A Belis Communications Community Project
Your Business on the Board for a Full Year
Community Boards gives six local businesses a professionally designed, category-exclusive placement inside a participating high-traffic community location for a full year.
Call or text Scott at 814-659-6019.
- Design included
- One business per category
- $600 for the year
- Hosts pay nothing
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Ridgeline Coffee Co.. Host and sponsors are examples. -
The Millgate Tavern. Host and sponsors are examples. -
Hallstead Delicatessen. Host and sponsors are examples. -
Brickhouse Pizza Co.. Host and sponsors are examples.
How It Works
How It Works
Two ways to take part. Most people are one or the other.
If you want a spot on a board
Claim a category
You tell us your business and the community you would like to be seen in. Once a category is claimed on a board, no direct competitor is placed alongside it.
Provide your details
You send a finished logo, the copy you would like to run, accurate contact information, and any photographs you would like considered.
We design the placement
We create the placement design and send it to you for approval before anything is printed.
The board is installed
The board is installed in the host location and remains on display for twelve months.
If you want a board in your location
Tell us about the location
You tell us where the board would sit and approximately how many customers come through each month.
We build the board
We design and print the board with your logo permanently featured at the top, at no cost to your business.
We deliver and install
The board is supplied on a display stand. Where floor space is tight, we mount it on the wall instead.
You use the writable area
You write daily features, events, and announcements in the writable space. Belis Communications recruits and manages all six advertisers.
What It Costs
$600 for Twelve Months
For twelve months, paid upfront.
Approximate monthly equivalent.
Approximate daily equivalent.
Each placement costs $600 for twelve months and is paid upfront. The $600 is a single payment made in advance to secure the placement. It is not a subscription and it is not a deposit.
- Design support is included
- One review and approval round before printing
- Category exclusivity on that board
We do not promise leads, sales, or a particular return. A placement gives you a year of steady presence in a place people already go.
Category Exclusivity
One Business Per Category
Once a business category is claimed on a board, no direct competitor is placed alongside it. You are not sharing the board with the other three HVAC companies in town.
Categories are claimed board by board. If yours is already taken on the board you wanted, we will tell you which board it is taken on and whether another location is open.
Categories are not a fixed list. If you are not sure whether yours counts as a category, ask, and we will tell you what is open on a board near you.
Six Placements
Six Placements to a Board
Each board carries six advertising placements in total, arranged below the host area and the writable panel. All six are sold before a board is installed.
What a Placement Includes
What Comes With a Placement
Every placement carries the same terms. There are no tiers and no add-ons.
Twelve months on display
The board is installed in the host location and remains on display for a full year.
Category exclusivity
Once your category is claimed on a board, no direct competitor is placed alongside it.
Design support included
We create the placement design from your logo and copy, and send it for approval before printing.
Repeat visibility
Host locations are chosen for consistent daily traffic, so the same customers see the placement on each visit.
Visibility beyond the room
Host locations may photograph the board for their own social media, which extends reach to their followers.
A local audience
Placements appear in the communities your customers already live and shop in.
What Each Side Receives
Advertisers
$600 for twelve months
Included
- Twelve months of placement
- Category exclusivity on that board
- Professional placement design
- One review and approval round
- Your approved logo, copy, contact details, and images
- Repeated visibility in a local community location
You provide a finished logo, approved copy, accurate contact information, and any photographs you would like considered. We create the placement design and send it to you for approval.
Host Locations
No cost to host
Included
- No participation cost
- A professionally designed and printed board
- A permanent customized host area at the top
- Your logo incorporated into the board
- A display stand, or wall mounting where floor space is limited
- Liquid chalk markers
- A writable area for specials, events, announcements, or your WiFi password
- No responsibility for selling the placements
The board is yours to write on. We supply the surface and the markers. What goes in that space is up to you and can change as often as you like.
Hosts agree to keep the board in a visible, customer-accessible location for the full twelve months.
Why This Format
A Proven Format, New to This Area
Community Boards follows a model already running in markets around the country, including Minnesota and New Jersey. Local businesses share the cost of one well-placed board, the host gets something genuinely useful, and customers see the same six businesses every time they visit.
We are bringing it to Cambria County.
What a Placement Gets You
Seen in Person, Shared Online
Host locations are chosen for steady daily traffic, the kind of place that serves thousands of local customers over a year. Your placement is on that wall for twelve months, and the same people see it every time they come in. Repetition is what turns a name people have seen into a name they know.
The board also leaves the room. Hosts can photograph it for their own social media when they post a menu, a special, or whatever is on that week. Your placement is in those photos. That is organic reach to the host’s followers, and it costs you nothing extra.
Two audiences for one price, at about $50 a month.
On audience numbers. We will not quote you a figure we cannot stand behind. Once a host is signed, we will tell you the traffic that host reports. Hosts sign a twelve-month agreement to display the board. Posting it to their own social media is their choice, and not part of that agreement.
Nonprofit Hosts
Nonprofit Host Locations
When a participating nonprofit becomes a host location, the organization receives direct financial support from the advertising revenue generated by its board.
The revenue-sharing model is still being finalized. We will confirm the arrangement in writing before any nonprofit commits.
Where We Are Starting
Where We Are Starting
Community Boards is currently recruiting its first host in Johnstown, Cambria County, and the surrounding communities. We are also placing boards across Blair and Somerset counties, and we will consider locations elsewhere in the greater Laurel Highlands where the audience and the partnership are a good fit.
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Johnstown and Cambria County
Johnstown, Westmont, Southmont, Geistown, Richland, Ferndale, Ebensburg, Portage, Cresson, Nanty-Glo, South Fork, Patton, Carrolltown, Northern Cambria
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Altoona and Blair County
Altoona, Hollidaysburg, Duncansville, Tyrone, Bellwood, Roaring Spring, Martinsburg, Williamsburg, Claysburg
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Somerset County
Somerset, Windber, Boswell, Jennerstown, Central City, Hooversville, Stoystown, Berlin, Rockwood, Shanksville, Meyersdale, Confluence
Current status. We are recruiting our first host location and the first six participating businesses. No boards are installed yet.
Questions
Common Questions
If yours is not here, write to Scott and ask.
What does it cost?
$600 for twelve months, paid once and up front. That works out to about $50 a month, or roughly $1.64 a day. Design is included. It is not a subscription and it is not a deposit.
Do I need floor space for it?
No. The board comes on a display stand. If you do not have the floor space, we mount it on the wall instead.
Who designs my placement?
We do. You send your logo, the copy you want, contact details and any photographs. We design the placement and send it to you for approval before anything is printed.
What if my category is already taken?
We will tell you which board it is taken on and whether another location is available. One business per category on any given board, without exception.
How many people will see my placement?
We do not publish audited numbers and we would rather not guess. Host locations are chosen for steady daily traffic, and we will tell you what the host reports about their own volume.
What areas do you cover?
Cambria, Blair and Somerset counties in southwestern Pennsylvania. That includes Johnstown, Altoona, Hollidaysburg, Ebensburg, Somerset, Windber, Portage, Tyrone and the boroughs around them. The full list of communities is above.
My town is not on your list. Can I still take a placement?
Ask. The list covers the communities we are working in first, and we will consider locations elsewhere in the greater Laurel Highlands where the host and the audience are a good fit.
Can I be on more than one board?
Yes. Some businesses serve more than one community and want a placement in each. Tell Scott which locations you are interested in and he will tell you what is open and what it would cost.
Can I change my placement during the year?
It is printed as part of the board, so it stays as approved for the twelve months.
Do you write on the board for us?
No. The writable area is yours. Hosts use it for daily specials, events, live music, or the WiFi password, whatever is useful that week.
What does the host have to do?
Keep the board visible and accessible for twelve months, and use the writable area. Nothing else. Hosts are never responsible for selling the placements.
Is this a consulting service?
Community Boards is a Belis Communications project. It is a local advertising program, separate from our consulting engagements.
Get in Touch
Get in Touch
Community Boards is run by Scott Lowry. Call or text 814-659-6019, write to Scott@BelisCommunications.com, or use the form below.
Prefer to talk it through? Call or text Scott at 814-659-6019, or write to Scott@BelisCommunications.com.
Prefer to talk it through? Call or text Scott at 814-659-6019, or write to Scott@BelisCommunications.com.