Spec Ads
First, you've got to find the right business to approach with a spec ad. As we'll talk more about later in this program, the best businesses to go after would most logically be those advertisers already spending money with other publications, because this means that they have money, they are willing to spend it on advertising, and they are likely to spend it again. So look through your competitors' publications for ads in your territory and cut them out.

There are a couple of common mistakes salespeople make when it comes to spec ads. The first mistake is to make up a spec ad before you even meet the advertiser. You're making a big assumptionÐthat your artists are psychic. The whole idea of a spec ad is to show a potential account an effective way of advertising in your newspaper, but if your artists know nothing about the account except what ads they ran previously in another publication, then it's very likely that they don't have enough information to make up an effective ad.

The second mistake is bringing this spec ad out to the advertiser the very first time you meet him. The faulty thinking is that if you show a good-looking spec ad to an account during your initial meeting, it's a good ice breaker, a good way to show a how much you care and are willing to help. While this is true, you'd be showing an ad based on very little information and you may find it hard to explain why the ad is effective.

So instead, go out and introduce yourself and get some information from the business first, then return to the office and give your artists some real information to work with. Later you can return to the potential advertiser on a second call and show them the spec ad while explaining why the ad is perfectly suited to their business and its specific challenges.