2011 june

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

Four Possible Sales OutcomesJohn Foust teaches us that in any sales opportu-nity there are four possible outcomes.Page 3

Conference SchedulePlan today to join us at the fabulous Wynfrey Hotel in Birmingham, AL on July 15 & 16, 2011.Page 8

Graphics Series Ellen Hanrahan shows how silhouettes can be powerful graphic devices that get results in your ads.Page 5

Be PreparedIt’s not just a great motto for Boy Scouts. Joe Bonura helps us learn that being prepared for sales calls makes things happen for us.Page 6

Checklist for Effective AdvertisingAs you prepare your next award-winning ad campaign make sure you check it against this list.Page 9

First in a Three-Part Series

by Bob Berting

It’s no great surprise to most advertising salespeople that getting along with their customers is big part of their job…and their piece of mind.

Recently at a seminar I conducted for the customers of a weekly publication, I asked the merchants what irritated them the most about the advertising salespeople who called on them. Their collective reply didn’t surprise me, because it’s a common reason for dissatisfaction—their salesperson takes them for granted and really doesn’t try to

Working With Hard To Please Customers

understand their needs and problems. On the other hand, salespeople complain about unreasonable customers, who treat them badly, try to intimidate them, and are just plain hard to please. The road to the firing line with customers is traveled by advertis-ing salespeople who are sometimes not pre-pared to “be in the arena.”

INDIVIDUAL MOTIVATION AND PREPARATION

Before you can handle the customer, you have to handle yourself. How much faith do you have in your operation, your staff co-workers, and your support team? Faith

is a positive strength and is needed to build confidence in your publication.

How is your voice vitality? If you intend on handling people, you have to speak clearly. This means projection of your voice, enun-ciating each word, and not dropping off on the last word of a sentence, which is the re-sult of a lack of energy in your voice control.

What about your likeability factor? Do you project warmth, friendliness, sense of humor, and a frequent smile? This is “first brain communication” and basically means you sell with emotion and justify with facts or logic.

Southeastern Advertising Publishers Association

THE MONTHLY NEWSLETTER FOR THE FREE PAPER INDUSTRY JUNE 2011

continued on Page 2



Working With Hard To Please Customers

GROUP TEAM WORK The customer just doesn’t see you; they see the people you represent. Your staff has to operate as a team with a united front. If the team isn’t organized, and is disagreeable with each other, the customer senses this and many times will take advantage of the situation. A great approach to this situation is called “A short course in human relations” and has the following elements:

6 most important words—“ I admit I made a mistake”

5 most important words—“You did a good job”

4 most important words—“ What is your opinion?”

3 most important words—“Will you please”

2 most important words—“Thank you”

Most important word—“We”

Least important word—“I”

Another important point to consider is the policies of the publication which are shown

in media kits, rate cards, brochures, etc. Al-though policies are generally thought out carefully, they may actually create hard-to-please customers. Examples of this are: questionable charges for ad positions, proof procedures that invite needless customer changes, excessive charges for inserts, and many other situations which seem to stim-ulate customer complaints.

Coming up—The Customer Image—Sec-ond in the series of three articles about working with hard-to-please customers.Bob Berting (Mr. Community Paper) is a professional speaker, newspaper sales train-er, e-book author, and publisher marketing consultant. Bob’s website is www.bobbert-ing.com. He can be reached at 800-536-5408 or [email protected].

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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

Tony is a top producer at his paper, and it is no surprise that he has a no-nonsense approach to sales. “Years ago, I heard that there are four possible outcomes when a sales person meets

“In exploratory discussions to learn the marketing needs of new prospects – and in presentations to show how my paper can meet those needs – it’s important to look for ways to help the other person be a winner,” Tony said. “If he or she can win by making a buying decision, then I win, too.

“There are plenty of other win-win possibilities. When you run into a client at a restaurant or a Chamber of Commerce event, make it a positive experience. Each encounter is another building block in a good business relationship.”

Four PossibleSales Outcomes

continued on page 4

with a prospect: win-win, win-lose, lose-win, and lose-lose. I liked the clarity of that philosophy and went for the win-win outcome in all of my sales presentations.”

Here’s a breakdown of the four outcomes:

1. You win-They win. This is the gold standard of selling, because both sides walk away with something of value.



2. You win-They lose. In this outcome, you make a point, or perhaps a sale – but your prospect feels like he or she has lost something. “Sales people who use pressure can fall into this trap,” Tony said. “It’s foolish to risk the possibility of a long-term marketing partnership with a ‘buy now or you’ll lose out on this special section’ approach. It’s much better to be patient and get in step with your prospects’ marketing needs.

“And don’t forget about the ads themselves,” he cautioned. “If you sell an ad that doesn’t do what it’s supposed to do, that’s a negative. Sure, you’ll get credit for a sale, and your paper will get revenue from that ad. But you’ll lose traction with the advertiser.”

3. You lose-They win. In this frustrating situation, you don’t get any kind of positive reception, much less a sale. Sometimes your prospect even seems pleased to stop you in your tracks.

“When I meet with resistance, I double up on my listening efforts,” Tony explained. “I ask questions and pay careful attention to the answers. If a sale is not likely to happen any time soon, I work to advance the business relationship in a positive direction. Anything that I learn about the prospect is a positive. And any point that I can score for my paper is a positive.”

4. You lose-They lose. In this outcome, there is disagreement all around. Neither side receives anything of value. “If this happens,” Tony said, “it’s best

to walk away, think it through, and try again another day. As difficult as it may seem, say something positive as you leave.”

Tony has discovered that the four-outcome concept goes far beyond formal sales presentations. Aim for the win-win. And when the win-win is not an immediate possibility, plant the seeds for better future outcomes.

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

Southeastern AdvertisingPublishers Association



SilhouetteGRAPHICS COME IN MANY FLAVORS, PHOTOS, CLIP ART—BOTH BIT MAP AND VECTOR, DETAILED OR SIMPLE. BUT A VERY EFFECTIVE GRAPHIC CAN BE A SIMPLE…

Ellen entered the publishing business after nine years as a high school art teacher and taught software programs at the technical school lev-el. She also writes a graphics column for The Independent Publisher. Reach her at: [email protected] Hanrahan ©2011

Sell your stu≠in the Booster classifieds

Hartford • 673–2900 | West Bend 334–5899

Buy some stu≠ in the Booster classifi eds

Hartford • 673–2900 | West Bend 334–5899

healthviewC O N C E R N I N G Y O U R W E L L B E I N G

Headings in the Booster help create an identity for regular groupings in the paper.

Silhouettes on the page… to modify the Herman’s Hermits “Silhouettes on the Wall” tune from waaaaay back when got me to thinking. That and an article from “Before and After” regarding the use of silhouettes for desktop holiday cards reminded me of the times I used silhouettes as attention-getting devices in my ads— simple shapes can get an idea across faster than more complex shapes! Silhouettes are especially helpful in small space ads because they are simple and recognizable in the blink of an eye…which is what you are looking for when designing for a printed page with a lot of other ads competing for “attention.” I had done articles on silhouettes before, but I have uncovered even more, so thought I would share these with you. I will revise some of my previous articles and present them at a later date. The samples on the right have run in the various Booster publications for many years. They work well as headings for the regular columns because they are clean, simple and the art supports the text…in other words they stand out from the other ads. The simple silhouette is easily recognized by the reader. If we would have used “detailed” artwork, the effect would not be as striking, espe-cially since we are working in a very small space and more lines (details) would start to look “busy.” The article from Before and After led me to a web site: all-silhouettes.com. The info said they were “the largest, online collection of free vector silhouettes. Most of presented silhouettes are free for personal and commercial purposes (see license information for each pack for more details).” Most of the silhouette clip art contain two vector formats: AI (Adobe Illustrator 8) and CSH (Adobe Photoshop custom shapes) so they are easy to use in a vector editing application. For the most part, they are free, so why not try them, but free isn't always good. The silhouettes I use the most have been collected over a number of years. Sometimes they were part of a typeface (an example is listed below), sometimes they were part of an art service I subscribed to at one time, PhotoSpin, and some-times they were part of a collection or package. I picked a few that I thought would lend themselves to small space (or even large) ads and some ideas for incorporating them into your designs.

Look for shapes that are clear— silhouette detailsJust because there are no specific details in a silhouette doesn't mean that all of them work well. One thing to keep in mind is the shape of the silhouette…some will work better than others. Look for silhouettes that show a side or three-quarter view.

*

*

Most of these animal shapes work because the outline is well-defined. The shapes with the asterisk(*) lose definition because the shape is a little more ambiguous.

Let it snow, let it snowI'm sure that some of you have already worked with silhou-ettes— and were not aware of it. A lot of snowflakes are sil-houettes—they work well in an ad because you can vary the size, or even use just a part of the artwork.The best shapes are the ones that weare most familiar with

Other sourcesThere are also typefaces that come with vector files. House Industries Comprime has some interesting silhouettes. Look familiar?

And there are art services that sell vector silhouettes—complete with drop shadows!

Anyof these silhouettes would work for a spa or

fitness ad.

I installed Adobe CS 5, purchased some "Quick Start" guide books —now I just have start! Hopefully will have more to report next time! If you have any ideas, comments or concerns, drop me a line at the e-mail address below…



BePreparedby Joe Bonura

IT IS A LIFETIME ADVENTUREWhat we do before the sales call de-termines how we handle ourselves during a sales call. Preparation is not a one time event—it is a lifetime ad-venture. The adventure begins when you accept your first job as a sales pro-fessional. One of the most well-kept secrets in the selling profession is that preparation is a never ending process.

ARE YOUR SALES MUSCLES LEAN AND MEAN?

If two teams were competing for a ma-jor championship, and one team prac-ticed hard all year, but the other team took it easy and waited for game day, which team do you think would win the game? Are your sales muscles fat and flabby, or lean and mean?

DO NOT FLY ON BROKEN WINGSA sales call does not change you. It only magnifies what you already have or don’t have. I remember vividly, and with some embarrassment, how poorly I performed when I served as a loaned executive for United Way. I fig-ured that selling was selling and that I could walk in on my first donor call

and wing it. Instead of winging it, my wings were clipped. My call was stiff and unenthusiastic, and the donor let me know it. He said that I should have had more concern for what I was do-ing because of the cause I was repre-senting.

LIVE AND LEARNHe was right, and I learned a lesson that I have not forgotten. Since then, I have had the privilege of working with over twenty United Way groups all over the United States. I taught loaned executives to prepare and know their true goal to help people who cannot help themselves. The effort to prepare may save a life or a family.

LEARN FROM THE MASTERSOne of my mentors, the late Joe Char-bonneau, encouraged his audiences to find someone who is a master at what you want to do, and then model your-self after that person. Why try to re-invent the wheel when someone has already done so?

TOO BLIND TO SEEWe were having the drapes cleaned in our home, and Mike, the drapery in-

staller, was a master sales person and a super serve person. A young man in training accompanied Mike on his first visit. When the young trainee did not return for the installation of the cleaned draperies, my wife asked about him. Mike said that the young man had quit the week before. Appar-ently, he did not want to take orders from Mike or to learn from an expe-rienced mentor. What a shame! The trainee will probably go through life wondering why he could not succeed. He closed the drapes on his future be-cause he was too blind to see the op-portunity he had to grow his career and to increase his knowledge by fol-lowing the advice and mentoring of a master.

JUNK YARD MENTALITYMental fitness is important, but so is physical fitness. My job entails a lot of travel, stays in hotels, and eating in airports. It is easy to fall into a very poor lifestyle as far as my health is concerned. I must be constantly vigi-lant in my food choices and in the ex-ercise that I do to keep myself men-tally alert and ready to sell. Recently, I fell back into some old habits of eating junk food and neglecting exercise. I used my travel schedule as an excuse.

TODAY IS THE DAYTHE ONLY DAY

Deciding to practice what I preach, I wrote on a 3x5 card to carry in my pocket: “Today I will take control of my life and my diet.” Notice that I said

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Be Prepared“today;” I am not concerned about to-morrow or the day after. You can con-trol today if you have the right atti-tude. The second thing I wrote on the 3x5 card was, “I will be made new in the attitude of my mind,” a Bible verse from Ephesians 4:23. My inner mental att i tude will de-termine my out-ward ac-tions. I must be constant-ly aware of my m e n t a l att i tude and ad-just my t h i n k -ing as it becomes n e c e s -sary.

THE CHOICE IS UP TO YOUTake control of your sales career by preparing like you have never prepared before. Give it all you have. Learn something new about selling (serving your prospects) every day. Role play with your associates to sharpen your

selling reflexes. Find someone at the top of their game in your business and interview him/her. Subscribe to in-dustry publications. Commit to read at least one book a month during the next year. Invest your own money in a sales training program. Be prepared before you go in to make a call, and you can be prepared to get the busi-ness. Make every day an awesome day!

© Joe Bonura & Associates, Inc.



SAPA Annual Conference: Birmingham, AL July 15 & 16, 2011: SAPA always has the best conferences in the industry. Next year’s conference at the Wynfrey Hotel in Birmingham, Alabama will be no exception. Great speakers, enjoyable time to mingle with your publishing friends, and opportunities to network

Conference Schedulesmake this conference another “must-attend” event. The Wynfrey Hotel adjoins a huge shopping experience so you might want to plan an extra day or two. Now, more than ever, you’ll benefit from attending this upcoming conference. 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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Free PapersWorking For You

Will the Internet kill your free 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 free community papers is now higher than paid daily papers, and continues to grow. Rather than being replaced by “instant” media, your local free 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 free community paper does what the Internet doesn’t. We promote connections at a local level. Free papers join readers and advertisers in ways digital media don’t.

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

Including coffee.



Justin Gerena, President, Director of Salesp: 888.592.3212 x710e: [email protected]

JB Multimedia, Inc. P.O. Box 704 N. Bellmore, NY 11710 888.592.3212 phone/fax www.jbmultimedia.net

M a k i n g p u b l i c a t i o n s i n t e r a c t i v e.

It's time for a new business venture…Needing new Revenue for 2011?

theBOOKcreators.bizCONNIE GIBBS

[email protected]

JOEL [email protected]

620-947-1923

It's time for a new business venture…Needing new Revenue for 2011?

theBOOKcreators.bizCONNIE GIBBS

[email protected]

JOEL [email protected]

620-947-1923

Checklist forEffective AdvertisingReady to launch a new ad campaign for your advertiser? Before you do, consult this checklist to make sure that both your ad and your message are right on target.

1. Headline. Is the headline the primary visual of the ad? Does it attract the reader?

2. First Paragraph. Does the first paragraph encourage the reader to read the rest of the ad?

3. Visual. Does the ad contain a good visual of the product? Does it support but not overpower the headline?

4. Medium. Is this media outlet (newspaper, radio station, billboard etc.) the best medium for the ad?

5. Location. Is the ad situated in the best spot in the medium?

6. Size. Is the ad large enough to do the job expected of it? Does it have to omit important persuasive elements to fit the size? Is the ad too crowded?

7. Product. Does the ad contain persuasive information about the product/service that are important to

the targeted audience?

8. Layout. Is the ad inviting to the eye? Is it easy to read?

9. Prospective Customer’s Paradigm. Is the ad written and presented with the prospective customer’s point of view in mind or the company’s? Does it address the prospective customer’s wants, needs, desires, fears, etc.?

10. Believability. Does the ad “ring true” or does it make statements without believable support?

11. Ask for a Response. Does the final paragraph of the copy ask the reader for a response and does the ad provide a means to respond?

12. Branding. Does the ad support company branding or product/service branding efforts that help the prospective customer quickly identify the company or product at a glance?

13. Key Information. Does the ad include key information such as store locations and hours, telephone number, websi te , credi t card acceptance, etc.?

When you exercise your freedom to exprss yourself at the lowest level, you ultimately condemn yourself to live at that level.

Zig Ziglar



PROMOTIONS PROPOSEDThe U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is push-ing direct mail campaigns with yet another initiative. USPS will offer a 3 percent discount in July and August to people mailing letters or flats with a Quick Response, or QR code. The two-dimensional mobile barcodes are read-able by smartphones, which allows any

iPhone, BlackBerry or Android phone to scan items in order to access more details, such as online content, special deals or competitions.

Post&Parcel recently interviewed Thomas Foti, the Post Service manager of marketing mail: “We firmly believe that mobile barcodes add significant value to mail—they help increase re-

sponse rates and they help establish re-lationships with those that don’t neces-sarily already have a relationship with mail—for instance those in younger generations,” said Foti. He hopes the summer sale will inspire the use of mo-bile barcodes, which he says will only improve usage rates in the future.

“As customers continue to use QR codes, we think this increases the effec-tiveness of mail, which encourages the demand for mail and hopefully longer term it increases our volume,” he said. “We recognize that the online world will continue to grow and thrive, and we just want to make customers aware that mail can be an integral part of that communication, and in fact online cam-paigns that do utilize direct mail are more effective.”

Foti believes the relationship between mobile technology and physical mail will enhance direct marketing cam-paigns. To validate this assumption, during the discount promotion, USPS will track how many customers use the barcodes and to what extent, in order to best access the usage and potential demand for this new technology.

“We believe this is just the first of things to come,” he said. “We believe that the innovation is just going to continue.”

The 3 percent discount will apply to First Class Mail and Standard Class Mail. The promotion will officially run from July 1 through August 31.

USPS Update

GET YOUR CUSTOMER’S ATTENTION!Bring your message to life by advertising in over 4 million homes

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Readership of free community

papers is now higher than

paid daily papers and

continues to grow. And more

than 70 percent of readers

make their buying decisions

from free paper advertising

and editorial.

Your free community paper,

promoting connections at a local

level—right under your nose.

Publication logo

If you’re looking at this space,so are your clients.

SHSOP

PaperChain recently conducted an ad design contest. One of the winners was our own Sarah Hart Sanders of the Oyster Pointer in Newport News, Virginia. Congratulations!



Publishing

Is A Picnic For

Our Members

Join Us In

Birmingham, AL

July 15 & 16, 2011

And Find Out Why

Southeastern AdvertisingPublishers Association

Room RatesLowered to

$99!

2011 june

Documents

t w w w

s i t u s

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unreasonable customers

customersgroup team

support team

team isnt

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