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Welcome to The Niche Fix. Each week, we will share insights from experts and professionals in the niche publishing industry. Have questions or thoughts about the industry? Reply to this email, and let’s chat!

But first…

The Nichee Awards are officially back and entries are now open!

If you’re doing standout work in niche media, this is your moment. The Nichee Awards recognize excellence across publishing, sales, editorial, and audience growth, with winners announced live at the 2026 Niche Media Conference in Orlando.

From Publisher of the Year to Sales Leader, Editor, and Marketing/Audience Development Director, these awards celebrate the people and brands pushing the industry forward.

Finalists will be notified and invited to attend the winners ceremony in Orlando.

Ryan Dohrn’s Sales Corner: You Are Responsible for Marketing You

Not every client needs a fully customized plan of attack, and trying to touch every customer every week is unrealistic. Time is limited, and strong salespeople know they have to work smarter, not harder.

Ryan Dohrn has been focusing on better time management and finding ways to stay connected with customers without spreading himself too thin. One strategy that has worked is creating a personal newsletter for his clients.

This is not a company newsletter. It is a Ryan newsletter.

The goal is to stay visible and valuable at scale by sharing industry insights, marketing ideas, and trends that matter to his customers, along with the occasional personal note to help build relationships. It keeps Ryan top of mind without requiring constant one on one check-ins.

Many salespeople assume this is the marketing team’s job. It is not. Marketing teams promote the company and the product. It is up to salespeople to market themselves.

Ryan encourages using tools like ChatGPT or other AI platforms to help create simple monthly content. Whether it is sent through Mailchimp, HubSpot, or a CRM does not matter. Consistency does.

Do not wait for someone else to do the job you know you need to do. You are responsible for marketing you.

Now, let’s talk new products…

The Fastest Way to Kill a New Product Is a Bad Rollout

By Zach O’Brien

The beginning of the year is a tough moment for media sales teams. Q4 just ended, everyone is tired, and advertisers are still figuring out how much money they actually have to spend. At the same time, leadership is looking ahead and rolling out new ideas, new offerings, and new revenue goals that are supposed to carry the business forward.

Salespeople feel this pressure immediately. They are expected to protect the foundational products that already work while also learning how to sell something brand new that may not even have a track record yet. That tension is where most new products struggle. Not because they are bad ideas, but because the people selling them are juggling too much without enough support.

If you want a new product to succeed, you need to make the rollout as intentional as the idea itself.

Start With a Pilot Program, Not a Full Rollout

One of the biggest mistakes media companies make is launching a new product everywhere all at once. A better approach is to start with a small pilot program offered to a loyal advertiser at a heavily discounted rate.

This does a few important things at the same time. It lowers the risk for the advertiser, creates a safe testing ground for your team, and gives you real data instead of guesses. Be upfront that the product is in a pilot phase and that feedback is part of the deal. Most long-term advertisers appreciate being included early, especially when expectations are clear.

A successful pilot gives you proof of concept, early results, and a much easier sales story to tell later. If it does not perform as expected, you have learned something valuable before rolling it out at scale.

Create a Sales Sheet or Landing Page That Explains the Product Clearly

If your product only lives in someone’s head, it is going to be sold differently every single time. That is where confusion starts and confidence disappears.

Every new product should have a simple sales sheet or landing page that clearly explains what it is, who it is for, and why it exists. This does not need to be flashy or overly designed. It just needs to be clear and honest. Salespeople should be able to send it to a client and trust that it explains the product accurately without additional explanation.

At a minimum, it should answer a few basic questions:

• What problem does this product solve for advertisers?

• What does success look like?

• How does it fit alongside existing offerings?

Clarity removes friction and makes it easier for sales teams to lead conversations with confidence.

Use Video to Do the Heavy Lifting for Your Sales Team

A short explainer video can be one of the most useful tools in your sales process. A two to three minute video that walks through the product, its benefits, and who it is best suited for gives salespeople something they can send before or after a call to reinforce the message.

Video also helps standardize your pitch. Not every salesperson explains things the same way, and that is okay. A video ensures that the core story stays consistent and that key details do not get lost. It also saves time and makes follow-up easier.

Think of it as a quiet teammate that helps close knowledge gaps without adding more meetings to the calendar.

Promote the Product Like It Actually Matters

If you are not talking about your new product publicly, advertisers may assume it is experimental or temporary. Promotion does not have to be aggressive, but it should be intentional.

Mention the product in your newsletters. Talk about it on social media. Give it a clear place on your website. When advertisers see it consistently, it starts to feel like a real part of your business instead of a side project.

Familiarity builds trust, and trust makes selling easier.

Train Your Sales Team With Purpose and Context

Do not assume your sales team will figure it out on their own. New products deserve their own training time.

Hold a dedicated meeting focused entirely on the product. Explain why it exists, who it is best for, and how it complements your foundational offerings instead of competing with them. Talk openly about objections and questions that might come up. Give your team language they can actually use in conversations with clients.

When salespeople understand the purpose behind a product and how it fits into the bigger picture, they sell it with confidence instead of hesitation.

Expect Progress, Not Perfection

No new product launches perfectly. The goal is not to get everything right on day one. The goal is to learn quickly, adjust intentionally, and keep moving forward.

At the beginning of the year, momentum matters more than polish. A thoughtful rollout gives your sales team a fighting chance and gives your new product the space it needs to grow into a meaningful revenue stream instead of another forgotten idea by spring.

This issue of the Niche Fix is brought to you by Workbooks CRM

Workbooks is the No-BS CRM. They bring you custom-built CRM made for midsize businesses. This means you don’t have to pay for features you don’t need. You won’t get the complexity of a system built for enterprises. And you’ll get dedicated support, including a workshop to map out your CRM plan before you choose to work with them. 

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