What publication wouldn't like greater advertising sales? Ad revenue is the lifeblood of many publications. It provides the sustenance that enables a publication to achieve its editorial mission, it provides the revenues from which profits can be derived. But a lot of otherwise successful publications have found it difficult to bring their ad revenues up to where they should be.

Why is that? Often the cause of a shortfall is externalized: "The economy could be better." Or, "there's too much competition." Or, "the industry we cover isn't doing well." These are some of the rationales often given. And these observations may indeed be accurate. However, they needn't be obstacles to increasing the advertising revenues at your publication.

There are two factors within the grasp of any publication that can lead directly to increased advertising sales. They are (1) your sales strategies, and (2) your sales techniques. If you earnestly wish to achieve increased advertising revenues, it may be time for you to take a fresh look at these two factors.

The trouble with the sales strategies at many publications is that they were arrived at by happenstance. There never was a deliberate process undertaken to develop the best strategies. As a result, the strategies employed may be at best, less than optimal, and at worst just plain wrong. An experienced publishing consultant can assess the strategies you are using and make recommendations for change. In the meantime, if you'd like information on the strategic development process, get a copy of the Special Report entitled Strategic Planning for Editors and Publishers.

Once you have effective strategies in place, it's time to start looking at your sales techniques. This is an area in which even the most experienced of sales persons can learn to become more effective. Advertising sales is a tough job. Every day, you encounter far more rejection than success. Over time, this leads to loosing an accurate perspective. Technique suffers as a result, and so do sales. Sales training and coaching is the solution for this problem. With the appropriate advertising sales training or coaching, both the neophyte and the experienced pro can begin producing significantly greater sales results.

Above all, it is important to maintain a sense of determination. There is no reason to accept less-than-adequate sales. There are factors within the control of every publication that can help you to boost your advertising sales. Use them!

For more information about this topic, please read our special report: Advertising Sales.