The original post from October 2008 Free Advertising Ideas For Newspaper Publishers touches on increasing sponsorships vs cpm, building experiences around your top draws, and improving navigation for better user engagement.

The economy has really shit the bed since my first post on advertising. With that in mind, this article will concern itself with bringing value to the businesses operating in your distribution area. This focus should bring in new business and reinforce the idea that your newspaper has its community’s best interest in mind. The only way this will work is if the publisher and sales manager green light this project. Change and leadership in this case must come from the top down and yes, they should be at the event, shaking hands, answering questions.  Newspapers can no longer sit around waiting for money to come to them.

The purpose of business is to create a customer. -Peter Drucker

When? ASAP

What? I propose a marketing fair.  Think of a job fair, except your entire sales staff will fill their niche booths to listen to their business owners’ (customers’) concerns.

Who? for any business in the community your newspaper serves.

Where? Rent out a big cheap place like a high school gymnasium or holiday inn. Set the event up in such a way that that people can ask your newspaper sales staff questions (all hands on deck) about your media kit, your readership, your services offered, costs, and then get real face to face answers (and hopefully ad buys on the spot).

Why? The purpose is to reconnect or stay connected with your community. Show them you care about their financial well being. Do Not Pitch your products to them. Have your sales force meet these business owners one on one. Listen to their problems, their concerns, their successes and failures.  Let them do all the talking.  Have your sales force take copious notes to find out what your businesses want from you.

As I have come to discover through the services I provide to my local chamber of commerce members, I think newspapers too will find out that most of your potential advertisers suffer from the same problems. Common concerns that I hear?

NEEDS:

1. Newspaper advertising is too expensive and complicated.

2. The cost structure / sizing in their media kits looks like the table of elements.

3. I only want to advertise next to relevant content.

4. I want to market my self, my own website.

5. I did it once and it was horrible, I lost money.

6. I wanted an ad on their website, but they could not tell me where exactly it would appear.

7. How can I use the internet to drive business to my company?

Now here comes your moment to shine Mr. Newspaper Publisher.  Right these wrongs.  Add value to your operation by filling the unmet needs of your business community.

FILLING THE NEEDS:

1-3. Innovate your advertising platform to make it easier for readers and small business owners to place ads online and offline.  Models to ape?  Craigslist & Google ( you know, the ones everyone uses).

4. They want websites?  Build them websites!  Offer the service using your in-house team.  Don’t have an in-house team of developers?  You can partner with a local shop or an Indian firm to crank out quality sites for $300 a pop, add 100% margin and you’re making big money!  95% of the small business clients I deal with need a new website.  Their existing sites are usually real crap.  Build them a site that gets customers in their door and everyone wins.

I can’t stress enough how important this is.  This is a newspaper’s biggest potential new revenue stream.

5-6.  SEE #1-3 above.

7. Some of the greatest kudos I’ve gotten while consulting have come from just sitting with a business owner and helping them list their business on all the free listing sites like Google Maps, Yahoo Local, YellowPages, etc…

REALIZING VALUE:

Your newspaper is now generating new value by filling an unmet need for your business community.

1. You will realize greater print and online sales.

2. You will get a better feel for the needs of your business community.

3. You will create new revenue streams outside of simple display advertising.

MORE REVENUE IDEAS:

1. That unused space on your website’s login form?  It could now be generating $100 per month from sponsorship via your local Locksmith.  Are you The Washington Post or The New York Times?  That space should be going for $1000 per day to Sargent Locks or  ADT.

2. Publish a twice annual town guide distributed to the local community college.  In it you can find coupons and ads for every single eatery and club in your area.

3. Your newspaper now has 3 people on staff to work with business owners to design and develop business websites for them, list their businesses, and learn how online marketing works.   You’re thinking of adding the service to readers to start their own blogs and sites.

4. The success of the #3 above has led to you launching a “SeekingAlpha” type platform for publishing original content.  (seeking alpha pays nothing for the 175 posts they put up every day by the way).

I hope you’ve enjoyed this and it has helped.  Here is the link to the original post from October 2008 Free Advertising Ideas For Newspaper Publishers.

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