By Mike White
President, Multi-Media Solutions, Inc.

As an AV commercial integrator of 24 plus years, I still find myself looking at a new technology or even an established technology that my company has yet to sell and integrate and say to myself, “How hard can it be?” I did the same back in 1998 when I first considered dynamic digital signage or narrow-casting, as it was called then. I embraced a business opportunity to deploy hundreds of flat panels in several stores in several states. I had done systems integration at that point for almost 10 years and was a descent-size integrator of 18 employees. So, I said to myself:  This is a great business opportunity and we will learn as we go. Painful mistake that was! I lost thousands along my path of learning! My education was expensive.

Today it would be difficult to find an integrator that has not tried the dynamic digital signage business but there are few of us that continue to focus on this exciting and profitable vertical. The reason most integrators have gone back to doing what they knew best is because they tried dynamic digital signage and lost money in their first or maybe even their first few attempts – so they walked away from or turned a blind eye to this growth market because they lost their shirt in their initial experiences. Well, it’s time to jump back on the bike and this time take the training wheels off.

The market has matured and the tools are so much better than 10 years ago, but the opportunity to lose your shirt still exists unless you see this market for what it is. Today it is so easy to purchase digital signage content management software or even find software online that is free to use. This makes it even easier to make critical mistakes by not fully understanding and embracing all the variables that come with every digital signage project. There are over 300 plus dynamic digital signage software management packages and they are not equal, and it is still necessary and essential that an integrator ask critical questions in the discovery phase to identify the needs so you can match the needs with a digital signage content management software package that will serve.

This is a vertical that requires the company to check all the boxes and be willing to embrace new skills or partner with those that can bring those skills to the project. Dynamic Digital Signage is AV integration on steroids and requires so much more than tradition AV integration. To be profitable a successful practitioner must recognize all the essentials and have the discipline to work through the details of every element. Please take a look at the simple graphic created years ago by my friends Alan and Jonathan Brawn, which outlines the absolute essentials that must be included in the process — every time.

Digital media guru Lyle Bunn says that, “Taking advantage of the growth in digital media investment means never losing site of the business value that it is intended to deliver and being a lead force in helping end users to get the benefits. ROI, Return on Investment, and TCO, Total Cost of Ownership, are the most important acronyms in digital place-based media.”

So come and learn how to properly navigate the process and to be able to take advantage of this dynamic growth market — and learn how to be profitable doing it!

Author Mike White, will be presenting a Roundtable Discussion entitled, How to Enter the Digital Signage Business Without Losing Your Shirt,” at Digital Signage Expo 2015 on Thursday, March 12 from 11:00-12:00pm at the Las Vegas Convention Center.  For more information about DSE or to register for this or any other educational seminar or workshop and learn about digital signage go to www.dse2015.com

Mike White is owner of Multi-Media Solutions Inc., an experienced A/V Integration company involved in more than 100 digital signage installations. White is an experienced speaker on digital signage at national and international shows and conferences. He has served four years on the InfoComm Board of Directors and was instrumental in the formation of the InfoComm Digital Signage Pavilion and Education Showcase. He served six years on the board or directors of USAV Group and led its digital signage initiatives.