Can you make a living holding signs?

BUFFALO, NY (WIVB) - Rain or shine, Kevin Garret, and others like him, walk around carrying or wearing massive signs for a living.

"I've been out in blizzards, I'm talking about where there was no sense in me going out to do it but, it paid off," said Garret who holds advertising signs for a living.

He says he's been at the "sign gig" for a couple years as a way to make some extra cash - $40 dollars on the spot for standing outside for 5 hours.

Unlike Kevin, 18 year-old Ian Gerlach says he's out here earning money, to survive.

"My dad just basically wants me to do my own thing," Ian says.

Ian says he dropped out of high school his junior year. On this cold October day, his first day on the job, he stood behind the sign, to block the winds gusting more than 30 miles per hour.

Ian and Kevin say they work for MS Promotions.

The woman who hired them, who didn't want to appear on camera, says she usually finds most of her workers at local shelters.

"I'm at the city mission right now so, I mean I'm just pretty much trying to get my life on track."

Sign walking is a real profession for some people.

You can find companies online hoping to recruit sign-walkers that travel the country year-round.

"Once I came to do business with these people I found out how really proud they are of what they do, that they can make a good living," said John Wanat, General Manager of FWS Furniture.

Wanat used a promotions company out of New Jersey last fall and was surprised at how much the sign-walkers made per hour, "The individuals made between 13 and 16 dollars an hour."

"I would imagine for people working who aren't working, who are at the city mission in Buffalo, having $8 or $9 an hour is better than nothing."