2011 September

V I S I T U S A T W W W . S A P A T O D A Y . C O M

Southeastern Advertising Publishers Association (931) 490-0400 (931) 490-0488 fax 1

SAPATodayAdvancing the free paper industry by providing resources for success and venues for sharing ideas.

Board of DirectorsThe leadership of SAPA is in good hands. The board of directors, director, and assistant are listed with contact information.Page 3

How’s YourPeripheral Vision?John Foust helps see more than is right in front of us. Look around to see a total marketing approach.Page 3

Conference ScheduleWe just had an amazing conference in Birmingham, Alabama. Now, prepare to join us in New Orleans, LA September 2012.Page 8

Graphics Series Ellen Hanrahan shows how Glyphs can add some fun and excitement to an ad, without a lot of work.Page 5

USPS UpdateIf you don’t know what an Exigent Rate Remand Case means then read this article to understand this complex subject.Page 6

6 Steps to Effective AdvertisingTake your readers to the “buy” by using these six time-tested steps.Page 9

by Bob Berting

It usually takes me twice as long to read the average publication because I’m constantly stopping to admire the subtle nuances of a well-crafted ad. What is the ad trying to say? How does the ad make me feel about the quality of the product or service? How does the ad match up with the surrounding ads on the page? The same thing hap-pens when I see other forms of printed advertising - brochures, mailing piec-es, flyers - you name it. In short, over the years, I have become an advertis-ing junkie.

Why I Love FreePaper Advertising

This obsession with printed forms of advertising, and how it works, leads to a greater appreciation of creativity in successful advertising campaigns. If we want to catch—and hold— the attention of your readers, here are 3 things to think about when designing and writing copy for your ads:

1. KEEP IT FRESH:Consumers are bored quickly. Surprise them with intelligent advertising. Sell benefits, not features. Show and tell them quickly how the advertising can make them feel good about the prod-uct or service. Most current TV com-

mercials are not clear about the prod-uct or service until the last 5 seconds of the spot.

2. KEEP IT SIMPLE:Most display ads are too full of graphics and copy. That’s why the ads go gray to the reader and consequently lack good response for your customer. If you have a complicated story to tell, boil it down to your main selling points and convert them into a provocative head-ing for each ad. These headline points can also be seen as reasons to buy. If you give the consumer enough reasons

Southeastern Advertising Publishers Association

THE MONTHLY NEWSLETTER FOR THE FREE PAPER INDUSTRY SEPTEMBER 2011

continued on page 2



by Brian Gay

The Campaign Committee is busy working on the design for the 3 new pop-up banners. Only one banner will have to be changed as the information changes. We were spending more on shipping than what the new banners will cost. The big benefit is that the new pop-up banners will ship for a fraction of the cost of the old display.

The Member Relations Committee reports that Dan Holmes is working on the Link –N- Learn book project and that Janelle Anderson and Elaine Buckley are working on a new project call Link – N- Earn. The purpose is to provide information to publishers that can create new revenue.

The Technology Committee is work-ing on blogs posted on the PaperChain website. The committee reported that Ohio has approved legals for distribu-tion in free papers. This was done in part with the help of paid newspapers because they did not want the legals going to the Internet. The committee is working on plans to get the Paper-Chain blogs to more members by us-ing social networks and using state and regional social media presence, email links, and newsletters.

The Charitable Committee is work-ing on a replacement for Make- A- Wish. As you may recall, Make-A-Wish decided to go in a different direction. One suggestion is to check with the Ad Council and see if there is a project that would fit what free pa-pers have to offer. The thought is that we could get a lot of exposure to our industry by working with this group. Their board is like the Who’s Who of numerous ad agencies.

The Administration Committee will be working this month with David Crawford from SRDS in preparation for the next 2-year contract with Stan-dard Rate and Data. Many in the in-dustry believe this is the best and most important benefit that is provided by PaperChain.

Luck is a dividend of sweat. The more you sweat, the luckier you get.

Ray Kroc

In good times, people want to advertise; in bad times, they have to.

Bruce Barton

Partners in Printing Since 1900

David C. ZehPrint Sales Consultant

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to buy, they will be far more receptive to the advertising campaign.

3. KEEP IT SMART:Most copy written today is mundane and most copywriters are in a comfort-able rut. Think bigger. Think smarter. Look at what the competition is doing, then aim higher with sharper, more descriptive headlines and copy. Use a Thesaurus, which is both a dictionary of synonyms and a treasury of related words. I now ask you to shake things up. Create advertising that can’t be ig-nored.

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PresidentRussell

QuattlebaumSoutheast Sun

Enterprise, AL 334-393-2969

Vice PresidentTony OnellionBargains PlusSlidell, LA

985-649-9515

Past PresidentGreg Ledford

Shelby Shopper & Info

Shelby, NC 704-484-1047

TreasurerAlan Lingerfelt

The Piedmont Shopper

Danville, VA434-822-1800

Board MemberWill ThomasExchange, Inc.

Fayetteville, TN 931-433-9737

SecretaryCaroline

QuattlebaumSoutheast Sun

Enterprise, AL 334-393-2969

Executive Director

Douglas FrySAPA Headquarters

Columbia, TN931-490-0400

Board MemberBill Derby

Johnson City News & Neighbor

Johnson City, TN423-979-1300

Past PresidentGary Benton

Peddler ADvantageParis, TN

731-644-9595

Administrative Assistant

Vickie BeldenSAPA Headquarters

Columbia, TN931-490-0400SA

PA

Lead

ersh

ip Integrity is the most valuable and respected quality of leadership. Always keep your word.

Brian Tracy

By John Foust, Raleigh, NC

I was talking to Gloria, an advertiser who is always looking for ways to get the most from her promotional budget. “There are more marketing choices now than ever before,” she said. “And

is designed to make all aspects of marketing communication such as advertising, sales promotion, public relations, and direct marketing work together as a unified force, rather than permitting each to work in isolation.”

“There are a lot of media sales people who don’t acknowledge other marketing vehicles,” Gloria said. “That approach doesn’t work with businesses like mine. I want to deal with people who have peripheral vision – people who see more than what’s directly in front of them.”

How’s YourPeripheral Vision?

continued on page 4

one of the most important factors is that things can be connected. Some people call it integrated marketing. I can place an ad in my local paper which drives people to my web site, which in turn provides more details about the product in the print ad.”

The web site About.com defines Integrated Marketing Communication as, “a management concept that



A lot of advertisers agree with Gloria’s point of view. They want cohesiveness in the way their products and services are marketed. We’d better take them seriously.

Here are some key steps in the process:

1. Study your prospect’s marketing. “I’m impressed when sales people demonstrate they know something about my marketing history,” Gloria said. “That puts our discussions on

a higher level. Right off the bat, we can analyze results and talk about my marketing objectives for the future.

“I remember one sales person who put together an album of some ads and promotions that I had run,” she explained. “That was a smart strategy, because it provided us with some specifics to discuss.”

Gloria is right. It’s important for sales people to look beyond today’s ads.

What kinds of offers has your prospect made in the past? What kinds of products have been featured? What target audiences can be identified? Have the ads created some kind of urgency – a reason to buy immediately? What about institutional messages?

2. Study competing media. “Some sales people are so focused on their own products that they ignore the fact that other people are making pitches to their prospects,” Gloria said.

“It comes as no surprise to talk to a sales person who has product knowledge about what he or she is selling. But it’s a surprise – a refreshing surprise – to run into someone who can also talk intelligently about the other media vehicles in the market. That makes a huge difference in establishing credibility. If sales people don’t know what else is available out there, why should I trust their advice on integrated marketing?”

3. Look for potential connections. “This is where it all fits together,” Gloria said. “These days, marketing is like a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. It’s all about making combinations. Chocolate and peanut butter work pretty well together.

“Show me how your paper, your web site and your other products can make my overall marketing stronger, and I’m all ears.”

(c) Copyright 2011 by John Foust. All rights reserved. E-mail John Foust for information about his training videos for ad departments: [email protected]

People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity.

Andrew CarnegieIndustrialistFree Papers

Working For You

In a letter to George Washington, Thomas Jefferson wrote:

“No government ought to be without censors & where the press is free, no one ever will.”

Your free community paper works hard each issue to provide you with great value. That value comes to you, our readers, at no cost. To some, freedom of the press means freedom from interference from others. We believe freedom of the press means that connection to our community should not cost the reader. You should not have to pay to be connected to or be a part of this region. That’s why we’re free.

Let freedom ring.



GlyphsI PREFER TO DO MOST DESIGN WORK IN INDESIGN. IT’S EASIER—AND FASTER, FOR ME, TO NOT SPEND TIME LOOKING FOR ELEMENTS TO USE. THAT’S WHY I LIKE…

…’till next month!

A Glyph (noun) is a hieroglyphic character or small graphic symbol. In InDesign, it can be found under the Type Menu. A glyph palette is a user-friendly, easily accessible character map of all the glyphs in a typeface. It shows you which characters are included in a font… and allows you to insert any of them into your document with a single click. Both Adobe InDesign and QuarkXPress have glyph palettes. Display an entire font at once, or use the dropdown menu to view subsets of the character set (ligatures, alternates, small caps, etc.). The glyph palette is especially useful when working with Open Type fonts, which can have character sets numbering in the thousands. Need the register, trademark symbol or em-dash? Find it in the glyph palette…as well as a Euro symbol, fractions, or a particular foreign language character. All are in the glyph palette.

Explore the GlyphsBickham Script Pro offers many variations on a letter… let me show you below. This is a perfect typeface for wedding-related ads or promos, because you can dress it up or dress it down. Let’s just start with…

& & & &

Wedding W edding

Wedding Summer�ummer

wh ti ri os ch rr tt Thank YouThank You

Just the “W” alone makes adifferent statement. Here are a few “g” choices…

Other letters also havetheir own set of glyphs! Can all these choices go horribly wrong? You bet, so the idea is restraint. Pick a letter, or possibly two, that would give the most impact and stay with it.

g g g g g g g g g g g

Wedding

These two are slightly different in the fact that the top letter has a slight ‘bump’ to accommodate a stroke being attached.

This is a typeface you mightchoose to give an elegantlook, but you could also use it for Thank You’s or just use one letter for contrast. I used Bickham Script contrasted with Helvetica to add a little more emphasis to the name in the sample below. This was part of an idea for a busi-ness card I did.

I placed the emphasis on the word Enerchi and the long swash on the letter “i” adds a little visual energy to the word. You really don’t need to add much artwork… maybe a simplified flower or similar. You can see a sample of one of the ideas at the end of the next column. There are also other typefaces that offer a lot of variations in the glyph panel. Open Type format offers the best and most useful types of charac-ter sets and can be used on both Macintosh and Windows platforms. Another typeface that offers a few variations and is fun, is called CandyScript.

P·U·R·E EnerchiPurify Unite Revive Environmental Energy

This Open Type font also comes with a variety of swash characters. There are also common pairs that can be created as ligatures, above and beyond the fi and fl pairings that we are used to. Because this typeface is so strong, it’s best use is sometimes just one word or two very short words.

Type as DesignType can be a very strong design element. And with the amount of space that we have to work with… you know, ads getting smaller and infor-mation staying the same, or more… sometimes the most practical way to give a distinctive look or grab the reader’s attention is to use typo-graphic elements. Even Arno Pro (another type-face, along with Bickham Script Pro, that came with Adobe InDesign CS3, I think) has a variety of ampersands (the & symbol) for a better fit in regular and old style type. It offers ornaments that can be a great piece of art. Find these in the Glyphs Panel… then add a little outline, a little drop shadow and voila!Instant headline!

Staying BusyJust got back from a cruise to Alaska… and somehow I need to recuperate from doing not much of anything! I will now start to prepare for the IFPA confer-ence in Reno so it seems there is always some-thing going on… and I hope to see you there!

•••• •• •

•Sample Business CardHere’s a sample of the business card I did, as promised (although scaled to fit). I even threw in a variation. I usually give the customer a few choices to ensure that we both are headed in the right direction.

P·U·R·E Enerchi P·U·R·E Enerchi

P·U·R·E EnerchiP·U·R·E Enerchi

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Here is my final choice, at least for now. I reduced the size of the “W” a bit. The type size is 48-point, however I made the “W” 40-point to help lessen the size contrast and bal-ance the “g” better.

I welcome your input and suggestions. I entered the publishing business after nine years as a high school art teacher and taught software programs at techni-cal school. I also write for The Independent Publisher, and I’m still learning. E-mail: [email protected] Hanrahan ©2011

•

P·U·R·E Enerchi P·U·R·E Enerchi

P·U·R·E EnerchiP·U·R·E Enerchi




Kriss Hansen | Certified PractionerYang House Feng ShuiPhone 262-555-5588

Cell 262-555-9999

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USPS Update:Exigent Rate Remand Caseby Donna Hanbery

Last year, the Postal Service tried to raise postal rates in its first “exigent” rate case. The statute governing the Postal Service caps rate adjustments to CPI except under “extraordinary” and “exceptional” circumstances. The Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) found the Postal Service had shown it was facing some extraordi-nary and exceptional circumstances caused by revenue losses from the re-cession, but denied the requested rate relief on the grounds that most of the Postal Service’s problems, including its financial woes, were due to other structural problems, including the huge prefunding burdens for retiree health care costs. The PRC denied the Postal Service’s rate hike request on the grounds that it failed to show the proposed revenues requested, and the rates proposed, were “due to” the exigent circumstance.

The Postal Service took the case to the Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals largely agreed with the PRC decision but sent the case back to the Commission with a mandate to the Commission to conduct an analysis to determine and define how closely the

amount of any requested exigent rate adjustment must match the amount revenue lost as a result of the exigent circumstances. In other words, the Court of Appeals directed the PRC to define “due to.”

When it comes to legal proceedings, let alone rate and regulatory proceed-ings in Washington, two words can result in hundreds of pages of legal argument and thousands of dollars in legal expense.

It was expected that the Postal Service would argue for a looser, more relaxed connection between any extraordinary or exceptional problem it might be facing and the resulting revenue and rate increases it might request. What was not expected, and surprised and angered many in the mailing industry, was an apparent request by the Postal Service to re-open last year’s exigent case to allow the Postal Service to seek anywhere from $2.3 billion to $6 bil-lion in lost revenues. In the Initial Comments filed by the Postal Service before the PRC it provided several ta-bles of figures purporting to show the appropriate “recession related” losses of revenue and contribution that were

“due to” the harm the Postal Service suffered by the exigent circumstances of the recession.

The Comments pointed to the range of numbers and proposed that the PRC accept, and approve, that the Postal Service was entitled to the $2.3 billion lost revenue as the minimum amount that was “due to” the exigent circumstances of the recession.

Many parties to the remand case pro-posed a strict interpretation of the words “due to.” The Saturation Mail-ers Coalition filed Comments urg-ing that the Commission to interpret the statute to require that any addi-tional revenues sought by the Postal Service must be limited to amounts that are due solely to the exigent cir-cumstance, based on a reasonable estimate of the actual financial harm caused solely by the exigent circum-stance, factoring out the effects of non-extraordinary factors. Numer-ous other parties filed Comments, including Senator Collins, the author of the statute the PRC is charged with interpreting. Collins urged the Com-mission to “apply a strict standard of insuring that the Postal Service’s pro-posed rate increases are quantitatively, demonstrably, and causally linked to the exigent circumstances.”

Everyone was ordered to file initial Comments at the same time. Predict-ably, many in the mailing industry cried foul when it appeared the Postal Service was trying to take another bite at the apple by reopening the exi-gent case from 2010. Motions were

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filed with the PRC asking the PRC to dismiss any request by the Postal Service to expand the scope of the Court of Appeals mandate. The PRC responded by asking parties to limit their initial filings to addressing the question of interpreting the meaning of the “due to” statutory language. As of the writing of this column, the PRC has not determined how it will handle any new information or rate request filed by the Postal Service.

As rumors have circulated that the Postal Service was seeking to get an exigent increase of 4% on top of a CPI increase except for January, the Postal Service’s subsequent filing of Reply Comments with the PRC suggest that this is not the Postal Service’s plan. Postmaster General Pat Donahoe has made repeated statements to the in-dustry that it is his intention to keep

rate adjustments for 2011 and 2012 within the CPI rate cap. In a foot-note to the USPS Reply Comments, the Postal Service explained that its fight to justify that it was entitled to a revenue increase of $2.3 billion for exigent harm, is coincidentally equal to the sum of the 1.7% rate increase it implemented in April 2011 and an in-crease of 2.1% to 2.3% that it plans to implement in January. It appears the Postal Service is fighting to have the right to increase rates in January 2012 in the range of 2.1% to 2.3% as an “exigent” increase. This would give the Postal Service the right to “bank” its unused CPI authority for a future rate adjustment.

Confused? Join the club. The Post-al Service, the industry, other postal stakeholders including the Commis-sioners at the PRC (and legions of

USPS Update:Exigent Rate Remand Case continued from page 6

In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing: the next best thing is the wrong thing: and the worst thing you can do is nothing.

Theodore Roosevelt

lawyers) will be spending a lot more time, effort, and dollars trying to sort out what this all means for the present and future in terms of ratemaking au-thority and precedent. For now, it ap-pears that mailers can probably take some comfort in the continued assur-ances that have been made by Postal Service management that it wants to improve the customer experience, re-tain and attract business mail volume, and keep rate adjustments in 2012 to a January CPI increase.

Donna E. Hanbery,Executive Director

Saturation Mailers Coalition33 South Sixth Street, Suite 4160

Minneapolis, MN 55402(612) 340-9350 Direct Line

(612) 340-9446 [email protected]



SAPA Annual Conference: New Orleans, LA, September 2012: SAPA and IFPA joined together to have one of the best joint conferences ever in Nashville in 2010. We are joining forces again in 2012. This time we’ll get to visit one of the most dynamic and interesting cities in the South —New Olreans, Louisiana. The theme of the

Conference Schedulesconference is “Rolling On The River.” You can expect great speakers, local cuisine, and enjoyable activities to make this a conference to remember. Watch this space for more information as plans progress. Call Douglas Fry at 1-800-334-0649 for more info.

IFPA Annual Conference, Reno, NV September 30 - October 1, 2011: Valuable seminars, open forums, a vendor showcase, awards banquet, design contests, luxurious settings, and plenty of entertainment. Seminar topics include: sales, new revenue ideas, how to make money online, classified ad program development, ad layout & design, and how to compete with broadcast media. Call Gary Rudy at 609-408-8000 for more information.

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Take Your Readers To The “Buy”For an advertisement to work, it must take the potential customer through the following 6 stages:

1. DEVELOPING PRODUCT AWARENESS

The advertisement must first catch the attention of the potential customer and in doing so, make them aware that the product exists.

2. PROVIDE INFORMATIONNext, the ad must raise the potential customer’s knowledge of the product. In writing an advert, you need to carefully consider what are the most important “facts” to be included in the advert. An advertisement of any kind will have limitations to the quantity of information it can contain.

You need to be selective, and use the most pertinent information that will provide the best reason for a person to buy. At the end of this stage, the customer should like the product.

3. DEVELOP A DESIRE FOR THE PRODUCT

A liking for the product is converted to a wish to possess it. This conversion may occur for any of many reasons; for example: an attractive appearance, nice taste, novelty or uniqueness factor, a perceived use by the customer, etc.

At the end of this stage the customer should desire to possess the product.

4. DEVELOP CONVICTIONDesire is not enough to ensure a sale, given that customers have limited budgets, and must choose between different purchases (They may desire many things but can only purchase some).

Conviction comes through the customer making comparisons, and from those comparisons, choices.

An advertisement can facilitate conviction through such things as testimonials, money back guarantees, test reports, or sometimes through the corporate image or goodwill that has been created over a long period.

5. DISTINGUISH BRAND OR MODEL PREFERENCE

For many products and services, there can be variations offered for sale, within the product.

Examples:

·A person may have developed a conviction to buy a car, but they still haven’t decided whether to buy a 4 cylinder or 6 cylinder version.

·A person may have decided to purchase a box of chocolates, but they are still not firmly set on whether to buy the Cadbury brand, or the Nestle brand.

In this stage, the advertisement needs to focus the customers attention on a particular brand or model.

The big secret in life is that there is no big secret. Whatever your goal, you can get there if you’re willing to work.

Oprah Winfrey

It’s the little things that make the big things possible. Only close attention to the fine details of any operation makes the operation first class.

J. Willard Marriott

6. MAKE FIRM DECISIONThe advert needs a prompt; that is, component that promotes a decision, in order to move the potential customer toward the closure of a sale.

Examples might be:

·A coupon

·A discount offer

·A reason to go to the shop (eg. free entertainment on a particular day)

·Bonus gift if you buy before a particular date

·A point of contact and a message urging contact (eg. Phone today for a free handbook)

Using words like “Free,” “Bonus,” or “Discount” are widely accepted as tried and proven strategies in this stage.



Free PapersWorking For You

“Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.” Th omas Jeff erson

Th e liberty we enjoy in this country came about because ordinary citizens stood up against the big guys. Th ey gathered together to read how others were doing the same. How did they do that? By reading their local community paper. We, too, stand up against the big guys to bring the best our community has to off er each issue. Free community papers continue to connect us in ways other media can’t. We are free. We are available to everyone. We are local. Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press. We will continue working hard so that all our freedoms can be preserved.

You live in the land of the free.

2011 September

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