want a lot of paperwork, nor do they want a huge contract they need some lawyer to decipher. "My lease is four paragraphs long," he said with a smile. No hereto, devisee, legatee or forthwith type of legalese, he continued. Keeping with this down-to-earth style, his entire family is involved with this manufactured advertising business. The 13- and 10-year-old sons mow lots in the summer, help their father paint poles and create some artwork for in-house ads. Even his 6-year-old daughter gets into the spirit of the family business. She dutifully applies stamps to the invoiced-filled envelopes. His wife know how hard the family works and Arnold's need to succeed. Therefore, she works hard to keep him balanced. Arnold insists that she is the center of the family and without her he would be a work-a-holic with a very short life-span. She keeps him happy, healthy and sane. Another family member, Annie, helps Arnold with security. This German shorthair pointer stays by Arnold's side to keep him safe. She will lick and sniff anyone to death that comes near Annie's master. Even his employee, Patrick Taber, is like one of the family and is known as Arnold's "helper." "I come up with this great ideas," Arnold said. "Patrick is the guy that makes them happen. He can do anything." Arnold's business has only grown in the past four years. In only a year, the number of signs has increased 10 percent, revenue 35 percent and his customer base, 50 percent, Arnold said. "We've been on a role since summertime." In fact, according to Outdoor Advertising Association of America Inc, the outdoor media organizations, as a whole, are healthy. "While many traditional media segments have struggled to remain competitive in a period of economic strife, the outdoor (advertising) industry has remained relatively unscathed and solvent due to large part to the strength of local sales as both national and regional brands have shifted a significant portion of advertising dollars to grassroots promotions," stated its web site. "Outdoor (advertisers) reach people on the go and offers extremely targeted messaging designed to intercept consumers, wherever they go in an urban market or on a suburban highways." Arnold has also reached customers through bus benches. The first ones he build were erected just last month in Midwest City. Arnold doesn't seem to have grandiose, unattainable goals for the future. "I'm very content being here," he said. He likes the personal tough with his customer. This is the main reason, he feels, people continue to be business with him. |
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Bigger Not Always Better by Julie Jarnargin writers@ okcbusiness.com John Arnold might be a small business owner but he is sending big messages throughout Central Oklahoma. In fact, it is hard to drive on any major thoroughfare or highway in the metro and not see one of his messages. Ironically, his outdoor advertising company -- Arnold Outdoor Advertising in Edmond -- has maintained a competitive edge in the local billboard industry by not acting in accord with the cliché that "bigger is better." His niche? Smaller billboards and quality service. Four years after fulfilling his dream to start his own business, he ahs more than 300 outdoor signs in Central Oklahoma. That is quite a feat considering regulation of the outdoor advertising industry has increased at the same time small business owners in the industry have become the exception rather than the rule. "Five years ago, the trend was that the big companies were buying up the smaller companies," Arnold said, "But it is very difficult for those big companies to provide the quality of service that local advertisers are looking for. That creates an opportunity for the smaller business (like me)." Arnold spends much of his time building mid-sized signs in small towns. His business strategy is to have 500 billboards in 50 different communities by 2010. That may sound overly optimistic bus Arnold doesn't have the problem many outdoor advertising owners face in want to grown their businesses but having to contend with increased regulations. Many of the signs Arnold builds are smaller than the signs which are regulated or restricted more by federal and state laws and local sign ordinances. However, his company does build signs and billboards in three different sizes -- 6 by 12 feet, 12 by 25 feet and 14 by 48 feet. Each size is under the jurisdiction of different laws and ordinances. According to Arnold, regulations required there be at least 1,000 feet of separation between the largest billboards, but only just 250 feet between the smaller ones. So, this has obviously promoted him to build many smaller signs and be able to grow his company exponentially in a short period of time. While Arnold's success can be attributed to his shrewd strategy in seizing a niche, he credits much of it to his experience working for others. He worked for 11 years in the billboard industry and 20 years in advertising. In particular, he said he learned a lot from Oklahoma City-based Tyler Outdoor Company, which he was working for when the company sold its assets to Louisiana-based Lamar Outdoor Advertising several years ago. "When the door closes on one opportunity, there are other doors that open," Arnold said, "and that is exactly what happened." Arnold said Oklahoma City has been a great place to start his company given the accessibility of its business leaders and the support of people in city government. The support from the community has been important to him, he said, because of the challenges many small-business owners face, including providing health insurance and completing what he believes to too much government paperwork. "I think President (George W.) Bush is on to something when he talks about making it easier for small business people because it is truly a challenge trying to keep up with the paperwork," he said. "I'm one of those right-brained creative people, and I struggle with that. "I think if we can get past those hurdles, the trend will be that more people will be starting their own businesses, and that is a wonder thing," he said. Arnold values the flexibility owning his own business allows him, such as spending more quality time with his family. "Right now, it is not about the money," Arnold said. "It is all about the freedom." "They are learning about the billboard business, and I get some very good ides from them," he said. He predicted the outdoor advertising industry will be occupied by more small family-run businesses in the future. While the trend several years back was national companies buying up mom-and pop-sized companies, he believed the pendulum was swinging back to more companies like his being created. "I think we are going to see more of them over the next decade.
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