In the never-ending quest by newspaper and other media organizations to find new sources of revenue, one of the most overlooked happens to be right outside their front door – SMBs: small and medium businesses.
According to the 2011 U.S. Census, there are 28 million SMBs in the USA, companies with less than 50 employees. Of those, 22 million have no employees and are owner operated.
Most publishers and GMs assume that because they have competent sales managers and advertising sales reps that local SMBs are being called upon and are purchasing ads on a regular basis.
In most cases, this is just not happening – especially with the decline in classified and telemarketing sales departments.
Most media organizations operate in a pyramid fashion with corporate reps at the top dealing with one or a handful of major accounts. Next we have local reps, who generally run 20 or 30 accounts on a regular basis. At the bottom of the pyramid are the sales reps in classified and telemarketing departments (if you still have one) who call on a number of small accounts for feature pages, etc.
The vast majority of SMBs fall under the purview of these reps, if at all.
In a Quick Bites presentation at the Key Executives Mega-Conference, I focused on how to identify these businesses, create a database to track and manage them, and ultimately how to sell ads to them on a regular basis that will benefit their businesses through reach and frequency. At the same time, these ads will increase the newspaper's bottom line.
Hugh Nicholson's career spans nearly 30 years in the media business and has run the gamut from selling advertising for Metroland Media to his current position as president of the U.S. Southeast and Latin America Division of NRS Media. In between, he has brought many innovations to the newspaper and publishing industry, including: shows, events, digital radio stations, franchising, book sales, distribution, direct mail, magazines, electronic signage, digital services and promotions. He also previously worked with Transcontinental and as a division manager with Glacier Media. His experience also includes public television and serving on the boards of numerous government and non-profit boards.
Connect with NRS Media at www.nrsmedia.com. Contact Hugh Nicholson at (404) 492-7805 or hugh.nicholson@nrsmedia.com.
