Why do you give so much away?

Last night after the Barrie & District Big Brothers Bowling Event I was asked how I could give away so much advertising with the paper and still make money. The question came up because of an offer I had made to the members of the Barrie Construction and Greater Barrie Home Builders Associations, the offer was to match their sponsorship amounts. The person was also surprised that I had ran a free ad in the paper to promote the event.

My answer was simply, the more you give the more you get. I told the person it made sense to promote the events the associations are involved with as well as publish photos since people enjoy seeing their photos and people they know. I told her that the advertising credits would amount to $100 to $200 for each person meaning that if they wanted to run an ad this year they would see a savings of between 30-40% with the credit. I said the more ads promoting local events and generated from advertising credits lead to more regular priced ads being placed.

I explained further that my sales technique was not about high pressure and cold calling, it was about building relationships and connections with the local construction community. I also explained that recently I sat down with a potentially advertising that was going through the paper with me and decided to advertise based on the coverage of the local association & community events, association ads and other members placing an ad.

The person was impressed with how I worked. I told her the biggest difference between the Construction News and Report Group and other construction/trade publications was our involvement with the local constructions. Be a member and do business with a member!