Woe The Digital Sale: Getting In The Door
Posted by Amy Auerbach and Jason Krebs on Nov 6, 2:34 PM
From the mailbag: Hi, I'm a developer trying to gain traction in both the agency and publishing worlds. I have a product that I think can make a real difference in how the business works, but getting traction isn't easy. This may seem like Sales 101, but please share any tips for getting me in the door.
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The Problem With Selling Ice To Eskimos
Posted by Ari Rosenberg on Nov 5, 3:39 PM
Throughout my career, I have always heard how a great salesperson can sell anything, but I have never bought into this concept. I can't sell ice to an Eskimo. I can't sell cars, homes or shower curtain rings. I can only sell media. And within media, I can only sell a well-branded content property. It gets even worse for my career opportunities: I can only sell media for a well-branded content property that has sold me as a consumer.
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Is Email Strategic? Or Dead?
Posted by Daniel Ambrose on Oct 29, 3:58 PM
The recent WSJ article "Why Email No Longer Rules," by Jessica E. Vascellaro, made the case that communicating through social media like Facebook and Twitter is so much more "for the way we live" -- which just didn't make sense, and drew many objections and comments. So I am writing this because really smart email strategies may be publishers' single most important distribution strategy. Email may also be your most important advertising strategy. And I don't want you to be distracted from focusing on what is important.
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Woe The Digital Sale: Selling Media Buyers On Your Innovative Product
Posted by Amy Auerbach and Jason Krebs on Oct 23, 11:46 AM
Question from the mailbag: I represent a new, emerging media company and am making the rounds to media agencies. The sales cycle is much longer than I anticipated, and I'm left wondering why. Are agency folks really motivated to find and test new vendors? Are they happy to fill out plans with their usual "preferred" vendors, or do they want to try/test new, innovative things for their clients? What is the deal? I thought agencies wanted to be leaders.
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Flash-Forward
Posted by Kory Kredit on Oct 22, 1:55 PM
My favorite new TV drama this fall centers around a global incident in which every person on earth dropped into a state of unconsciousness for exactly 2 minutes and 17 seconds. During that time, everyone mentally "flashed forward" to the exact same time, six months into the future. The characters see a variety of different experiences ranging from joyful and serene to horrific and terrifying. That got me to thinking. What if we could all see six months into the future? Aside from a huge ratings spike that ABC is hoping for with the season finale of "FlashForward," what else would I expect to see? More specifically, what would the online landscape look like in six months?
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Don't Drop The Egg
Posted by David Koretz on Oct 15, 3:22 PM
Every business and nearly every businessperson can be neatly put into one of three buckets. While we all hate being categorized, most of us fit better than we would care to admit. In business, there are three buckets: 1s, 2s and 3s. Ones are start-up types that are trying to go from zero-to-interesting. Twos are growth company folks that are attempting to build a scalable business. Threes are large, mature company people.
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Woe The Digital Sale: Going Over The Media Director's Head
Posted by Amy Auerbach and Jason Krebs on Oct 9, 2:15 PM
Question from the mailbag: I am now a VP-level media director. A premium site I have done A LOT of buying with for many successful branding campaigns over the years recently gave me the hard sell to become part of a client's direct-response campaign. I verbally informed them that their site was recommended as part of the plan at the negotiated rate for a pretty healthy budget amount, but couldn't sign an insertion order until the client approved the plan and the authorization was signed. Based on our history, I thought that would be enough assurance. Apparently it wasn't. The sales rep and site management contacted my CEO to see what could be done about getting an insertion order signed.
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The Ad Network Cleanse
Posted by Ari Rosenberg on Oct 8, 11:09 AM
I attended a formal gathering of the MPA (Magazine Publishers of America) here in New York last week dedicated to the topic of ad networks. The panel was made up of six top-level executives representing various ad network plays. The audience was filled with executives from major magazine publishers. The session turned quickly into six separately prepared sales pitches. Listening to all of the presentations in a row provided some side-by-side clarity.
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Woe The Digital Sale: The Badgering Salesperson
Posted by Amy Auerbach and Jason Krebs on Sep 25, 11:47 PM
Question from the mailbag: Do salespeople know the definition of badgering: "to harass or urge persistently; pester; nag" on dicitionary.com? None of those words describe anything positive, yet recently my team was badgered by a salesperson who just would not stop. Even after hearing the specific rationale of why the site in question was not appropriate for our client, the salesperson still called team members one-by-one and over and over.
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Catch Me If You Can
Posted by Kory Kredit on Sep 24, 11:17 AM
Frank Abagnale Jr. was an airline pilot, a lawyer, a doctor, a Lutheran and a self-made millionaire all before the age of 19 -- or so he would have you think. If you've see the movie "Catch Me if You Can," you're familiar with the true story of this infamous con man played by Leonardo DiCaprio. While the extent of his deception seems somewhat inconceivable, it is a story that is still being played out every single day. I'm talking about well-meaning companies that have spent years building their brand and their reputation, choosing to engage in authentic online interaction through a third party. Marketing agencies and social media professionals are assuming the online identities of their clients.
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