Bob McInnis' state, national, and international newspaper conference seminars on ad sales and management consistently appear at the top of attendee surveys.

(we even show your attendees how to sell against social media)

 Feedback "Wow! Your approach to the topic at hand was superb, not just from my point of view but from the members' as well. You were one of the two highest rated discussion leaders for the seminar. I think your expertise and presentation style works extremely well in the conference room. You can rest assured that I'll be asking you back in the future."— The American Press Institute "Best of conference two years in a row and voted 'best idea of all time'"— Local Media Association (formerly Suburban Newspapers of America) "The attendees all agree your information was useful and could be applied to his/her newspaper. They absolutely love your style and found you entertaining.  To sum it up, YOU WERE GREAT!"—New York Press Association "McInnis wow's 'em at ad sales seminar"— New England Newspaper Association "Your program is critical to newspapers' future.  Very valuable, based on the evaluations we received.  Compelling, entertaining, lively, engaging, and informative."— Society of Newspaper Design "WOW!  I can't describe how much I learned!" "Wonderful!  Informative! Bob is great!!  Can't believe the time went so quickly.  BRAVO!!"-— American Press Institute participant "During a time of incredible change in our industry, McInnis & Associates' presentation forces marketing and sales executives to sit up and take notice of the shift in customer perspectives.  It was a hit with INMA attendees two years in a row!"— Earl J. Wilkinson, INMA Executive Director Bob speaks frequently at state, national, and international newspaper conferences. He has also spoken often at the American Press Institute.

 

He's known for his lively seminars that combine cutting-edge techniques, real-life case studies, and humor. Participants, including publishers, managers, and even ad reps leave with specific things that they can do to quickly and dramatically increase print and digital ad revenue.

 

Below you'll find more about the seminars he typically conducts for newspaper associations. Many ask Bob to conduct more than one seminar at a particular conference.

 

You'll also see his bio, a partial list of associations at which he's spoken, as well as answers to frequently asked questions. If you're with a newspaper association, feel free to contact us.  If you're a publication who's a member of a newspaper association (daily, weekly, free or paid) and would like to see Bob speak at your next conference, tell your association about us.

 

Current seminars offered

10 Biggest Inhibitors to Ad Sales and How To Overcome Them

Seminar length: can be adjusted to anywhere between 60-120 minutes
How can publishers, ad directors, and salespeople significantly grow print and Web ad revenue, prevent their advertisers from cutting back, and actually get them to double or triple their budgets without going off the rate card? And how can you do this while working in your advertisers' best interests and delivering an even better response than before the meltdown, injecting new life into the community and generating fantastic PR and a new respect for your publication as a business tool?

 

 Ad sales guru Bob McInnis will show you how you can do exactly this with examples of newspapers doing it right now. Get immersed in some of his techniques and learn how to implement them with dramatic results. See examples on his blog.

 

Response Oriented Selling is an award-winning ad sales training course and selling system in use at hundreds of newspapers across the U.S., Canada, and the U.K., from many of the largest daily metro newspapers to smaller weekly and monthly publications. Your advertising sales staff will learn simple but powerful ways to eliminate up front stalls and objections, get the information they need from their prospects, create consistently effective ad strategies, make flawless presentations, and effectively overcome objections.  Advertising salespeople of all levels will benefit from this course as well as ad directors and publishers.

 

How To Combat (Or Work With) Your Advertisers' Exodus To Social Media Marketing

Seminar length: 60 minutes

If you’re finding your prospective advertisers are cutting back on print and digital advertising and increasingly relying on free social media platforms to promote their business, this session is for you.

 

As Bob will explain, much of this exodus is based on a business’ faulty understanding of what social media can and cannot do. You’ll hear why common social media strategies used by many businesses are no longer effective and how to put your prospects on the right path to success.

 

Along the way, you’ll learn how to make a compelling case why print and paid digital is critical to the success of a business’ social media campaign. So, let Bob help you become more conversant in social media marketing and start regaining control from those self-appointed social media gurus who are leading your current and prospective advertisers astray.

 

40 in 40: How To Sell To The 40 Highest-Potential

Verticals In A Local Market

Seminar length: 60 minutes total

Over the past few years Bob has personally sold hundreds of local advertisers on major contracts for his client newspapers. In this session, Bob will show you his top 40 “most likely to be sold and spend a lot of money” categories of prospects, along with the strategy behind each spec ad and presentation. After spending some time outlining the common parts of the sales process, Bob will move on to show a number of great prospects and how they were sold — 40 in 40 minutes! A must for any publisher, ad director, or ad rep looking to identify their biggest opportunities and grow their territories quickly and dramatically.

 

Bring Your Objections (Or Any Other Problems) For Expert Advice

Seminar length: 60 minutes

This is your opportunity to learn some approaches to overcoming your toughest objections or talk about any other sales-related problems you're experiencing with one of the foremost authorities on local newspaper ad sales. In this open-ended session, Bob turns to the audience for the subject matter. For anyone responsible for ad revenue, this session is for you. It's consistently voted one of the most enjoyable and helpful sessions of the conference.

 

Ad Sales Camp

Seminar length: Typically one day 9am - 3 pm (a two-day session is also available)

Want to run a "sales camp" for your publishers, ad directors, and ad reps? Bob does this often, most recently at the Arizona Newspaper Association and the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association with stellar reviews. The sessions are based on his Response Oriented Selling course, which teaches an easier way to drive major print and digital ad revenue fast. Read more about it or take a look at his blog where he discusses the techniques and shows ongoing examples.

 

 

Biography of Bob McInnis

Bob McInnis is a 30-year veteran of the newspaper industry. He started selling advertising for and subsequently managed local community newspapers in the Boston and Buffalo area. He was also the major accounts supervisor for Newsday/New York Newsday (a top 10 U.S. daily at the time) and later became training manager there. The training program he implemented brought in $3 million in added revenue the first year from his techniques and eventually Bob left to start his own consulting practice.

 

For the past 20 years, he’s worked with over 1,000 newspapers including some of the largest, such as the Boston Herald, the Hartford Courant, the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Oregonian, the Honolulu Advertiser, and the Ottawa Citizen. Bob has also spent significant time working for community newspaper groups. He’s spoken at virtually all major press association conferences including the International Newspaper Marketing Association, Society of Newspaper Design, the Newspaper Society (U.K.) and the World Association of Newspapers. He has also spoken frequently at the American Press Institute.

 

Partial list of associations where Bob McInnis has spoken

State/Province

Alberta Weekly Newspaper Association

Arizona Newspaper Association (2 times)

Atlantic Community Newspapers Association

Colorado Press Association

Community Newspapers Association (BC & Yukon)

Hoosier State Press Association

Manitoba Community Newspaper Association

Michigan Press Association (5 times)

New York Press Association (1 time)

New York Newspaper Association (4 times)

New York News Publishers Association

New England Press Association (3 times)

New England Newspaper Association (2 times)

Ontario Community Newspapers Association

Pennsylvania Newspaper Association (2 times)

 

Regional conferences

Inland Press Association

Suburban Newspapers of America (2 times)

Society of Newspaper Design (4 times)

National Newspaper Association

Canadian Newspaper Association

 

International

International Newspaper Marketing Association (4 times in Toronto, Boston, Atlanta, Costa Rica)

Canadian Newspaper Association (CNA)

Newspaper Society (2 times in U.K.)

World Association of Newspapers (Barcelona)

Society of International Publishers (Madrid)

 

Other

American Press Institute (4 times plus designed their internet-based ad sales training program)

 

Frequently asked questions

How much do you charge?

We understand the budget limitations most newspaper associations have and we try to work with you. Whatever you end up paying us, if you ask around, you'll find we're worth it, with attendees leaving both happy and empowered to return to their newspapers and make a number of changes for the better.

 

What's your availability?

We keep busy and our schedule is typically booked far in advance. Contact us for availability as early as possible.

 

What type of newspaper is your program appropriate for?

Having sold, managed, and conducted training at the country's smallest weeklies and the largest dailies, the seminars we conduct at association conferences are appropriate for all kinds of publications. Daily or weekly newspapers, specialty monthly magazines, either free or paid all benefit from our seminars.

 

The larger determining factor is the publication's interest in selling local advertising. Although Bob was a major account supervisor for a top 10 daily newspaper, his specialty is with selling non-agency, local advertisers. He believes they're more challenging and more rewarding and our program addresses these issues specifically.

 

What type of audience is best for your conference seminars?

Our seminars are targeted toward publishers, advertising directors, and, especially in the case of a "sales camp", newspaper advertising representatives.

 

How can I get more information?

What you see here is the extent of the information we have in writing.  We believe you can get a better feel for if we'd be appropriate for your next conference by talking to us and the associations who have had us speak in the past.  Don't hesitate to contact us if you'd like to learn more.