Download - 2014 December TCNAToday

V I S I T U S A T W W W . T E X A S N E W S P A P E R S . I N F O

Texas Community Newspaper Association (931) 698.4096 (888)450-8329 fax 1

What SuccessfulSalespeople Do

TCNATodayTCNA offers connections—connections to information, trends, training and direct revenue opportunities.

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

Page 3

Graphics Series Ellen Hanrahan gives us some tips, just in time for the holiday season, that will help us make better ads that help our advertisers.

Page 5

Work PositivelyDr. Joey Faucette teaches us ways we can deal with the overwhelming aspects of the holiday season.

Page 6

Thinking About Spiders and RobotsBob Berting , Mr. Community Paper, shows us that even in our tech savvy world people still want to read, touch and interact with your paper.

Page 3

USPS UpdateDonna Hanbery of the Saturation Mailers Coalition keeps us informed regarding legislation and rules governing the United States Postal Service. Those rules will change the way you do business.

Page 8

by Brian Gay

Over the past several years I have been asking successful advertising sales people why thev are a success. The answers are extremely interesting and in some case a little surprising. Here are my top 10 responses:

1. “At the end of the day when I feel that I am done, I make one more sales call.” What a great way to add an additional prospect call or follow up call. During a year that amounts to

236 additional calls.

2. “I do not stop for lunch until I have 2 consecutive incidents where the decision maker is out to lunch.” Many sales people believe that small busi ness owners are not around over the noon hour. They are wrong because in a lot of businesses the boss stays and works while his employees go to lunch at noon.

3. “Every day I mail out a thank you card to someone. It may be a client, a business associate, or a com munity

SERVING THE COMMUNITY MEDIA OF TEXAS NOVEMBER 2014

continued on page 2

leader.” Most sales people do not even think about the power of sending out thank you cards. It takes so little time and the rewards are enormous.

4. “I deliver my own tear sheets each week.” This gives you one more reason to be in front of the client. It shows that you are proud of the work you produce and assures the client that you are part of his team.

5. “I plan my week on Friday after-noon for the next week.” The idea

The Challenge of Client EngagementJohn Foust asks the question, “What do our advertisers think of the way we engage with them?”

Page 2



of planning your week in advance allows the sales person to be in control of their time. It assures that there is no wasted effort and maximizes the sales effort.

6. “At the beginning of each year I sit down and set goals and develop a plan to achieve my goals.” We all know how important goal setting is but very few peo ple actually do much about it. Investing 4 to 6 hours in setting goals and writing a plan on how to achieve those goals adds thousands of dollars to your pay each year.

7. “Staying educated about my pro-fession and my customers adds to my success.” As fast as everything is changing today a successful sales person has to be learning all the time. The way we did business 2 years ago is not the same as it is today. The only way to be successful is to invest in yourself.

8. “I keep impeccable records on my clients. I know what they did last year and the year before that. I know when they typically have major sales.” Having this type of in

continued from page 1

The Challengeof Client Engagementby John Foust

These days, there’s a lot of talk about employee engagement. According to Gallup research, approximately 30 percent of employees in the US and Canada are fully engaged in their jobs; their organizations have won their heads and their hearts, and they are passionate about their work. On the other hand, roughly 50 percent of em

ployees are not engaged; they are essentially going through the motions in jobs they see as unfulfilling and not using their talents. Even worse, about 20 percent are actively disengaged; they hate their jobs and spread their bitterness by complaining to coworkers, and along the way, they may even try to undermine the operation.

Although there are a number of reasons for these abysmal engagement numbers, the number one cause is an employee’s relationship with his or her manager. And the number one symptom of disengagement is turnover. Wise organizations – and wise managers – are working hard to create engaging environments and reduce

continued on page 7

formation can only help. It shows that the sales person cares and is planning and working for the customer. Being organized means that there is not a lot of wasted energy and time.

9. “I find asking for referrals to be a key success factor for me.” Referrals are a sure way to get ad ditional business. Most satisfied customers are happy to do this for you. If you do not ask, you will not get many referrals.

10. “An answer of “No” does not mean that they are rejecting me. I just assume, at the time, they are not interested in the opportunity I am offering. I just continue calling on them.” This may seem like a small matter, but most sales people will stop calling on a customer after 2 visits and 2 “no’s.” Only 3% of sales people will go back 5 or more times. The average cus tomer will say “no” 4 times before saying “yes”. If you decide to use one of these ideas, your sales will in crease substantially. When you practice one of these pro cedures for a month it becomes a habit. When the action is a habit choose another and do it for a

month.

Now you have 2 habits that will ensure your success. In the end, you are the only person who can determine your success.

Select one of the ideas and use it for 30 days

• After 30 days you have formed a new habit

• Select another idea and use it for 30 days

• You now have 2 new habits

“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.”

Walt Disney

“Every great business is built on friendship.”

J.C. Penny

“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”

William Arthur Ward



DirectorDonna Stanley 512-259-4449

PublisherHill Country

News

PresidentKathleen Holton (817) 594-7447

EditorWeatherford

Democrat

DirectorNicole Morris 361-668-6397

Publisher/EditorReal Hometown

Media

DirectorDennis Skinner 903-794-0996

PublisherAmerican

Classifieds/Texarkana

Vice PresidentAmber Weems 830-693-7152

PublisherVictory

Publishing

Past PresidentDennis Wade 512-994-0482

PresidentGranite

Publications

TreasurerRick Wamre 214-560-4212

PresidentAdvocate

Media

Executive Director

Douglas FryTCNA Office

9316984096

SecretaryJonathan McElvy

713-686-8494Publisher

The Leader News

LeadershipNot only is the board of directors made up of some of the sharpest and most dedicated media minds in Texas, they also take time from their very busy schedules to make decisions that will help your and your business.

by Bob Berting, Mr. Community Paper

There continues to be a battle to enhance publication online presence and to be concerned about search engine optimization. When the spiders and electronic robots visit your publication website, do they represent interested readers who will trust and believe in your journalistic expertise or just cu

riosity seekers who just want to grab bits and pieces of your news content. The burning question is whether you are going to charge for your content or continue to run chunks of it on your website without charging? The answer lies in how much your audience wants your selected online local news to pay

continued on page 4

Thinking AboutSpiders & Robots

for it. Clearly it could be different from your print publication. For example, if you have a weekly publication and a story breaks between publication dates, it can run on your website. Most free papers are happy just to have paid advertising on their website and not worry about news content being paid.

PEOPLE STILL WANT TO READ AN ACTUAL NEWSPAPER

While the public is being bombarded by new technology like the Amazon Kindle phenomenon, they need to

Administrative Assistant

Vickie BeldenTCNA Office

9316984096



make a decision as to what really is important in their reading habits. These habits can involve buying an actual book in a bookstore or a local newspaper that is delivered to their home or in a rack at a business location. Contrary to negative mass media , people still want local news. What is really interesting is to visit a popular bookstore like Borders or Barnes and Noble. You would think they would be deserted because of the internet or Kindle, but what a surprise to find these stores crowded with people of all ages shopping for books.

THE NEWSPAPER WEBSITEAlthough having a great looking website is important, there should be a balance between the advertising in your print product and your online product. Strategically, if you strive for

dominant ads in your print publication, you must also emphasize dominant banner ads on your website. Too many times, there are a cluster of small website ads than keep running week after week until they eventually fade away in time.

CURRENT ONLINE SALES TRAINING PROGRAMS

A major drawback in current online sales training is that much of it is conducted by trainers who have never worked in the newspaper industry. To make things worse, the material being taught could be given to salespeople in practically any other industry. The answer is to know that your salespeople are learning from a newspaper expert and who customizes the material to the newspaper industry.

Bob Berting, newspaper marketing con-sultant, has published his new e-book for

Thinking AboutSpider & Robotscontinued from page 3

sales professionals in the newspaper in-dustry entitled “Advanced Selling Skills For The Advertising Sales Pro”. This is a publication for beginning salespeople who can learn advanced selling techniques and experienced salespeople who can sharpen their selling skills. Salespeople can learn more about this publication by using the link www.adsalespro.com and see the table of contents as well as reading the complimentary first chapter. Payment of $24.95 to download the 34 page e-book.

Bob Berting is a professional speaker, newspaper sales trainer, and publisher marketing consultant who has conducted over 1500 live seminars and teleseminars for newspaper sales staffs, their customers, and print media associations in the U.S. and Canada. His 40 year background includes 15 years in newspaper management, 5 years as university marketing instructor, and owner of a full service advertising agency for 20 years.

Bob can be contacted at [email protected] or 800-536-5408. He is located at 6330 Woburn Drive, Indianapolis, In 46250.



I welcome your input and suggestions. A former art teacher, I entered the free paper publishing business in the early 80s. I write for IFPA, Community Papers of Michigan, and am still learning. E-mail: [email protected] Ellen Hanrahan ©2014

Christmas TipsTHE END OF ANOTHER YEAR AND THERE ARE MANY HOLIDAY AD PROMOTIONS AND SPECIAL SECTIONS TO DO! WE HARDLY FINISH ONE PROMOTION WHEN ANOTHER HAS TO BE READY TO GO, SO HERE ARE A FEW.…

A brief apology… I upgraded (downloaded) Yosemite (OS 10.10) and I am still figuring out the “new” stuff. Not too bad, but some processes have changed slightly and I am still “learning.” Also, I just returned from Mexico, and the Wisconsin weather has not helped with brain function. So please, by the New Year, I should be functioning as normal (whatever that was!)

START WITH A CONCEPT— TYPEFACESTime for special sections and promotions and also a time to figure out what typeface to use for head lines in these special sections. I always work with a theme (sometimes obvious and sometimes not) because it helps to give direction to choices for type and graphics. One Christmas tabloid we did was called “Flights of Fancy” so I needed to choose a typeface that was somewhat whimsical, like Monotype’s Curlz MT...

Flights of Fancy Flights of Fancy… or Whimsy ICG (Image Club Graphics). Both give a “visions of sugar-plums” feel and take up the same amount of space, but Whimsy ICG also has a bold and heavy weight so it could be used for call- outs and/or sub-heads too. So Whimsy it is. Sometimes it’s not easy to know what typefaces to use, but try to deter-mine what the mood of the article or section is and let the type do the talking, a “visible voice”— remember John McWade? When in doubt, choose a typeface that offers a family of different weights and styles— it gives variety and consistency.

COORDINATE THE GRAPHICSMetro Creative Graphics offers a wide variety of artwork. I really like what I call “roundhead art” that I have used many times— these were from a few years back, but I used them in promo pieces and gift guides. There’s a series of santas, elves, rein-deer, trees, snowmen, etc. This art would work for a series of ads or in self-promotion pieces.Again, have a plan. It helps to find the right artwork

to develop a theme or mood for the message to provide continuity. The right art provides flexibility in working with type because you can alter the art (size, position, etc.) while maintaining control of type use in the space. No matter what type of artwork you choose — line art or photo — remember to make it work with the text or message and not just fill an “empty” space in the ad or on the page. And if you don’t have a lot of room… crop! It’s not necessary to fit the entire graphic into an ad to make it effective. Don’t worry, the eye will finish off the necessary information for you (Gestalt theory of continuation). And again, if you use the artwork to draw attention to an ad or area, don’t decorate! Using more art will only diminish the impact of the original art. Keep it simple.

NOSTALGIA AND FOOD FOR THOUGHTSince I have been going through a lot of my earlier work and revisited many older articles (some good, some so-so), I have a chance to remember some fundamentals. Earlier I mentioned John McWade, so I thought I would take a little time and share some of his ideas about design… because it will be twenty-five years since I first ran across his ideas and teaching techniques. John McWade is the founder and voice of Before and After: How to design cool stuff. I received the premier issue in 1990 and was absolutely amazed by the beauty and information packed into those first sixteen pages. He not only understood the art of design but also the science of design and advertising and proceeded to share his knowledge with his readers, and it was design specific. The desktop publishing software changed a lot—but the focus was always about the design. In 1995 he wrote a piece about his ideas— that design was for life. Desktop publishing was just beginning when he started his publication. Here are some of his thoughts…

“What does it take to be a designer?1) It starts with an interest. … I started by being interested, and began to love it after I . . . 2) began acquiring skills. …if you’re going to make it happen you need to get your hands on it, …get involved, …work the tools.This is what makes the computer exciting; it’s a store full of tools. With it you can set type, you can draw pictures, you can modify photos. You can design every aspect of every page, print it in your office and see the results in seconds. …Today the whole show is in the box on your desk.”“To succeed as a designer it’s important that you respect your need to learn. Give yourself room; there is a lot to know. I’m not telling you to stop short of the highest. But take pleasure in every small victory on the way up. Design is not a contest, and what I mean by that is you can’t lose, not as long as you keep at it. You may not get this job or that, but you’ll get better and better.”

Still great advice. Today computers and software give us extremely powerful tools, but we need to keep acquir-ing skills that will make us bet-ter especially when our indus-try offers greater challenges.

The text typeface for the Christmassection was Shinn by Red Rooster.This entire paragraph is set in Shinn so you can get an idea of the “pair-ing.” This sans serif typeface has some of the “round” characteristics of the headline type and also repeats the round quality of the artwork, but offers a clean, easy-to-read contrast and informal style in keeping with the mood. The idea is to unify all the components for easier read-ability and lessen the distraction of “jarring” elements.

Flights of Fancy

Happy Holidays to you and yours!



Work Positive3 TIPS TO

CURE HOLIDAY OVERWHELM

AT WORKDr. Joey Faucette

Is it just me, or did you also notice that the holi

day decorations and advertising started earlier this year?

My first reaction was like one of those cartoon characters who gets surprised and his eyes bug out about three feet.

My first thought was to chase thoughts about everything I have yet to do this year.

My first feeling was overwhelm.

How about you?

Yes, it’s “the most wonderful time of the year”…and yet all of us are susceptible of missing the wonder of it all due to work overwhelm that accompanies the holidays.

Check out these 3 Tips to Cure Your Holiday Overwhelm at work that help me:

FOCUS ON POSITIVE STRENGTHSFrom Madison Avenue to Your Street, we are shoved toward an impending sense of lack during the holidays. This scarcity mentality afflicts us at work as well, shifting our focus to the negative.

I choose to focus on positive strengths. I make a list of what’s going well with my businesses right now. I jot some notes about the strengths of 2014 and include financials, significant product developments, additional team members, customer problems solved, and new referral relationships.

You can do the same in less than an hour. Then begin your work day by reading over this list. This single strategy pivots your mindset from negative—what I don’t have—to positive—what we’re doing well. Since you see what you’re looking for, you will add to your list daily as you discover more positive strengths.

FOCUS ON POSITIVE SITUATIONSNext, I focus on positive situations. Overwhelm produces anxiety which shuts down our strategic ability to focus on positive situations. We see Mt. Everest in its entirety instead of the first step that leads to the second step which gets you to the summit. Rather than focusing on what you can do, we shut down because we can’t do it all at once.

I’m all about doing what I can do today and working off a list of those action items. You can make a list of what you can do. Think of them as positive situations from which you leverage the kind of forward motion your business wants to reach your goals. Focus on this list and prioritize it. Pick one activity and do something to check it off. Keep building on the positive momentum you gain from this activity and move forward some more.

As you achieve more, your focus on these positive situations sharpens like a laser. You discover more positive situations and your attitude shifts from overwhelm—“what I can’t do”—to achievement—“what I can do.”

FOCUS ON POSITIVE SIGNALSI realized some years ago that my feeling of overwhelm emerges during the holidays more as a reaction to the realization that the year is about to end

than anything else. I reflected on what wasn’t done, how little time I had left to do it, and the impending sense that it’ll be undone as I begin the new year.

What I do now and what you can do too is to honestly evaluate what is accomplished toward 2014 goals now. Then strategically act on the positive situations you can now, using your positive strengths accrued through the year. Determine what barriers prevented further growth.

Then assess the positive signals emerging as 2014 nears completion that will serve as your springboard to positive growth in 2015. What are the positive strengths? What are the positive situations? How do these project positive signals in 2015?

Focusing on these positive signals gives you cures your holiday overwhelm gets you excited anticipation for the upcoming new year, and helps you truly enjoy this most wonderful time of the year!

Dr. Joey Faucette is the #1 Amazon best-selling author of Work Positive in a Nega-tive World (Entrepreneur Press), coach, and speaker who helps business profes-sionals increase sales with greater produc-tivity so they can leave the office earlier to do what they love with those they love. Discover more at www.ListentoLife.org.



employee dissatisfaction.

In the media industry, smart advertising managers are looking at another kind of engagement – customer engagement. They are asking, “What do our advertisers think of the way we manage our relationships with them? How many of them are excited about running with us? How many are running by rote? And how many are advertising with us, but resent it?”

How does this impact the churn – or the advertiser turnover – rate? Look at it from the advertisers’ point of view. If a paper’s contact with them is always about selling something or asking for money, the relationship is on thin ice. If you were to measure your accounts’ engagement rate, would you find similar numbers? Out of every ten advertisers, do you have three big fans, five passive participants and two vocal complainers?

While this is not a problem that can be solved overnight, here are some thoughts which may be springboards for ideas you can use at your paper:

1. Make advertisers part of the creative process. Too many sales people forget this important principle. Listen to their ideas, before you present yours.

2. Attend special events hosted or promoted by your advertisers. Show them that you’re engaged in their activities and interests.

3. Host special events for advertisers. Use these occasions to express appreciation for their business and provide them with networking opportunities.

4. Host a focus group of key advertisers. This is a good way to explore how your paper can better serve your business community. You can also include discussions on possible changes in your products and services. Give them a voice in the decision process.

5. Speak at service clubs in your area. Take promotional material, but don’t make sales pitches. Talk about the role of journalism in your community.

6. Host career days for high school and college students. Don’t say, “Sit in the corner and watch us do our jobs.” Make it a worthwhile experience.

7. Adopt a local nonprofit agency each year. Solicit ideas from your advertisers, regarding which agency to select. Run articles to promote the organization’s fundraising and volunteer efforts.

(c) Copyright 2014 by John Foust. All rights reserved.

John Foust has conducted training programs for thousands of newspaper advertising professionals. Many ad departments are using his training videos to save time and get quick results from inhouse training. Email for information: [email protected]


Community PapersWorking For You

Will the Internet kill your community paper?Did instant coffee kill coffee?

New technologies change many things. But not everything. You may tweet, blog, surf, shop, or search online but you continue to read your free community paper. You just proved it.

Readership of community papers is now higher than the big papers, and continues to grow. Rather than being replaced by “instant” media, your local community paper has become an important part of our neighborhood.

The reason, which sometimes is not heard because of all the noise about the Internet, is pretty obvious: your community paper does what the Internet doesn’t. We promote connections at a local level. Community papers join readers and advertisers in ways digital media don’t.

In fact, the local content and power of your community paper makes advertising even more effective. We are the number one medium for driving purchases. That’s important in every product category.

Including coffee.



continued on page 9

USPS UpdateSHALL MEANS SHALL!

MAILER ASSOCIATIONS TELL PRC THAT CPI RATE CAP IS A

REQUIREMENTBy Donna Hanbery, Executive Director, Saturation Mailers Coalition

In late October, the Association for Postal Commerce, the Association of Magazine Media, the Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers, the Direct Marketing Association, the Envelope Manufactures Association, the National Association of Advertising Distributors, and the Saturation Mailers Coalition came together to submit a white paper to the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) discussing whether or not the PRC has the authority to change the inflation based, CPI rate cap, that is currently in place and is applied on a class basis, when the PRC conducts a future review, and is permitted to make recommendations and modifications, in the ratemaking system that currently governs all mail products subject to the postal monopoly.

Under the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA) passed in 2006, the PRC was directed to establish, by regulation, a modern system for regulating rates and classes for market dominant products. The 2006 law, along with subsequent regulations established by the PRC, have provided the framework for postal price adjustments since the law was passed. Under the law, the PRC is directed, 10 years after the date of enactment of PAEA, to “review the system for regulating rates and classes for market dominant products” and to determine if the system is achieving the objectives set by the law, taking into account the factors also set by the law. After the review PAEA pro

vides “the Commission may, by regulation, make such modification or adopt such alternative system for regulating rates and classes for market dominant products as necessary to achieve the objectives.” Although the scheduled review is still years away, there has been some discussion and speculation that the Commission could use the 10 year review process to eliminate or substantially modify the CPI cap mandated by statute to be applied on a class basis to limit annual postal price adjustments.

In a joint effort to focus the discussion, and to ask the Commission to resolve the question now so that future review can properly focus on what the Commission can and cannot do, the white paper tells the Commission that “shall means shall” and that the right to review and consider objective and factors does not give the Commission the right to rewrite the law and to eliminate its’ basic, fundamental, requirements.

Like any good paper written by lawyers, the white paper submits several detailed legal arguments that examine the language of the statute, case law, and legislative history. Speaking plainly, the paper points out that the language of the statute defines the CPI cap as a binding and mandatory “requirement.” It is not an “objective” or “factor.” The paper points out that the 2006 law embodied three mandates or requirements that are untouchable by the Commission and can only be changed by an act of Congress. The paper describes the CPI rate cap as the “heart” or lynchpin of the law and quotes rulings from other PRC decisions and orders where the Commis

sion has also recognized that the role of the CPI cap in the statute is absolute, central, and indispensable. The Commission has recognized that the price cap was put in place to protect mailers and “stands as the most single most important safeguard for mailers.” “The role of the price cap is central to ratemaking, and the integrity of the price cap is indispensable if the incentive to reduce costs is to remain effective.”

The paper examines the statute, as well as PRC decisions, to discuss three broad requirements that cannot be changed by the Commission but would require an act of Congress. These unbreakable requirements include first and foremost the price cap, the limit on worksharing discounts (generally providing that the amount of a workshare discount cannot exceed the amount of the costs saved) and the relationship the law established between preferred mail and regular mail.

The paper also raises a constitutional issue. The PRC is an agency created by Congress, and serving under the Executive Branch. It would violate constitutional principles if the PRC could use its right to review the ratemaking system to rewrite the fundamental principles of a law passed by Congress. Federal laws must be passed by both the House and the Senate and to be presented to the President. All three branches of government must approve the law. An agency serving under the Executive Branch cannot be delegated the power to amend or repeal statutes by its regulations. Likewise, Congress could not create a law, such as PAEA,



giving the PRC a right to conduct a 10 year review, that broadly delegates to the agency the unfettered discretion to repeal or rewrite the substantive provisions of the original law.

For some of the associations sponsoring the paper, the maintenance of the rate cap is a life or death industry issue. For postal products in the periodical class, like newspapers and magazines, the annual compliance reviews have repeatedly shown these products to be “underwater” with the rates charged not covering attributable costs. Although individual mailers and their associations have challenged the accuracy of these cost calculations, the annual compliance reports have consistently shown these products to be “underwater.” Because the rate cap is applied on a class basis, the Commission has held that the price cap trumps the statutory requirement that mail should cover attributable costs and periodical rates have not increased beyond the CPI rate of inflation.

For the Saturation Mailers Coalition, through surveys of members and through its Steering Committee, the position has been taken that the CPI rate cap, and the importance of holding down price adjustments to no more than the rate of inflation, is important to the business health of all saturation program mailers including free paper publishers, shared mailers, and coupon magazines and envelopes. Although the application of the price cap to standard mail, as a class, allows individual categories of mail to see higher or lower price adjustments than CPI (because there is so much mail

and so many different products in the class of “standard” mail), the CPI price cap mechanism has generally helped SMC members see more stable and predictable rates since the 2006 law was passed. Fighting to maintain the price cap, whether through proceedings before the PRC or in advocacy relating to postal reform, is a mission priority for SMC.

Although it is years before the Commission will begin and complete its 10 year review, the combined associations are asking the Commission to declare in advance that its 2017 review of the

law will be limited to recommendations and changes that could be made within a system that still mandates that annual postal price adjustments be limited by the CPI rate cap applied on a class level.

Donna E. Hanbery, Executive Director

Saturation Mailers Coalition

33 South Sixth Street, Suite 4160

Minneapolis, MN 55402

(612) 3409350 Direct Line

(612) 3409446 Fax

[email protected]


USPS Update



Web design is BIG business

Download - 2014 December TCNAToday

Top Related