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North Carolina Better Newspaper Contest judges needed Guest Commentary:
What would media companies look like if sales leaders reinvented the business model?
Ar k ansas
ARKANSAS
Publisher Weekly
PRESS ASSOCIATION
Vol. 14 | No. 42 | Thursday, October 17, 2019
Serving Press and State Since 1873
New Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette ad director puts customers first To measure Beth Johnson’s success, it’s more important to look at someone else’s profitability than her own.
“I wake up, look in the mirror and tell myself I’m going to help put someone’s kid through college and it’s probably not mine,” Johnson said. “The whole goal of (advertising sales) is to be an extension of their business.” Johnson discovered her desire to help businesses reach their potential while serving as editor of her high school yearbook in the Joplin, Missouri, suburb of Carl Junction. It was her responsibility to sell yearbook ads and she sold them out. At that point, she recognized she had a knack for selling advertising.
Beth Johnson
Johnson, the director of advertising and marketing for the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, isn’t content to just make the sale and reap the commission. She said her successful two-decade career in advertising sales has largely centered on doing everything she can to benefit her customer.
Johnson has been the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s advertising director since July. Before that, she was a real estate ad specialist for that newspaper. She previously worked at the Joplin Globe as an advertising executive and display advertising manager. She recently relocated to Centerton, where she joined a growing number of newcomers to northwest Arkansas. The dramatic changes not just in the industry
but in the growth of the region is another reason Johnson is excited about her new role. “It’s a fantastic market, absolutely,” she said. “There are about 37 people moving into the northwest Arkansas area every day. It’s just a great market.” She and her 13-member team capitalize on that growth through building relationships with new customers and maintaining the existing ones, she said. It’s those relationships that keep her in the newspaper advertising industry, and she encourages others in the field to develop strong, professional relationships with customers. “I think it all comes down to the relationship building, understanding the business and what they do,” Johnson said. “That was the exciting part for me. I wanted to understand the business and how to make their ads most effective. It has nothing to do with you, but everything to do with that customer’s business.” Continued on Page 2
Room deadline for ArkLaMiss conference approaches Registrants for this year’s annual ArkLaMiss Circulation, Marketing and Audience Development Conference are reminded to book their rooms now. The deadline to reserve a room at the special conference rate of $74 per night is Thursday, Oct. 24. The conference is held at the Ameristar Hotel and Casino in Vicksburg, Mississippi, on Nov. 7-8. To reserve a room, call (601)
638-1000 and mention code “SPAPER9.”
To register for the conference, visit arkansaspress.org/2019Arklamiss. The Arkansas Newspaper Foundation offers a grant to up to four APA members to defray registration and hotel costs. For more information or to apply for one of the $200 grants, click the registration link or contact the APA’s Terri Cobb at terri@ arkansaspress.org.
This year’s featured speaker is Gwen Vargo, director of reader revenue for the American Press Institute. Vargo will present in two sessions about how to understand types of readers and how to encourage them to subscribe. The event includes a roundtable for newspaper publishers and the always-popular Hot Ideas Exchange moderated by Dennis Dunn, vice president of operations for the Anniston Star in Anniston, Alabama.