Profitable Handyman Services: How To Make Money Wall Mounting TVs

Mounting TVs is a profitable handyman service that you can offer either part-time on the side or as a full-time endeavor. There’s a strong demand for the service and the demand continues to grow.

Take a look at this graph from google trends that shows the search traffic over the last five years for the keyword “tv mounting service.”

Since 2015 search traffic has more than doubled. Even if there isn’t a direct correlation between this search term and demand, there is almost certainly a strong correlation.

Simply put, this is an in-demand service.

I started mounting TVs back in 2012, and even then it was a popular service that helped me grow my handyman business.

So in this article, I’m going to share how to grow your business by mounting TVs.

First I’ll talk about why this is such a great service to offer. Then I’ll cover how much to charge and some strategies for generating leads. And I’ll finish it up with a few examples of jobs I’ve done.

Why TV mounting is a profitable service to offer as a pro handyman

When I started my handyman business, I had no idea that people would hire me to mount their TVs to the wall. It just never crossed my mind.

But I stumbled on the opportunity when I signed up with Home Advisor.

TV wall mount installation was one of the services they listed under the handyman category so I thought to myself “Sure, why not. I’ll give it a shot.”

I didn’t expect much, but over the coming weeks, I got a few leads for the service and quickly realized that I not only enjoyed mounting TVs, but it was popular and profitable.

But let’s get back to the point – TV wall mounting was profitable and I wanted more of those jobs.

Once I realized the potential I quickly started marketing the service on my website using the strategies that I teach in Handyman Marketing Machine. It worked, and in my second year in business, I made about $4,000 mounting TVs for new customers.

I realize that four grand isn’t much to get excited about, but again, this was only from brand new customers that I’d never met. Many of those customers went on to hire me multiple more times for a variety of projects over the coming years that added up to much more than $4,000. Additionally, my pricing was nowhere near optimized and I undercharged on many of those jobs. So considering that TV wall mounts were only one service of many that I offered and I was still fumbling around figuring out my business, four grand is pretty good. It shows the level of demand for the service.

Let’s talk about some more benefits of adding this to your list of services.

Benefit #1: It’s profitable

Even a beginner handyman can easily make $100 per hour mounting TVs.

Homeowners tend to put a high value on this service because TVs are expensive and they think mounting them to the wall is difficult.

However, It’s really easy and doesn’t take much time (usually about an hour) which means you can easily charge enough to make a solid profit.

And there are other ways to easily boost profits. For example, you can buy TV wall mounts online for $20 and mark them up to $75 or $100 for a nice boost to the bottom line. You can do the same with HDMI cables and other parts as well.

Benefit #2: It attracts good customers

The kind of customer that can afford to pay a pro to mount their TV is usually the kind of customer that is willing to pay for other services as well.

So not only do you make good money on the first service by mounting the TV, you can often turn that one-time customer into a long-term client.

This is especially valuable for TV wall mount installation.

Why?

Because many of the customers who hire you to mount their TV already have a trusted handyman they call for small repairs and projects. But for some reason, they don’t think to call their handyman for this type of project.

Instead, they’ll turn to Google and search for someone that specializes in this service. Again, they don’t realize how simple the project is and that any handyman can do it.

This gives you the opportunity to get in the door when you otherwise wouldn’t have a chance. You can then become their new go-to handyman, or at least a second option when their other handyman is too busy.

Benefit #3: Only requires basic tools and supplies

Aside from the mount, which is often supplied by the customer, you don’t usually need any supplies unless you’re doing in-wall wiring. It’s usually a good idea to have various washers and screws on hand in case you need to improvise, but as a handyman, you likely already have those anyway.

As far as tools go, all you need are basic hand tools like a drill, a two-foot level, a screwdriver, and a stud finder. The only tool you may not already have is one of these socket adapters.

Go to this article for a complete list of tools and a step-by-step tutorial on how to wall mount a tv.

How much can you charge to mount TVs?

Pricing for a TV wall mount is going to vary significantly by situation just like all other home services.

But based on my research and experience, you can expect to make anywhere between $75 and $600 to wall mount a TV (Although I would never charge less than $100).

Some customers will provide the mount, some won’t. Some customers want in-wall wiring and some customers just want it hung on the wall. Sometimes you are hanging a 50″ TV at eye level on drywall using a basic mount, and sometimes you are hanging a 70″ TV on an articulating mount eight feet off of the ground above a stone fireplace. All of these factors will obviously impact the price.

Because of this variability, it’s rarely a good idea to just take someone else’s flat-rate pricing and apply it to your business.

However, it can be useful to know what other people charge to at least get an idea of the ballpark you’re playing in.

So let’s take a quick look at what others are charging.

According to this page on Home Advisor (July 2020), the typical range for a tv wall mount installation is $177-$387, with the national average at $273 and prices ranging from $100 to $600.

When I checked Best Buy’s website, they had a table that shows basic mounting at $149.99 and a premium mounting at $199. The basic option includes labor only when mounting to drywall and does not include hiding the wires. The premium option includes hiding the audio cables but does not include hiding the power cords. Of course, there are many things that will increase the cost of this.

According to Thumbtack in July 2020, the national average cost for TV wall mounting is $120, and the prices range from $75 to $225. As you may have noticed, that means the national average on Home Advisor is $153 more than on Thumbtack! That’s a 128% difference! This is an excellent example of how where your leads come from can significantly impact how much you’re able to charge.

When I started out I just charged a flat rate of $100 for a basic installation and would adjust my pricing based on difficulty and other factors. A basic install usually took me about 45 minutes. As time went on I started figuring out other ways to boost the profits like buying the mounts and marking them up for additional profits. This allowed me to make about $175 in profit for about 45 minutes of work on a basic install.

What materials do you need?

TV Wall Mount – I recommend providing the mount to the customer, but many customers who are calling people outside of Best Buy will already have a mount. If you were to buy a mount at Home Depot or another local store, expect to pay about $100 for a basic tilting wall mount. However, you can get them much cheaper online, starting at about $20. Here’s a good guide to choosing the right wall mount.

Wire Molding – I like to keep a pack of this peel and stick wire molding on me for these jobs in case the customer wants the wires cleaned up but doesn’t want to pay for in-wall wiring.

Electrical Supplies (outlets, electrical boxes, outlet covers) – If your customers want in-wall wiring (and assuming you can offer this service legally in your state), you’ll need some electrical supplies. Another option would be to use a kit that doesn’t require you to tap into the existing electrical system, but I’m unsure if you need a license to install these. It’s one of those legal grey areas.

How to generate leads for TV wall mount installs

The best way to attract customers looking to have their TVs mounted is with online marketing, specifically SEO or PPC. These methods all you to capture the leads while they’re hot, which is when they are searching for the service in Google or other online search engines.

Ideally, you want your website to be found when somebody Googles the term “TV wall mount installers in your city” or a similar keyword.

However, that is much easier said than done. It’s definitely worth the effort, but there are other ways to generate leads for this service in the meantime.

You could optimize your Yelp profile so when people search within Yelp they find you. You could set up a Google Ads campaign and pay to be at the top of search. You could simply pay for leads on Home Advisor or Thumbtack. Or, you could simply post an ad on craigslist.

There are lots of options and there is plenty of demand for TV wall mounting. But if you are serious and want to take your business full-time, you’ll want to invest in your marketing skills.

TV Wall Mount Job Examples

Here are three examples of TV wall mount jobs I’ve done in the past. Most TV mount jobs are basic, but occasionally you’ll come across a custom job that may challenge your current knowledge.

Example #1: Two TV’s mounted to metal studs in an office building

In the video above I show a job that I did for a commercial client back in 2014. For this project, I charged $325 in labor to mount two TVs to metal studs and hide the wires in wire molding.

This project would have taken me about two or three hours to complete if I wasn’t shooting a video. I ended up mounting over a dozen TVs for this same client over the next couple of years.

Example #2: An 80″ TV mounted with an articulating arm

For this project, I had to find a mount that extended out far enough so the TV would sit flush with the front of the entertainment center.

I used an articulating wall mount that was beefy enough to hold this monster TV. Because of the size of the TV and the nature of it being somewhat custom, I charged a bit more. The total cost of this install was $460 ($190 for labor and $270 in materials).

It took about an hour and a half to install the TV, but I did have to spend some time shopping for the right TV wall mount before the install. That time shopping was easily covered by the markup on the mount and HDMI cables used, however.

Example #3 – A basic TV install

The first two examples are actually rare. Most TV installs are very basic like this one. This is just a 32″ TV mounted on a simple articulating mount. No in-wall wiring. It was mounted in the home office of one of my existing customers. I charged $100 flat rate for this since they already had the TV and Wall mount and I was already there for other projects. I don’t remember exactly, but this probably took about 30 minutes to install.

Things to Consider Before Mounting TVs

One thing to consider before going gung-ho on TV wall mounting is that in many states you are unable to do in-wall wiring without an electrical license. You’ll obviously want to figure that out before you start a TV mounting business.

However, even if you don’t have an electrical license, that doesn’t mean you can’t make money mounting TVs. There are still plenty of people who just want their TV mounted to the wall and that’s it. Many homes already have an outlet where the TV goes and all they need is it to have the TV hung. You can also partner with an electrician to handle the wiring after you install the TV.

Additionally, there are wiring kits that may help you get around even needing an electrical license – like this wiring kit that doesn’t require you to do any real electrical work. Of course, this is all a legal gray area with most states keeping the laws super ambiguous.

Just make sure you understand the laws in your state before offering any services.

Conclusion

Wall mounting TVs is an in-demand service that can be very lucrative and help you attract high-paying customers that you can turn into long-term clients.

But just like any home service, how you set up your business, how you market your services, and how you price your services will significantly impact your success while mounting TVs.

To learn how to turn your TV mounting skills into a profitable business, check out my complete step-by-step handyman startup guide here.