Monday, September 22
1:45-2:30 p.m. M701
Making Your Numbers in a Down Economy
Speaker: Josh Gordon, President, Smarter Media Sales
When times get tough, advertising often gets cut first. But not always. In this session you'll learn proven strategies and techniques for generating sales when times get tough, such as creative ad packages and lead-generating programs, as well as identifying your high-opportunity current customers, and prospecting tips for getting new ones. This session is for sales executives or managers whose markets are challenged and who need new ideas to take to their customers.
2:45-3:30 p.m. M702
"My Ad Didn't Work. You Suck."
Speaker: Laurel Didier, VP/Group Publisher, Vance Publishing
If you're hearing this from your customers, then you need a new sales strategy. In this session you'll learn how you can put together ad programs that guarantee response. It's not hard; it just takes some creative thinking and a "response" mentality. Attend this session to obtain nine proven ideas for creating successful ad programs, and learn how to package them, price them, and position them to your customers.
3:45-4:30 p.m. M703
Getting Blood from a Stone. The 8 Questions to Ask to Uncover Hidden Opportunities
Speaker: John Maisel, Publisher, Electrical Contractor
Before talking rates and audience stats, successful sales pros ask specific probing questions that can lead to bigger opportunities. In this session you'll learn how to identify your customers' "pain points" and ask the key questions that will enable you to create solutions that are tailor-made to their needs.
Tuesday, September 23
9:45-10:45 a.m. T711
10 Key Strategies for Selling E-media
Speaker: Chad Phelps, VP, Digital Media, F+W Publications
E-media revenues are growing at double-digit rates at most media companies, but selling e-media is a complex proposition and your clients and their agencies often are savvier than you are when it comes to metrics, expectations, and pricing. In this session, you’ll learn how to position and sell e-media products successfully, including the terminology you need to master, how to measure and position your online assets, and how to manage and deliver on your customers’ expectations. This session is for sales executives who are new to selling E-media, or for those who need a refresher.
11:45 a.m.-12:30 p.m. T712
Prospecting Strategies
Speaker: Jack Essig, Publisher, Men's Health
Maintaining a stream of new business is a salesperson's biggest challenge. But if your new-biz strategy is just mining your competition, then you're missing bigger pools of prospects that are spending money where you may not see. In this session, Men's Health publisher Jack Essig will share techniques and strategies for identifying the spenders in your market, where to find them, where they're spending, and how you can reach out and convert them into your customers.
2:45-3:30 p.m. T713
Upping Your Sales SQ (Success Quotient)
Speaker: Ron Wall, Senior VP, Publications, Canon Communications
Want to move up the ranks and make a bigger contribution to your organization? Success takes more than a track record of sales performance. In this session Ron Wall, Canon Communications' senior vice president of publications, will share the three key elements of the successful sales executive and what you need to know to deliver more value to your company, including a primer on magazine finance, how to get in the heads of your readers, and how to create value-based relationships with your customers.
4:45-5:30 p.m. T714
Time Management Strategies
Speaker: Elizabeth Sheldon, Publisher, The New Republic
You're selling more products than ever; you're working to satisfy the demands of your current customers while also prospecting for new ones; you're on the road; and when you're not, you're doing call reports and generating sales forecasts. Time out! Attend this session to learn the strategies and techniques to better manage your time and focus your attention while in the office and on the road. You'll learn tips for increasing your productivity and taking control of your day by organizing your time and creating a disciplined approach to everyday tasks.
Wednesday, September 24
9:15-10:00 a.m. W721
Creating Killer Proposals
Speaker: Kent Ebersole, Publisher, Backpacker
Integrated packages contain many moving parts, but if your proposals look more like menus than business plans, you're likely losing more opportunities than you're winning. In this session, Backpacker publisher Kent Ebersole will show you how to assemble multiple sales elements into a single proposal that communicates the big picture in a coherent, organized, benefits-oriented document that will capture the imagination (and the budgets) of your customers.
11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m. W722
Big Idea Packages that Protect Print
Speaker: Claudia Malley, Publisher, National Geographic
Yes, it IS possible to create packages that protect your print rates. But it's all in the mix and the positioning of what you're selling. In this session, National Geographic publisher Claudia Malley will show you how to create programs that not only include print, but enable you to protect your page rate without giving anything away. Yes, it can be done!
12:30-1:15 p.m. W723
Creating Special-Feature Ideas that are Ad Magnets
Speaker: Tom Morrissy, Publisher, OK!
Vanity issues, roundups, top-10 this or that's … In this session, OK! publisher Tom Morrissy will look at some of the creative approaches publishers are taking to create special-feature content that advertisers HAVE to be in. You'll walk away with simple concepts that you can put to work immediately to create new sales opportunities.
