How to wake a black screen?

Anyone know how to make a headless Mac mini show something else than a black screen with ARD and/or VNC? One would have thought Mac mini would be good as servers, but that is apparently the one thing they are designed not to be able to be used as, given how the hopeless ARD program "works". I have tried all kind of SSH commands etc. but no way. So what to do if you are unable ever to access the computer physically after having it shipped off to a destination? Buy some better remote control software? Have searched the Internet, but no answers ... .

/Jerry