Newspaper Advertising?

[Root 66 Woodshop]

Some great learning points thanks.

I am aware of the scam problem. I'm hoping that being local and being a bit known in the community would help with the trust issues.

I wonder if I offered to provide evidence of the copies printed and distribution figures such as invoices etc would that also help?

Most of the scam ones, are claiming to be on behalf of the Police... they also suggest that proofs will be sent prior to print... both are completely false... yet they manage to get some poor sod every other week or month...

The content will be outsourced yes but it will be different than the 2 competitors. As I said one prints news articles which can be a month old news and the other just prints articles from businesses that advertise.

What makes them any different though?

I am hoping a change in content would make people want to read the paper and would mean people adverts would be seen more.

The one competitor isn't really a scam just not very honest (but what newspapers are these days). Them dropping the prices would be a concern but I was hoping that if the content was different and interesting then businesses would see that and want to advertise in it more than one that is barely read.

I can't comment with regards to the change of content, as I tend not to read, papers.. articles etc as I'm dyslexic and to be quite honest, my heads full 24/7 of mixed up words, random things popping in on a constant basis... even typing this, although I type very well, and I use spellchecker before posting does my head in...

Not really a scam? he quits, they "apparently" make a few bogus calls, wasting his time, effort and money... he re-joins... the bogus calls stop.... How exactly is that not a scam?

 

[alan1302]

Not really a scam? he quits, they "apparently" make a few bogus calls, wasting his time, effort and money... he re-joins... the bogus calls stop.... How exactly is that not a scam?

It's only anecdotal - no proof.

 

[DStyle]

Most of the scam ones, are claiming to be on behalf of the Police... they also suggest that proofs will be sent prior to print... both are completely false... yet they manage to get some poor sod every other week or month...



What makes them any different though?



I can't comment with regards to the change of content, as I tend not to read, papers.. articles etc as I'm dyslexic and to be quite honest, my heads full 24/7 of mixed up words, random things popping in on a constant basis... even typing this, although I type very well, and I use spellchecker before posting does my head in...

Not really a scam? he quits, they "apparently" make a few bogus calls, wasting his time, effort and money... he re-joins... the bogus calls stop.... How exactly is that not a scam?

The content will target a much younger age group and it has came from the research that was carried out by potential readers.

And for me a scam is someone taking money on the promise of goods/services that they won't deliver on. I am certain they are publishing and distributing the figures they say.

I would call it extortion more than anything.

It's only anecdotal - no proof.

Ofcourse there's no proof, otherwise they would have been done for it.

 

[Lucan Unlordly]

You are going to need to do a first edition price in order to firstly make sure you fill the paper first time round and secondly demonstrate the results to those advertising in it.

If your aim is to take the current companies advertising in the other newspapers they aren't going to pay anywhere near what they are currently paying to speculate in a new publication.

I know you said circulation numbers will be similar but are you also delivering to the same area?

I'm inclined to disagree.

If the paper stands up to scrutiny, i.e. looks better, has better editorial, higher circulation, is expected to be well received, create a buzz, be supported by advertising etc., selling the very first issue should be a walk in the park. Sell it cheap and you'll struggle to get the advertisers paying more.

 

[Ian J]

The content will target a much younger age group and it has came from the research that was carried out by potential readers.

My concern is that your target age group doesn't actually read free newspapers

 

[DStyle]

I'm inclined to disagree.

If the paper stands up to scrutiny, i.e. looks better, has better editorial, higher circulation, is expected to be well received, create a buzz, be supported by advertising etc., selling the very first issue should be a walk in the park. Sell it cheap and you'll struggle to get the advertisers paying more.

Interesting take on it. I kinda like the first edition price idea because its really the same as new customer offers that a lot of companies do. I agree that it may be harder to sell for the higher price after, who likes paying more for their loyalty.

I will look into this.

My concern is that your target age group doesn't actually read free newspapers

I completely agree and so does a lot of people judging by the research we done. But a lot of the reasons people gave for not reading free newspapers was due to the content not appealing to them.

 

[DStyle]

@Ian J not meaning to offend but you look like an older gentleman, so do you read the free papers in our area? and have you ever considered advertising in them?

I think you also said you tried a similar idea yourself, if you don't mind me asking what was the type of content you used and how did potential advertisers feel about it?

 

[Ian J]

@Ian J not meaning to offend but you look like an older gentleman, so do you read the free papers in our area? and have you ever considered advertising in them?

I think you also said you tried a similar idea yourself, if you don't mind me asking what was the type of content you used and how did potential advertisers feel about it?

We don't have any free newspapers in our area. We did get them a few years ago and I'm afraid that they went in the bin.

I did launch a free newspaper many years ago and employed an editor to write content which was a mixture of local news and events and features.

As already mentioned I was unable to sell sufficient advertising to make the paper profitable despite employing a team of field and telesales people many of whom had worked in the industry and also had enormous problems getting people to pay despite my own expertise in that field as a Member of the Institute of Credit Management.

Before I launched the newspaper I lived in a million pound house in a leafy Sussex village and let's just say that now I no longer live in a million pound house nor in a leafy Sussex village

 

[DStyle]

We don't have any free newspapers in our area. We did get them a few years ago and I'm afraid that they went in the bin.

I did launch a free newspaper many years ago and employed an editor to write content which was a mixture of local news and events and features.

As already mentioned I was unable to sell sufficient advertising to make the paper profitable despite employing a team of field and telesales people many of whom had worked in the industry and also had enormous problems getting people to pay despite my own expertise in that field as a Member of the Institute of Credit Management.

Before I launched the newspaper I lived in a million pound house in a leafy Sussex village and let's just say that now I no longer live in a million pound house nor in a leafy Sussex village

I am interested to know more about your breakeven figures, if you don't mind me asking. How many adverts did you need to break even and how how adverts did you get each month? What was the biggest reason you couldn't get enough advertisers on board?

Looking at my competitors, 1 paper has an average of 210 adverts every month in a 30 page paper (as you can imagine there isn't much room for content) and the other only has on average 140 adverts over a 36 page paper - this is the one that publishes news from last month.

Looking at my break even costs in year one, I am looking at around £60K a year if I don't take any sales staff on. I was thinking of a 44 page paper and I need around 35 adverts (depending on size) to break even.

Am I being too unrealistic with aiming for at least 35 adverts every month?

 

[Benjamin B]

My question would be, how can you test there is a genuine market for your newspaper before launching into it full on?

The A5 local directories that are printed and delivered around me are always packed full of adverts from local tradespeople and small businesses - and people seem to take an interest in picking them up and keeping them somewhere "just in case".

I might be wrong, but given that they're not really loaded with content/stories of interest that you have to constantly source and generally, local people contribute articles to these directories for self-promotion anyway (for free), it seems like an easier setup than creating a whole newspaper.

If it proved popular, you could gradually build it into a newspaper, and then at least you'll know if there's a genuine appetite for it before sinking in a load of time, money and resources.

For those that have read "good to great" - it's firing bullets at your target before shooting cannonballs.

 

[Lucan Unlordly]

Interesting take on it. I kinda like the first edition price idea because its really the same as new customer offers that a lot of companies do. I agree that it may be harder to sell for the higher price after, who likes paying more for their loyalty.

Advertisers are loyal to response, price and vanity.

The only discounts you should be giving are for series bookings, Buy 4 months get one Free etc., Good for you, better for them.

PS: For the record, Advertising Sales/Sales Manager regional Press, Business to Business, Display sales for national daily, Radio airtime sales, many hours selling to ad agencies and a short spell working in one. Old, out of touch but experienced