Columnists

Empty advertising headlines that speak to no one in particular are ineffective and a waste of the advertiser's budget.

In his most recent "Ad Libs" column, veteran sales trainer John Foust provides a four-step formula that can help you generate more sales for your newspaper and for your advertisers. The end result will be a series of targeted and consistent messages, instead of the same watered-down ad over and over again, he writes.

Every ad has some kind of personality — and it's important not to leave the ingredient to chance.

In his latest "Ad-libs" column, veteran sales trainer John Foust takes a look at four things that can help clients' ads stand out from their competitors on the page and on the screen.

In many cases, there are lessons to be learned from negative boss-employee encounters.

In his latest "Ad-libs" column, John Foust shares four examples of things a boss can do that may ruin morale among employees.

When we learned how to drive, we heard about blind spots.

Blind spots also are common in the advertising business, veteran sales trainer John Foust writes. In his most recent column, Foust takes a look at some examples of blind spots in sales and how advertising professionals can handle advertisers with blind spots. 

Pick up any newspaper — or go to any online news site — and you’ll find article headlines that reveal the subjects of those articles. Doesn’t it make sense that the same should apply to advertising headlines?

Veteran sales trainer John Foust offers three questions to ask yourself next time you're writing a headline for an ad.

Once an ad’s graphic design attracts readers’ eyes, it has to say something of value. Otherwise, readers will skip the ad and miss the message completely.

In his latest “Ad-libs” column, veteran sales trainer John Foust offers a dozen copywriting tips to gain and hold your audience’s attention.