Are you competing with a company that has a much bigger advertising budget then you do? Do you frequently pick up newspapers, publication or trade magazine and see their advertising staring back at you? Anyone with a big advertising budget can spend a lot of money to buy a lot of ink.
The good news is you can strategically invest small amounts of money to generate much more effective ads that immediately drive paying customers into your front door.
Many of your competitors want to have their ads appear on specific pages throughout the year. As a result they reserve print ad space well in advance of the actual publication dates. Better yet, they reserve these pages based on advertising dollars they submitted in advertising budgets to their bosses late last year.
Thankfully, bosses love nothing better than to cut advertising budgets once, twice, even three times each year. They just can’t help themselves- -which is good news for you.
Your competitors plus all other advertisers are occasionally forced to cancel their ads just days before the publication goes to press.The good news for you is that trade publications won’t allow big blank pages to be included in their printed issues.
Now that you know this inside secret you need to identify the two or three publications you want your ads to run in this year and next. Then call their sales representatives and ask to take them to lunch. Trust me magazine and newspaper sales representatives are rarely invited for a free lunch.
Make it clear that you’re not currently in a position to be a regular advertiser but that you an idea that can help them. Explain that you are willing to act quickly when their publication gets an inevitable last-minute cancellation. In return, you expect to pay a greatly diminished fee for the ad space. As a rule, you should offer to pay only one-fourth to one-tenth of the list price. Why, because without your ad they will have to give that same space away free to avoid running a blank page.
At first, the sales representative may not seem at all interested about your proposal. Yet, in a few weeks, when an advertiser backs out of a commitment to buy one of the inside covers or a full page, you just may just get a call. Your representative will look better back at the office if he or she gets something for that premium space. I have used the strategy multiple times and it always works like a charm. Please remember your advertising rep will most likely embrace your idea at first. If you are persistent this idea will pay big results down the road.
Comments