Before you start pitching ad spots to local businesses, remember this: many business owners mistakenly believe TV time is too expensive. Part of your sales job will be to educate potential advertisers about the affordability of local TV spots.

"We went to a clothing store in town--a mom-and-pop organization--that was having competitive problems," remembers Dan Reynolds of Video Vision. "The local Wal-Mart cut into their business quite a bit."

He told the owners that if they didn't get a response from ads on his show, they wouldn't owe him anything for the first month. If they did, he wanted them to sign a six-month contract. His unique approach worked.

"We produced the spot, let it run for a month and went back a month later. The owners said they were afraid that if I found out what response they got, I'd raise the rates. That was three years ago and they're still running ads with me today."

Commercial time is typically sold to advertisers in 30- or 60-second segments. How much revenue is generated depends primarily on the program's ratings, which provides "proof" of viewership. The more viewers, the higher the ratings and the more you can charge your advertisers. A leased access producer must be creative and flexible with audience measurement methods.

For example, run an ad for a store offering a deal advertised only on your show. The store management can track the number of purchases made as a direct result of your ad. You might use an 800 number for special promotions, the calls are logged and can be used to estimate ratings for the show. This will give you valuable information to take back to your retail spo…