You find it odd that every radio station or TV station or magazine or event marketer is Number One in the market. How can 15 media outlets all be number one? Isn’t there a tiebreaker? So your desk becomes littered with proposals from all of them.

We are not “spots and dots” people. We make sure the medium you use is giving you not just the best rate, but that you’re utilizing all of the assets that medium has to offer – web, Twitter, email blasts, events. It’s not hard to buy media.

Pick up the phone. Call Jacksonville Magazine and tell them you want an ad in their June issue. But it takes relationships and savvy to make sure you get the best rate and the right place in the magazine and even if the June issue is the right issue. We have great relations with the local and national media to help us secure the best rates and the programs for our clients.

We also buy media differently. Most media offer a commission to the ad agency to place ads in their medium. So your agency buys you a $1,000 ad, but it’s getting billed only $850 from the medium. They bill you the full grand and keep the commission. We don’t have a problem with that – everyone should make money, and we make ours. We just do it differently. Typically our engagements are on retainer or fee. We don’t take media commissions because we want to make sure we make the right decisions for you, not for us.

And we make sure the media does what they say they’re going to do. Not that they don’t, but ever read a media affidavit? Yikes. Who has time to run a business and then read through 30 pages of a radio schedule to make sure your 120 thirty-second spots ran when they were supposed to and not at three in the morning? We do. It’s what we do. And if it’s right, we pay them!

Speaking of time…when we launched the media campaign for the Alhambra we took more than 50 meetings, all with media reps and executive who were “perfect for our market!” Do you have time for that? While we handle all the negotation and management of their six figure budget, often, our clients just hire us to be gate keepers. We sift through the countless proposals and recommend the ones that fit best.

So we plan your media, negotiate the buys and analyze it to make sure it’s right. We look at the media as your business partner and we work closely with them to reach your goal.

We can be simple gate keepers and your first line of defense (thanks for the fall, please call MediaShare and they’ll help you…”) or we can do it all (see above).