Is it possible to sell advertising on your website a few months before it goes live?

So...

You want to sell advertising on a site that isn't built and has no traffic yet?

Unless you already have a proven track record, I'm thinking you'll struggle finding people to believe in your site.

Yes...

It's YOUR website, you can do what you want with it.

Explain to anyone the current traffic #'s and what the project #'s will be like.

You should think about this from the vendor's POV. Imagine a person comes to you telling you that they have a site that'll go live in a few months, and is currently asking you to spend money on buying ads on their website. The website hasn't proven anything yet; everything the person is going to tell you is based on calculated estimations.

Your discount won't make them want the ad. That's just something nice you throw in to reel them in once they're hooked. You need to hook them with something.

That hook will be traffic data. You say that the site will get traffic, but that's not the problem. Every site gets traffic. The matter is how much traffic. You can't just say "We're going to be advertising at X, Y, Z". You need to tell them how many people you're expecting and how it'll help them make more money/get more views.

If you've got that data, the next step would be to make the data seem intriguing. You need to show them EXACTLY how that traffic will benefit the company. One way you can do that is to show them your assumed clickthrough rate and the number of people you'll send over per whatever unit you choose, like dollar or impression.

So honestly, if you can get some people, great! Just know that when you're trying to sell your ad space, you'll be facing some obstacles because the site has no traffic data to show and it's all speculation at this point.

OH! And one more thing, if you've got a list of people who already signed up for your sign (if you have one), that can be used to your advantage by showing the demand for your product.

Good luck!

If you manage to sell even one spot let me know because i need an exceptional salesman.
Seriously, i'm assuming you are new to all of this and you have no track record to entice potential advertisers? (If i'm wrong my apologies)
Why would clients pay you upfront with nothing to go on but if's, buts and maybe's...

Im with the above, I used to do cold call selling to business's and you really need to build value around the product, even then thats not enough. People want numbers and proof.

The other down side is you have to compete will all these people who are already established
https://www.google.com/search?q=trav...ient=firefox-a

Best of luck though

Better show them your business plan and help them to understand how it will make them money. You'll probably need a good investment fund to get it started though... in recruiting advertisers.