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Back in my ad agency days, I learned a big lesson about what to do – and what not to do – in a sales presentation.
I was sitting in the office of the owner of a construction business, …
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John Foust
Raleigh, NC
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10/3/18
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Back when I was in the ad agency business, I made a logo presentation that turned into a fiasco. It was an uncomfortable reminder of the importance of a presentation environment.
This …
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John Foust
Raleigh, NC
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9/4/18
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On a visit to my eye doctor for a check-up, I noticed a poster on the wall in the examination room. It featured a series of photographs of the same scene. The first photo depicted the scene through …
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John Foust
Raleigh, NC
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8/6/18
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I was talking to Greg, a veteran sales manager “Our sales team knows the importance of asking questions and gathering the right information,” he said. “But the key is to write it down …
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John Foust
Raleigh, NC
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7/9/18
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We’ve all been there, flipping through seemingly endless television listings. A minute goes by. Then two. Then three. Next, a 10-minute scroll and a difficult search through Netflix. And still …
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6/12/18
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Carla has been selling advertising for many years. She has researched and tried a variety of techniques to answer objections. “Just about everybody knows the Feel-Felt-Found formula,” she said. …
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John Foust
Raleigh, NC
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4/13/18
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Carl is a marketing manager who has been on the receiving end of hundreds of media presentations. He knows a thing or two about effective sales techniques. “Most of the time, I’m the point person …
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John Foust
Raleigh, NC
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3/19/18
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Selling and sailing have a lot in common. Consider the jibe.
A sailboat cannot sail directly into the wind, but it can sail at angles to the wind. The closest point of sail is approximately …
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John Foust
Raleigh, NC
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1/19/18
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Sometimes it’s a good idea to feature a boss in an ad. Sometimes it’s not.
Two ads come to mind. One shows a plumbing company’s president seated at the head of a conference table, …
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John Foust
Raleigh, NC
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12/19/17
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We’ve been getting lots of questions about political advertising, thus this interim FFR. There are seven main things newspapers* need to know/do about political advertising.
· You cannot …
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Amanda Martin
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10/31/17
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Headlines are the entrance ramps to effective advertising. The better the headline, the higher the readership. The key word is “engagement.” How can you engage readers – with just a few words?
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John Foust
Raleigh, NC
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9/26/17
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Alex is an ad manager who wants his sales team to be professional from start to finish. “Some sales people talk too much, especially at the end of a sales conversation,” he said. “It’s like a …
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John Foust
Raleigh, NC
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8/28/17
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I love golf, but I’m a terrible golfer. I’m the only golfer I know who has lost someone else’s golf ball. On a best-ball round, I mistakenly hit the wrong ball – directly into a lake.
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John Foust
Raleigh, NC
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8/7/17
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Saundra’s experience as a sales manager has given her a unique perspective on client relationships. “Most sales people in the advertising business are taught to discover problems and …
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John Foust
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5/1/17
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Catherine climbed the ranks from sales person to sales manager at her paper. “Although I’ve been in the business for a long time,” she told me, “there’s always a new way to look at …
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John Foust
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4/1/17
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You may have heard the old story about the door-to-door salesman who was selling vacuum cleaners way out in the country. When a lady came to the door, he dramatically emptied a bag of dirt onto the …
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John Foust
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3/22/17
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Lori told me about some simple techniques she uses in advertising presentations. “Once the other person mentions a problem,” she said, “it’s important to slow down and show …
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by John Foust
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2/7/17
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With digital advertising on track to comprise the lion’s share of advertising dollars, programmatic advertising will continue to gain prominence in the digital media-buying space. Here are six …
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Rusty Coates, MediaPost News
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1/19/17
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When you peel back the layers of advertising philosophy and technique, it all comes down to one thing: Motivation. People buy things because they are motivated. And the most effective ads are …
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John Foust
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1/9/17
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The cliché “gild the lily” is a misquotation of a line from Shakespeare: “To gild refined gold, to paint the lily … is wasteful and ridiculous excess.” Correctly quoted or not, this common phrase refers to the unnecessary practice of embellishing something which doesn’t need embellishing.
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John Foust
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12/19/16
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