To continue on a series of things I’m bad at I will go on to approaching people.
I don’t know how Journalist do it, I wonder if they learn it in school…. anyways. The challenge I have been prompted with lately is selling YkOnline. I now have the hits and traffic to sustain the site, as long as I continue to write, so I thought it would be a good time to try and sell some advertising. The reason I want to sell adverting is simple, I want to feed this passion. I love writing about Yellowknife and what is going on but it is starting to take up to much time. My problem is I am almost afraid of approaching businesses about it. I don’t know what to say to try and sell it to them. It is a toss up whether or not businesses in this town need another place to advertise. They already have NNSL, CJCD, YkTrader, Coffee Break News and a couple others, so what I would have to do is prove to them that I am different. For some reason I just can’t bring myself to go face to face with them and ask.
It’s hard at first – guy gets self-conscious and shy and you wonder to yourself what the hell the buyer’s gonna really get for their money and try as you might you can’t come up with a story that’s good enough to believe yourself much less expect them to believe it… and if you do get some to write a check you feel guilty ?
What I finally tried was to just level with ’em… walked into the gas station and found the owner and said, hey Fred, I need your help, I need you to buy a $50 ad and try it for a few issues – hell you spill that much at the bar Saturday night and this could do you some good and get you a tax credit to boot… when I treated him like a guy that might become a friend he met me half way… and sure, there will be folks that’ll look at you like you’re blood-sucking scum but mostly they’ll recognize that you’re out there trying to make an honest buck just like they are. They won’t always buy – even after years working at it only about half the folks you approach will talk to you, but once they engage with you about a third will do business with you…
As for explaining your blog to ’em – don’t TELL ’em, SHOW ’em. They’ll become curious… and leave a biz card with the URL on it in large type. And call back on the folks who don’t buy – every time you make your rounds stop in and ask ’em how’s business… you’ll hear lots of bitching cuz everybody loves to do that, but if you sincerely take an interest in them in their times of trouble they might just remember you when things are going slick.
If they’ve been in business any time at all they know lots of people so if you can really engage they’ll point you to stories you should be writing about.
You’re just trying to make a living, so are they, and once they understand you’re not trying to sucker them you’ll get some respect … and don’t forget to ask your prospects if they know others who might be buyers – you’ll be surprised how helpful they’ll be… Good luck -and, like Red Green says, “We’re all in this together.”