Selling advertising and marketing for your community newspaper shouldn’t be intimidating. A new course designed to help a lay person become a knowledgeable salesperson for your organization will help them with ideas on how to sell advertising in your community and develop the relationships and skills necessary to help your publication make money.
Taught by Lindsey Young, from Earn Your Press Pass, the self-guided sales training course offered by a community journalist and publisher with 10 years of high school teaching experience features:
• Jargon definitions and terminology cheat sheets;
• Best sales practices for newspaper advertising representatives;
• Advertising basics;
• “Needs analysis” selling;
• Locating and contacting prospective customers;
• Building relationships;
• Newspaper advertising ethics, as well as tips on how to complete the sale and additional materials.
The course, which features videos and cheat sheets for new sales representatives, can be taught as a separate group, or users may be enrolled along with Earn Your Press Pass. And, lessons will continue to be added and updated.
WNA members interested in participating should request access by emailing WNA Executive Director Beth Bennett with the name and email address of the employee(s) to sign up for the program.
Developed by Kansas Publishing Ventures, the goal of “Earn Your Press Pass” is to provide individuals who have solid reading and writing skills and live in smaller communities with a basic journalism background. Training topics include newspaper basics, industry jargon, interviewing and reporting skills, sourcing considerations, news judgment, headline and cutline writing, AP Style, copy editing and basic photography. Learn more about Earn Your Press Pass here.
