American Marketing and Publishing Reviews

Current Employee – been working at American Marketing and Publishing full-time for more than a year

Pros – Super strong selling system that is universal across the company. Focused leadership meetings monthly with travel reimbursement. Daily coaching conference calls from the trenches to help you grow. My manager is really involved in my success and helping me grow

Cons – A bit micromanaged. GPS reports said to be for our "safety". Lots of at home work that leads to little to no monetary reimbursement. Leadership lacks common sense for respecting work life balance. Often don't feel rewarded or recognized for my hard work. Feels a bit political at times in terms of who is riding the wave at the top. Over the last year I have watched the morale in the company nose dive. Lack of a good year last year seems to have everyone in over management mode and a lot of the fun has been taken out of the job. Chose the company because of its culture, which seems to be declining.

Advice to Senior Management – Panic is not a strategy, neither is micromanagement. No one smiles anymore. Life is too short to make work miserable. Perhaps instead of panic and micromanagement we should switch to strategies of reward and recognition. Remember its the "little things" that keep a relationship strong. Happy people work harder.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at American Marketing and Publishing full-time for less than a year

Pros – If you are looking for a company that is very structured with training and demanding work ethic, then this may be a career for you. Very intense initial training program. Have daily training conference calls that include the sales professional's successes and applications to real life experiences's out in field. Many ways to earn extra bonuses and incentives beyond base salary and commission.

Cons – Base salary is low. Have to sell a minimum amount, before you earn commission. Salary is actually based on hours worked in the field. Doesn't include the hours of precall planning out in field. My experience was, that after initial full week of training-( which was intense, but good) I did not receive good support and coaching afterwards.

Advice to Senior Management – Have a true salary + commission model. If I would have had proper coaching for success, I would still be with company.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at American Marketing and Publishing full-time for less than a year

Pros – -A satisfactory base salary combined with opportunities for commission and bonuses can (potentially) add up to a great paycheck
- Freedom to take a lunch when and where you want (even though management basically recommends that you dont ever take a break)
- ability to self manage

Cons – -You have to meet a threshold before being able to make commission. Makes for a hard start to your career
- "Golden hours" are horrible. Forced to work 2 hours after many businesses are closed trying to find home based businesses and knocking on their doors when they are home enjoying family time.
- deduction off of your paycheck if you can't sell text (negative reinforcement has never been a beneficial tactic)
- the work doesnt stop when you leave the sales field. once you get home you have to submit all of your daily results, and spend more time planning the next day. When you arent getting home till after 7:30pm on tuesdays and thursdays it makes for an endless week

Advice to Senior Management – Partner up sales reps. You can be so much more productive, successful, and HAPPY when you are able to work with other people

Current Employee – been working at American Marketing and Publishing full-time for more than a year

Pros – Great product that makes sense. Very affordable for anyone advertising. Great way to advertise and the distribution method is very thorough.

Cons – The company prides itself on good character and encourages open and confidential communication regarding all issues of concern, but they don't resolve issues with the best interest for the employees. They are only concerned with protecting the company. Also, expect to work very hard to achieve high goals before having a chance to earn commision.

Advice to Senior Management – Keep a closer eye on your employees and their representation of your company as well as their loyalty to you.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at American Marketing and Publishing full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Family like atmosphere
Great benefits
Active in the community

Cons – Sales reps are the only people who get bonuses (minus execs and upper management); no EOY bonuses for salaried employees.
Compensation fits the community of the home office, not the size and reach of the company
Some of the upper management (like 1 person) treat the company like a communist society; i.e. if you leave 1 minute before 5, you will get written up

Advice to Senior Management – Sales are important, but all of the sales in the world would mean nothing without your office staff. Pay them better.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at American Marketing and Publishing

Pros – Income potential if you are willing to put in the long hours and days day after day
Freedom to plan your daily schedule in your canvas town
Freedom of working in outside sales rather than stuck inside
Numerous Advancement opportunities if you are willing to work hard and prove your self

Cons – Base "salary" IS NOT A SALARY...it is a base yes , but is completly recoverable held against future required monthly sales /commissions of 10,000 monthly when the base pay annually is only 25K
LONG HOURS/ DAYS
Not everyone CAN do this, nor should they try
Base pay is what it is for everyone no matter if you have a ton of sales experience or none directly out of college. Its 25K with NO negotiation. If you want ot need more money then sells more ads or go somewhere else.

Advice to Senior Management – Be more upfront about your compensation with new hire candidates. Do not boast it as a salary plus commission when it is clearly not. It is a base yes plus commission opportunities after you have made numerous sales or 10000 of monthly revenue sales first withheld by the company that you are NEVER paid commissions on, and never will be. You make commissions only on all revenue sales over the required monthly threshold.

Former Employee – worked at American Marketing and Publishing

Pros – good money if you like sales

Cons – constant rejection not even positive results

Advice to Senior Management – keep hiring in sales!

Former Employee – worked at American Marketing and Publishing

Pros – the health insurance was great.

Cons – long hours and pay is not what i thought it would be.

Advice to Senior Management – more one on one sales training.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at American Marketing and Publishing

Pros – For the most part, well-organized. Good offering of benefits, promote from within. CEO seems to have his head on straight and not purely ego-driven - very rare! The product is mostly well-received.

Cons – While promotions are mostly within the organization, the skill set to be an awesome sales person doesn't necessarily mean that person is a good manager or trainer. As a sales person in the field, you are asked to do a ride-along prior to being offered a position. This is a crucial part of knowing whether you are a good fit or not (see Advice to Management). Not all communities are the same when it comes to how a new product will be perceived. The hours are intense, as is the training. While that is what it takes to be successful in this company, they are loosing out on some very good reps that have long-term staying power as a result. Early burn-out is inevitable if this doesn't change.

Advice to Senior Management – When in training, the trainer herself seems befuddled why the turnover is so high. Well, here it is: Management needs to have a DM or trainer be the person doing the ride along for a potential sales rep. Don't make a new rep who is otherwise doing quite well do all the ride-alongs and then miss threshold because they are really doing the DM's job. Also, consider that you might need more than one type of rep in the field as the skill set is different when it comes to store-front businesses vs home-based businesses. When in classroom training, be more open to doing more intense role-play and help to really train these folks, not just give out information. See if from the new rep's eyes, not the eyes of a seasoned rep-turned-trainer. Lastly, while some things don't change in an industry, there are some things that DO change. Be open to taking time to converse with folks who have left to really find out how the company can improve and then instill those changes. If you have someone leaving that you feel would have done well, ask them what it would take to keep them around and be willing to work with them on it. Be willing to test this theory out on a case-by-case basis to see if you can reduce the issues. You've got a good foundation for a company but the high turnover in the field is going to bite you sooner or later.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at American Marketing and Publishing

Pros – Management is SUPER NICE and the training was super intense and alot of fun. I enjoyed it alot. I was really excited to work at American Marketing and Publishing. The CEO is soooo friendly and they all will come and chill with the workers and encourage everyone. You get a pretty decent base salary for a sales job. Some people can make BANK in this job! They provide you with EVERYTHING you need and are really awesome!

Cons – I personally just couldn't do it. I gave it a try, but I sucked. If your a Really Good sales person you can be super successful, but otherwise you will hate it. You are selling a product that some areas already have perfected and in training they make you believe that this book is special but really its not, infact my area had a book that was the same only BETTER and CHEAPER!!! How could I compete? They expect you to sell 2 spots a day and my first two weeks I only sold 1 all together! They made it sound like you weren't doing your job if you couldn't sell it, but it wasn't the case. Not only that but you have a 7,000$ threshold a month before you even start making commission. Now, I know that some people are soooo good that it comes naturally (the other new women in my district was doing awesome and she sold space after space), but if you aren't a natural born sales person then this isn't for you.

Benifits are RIDICULOUSLY EXPENSIVE!!!!! Expect to pay over 600$ a month for a family health insurance plan!

Advice to Senior Management – You guys are awesome! Wasn't your fault that I'm a crappy sales person.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend