Promotion Do's:

• Do establish a budget for point of purchase

• Do test a variety of retail promotions and carefully analyze results. You may find a golden opportunity

• Do modify future promotions based on your promotion results. If one doesn't work, try another

• Do promote theme issues or seasonal issues that are proven winners. Readers love special editions

• Do plan and book promotions well in advance. The prime locations often sell out months in advance

• Do make sure your art director and publisher are aware of your plans

• Do store checks to ensure that the retailer is in compliance

• Do look at using contra to create unique promotions

Promotion Don'ts:

• Don't spend money promoting a bad cover or a weak season. Wait until you have a great cover or issue to really promote aggressively

• Don't discount unless you have aggressive plans to announce it (i.e. radio support)

• Don't nag retailers. Let your national distributor handle the headaches and hassles for you

• Don't deliver the product late. Meet deadlines. You pay for the promotion regardless of delivery

• Don't dabble. It's better to make a big splash with a winner than to spread resources thin over many issues