I have been asked this question quite a number of times and thought I’d give my opinion on which areas you can make money in the digital signage industry. I have broken this up into the following areas:

Selling Hardware/Software

I believe this is an area that the majority of the IT and AV companies are getting into which has now become over saturated and too competitive. With the growing number of digital signage manufacturers and developers, choosing the right solution is also now becoming more difficult. There are too many options available on the market. Each system has it’s own features and issues so choosing the most suitable solution has now become more difficult. I don’t believe there is a one size fits all solution on the market and please don’t try to convince me. I’ve seen and tested quite a number of products, both hardware and software packages and they seem to be either too limited in it’s capabilities or too comprehensive which equates to being too expensive. If you’re starting a business in the digital signage industry, selling hardware and software packages is not where the bulk of the money is unless you started at the early stages of the digital signage boom, or if you became a distributor of a well know digital signage company in your country. I don’t believe resellers make a lot of money just by selling another company’s equipment or software.

Now if you’re thinking of developing your own player then that’s worse. You’re going to struggle selling and and penetrating the market unless your solution is innovative and different from the others.

Maintenance

This is an area or service you would generally offer to clients who are purchasing hardware and software. The only drama is that a large percentage of clients do not think or budget for this particular service. It’s pretty much like selling life insurance to someone who doesn’t want it so if you have a good sales pitch and provide your client with this service then you may be able to earn some yearly revenue. The only catch is to make sure your hardware is reliable so that you don’t have to spend the time, money and resources to replace failed equipment. If its software, you may be able to charge an additional fee for upgrades and maintaining patches etc. I don’t believe there’s much money to earn from this aspect of the digital signage business.

Installations

This involves anything from installing the screen, digital signage player, configuring the software, network, cabling etc. These are one off costs and generally its for paying the labour costs – either charged per hour or per screen. So if your an installer you can make a bit of money from this but it’s not where the big $$$ are.

Content

There’s no point in installing a digital signage system if there’s no content. The saying “Content is KING” can be misinterpreted but in in the digital signage world content is important. There are different types of content e.g video, images, text, RSS feeds, MRSS feeds, news, TV and if you’re a designer, content producer or provider you can make quite a bit of money especially when content needs to be refreshed on a daily or weekly basis.  

Advertising Network

I strongly believe this is where the “secret treasure chest” is. Simply put, an advertising network is a collection of screens and an operator manages the contents on all of these screens. I know most advertising networks struggle in the first few years to make a reasonable profit but once they expand their screen and viewer coverage then they will be able to make a considerable amount of money. Advertisers are always looking at ways of marketing their new products and services and digital out of home advertising is an area that most advertisers are looking at spending their marketing dollars.

Building a advertising network can become costly at first (the operator covers the costs of all of the above areas) but the ROI is high if done well. It will be the most difficult and the most challenging but at the same time it will be the most rewarding.

Category: Digital Signage Blog News

You’ve seen these at retails stores, venues, restuarants, lobbies and propably you’re looking at one right now. They are everywhere and the popularity of these screens are growing at a tremendous pace. Yes, we’re talking about the Panasonic Plasma screens. Panasonic this year launched the 20 Series screens and they also included the release of 42″ and 47″ LCD screens.

In this post (one of many) we will showcase some of features of the Panasonic Plasma screens. Most of this information can be found on the Panasonic website or their brochure.

MODELS

Firstly, lets look at the two of the latest models of the Panasonic Screens:

PH20W – these are high definition screens with the SLOT 2.0

PF20W – the main difference between the PF and PH is that the PF is a FULL HD (1080p^) plasma displays and uses NeoPDP* technology.

*NeoPDP technology is a newly developed cell structure, an innovative drive technology, a new discharge gas and a revamped panel that has four times luminous efficiency compared to their 2007 models.

^1080p means that the screen will deliver a moving picutre of 1080 lines for sharp and clear display of fast-motion images.

SIZE

The size of the Panasonic Screens range from 42″ to 103″. You can purchase one of the following size: 42″, 50″, 58″, 65″, 85″ and 103″.

ENVIROMENTALLY FRIENDLY PANEL

The Panasonic products are more friendly to the environment. All plasma display panels are mercury and lead free. The display panel also offers a long life of up to 100,000 hours under normal operating condition. This basically equates to 11.42 years if the screen was left on 24/7.

NATIVE CONTRAST

Category: Digital Signage Blog News, Digital Signage Blog Products

Looks like there is another job posting for the digital signage industry. This job is based in Denver Colorado and its for a Senior Product Line Manager. According to the website getdigitaljobs.com the employer is Harris Digital Signage and this is the job post: (If you’re interested visit the website here)

Harris Digital Signage is looking for an experienced and technical Senior Product Line Manager to manage Harris? Digital Signage solution and products. In this role, you will be a member of a dynamic team with a start-up mentality to innovate and drive the direction of the Harris Digital Signage Solution for Digital-Out-of-Home networks. If you are a highly motivated individual with a proven track record and looking to bring innovative solutions to the market, you don?t want to miss this great opportunity. 

While managing a team of two product managers, gather, prioritize, and document solution requirements and validate value proposition 
Lead cross-functional team in concept development, new product introduction and lifecycle management for Harris? Digital Signage solution 
Communicate and refine solution requirements with development team, and successfully guide product design, implementation, testing, and maintenance. 
Analyze market and business trends, and develop solution requirements and roadmap plans to deliver to future market needs across a variable set of target verticals 
Manage cross-functional relationships for the development of new products – including working with engineering, manufacturing, finance, and operations. 
Participate on relevant standards committees and help to ensure product compliance with industry standards and regulatory requirements 
Accountable for program metrics, including roadmap development, schedule, cost analysis, pricing analysis, product forecasting, product quality, and customer satisfaction 
Present technology, product, and roadmap to key audiences, including customers, partners, and internal groups. 

Qualifications: 
* Undergraduate degree in Business, Computer Science, Engineering, or related technical field. 
* 5+ years of technical Product Management and/or technology marketing experience with 2+ years in a supervisory capacity 
* 5+ years of expereince hiring, managing and developing a great team 
* 5+ years of expereince in delivering products and services in a high growth environment 
* 5+ years of expereince with technical concepts, managing tradeoffs and evaluating opportunistic new ideas with internal and external partners 

Preferred Additional Skills: 
* MBA and/or advanced degree highly desirable 
* Proven analytical and quantitative skills; ability to use hard data and metrics to back up assumptions, recommendations, and drive actions 
* Strengths in problem solving, issue-resolution, ability to work in a deadline-driven work environment, attention to detail, and ability to multitask 
* Ability to work cross-functionally across many internal teams 
* Prior experience in Digital Signage, DOOH is preferred

Category: Digital Signage Jobs

Christmas is just around the corner and retail stores should take the opportunity to install a digital signage signage for their business during this festive season. The benefits are simple:

1. draw more customers into your stores with a christmas theme on the screens

2. showcase special christmas products on the screens

3. announcements and greeting your customers e.g “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year”

4. make more money… don’t worry about the ROI you’ll certainly make you’re money back within the first 2 years.

5. stand out from your competitors

If your store needs to stand out then digital signage is the most cost effective solution.

Category: Digital Signage Blog Info