Editor's Note: Personnel Is The Best Investment

Meeting sales quotas and deadlines are crucial to be successful in newspaper advertising, but you will not get far without a strong sales team.
The best investment you can make in your company is to hire personnel that can get the job done and do it well. You want a staff that can help the publication meet its goals and produce a good product. Although hiring staff takes time and money, it’s worth it.
In fact, building sales teams is such an important aspect of many companies that they turn to recruiters who hire sales professionals for a living. For your publication, the hiring process will go smoother if you take it from the same approach as job recruiters. Focus on what skills you want your staff to have and how they can help the publication. Make your job description clear – be specific on what you want. You need something to measure candidates with to determine if they are right for the job.
In addition, you need to find where to go to target your candidates. In my Dad’s managerial experience, the job recruiters he worked with knew which companies to consider to find candidates. They also had applicants come to them for help in finding a job.
So, take a deep breath and take a hard look at your staff. Take into consideration what is missing and what is unnecessary. There might be someone out there who can help your publication grow and expand in the near future.

Happy recruiting,

Kaye Maloney
Editorial Intern