Marko Siltala, Sales Representative, Satakunnan Kansa/ SK24.fi
 
Satakunnan Kansa, one of Alma Media's newspapers, enticed Marko Siltala to join in January 2007. The paper's strong, reliable brand, well known in its region, as well as the interesting job content were a good incentive for the active salesperson.
 
"At first, I sold advertising to the paper's weekly supplement Virta and the online service www.satakunnankansa.fi. When the popularity of online advertising continued to rise, I noticed all my time was in fact spent with the online side. Today I am responsible for the advertising sales for Satakunnan Kansa's online service SK24.fi."
 
Marko's days are filled with customer meetings and interaction with colleagues. An advertising salesperson's important personal qualities include good social skills, the willingness to understand the customer's business and the competence in offering solutions that work best to fulfil the customer's needs.
 
"Customer meetings are usually joint visits with our other advertising salespeople. My role in the meetings is to provide the customer with more in-depth knowledge of online media, the different ways campaigns can be created and the new online advertising methods we have developed. The whole business of online advertising is so new that many advertisers don't know all the possibilities that are open to them."
 
"Online advertising sales is new to most of my colleagues, too. Although a certain competence exists, my experience seems to be very much in demand."
 
Alma Media encourages people to experiment with new things. Marko has had the courage to bravely venture into the varied world of online advertising solutions - with some of them becoming permanent successes and others not so much. Colleagues and managers have provided encouragement along the way and participated in developing new solutions.
 
"The best part of my job is that the accumulated competencies of everyone at Alma are at my fingertips. The online advertising experts form a tightly-knit team across organisational borders, and you don't have to reinvent the wheel every time," says Marko, glad to be working in such an environment.
 
Success brings rewards: Marko was the winner of the Sales Star 2007 competition for Alma's advertising sales force.
 
"My prize was a travel voucher worth a few thousand euro. The picture has been taken when I was putting the prize in good use."