This month I am going to address a topic I haven’t faced head on until recently, paid advertisement. Starting out in this industry, ten years ago now, I didn’t want to spend money on ads. I looked into it and I was shocked at the prices: $1500 for 1/6th page? What?

But I get it. Depending on what company you are working with, paid ads can have a huge reach. I just chose to go the grassroots style since it is so available to us via numerous social media platforms.

Until recently when a financial advisor told me I did indeed have room in my budget for paid advertising. So I dove in and here are a few things I learned.

Top Tips when Considering Paid Advertisement:

• Ask about the reach. Is this ad in print our online. Who is the target reader? Does it match who YOUR target audience is?
• Is the design fee included in the cost of the ad price?
• How will you track the success of this ad? Do you have access to your day by day sales to compare them to the release week of the ad?
• Talk to a colleague about their experience with ad placements. Would they recommend the one you are considering?

Here are a few companies we have placed ads with recently and have seen a positive bump in our book sales as a result:

• Publisher’s Weekly
• IBPA
• Story Monsters Inc.
• online giveaways with local companies.

Reply and let me know if you have been happy with a recent paid advertisement experience.

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My name is Maria Dismondy. I am a children’s book author who also founded the publishing company, Cardinal Rule Press.

Finding ways to market my messages is a passion of mine. I want to help you gain greater recognition of your brand, to generate new readers and improve your sales. Why? Because I love to GIVE and CONNECT and I truly believe we are all in this together!