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Casual Articles - Could Your Area Support Another Local Newspaper?
A Business Plan? Whats The Point? read the paper by getting out and talking to your neighbors. Why not visit a few people in some of the local neighborhoods? Interview some folks on the street. Talk to a couple of local police officers, chat with a pawnshop owner, the owner of a local bar, a few of the pastors, an officer of a local bank, a store keeper. Ask their opinions of the area, the people they serve each day, what the greatest needs are, and what they think might help the community the most. Get some feedback from children, teens, and some working moms and dads. Lets put it this way; supposing you knew you needed to make a journey for your business and you had a gut feeling you should do it tomorrow. You get in you car, still not knowing where you are going at a time that feels right. You drive to your first junction and think to yourself, “Shall I go left or right”? You choose right, because it looks the better option! You keep changing direction throughout the morning based on what feels or looks right, until you decide to stop and have a break.“Am I here yet?” you wonder to yourself sitting having your coffee and bacon sandwich. You look around, “no, I am sure this is not where I want to be” so on you go again. A little later on you think to yourself, “Why am I here by myself? Should I have brought some of my colleagues with me?” “Never mind” you tell yourself, “its too late now, I will have to get by”. Eventually the fuel light comes on and now you know you have to stop at the nearest garage. At the petrol station you ponder, “how much fuel should I put in? I still don’t know how far I have got to go and I haven’t brought mu All of this may sound like a lot of homework. But it’s the very kind of work you will be doing if you start up a local newspaper. And you cannot imagine how much you will gain from such activity. In a few days, you will know the community like you have never known it before. And you’ll also be better prepared to decide whether or not there is really a place for a new paper in your area. Practical Applications of the Data Buy yourself a spiral bound notebook and write down the main things you learn from the above research. List the businesses you want to give special attention to, the groups of potential readers you especially want to target. Write down the primary goals of your newspaper of oth About Ashton Sanders Today, every large city has at least one major daily newspaper, and many have several papers, including specialized business news, senior citizen news, shoppers guides, advertising sheets, and so on. Some of these papers are published weekly and others may come out every other week, or every month. But in all these ways news and information, and lots of advertising, goes out to the public.Who is Ashton Sanders? I realize that many of you have no idea who Ashton Sanders is, so I thought I would do a quick post about his past.Ashton Sanders was born in Los Angeles, and joined the cub scouts when his younger brother got into tiger cubs. They were both the goody-two-shoes of their public school in Los Angeles. When he finished 6th Grade, he transfered to Delphi Academy of Los Angeles.Ashton Sanders always loved sports. He was on the soccer team my four high school years, the volleyball team, and the football team. He was also the captain of the Soccer Team the year they became undefeated League Champions; a school record to say the least. Ashton was awarded the League's Most Valuable Player Award and the Team Spirit Award. If there was anyone on the field keeping the team motivated and feeling good about what they've accomplished so far it was Ashton Sanders.Ashton also became very interested in computers (a computer nerd). Him and his friends had a LAN Party every school break, and he built a couple of his own computers with his father and brother. Rather than hurting local newspaper distribution, the Internet has actually enhanced and often increased it. I may live in Sacramento, California, for example, but I can jump on the Internet and catch some of the local news in Portland, Maine by way of the local newspapers. I can even subscribe over the Net in just a few minutes. Such public presence makes every newspaper available to the entire world. The result of such exposure is a much wider audience, and more subscriptions. The Need in Your Area More than likely, your area already has at least one daily paper based in a nearby city, as well as other publications, such as The Wall Street Journal and USA Today. I’m sure there are also real estate guides, shoppers, business news, free papers that target farm or city readers, and other local or regional publications. You may wonder if there is really room, or a need for yet another newspaper. Are Local Businesses & Readers Being Served? You need to know the answer to the above question before you go very far in trying to develop a newspaper or other local publication. You need to have an accurate understanding of who you will serve, how you will serve them (what can you offer that no one else is offering), and why. You should be fully aware of other publications in your market area and what they are doing. Take the time to do a little research. Drive around and collect one each of every newspaper, shopping guide or trading post, real estate guide, and free magazine publication you can find. Spend a couple of days looking them over. Go through each publication more than once. Take note of the advertising, the news offered, the features (comics, puzzles, tidbits) offered. Ask yourself how well the people you know are being represented by these publications. How well are the small and medium sized businesses in your area publicized? The second step in your research is to go out and visit with local business people. Visit briefly with barbershops, pet stores, cafes, repair shops, appliance stores, tax services, attorneys, clothing stores — all kinds of businesses. Stop in and ask business owners and managers about their advertising methods, their needs for new sales and new customers. Ask them how a publication might better serve the community and marketplace. Next, go through the phone book’s Yellow Pages for your area. Take a look at every business category in the book. Pay special attention to the businesses that do not advertise in the phone book. Go back through your collection of newspapers and guides and see if you can find ads for these businesses. Make a list of the business for which you can find no ads at all. Give them a call, and ask them how they promote their businesses and why. You’re Looking for two things: 1. Are the existing local publications truly serving your area? Is there a workable and effective way for most small and medium-sized businesses in your area to get the word out about their products and services? 2. Are most of the small and medium-sized business owners in your area really aware of the opportunities open to them for advertising? Do they understand the importance of consistent and effective advertising? Do they have realistic expectations? As you develop a clearer picture of your area and how well the local people and the businesses that serve them are being represented by the local printed media. Demographic Information Another step I would encourage is to check out the specific demographics of your area. Always take such information with the proverbial grain of salt. But you may be surprised to learn some of the facts about who lives around you. You can find such information on the web, at sites like CensusScope: http://www.censusscope.org/ U.S. Government (population, business info, etc.): http://www.census.gov/ Free Demographics PDF file download: http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/censr-4.pdf You can find more sources by doing a Google search, typing in the word “demographic” and the name of your city, county or state. When looking over demographic information, note the numbers of youth, elderly, working-age adults, birth rates (new or expanding families), households, businesses (and what kinds), and other features of the area that influence the local interests and needs of potential readers. The more you know about all the people you serve, the better prepared you are to develop a publication that truly serves the people. Going Door to Door Even so, you will get a better “feel” for the people who read the paper by getting out and talking to your neighbors. Why not visit a few people in some of the local neighborhoods? Interview some folks on the street. Talk to a couple of local police officers, chat with a pawnshop owner, the owner of a local bar, a few of the pastors, an officer of a local bank, a store keeper. Ask their opinions of the area, the people they serve each day, what the greatest needs are, and what they think might help the community the most. Get some feedback from children, teens, and some working moms and dads. All of this may sound like a lot of homework. But it’s the very kind of work you will be doing if you start up a local newspaper. And you cannot imagine how much you will gain from such activity. In a few days, you will know the community like you have never known it before. And you’ll also be better prepared to decide whether or not there is really a place for a new paper in your area. Practical Applications of the Data Buy yourself a spiral bound notebook and write down the main things you learn from the above research. List the businesses you want to give special attention to, the groups of potential readers you especially want to target. Write down the primary goals of your newspaper of othe Merger And Acquisition Strategies m, or a need for yet another newspaper.It is the inherent desire and need of every business to grow both vertically and horizontally. Organic growth, that is development from within, is often slow and sometimes difficult. That is why there is an increasing trend towards mergers and acquisitions. It could be called an instant expansion.Many big corporations are continuously on the lookout for potential targets for mergers or acquisitions. Some even have a core cell or a senior person concentrating on this aspect. Depending on the company's policy, which may be to diversify or to expand in the same field, add complementary business activity, or to strengthen research facilities, they continuously scan the business world. Normally they report directly to the decision-making authority.Sophisticated but simple-to-use software that can handle financial analysis, projections, valuations, and so on is available to help them. Quite often, the assistance of analysts, investment bankers and lawyers specializing in the field is sought. In fact, these professionals are likely to have their own frequently updated list Are Local Businesses & Readers Being Served? You need to know the answer to the above question before you go very far in trying to develop a newspaper or other local publication. You need to have an accurate understanding of who you will serve, how you will serve them (what can you offer that no one else is offering), and why. You should be fully aware of other publications in your market area and what they are doing. Take the time to do a little research. Drive around and collect one each of every newspaper, shopping guide or trading post, real estate guide, and free magazine publication you can find. Spend a couple of days looking them over. Go through each publication more than once. Take note of the advertising, the news offered, the features (comics, puzzles, tidbits) offered. Ask yourself how well the people you know are being represented by these publications. How well are the small and medium sized businesses in your area publicized? The second step in your research is to go out and visit with local business people. Visit briefly with barbershops, pet stores, cafes, repair shops, appliance stores, tax services, attorneys, clothing stores — all kinds of businesses. Stop in and ask business owners and managers about their advertising methods, their needs for new sales and new customers. Ask them how a publication might better serve the community and marketplace. Next, go through the phone book’s Yellow Pages for your area. Take a look at every business category in the book. Pay special attention to the businesses that do not advertise in the phone book. Go back through your collection of newspapers and guides and see if you can find ads for these businesses. Make a list of the business for which you can find no ads at all. Give them a call, and ask them how they promote their businesses and why. You’re Looking for two things: 1. Are the existing local publications truly serving your area? Is there a workable and effective way for most small and medium-sized businesses in your area to get the word out about their products and services? 2. Are most of the small and medium-sized business owners in your area really aware of the opportunities open to them for advertising? Do they understand the importance of consistent and effective advertising? Do they have realistic expectations? As you develop a clearer picture of your area and how well the local people and the businesses that serve them are being represented by the local printed media. Demographic Information Another step I would encourage is to check out the specific demographics of your area. Always take such information with the proverbial grain of salt. But you may be surprised to learn some of the facts about who lives around you. You can find such information on the web, at sites like CensusScope: http://www.censusscope.org/ U.S. Government (population, business info, etc.): http://www.census.gov/ Free Demographics PDF file download: http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/censr-4.pdf You can find more sources by doing a Google search, typing in the word “demographic” and the name of your city, county or state. When looking over demographic information, note the numbers of youth, elderly, working-age adults, birth rates (new or expanding families), households, businesses (and what kinds), and other features of the area that influence the local interests and needs of potential readers. The more you know about all the people you serve, the better prepared you are to develop a publication that truly serves the people. Going Door to Door Even so, you will get a better “feel” for the people who read the paper by getting out and talking to your neighbors. Why not visit a few people in some of the local neighborhoods? Interview some folks on the street. Talk to a couple of local police officers, chat with a pawnshop owner, the owner of a local bar, a few of the pastors, an officer of a local bank, a store keeper. Ask their opinions of the area, the people they serve each day, what the greatest needs are, and what they think might help the community the most. Get some feedback from children, teens, and some working moms and dads. All of this may sound like a lot of homework. But it’s the very kind of work you will be doing if you start up a local newspaper. And you cannot imagine how much you will gain from such activity. In a few days, you will know the community like you have never known it before. And you’ll also be better prepared to decide whether or not there is really a place for a new paper in your area. Practical Applications of the Data Buy yourself a spiral bound notebook and write down the main things you learn from the above research. List the businesses you want to give special attention to, the groups of potential readers you especially want to target. Write down the primary goals of your newspaper of oth Business Manners Apply to Interviewers As Well As Applicants usiness owners and managers about their advertising methods, their needs for new sales and new customers. Ask them how a publication might better serve the community and marketplace. Today's job applicants are encountering a lack of courtesy that is all too common. Businesses are flooded with applicants for every opening and many are showing a lack of respect for job seekers by failing to respond to their applications.Most employers request resumes and other documentation be sent by e-mail. Occasionally they use the old-fashioned method-the anonymous post office box. The huge volume of applications makes it seem difficult to respond personally to each one. However, the technology is there to reply to all.Most e-mail programs have the ability to send an automatic response letting applicants know that their information has been received and how and when they will be notified of an interview or the lack of one. If the application is handled through postal mail, a generic letter can be generated and sent out with the same details. There is no excuse for leaving applicants in the dark.Following an interview, employers continue their thoughtlessness. Applicants are told they will be contacted within a certain time, but it never happens. Wit Next, go through the phone book’s Yellow Pages for your area. Take a look at every business category in the book. Pay special attention to the businesses that do not advertise in the phone book. Go back through your collection of newspapers and guides and see if you can find ads for these businesses. Make a list of the business for which you can find no ads at all. Give them a call, and ask them how they promote their businesses and why. You’re Looking for two things: 1. Are the existing local publications truly serving your area? Is there a workable and effective way for most small and medium-sized businesses in your area to get the word out about their products and services? 2. Are most of the small and medium-sized business owners in your area really aware of the opportunities open to them for advertising? Do they understand the importance of consistent and effective advertising? Do they have realistic expectations? As you develop a clearer picture of your area and how well the local people and the businesses that serve them are being represented by the local printed media. Demographic Information Another step I would encourage is to check out the specific demographics of your area. Always take such information with the proverbial grain of salt. But you may be surprised to learn some of the facts about who lives around you. You can find such information on the web, at sites like CensusScope: http://www.censusscope.org/ U.S. Government (population, business info, etc.): http://www.census.gov/ Free Demographics PDF file download: http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/censr-4.pdf You can find more sources by doing a Google search, typing in the word “demographic” and the name of your city, county or state. When looking over demographic information, note the numbers of youth, elderly, working-age adults, birth rates (new or expanding families), households, businesses (and what kinds), and other features of the area that influence the local interests and needs of potential readers. The more you know about all the people you serve, the better prepared you are to develop a publication that truly serves the people. Going Door to Door Even so, you will get a better “feel” for the people who read the paper by getting out and talking to your neighbors. Why not visit a few people in some of the local neighborhoods? Interview some folks on the street. Talk to a couple of local police officers, chat with a pawnshop owner, the owner of a local bar, a few of the pastors, an officer of a local bank, a store keeper. Ask their opinions of the area, the people they serve each day, what the greatest needs are, and what they think might help the community the most. Get some feedback from children, teens, and some working moms and dads. All of this may sound like a lot of homework. But it’s the very kind of work you will be doing if you start up a local newspaper. And you cannot imagine how much you will gain from such activity. In a few days, you will know the community like you have never known it before. And you’ll also be better prepared to decide whether or not there is really a place for a new paper in your area. Practical Applications of the Data Buy yourself a spiral bound notebook and write down the main things you learn from the above research. List the businesses you want to give special attention to, the groups of potential readers you especially want to target. Write down the primary goals of your newspaper of oth Fashion Jewelry Online Is Becoming Vital For Business epresented by the local printed media.Fashion jewellery is an essential part to augment one’s personality. Not only clothes that a woman wears add up to her personality but the matching accessories sum up a distinct aura. Fashion jewelry comes into many line and styles. The approach of jewelry is to enhance a woman’s outlook by giving her different look altogether. Different occasions, situations and places are symbolized with different type of jewelry. It doesn’t matter how much jewelry she wears before buying any other. If it is in fashion, it goes in with the other fashion accessories.Fashion Jewellery through online selling comes into different varieties such as beaded, silver jewellery, gold and diamond jewellery. Its very well said that diamonds are forever the girl’s best friend. But now the time has come to look beyond diamonds as silver and beaded jewelry has come into the market. These semi precious jewellery are not only cost effective and economical but one can wear them by frequently changing them according to the dress color and design. Many fashion stores are equipped with vintage as Demographic Information Another step I would encourage is to check out the specific demographics of your area. Always take such information with the proverbial grain of salt. But you may be surprised to learn some of the facts about who lives around you. You can find such information on the web, at sites like CensusScope: http://www.censusscope.org/ U.S. Government (population, business info, etc.): http://www.census.gov/ Free Demographics PDF file download: http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/censr-4.pdf You can find more sources by doing a Google search, typing in the word “demographic” and the name of your city, county or state. When looking over demographic information, note the numbers of youth, elderly, working-age adults, birth rates (new or expanding families), households, businesses (and what kinds), and other features of the area that influence the local interests and needs of potential readers. The more you know about all the people you serve, the better prepared you are to develop a publication that truly serves the people. Going Door to Door Even so, you will get a better “feel” for the people who read the paper by getting out and talking to your neighbors. Why not visit a few people in some of the local neighborhoods? Interview some folks on the street. Talk to a couple of local police officers, chat with a pawnshop owner, the owner of a local bar, a few of the pastors, an officer of a local bank, a store keeper. Ask their opinions of the area, the people they serve each day, what the greatest needs are, and what they think might help the community the most. Get some feedback from children, teens, and some working moms and dads. All of this may sound like a lot of homework. But it’s the very kind of work you will be doing if you start up a local newspaper. And you cannot imagine how much you will gain from such activity. In a few days, you will know the community like you have never known it before. And you’ll also be better prepared to decide whether or not there is really a place for a new paper in your area. Practical Applications of the Data Buy yourself a spiral bound notebook and write down the main things you learn from the above research. List the businesses you want to give special attention to, the groups of potential readers you especially want to target. Write down the primary goals of your newspaper of oth Advertising Temptations & How Small Businesses Can Handle Them read the paper by getting out and talking to your neighbors. Why not visit a few people in some of the local neighborhoods? Interview some folks on the street. Talk to a couple of local police officers, chat with a pawnshop owner, the owner of a local bar, a few of the pastors, an officer of a local bank, a store keeper. Ask their opinions of the area, the people they serve each day, what the greatest needs are, and what they think might help the community the most. Get some feedback from children, teens, and some working moms and dads. New advertising ideas and techniques most always get the quick attention of the optimistic small business owner.The first time you hear about something new to use or adapt, your mind races to fast forward, especially if the testimonials are realistic and seem to relate to what you are doing.To illustrate, picture that ad salesperson standing right there in your business. Temptation is staring you in the face. "It's a great deal," they tell you.Do you go for it or not?Here are three sets of realistic questions to ask yourself as you evaluate the proposal: **************************************** 1. Take a step to the side and consider this. Is your current advertising already covering the basics? Is this new temptation part of your basic advertising plan or does it fall in the "next level" category? Remember that you've got to do the basics first, just as you have to open a showroom before you can decorate it. So make sure you are doing the basics well before you move to the next level. *********************** All of this may sound like a lot of homework. But it’s the very kind of work you will be doing if you start up a local newspaper. And you cannot imagine how much you will gain from such activity. In a few days, you will know the community like you have never known it before. And you’ll also be better prepared to decide whether or not there is really a place for a new paper in your area. Practical Applications of the Data Buy yourself a spiral bound notebook and write down the main things you learn from the above research. List the businesses you want to give special attention to, the groups of potential readers you especially want to target. Write down the primary goals of your newspaper of other publication. What do you want to accomplish besides making a living? Are there large gaps in the coverage and local representation offered by other publications? Can you see a way of marketing/selling your paper to advertisers that will help them to see the immediate benefit to advertising with you? With some blank sheets of typewriter paper, layout some page ideas for your publication. Sketch out some headlines, some ideas for main photos, some good ideas for ads, and the kinds of ads you want to run. Build a mock-up of your paper. How many pages will it have (think is sets of 4 and 8, since the printer will think this way). A 16 or 20 page paper is a great size for many small weeklies to start with. That gives you space to fill with information and ads, without giving you a huge mountain to climb. As you work on ideas, keep in mind the segment of the population, and the specific businesses you want to center your attention on. Build a newspaper that appeals to the readers and advertisers you want to attract. If you're like me, you'll also be going through the numbers, with a calculator and notepad, over and over and over. Spend all the time you want (and need) playing with numbers before you start trying to sell the first issue. How many households are in your area (demographics)? How many of those do you plan to reach? How much will postage cost for the number of papers you want to direct-mail to homes, businesses, or p.o. boxes? Get to know your post office staff. Find out about Standard (used to be called Bulk) rates, route saturation mailings, and keep researching until you get the lowest possible rates for your paper. Finally Get quotes on every configuration of printing your paper. Find out about 4-color process, spot color, black ink only (more about this) and combinations of these, which pages will be color and which will be black ink only (if any). Adjust all your own rates according to this data. And remember that the market you choose to reach will determine much about your use of color and other options. To learn more about starting your own local newspaper, visit www.newspaper-info.com
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