Target market
The first step in starting a small advertising sales business is to determine who will be your target market and what kind of advertising sales will be your specialty area. You must decide if you'll sell advertising for print media such as newspapers and magazines, for broadcast media such as television or radio, for the Internet, or for other media such as billboards and mall ads. Then you must determine whether to focus on other small businesses, non-profit organizations, larger businesses, or individuals as the target for your advertising sales. For example, you might decide to focus on selling Internet advertising to other small business owners to promote their online businesses.
Plan
The next step is to prepare a business plan. There's a lot of help available for this. You can consult with a small business counselor at your local community college. Most services provided by the community college, including some seminars and classes, are available at minimal or no charge. You can also work with a counselor at a local office of the Small Business Administration (SBA) or get help through the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE). Before approaching a counselor for help in preparing your business plan, though, be prepared with information regarding your target market as well as financial information. You can prepare financial projections by looking at the market you've selected, researching what similar ads sell for, and calculating the amount of profit you want to make on each sale. When determining your fee for the advertising sales, you also must factor in your time and any materials or other costs you might incur.
Subcontracting
When putting together a marketing plan for your business, research your target market in terms of the current economic trends. Be realistic when compiling your financial projections. Your profit on each sale may be smaller in tougher economic times. Regardless of the conditions, most businesses don't make a profit for the first year or two, according to the SBA. As a start-up, consider working as a subcontractor to larger advertising agencies. Many agencies will use freelancers or smaller agencies to help them with overload or smaller projects. Use networking as a way to meet representatives from other agencies and present your available services to them. Investigate business associations that have chapters in your area, such as the American Association of Advertising Agencies, and attend their meetings. You can learn from others in the business and make contacts that may mean potential new business for you.
