Texas Press Association

Ad sales workshop offered free to community newspapers

An intensive one-day shortcourse in selling newspaper advertising will be offered free to Texas newspapers Nov. 3 by the Texas Center for Community Journalism on the campus of Texas Christian University.

The one-day workshop, "Survival Selling: Proven Print and Online Advertising Sales Techniques for Community Newspapers," is funded by the Texas Newspaper Foundation and will feature ad sales expert Mike Blinder of Tampa, Fla. Blinder, a former TV and radio executive, now presents workshops throughout the United States on effective sales strategies.

Tommy Thomason, director of the Center, said the workshop “will feature practical, application-oriented techniques that advertising sales people can implement as soon as they get back to their newspapers.”

Blinder’s workshop will cover sales both for newspapers and for their websites. Topics to be covered include:

• Ways to find new business;
• Getting “in the door” with new advertisers
• How to “read” an advertiser’s “tells”;
• 10 proven ways to develop better relationships with advertisers;
• Developing techniques for closing the advertising sale;
• Dealing with objections;
• Understanding the Web media audience; and
• Selling Web advertising.

The workshop is free, but registration will be limited to only 50 participants, Thomason said. Lunch is also included for participants at no cost. The workshop will be held in the ballroom of the Brown-Lupton University Union on the TCU campus.

Online registration is available at http://digital.community-journalism.net/workshops/apply.