Insider Info

At the onset of the U.S. war in Iraq, Karen Eskew was working for the U.S. Naval Institute. The editorial staff wanted a cutting-edge magazine with new content about the war.

"We had to throw out the whole magazine and redo it in three days," she recalls. It usually took two weeks' work to produce the magazine.

"Everyone was working around the clock," Eskew says, remembers how hard the team worked. The publisher brought lunch and sometimes dinner in to the office so that the staff could work through meals. They continued working on Saturdays.

"It could have been a disaster, but we knew we had to get [the magazine] out," she says.

Deadlines are part of the job. Overtime is sometimes necessary. Eskew says that a positive attitude is the key to working under pressure. Sometimes it is necessary to accept mistakes.

"We're human and that's what it comes down to. If you try to be perfect, you drive everybody nuts," she says.

Eskew is now the production manager for the American Psychological Association (APA). She lays out proofs and advertisements, proofreads the classified ads, and designs the media kit and internal ads. She also deals with advertisers and the print orders.

"I couldn't ask for a better job," she says. She is a designer by education. She loves to let her creative juices flow when she designs media kits.

Vanessa Leigh is the publisher of a fashion magazine. She founded the magazine herself five years ago. At her small publication, her duties include managing the advertising and marketing departments. To do this, she works with her sales and design teams to create the layout for the magazine. They make sure that advertisers will be satisfied with where their ads are placed. She also oversees a production manager who ensures that the ads satisfy the magazine's specifications, too.

Leigh also coordinates with the fashion magazine's marketing department. They get the word out about the magazine. This is largely done by organizing two big parties every year: an anniversary party and a We Love Fashion party during the regional Fashion Week.

Leigh says that in advertising, sales people must have good timing. Advertising is a competitive business.

Sales people want to grab their clients' ad budgets before other magazines get to it. Advertisers have a limited amount to spend in a year. Once the money is gone, sales people must wait until the advertiser's budget is replenished.

In order to capture that advertising money, sales people must be familiar with the magazine. They need to know the readers of the magazine. They must also be familiar with the product the advertisers are promoting. The target consumers of the product must be similar to the readers of the magazine. Advertising and the content of publication need to be well-matched to be profitable.

Leigh has learned not to take it personally when advertisers say no to her. But it wasn't always so easy to accept rejection. Because she created it and publishes it, the magazine is like her baby. So whenever an advertiser would decline ad space, she says it was like, "having someone tell you your child's ugly." She has since come to realize that sometimes the magazine may simply not be the right fit for the client.

Paul Ellis changed careers from project managing at an engineering firm to producing sales for a fashion magazine.

"I wanted to have more fun," he says. What makes his current job fun are the people he works with. "People in sales have to be positive and encourage each other. They're always making things happen. It's infectious," says Ellis. "If you want to have fun and meet people, it's a great job. It's a good way to build a network of contacts."

Ellis says it's pretty cool when you get a sale with a big company. But there are also times when sales are down. Ellis says keeping positive and motivated during these times can be a challenge. Being part of the glamorous fashion industry helps him through tough times.

"One of the perks of my job is seeing beautiful women and going to all these fashion shows. I get to meet a lot of people in the fashion world. Sometimes I get free samples or even free clothes," he says. He also does some bookkeeping work. He must send out invoices, receive payments, process payments and follow up with late payments.

"It's all interpersonal skills and knowing the product. People who are good with people excel in this job," he says. "You have to have a certain amount of confidence because you are going to get rejected a lot. You have to be a positive person because you'll have highs and lows."