A relative of mine has started a small business which is a local
community business type directory. (sort of like a small newspaper for
the local community)which is delivered to 4000-5000 households every
month.

She is selling advertising in this directory to make a profit. The
problem she is having is the only way she knows to sell the ad space
is to telemarket on the phone and cold call businesses by foot.

Obviosly this is a hard task with very low success rates
and..well..she is looking for better workable alternatives.

The main problem is she hasnt released the first issue yet and expects
that when the 1st one is out there it will become much easier as
businsses will have something tangible to see and she will have
something to advertise in.

Businesses are wary of spending money for something that doesnt exist
yet and i suppose thats the issue here, to overcome that. Besides
constant cold calling by phone and foot.

(by the way..local newspapers..etc..wont allow her to advertise as
they see her as competition)

What i am asking for is a way to sell the ad space to businesses
without telemarketing/cold calling of any type.

I'm not sure how it is sold in the magazine/newspaper industry or if
they do the same but i need an aletrnative.

Preferably a way to get businesses to call her to place ads.

I need detail here and valid answers that will work (or have worked)
in a practical sense. Not just theory or made up ideas.

Thanks

My husband operates a small business. You wouldn't believe how many
folks try to sell him ads! Unless there is good, tangible evidence
that the advertisement will ultimately bring in more money than the ad
costs, most business owners are very leery of buying ad space in
directories of the sort you describe. It is not uncommon for such
publishing endeavors to fail quickly, in which case the business owner
may have paid for something that benefits him not at all. And there
are, unfortunately, some advertising schemes which are outright fraud,
with no genuine intent of ever publishing any ads. Given all this, I
sincerely doubt that your friend will have much luck until she can
present a sample issue of her publication, at the very least. If she
is already well-established in the local business community, that will
be helpful, since people will know her to be trustworthy. But if she
doesn't already have a reputation and good local references, she may
have great difficulty making sales, even if she can make appropriate
contacts with business owners.

Hi Pink

Thanks for your reply. If what your saying is true, how do any publications 
-big and small, local and country wide - start up.

There are plenty of small directories all over the world and they all
have to start up with no physical publication some how. The problem is
how? (beside cold calling)

Give the businesses the first issue of advertising for free.  That
way, they can see their ads in a "normal" issue, without fear of
paying for something that may never happen.  There can be an
arrangement where no money is due until (maybe) "two weeks before the
second issue".

This does require that your friend has enough money to cover the first
issue themselves.

I do not knowp the resources of your friend.  But can she give the
businesses 2 months of adveritising for free without any commitment or
the need for cancelation on the part of the business.

... as in most businesses, it is a catch 22, and as with most
business, it may very well fail.

darn, i should have read all the comments.  theoldwiz sounds real bright.

Offering free ads for a trial period is certainly one way to interest
a business owner in a directory of this sort. But, of course, this
means that a sizeable investment from the directory's publisher is
needed at the beginning of the project, since the printer will have to
be paid before there are any revenues.

If your friend is averse to telemarketing, has she considered direct
mail as a means of approaching business owners?

I have purchased plenty of advertising in my time, having owned two
service businesses in the past. I was contacted by phone in all cases,
and then met with the advertising salesperson to go over the details
and sign a contract. I have never received a direct mailer soliciting
advertising, except as an extra page insert from "ValPak" which is
advertising itself, ValPak simply includes a "This could be your ad"
sheet in with the ads they have sold and mailed.

Here's what ValPak is:
http://www.valpak.com/vpcol/advertise.do

I never had anyone "walk in" to solicit me, but then my office was a
bit off the beaten track. In any event, I wish you luck!

Thanks for all the comments guys. Appreciated. We have already
discussed giving free advertising but she doesnt have the resources to
print a free first issue. ($3000-4000)so thats out for now.

An research or answers online?

Has your friend operated other businesses in this community in the
past? Is she a member of any business-related networking clubs? The
main problem here, as I see it, is not that of contacting potential
customers, but of convincing them that they should invest money in a
publication which does not yet exist. The believability of the sales
pitch will probably depend upon your friend's background. Frankly, if
someone I never heard of tried to sell me advertising in a directory
that has never been published, and for which no sample exists, I
wouldn't be very likely to bite.

Pink

Youre exactly right and either would I. And thats my whole reason for
placing the original request. How do other start up
magazines/directories/whatever do it.

Do they use telemarketing/cold calling? Do they use other methods to
sell ads in a non existing publication with no credibility (yet)

They cant all have credibilty in their local area to start with.

Surely there must be info out there that shows how its done (its just
that i cant find it:)

By the way Pink, thanks for your input. And that goes for everyone who
has commented.

I get the feeling that your friend has little or no experience in the
business field. If this is the case, she may want to reconsider this
project. Without a local business reputation and references, I doubt
that she will succeed in getting this off the ground. This just isn't
the kind of business project that can easily be started without an
investment of several thousand dollars. You know that old saying, "It
takes money to make money." That does not always apply to all kinds of
businesses, but in this kind of endeavor, I think it is true. Without
a prototype of the directory, all the marketing in the world is not
likely to result in sales.

She doesnt give up that easily (either do i)  But thanks for the suggestion :)

There must be a way other start up mags do it without offering every
business free advertising for the first/2nd issue.

Do you think i need to increase the amount to get people to research
on here? Is the amount the problem or is it that there is no answer to
my question?

hmmmmm........:)

At the very least, I suggest that your friend prepare a mock-up with
simulated ads that is an accurate representation of what the directory
will look like. Such a mock-up could be printed on an inkjet or laser
printer at home. That would at least give potential advertisers some
idea of what they are going to get for their money. In addition, she
should be able to describe her distribution plan in detail so that
potential advertisers will know where and by whom their ads will be
seen.

The expectation that businesses will call her to place ads -- before
she has demonstrated that she is capable of presenting a
professional-looking directory and then getting it into the hands of
customers -- is, in my view, unreasonable. It's not as if there is a
shortage of places where businesses can buy advertisements. Most
businesses have very limited funds for advertising and marketing.
Unless your friend can show her prospects something impressive and
tangible, few business owners are likely to be interested.

There are "pay per appointment" lead generation firms that she can
hire to get appointments for her. Has she/you considered that angle?
This is a no appointment/no fee solution. Each appointment might cost
$20-$50.00, but your guarantee is she will get to talk to someone in
person, no cold calling.

Hi

Theres leads and theres leads. The problem is they deliver unqualified
leads which are low quality and hard to impossible to sell to.

Less but more qualified leads are way more preferable.

Thanks all for your input but i think i'll pull the plug on this one.
It seems no-one is willing to do the research required to find an
answer.