january 2014

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) 223-5708 (888)450-8329 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.

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Get Sales TractionJohn Foust teaches us that “traction” in football and sales have more in common than you might think.

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Conference ScheduleIt’s not too early to start planning for next year. September 2014, Caribe Royale Hotel in sunny Orlando, Florida.

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Graphics Series Ellen Hanrahan shows us that the New Year is a great time to look at our craft and re-dedicate ourselves to doing a better job at it.

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USPS NewsThe challenges the United States Postal Service faces are huge but there are solutions. Free community publishers speak out on why the USPS is needed and overhaul is required.

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Bad Time ManagementBob Berting , Mr. Community Paper demonstrates how we waste our days instead of making them work for us.

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by Dr. Joey Faucette

According to a survey conducted by Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business, about half of all American households experience cus-tomer service-related problems. Over two-thirds of those customers were “very” or “extremely upset” about the company response when they com-plained. Over one-third reacted by yelling at the rep while the number of consumers cursing nearly doubled to 13%.

3 Positive Ways to Cure Customer Rage

If we surveyed your customers, how would they rate their experience with your business?

Our team recently had the opportu-nity to experience customer care after new purchases. We discovered three positive ways to cure customer rage and create exceptional experiences.

ASK GREAT QUESTIONSWhile it’s easy to just “get started” with what you know, the companies our team liked best first asked great questions. They began at 30,000 feet,

Southeastern Advertising Publishers Association

THE MONTHLY NEWSLETTER FOR THE FREE PAPER INDUSTRY JANUARY 2014

continued on page 2

i.e., big questions about our business goals, hopes, dreams, frustrations, and fears.

Then they drilled down to specific ways to accomplish our goals with the least amount of frustration in imple-mentation. They helped us put it in place and taught us how to do it inde-pendently.

What great question will you ask a customer today as you give exception-al customer care? Such questions show



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interest and a willingness to listen.

LISTEN AND THEN ANSWERAfter asking great questions, these companies listened to our team’s re-sponse.

Really listened.

What a gift! No FAQ list. No anticipa-tion or presupposition.

They employed the active listening technique of accurate empathy. They let us know they were listening by using some of our words in their re-sponse. Such empathy lowered the learning curve for us, eliminated ac-companying hesitations, and made it all more manageable.

How will you listen first and then an-swer today as you give exceptional customer care?

GIVE RESPECTOur team had the sense that the reps were walking up the steep learning curve with us. That they could see from our perspective. They wanted to help us understand. They desired to serve us without making us feel igno-rant at best and stupid at worst.

They respected us.

Every phone call and email was their “pleasure,” “why we’re here,” and “please let me know what I can do for you.”

One even asked for an update to see how she could help without our ask-ing!

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continued from page 1 How will your customers know you respect them today? Respect lessens rage every time.

Sure, it’s a busy season for everyone. What a wonderful opportunity for you to create an outstanding customer experience in a crowded, hurried-up market that expects to get angry.

Give exceptional customer care today as you ask great questions, listen and then answer, and give respect. As you do, you Work Positive in this negative world!

SUMMARYIf we surveyed your customers about

service experiences, would they be mad? Here are 3 Positive Ways to Cure Customer Rage from Dr. Joey Faucette, leading Positive Success expert and #1 Amazon best-selling author of “Work Positive in a Negative World.”

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/Speaking.

Free PapersWorking For You

Will the Internet kill your free community paper?Did instant coff ee kill coff ee?

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.

Th e 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 doesn’t.

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

Including coff ee.



Past PresidentTony OnellionBargains PlusSlidell, LA

985-649-9515

PresidentCaroline

QuattlebaumSoutheast Sun

Enterprise, AL 334-393-2969

Past PresidentRussell

QuattlebaumSoutheast Sun

Enterprise, AL 334-393-2969

Board MemberTodd Godbey

Livin’ Out Loud Magazine

Wilmington, NC 910-338-1205

Vice PresidentWill ThomasExchange, Inc.

Fayetteville, TN 931-433-9737

SecretaryMike Marlow Rutherford WeeklyForest City, NC828-248-1408

TreasurerAmy

Hollingshead Atlanta Thrifty Nickel

Marrietta, GA 770-971-8333

Executive Director

Douglas FrySAPA Headquarters

Columbia, TN931-223-5708

Administrative Assistant

Vickie BeldenSAPA Headquarters

Columbia, TN931-223-5708

SAPA Leadership

By John Foust, Raleigh, NC

Traction is a key element in any busi-ness. Even the business of football.

Many fans remember when the Green Bay Packers hosted the Dallas Cow-boys in the 1967 NFL Championship

to keep the field from freezing. But on the day of the game, the system wasn’t working, and the field was frozen sol-id. It was so cold that Frank Gifford, who was announcing the game in an open booth, said, “I think I’ll take an-other bite of my coffee.”

Get Sales Traction

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game. The winner would go on to play the AFL’s Oakland Raiders in the sec-ond Super Bowl. This was the famous “ice bowl,” in which the temperature was minus 13 degrees Fahrenheit (mi-nus 25 Celsius) at kickoff. Before the season, Green Bay coach Vince Lom-bardi had purchased an underground electric grid system that was supposed

If you are interested in serving on the SAPA board please give our president, Caroline Quattlebaum, a call at 334-393-2969. Service in our industry is fulfilling, enjoyable and gives you sense of accomplishment. Besides that you give back to the industry that enjoy. SAPA works hard to keep you informed and up-to-date on the latest advances and trends in publishing.

We’d love to talk with you about how you can give back.



Dallas was leading 17-14, when the Packers were facing third and goal on the Cowboys’ 1-yard line with 16 seconds remaining. Lombardi called for quarterback Bart Starr to give the ball to the fullback, Chuck Mercein. But Starr didn’t want to risk a handoff and decided – without telling anyone in the huddle – to run the ball himself. When guard Jerry Kramer got to the line of scrimmage, he couldn’t believe his good fortune in finding a soft patch of turf. It was a foothold. Of course, Kramer threw the key block, Starr scored, and the Packers won.

It all started with Kramer’s foothold, which gave him traction against Jethro Pugh, the Cowboys’ superb defensive tackle. To this day, Cowboy fans spec-ulate on what could have happened if Pugh had had the soft patch of turf.

There’s a lot of slippery ground in the world of sales. The first step in getting traction is to find the soft spot – the biggest and the best of which is self-interest. British statesman Benjamin Disraeli said, “Talk to a man about himself and he will listen for hours.” There’s great truth in these words – as long as we are completely sincere in

our interest.

Let’s look at some foothold areas for sales presentations:

1. Advance research. Show that you have done your homework on the company. Learn as much as you can before your first meeting. Study the company’s web site. If it’s a retail busi-ness, visit one of their stores.

2. On-the-spot research. In your initial appointment, ask a lot of questions. Get facts and opinions. What is the company’s marketing history? What kinds of ad campaigns have worked in the past? What hasn’t worked? What are their marketing goals?

3. Previous communication. If you’ve had conversations or an e-mail dia-logue with your prospect, that’s a good starting point. If you’ve promised to bring specific information to the meet-ing, that’s even better.

4. Common interest. As long as you keep it brief – and as long as you avoid political topics – this can be a good rapport-building foothold. Did you grow up in the same geographic area? Do you have similar hobbies?

Or...do you share an interest in foot-ball?

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

John Foust has conducted training programs for thousands of newspaper advertising professionals. Many ad de-partments are using his training videos to save time and get quick results from in-house training. E-mail for informa-tion: [email protected]

by Bob Berting, “Mr. Community Paper”

A SPOOF ABOUT BAD TIME MANAGEMENT HABITS

Many salespeople are not well orga-nized because they don’t have a good personal time management system. The following is intended to be a spoof about time management.

THE EARLY MORNING--STRIKING THE RIGHT IMAGE:

If the salesperson is new and the start-ing time is 8:00 am, he will get to the office at 7:30. The salesperson does not know why he is there at 7:30 but he wants to look eager. Next, he will cruise the office and plant, always

walking very fast so everyone will see him and recognize he has arrived early for work. Then it’s back to the sales area, time for a cup of coffee, discus-sion of last night’s TV programs, and a phone call to the lottery hot line.

STARTING THE MORNING CALLS:At around 10:00, the salesperson gets into his car and now begins his time management for the day. With 500 ac-counts in a 10 mile radius, the sales-person thinks “I wonder where I’ll go today?” The first call on any day has to be to someone who is friendly, with a preference for someone who has coffee or very close to a coffee shop. Sunny

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Partners in Printing Since 1900

David C. ZehPrint Sales Consultant

mobile: 770.722.0076 email: [email protected]

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402 Mayfield Drive • P.O. Box 966Monroe, GA 30655

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Bad Time Management



Ellen Hanrahan ©2014

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

ResolutionsJANUARY. THE START OF A NEW YEAR. A TIME TO REFLECT ON THE PAST AND PLOT A COURSE FOR THE FUTURE. SOME TASKS FROM THE PAST BEAR REPEATING; OTHERS ARE RE-VIEWED, RENEWED OR REDONE. THIS IS A TIME FOR…

A Happy, Safe and Prosperous New Year to all!

Happy New Year to all! As I address the first article of the new year, I look back at previous articles. So let me apologize for some of them, and some I think, were really pretty good. I will let you decide. It’s not always easy to keep going over the same material (I think that’s why they call them “fundamentals”) and making it interesting. It is not always fun and games. The tools (software) we use are always in flux, but these tools are only a means to do our jobs properly. Granted, they are a big part, but that’s not why we chose this career. It is about the design.

The purpose of our craftADVERTISE… A way to describe or call attention to a product, service, etc., in some medium in order to induce the public to buy it, use it, attend it, etc.

Advertising can persuade, and a graphic designer helps in this process of persuasion by developing a visual interpretation of the message. In other words, we are “want makers”. (NOTE: There is a book, “The Want Makers,” by Eric Clark and published in 1988. It has inside information and is a critical look at the advertising industry and how it hones the powers of persuasion. However, a lot has changed since 1988, but the basic information has not. I see it was republished in 2011, but not sure if the info is also updated. I will have to check before I order it. Stay tuned.) Let’s see, we also need a customer who wants to advertise, a salesperson to con vince the customer to use your publication, staff to check the accu-racy of ads, a way to create the final pages, and finally to print, deliver and bill for the advertising—not a solo endeav or! It also means a lot of information must be passed on and be understood by all. Instructions aren’t always passed on as well as they could be and the messages get misinterpreted. Where there is misunderstanding we need to develop ways to clearly understand each part of the process and the role of each person… sort of bridging the gap (remember that from last January!).

Let’s be clearHere are some essentials in the development of effective advertising. Actually, this information should be considered at the very beginning of the design process. Use the following as a guide in developing and planning advertising strategy.• CREATE AN IDENTITY: Design with a pur-

pose — to support the message and enhance content. Ads with distinctive graphics (photos and/or line art or interesting type handling), layouts and copy experience greater readership.

• USE A SIMPLE DESIGN LAYOUT: Eye-dazzling ads may initially catch a reader’s attention, but too many type-faces, graphics or decorative borders can turn attraction to distraction. Simple does not mean boring. The reader’s eye should move in a logical sequence: headline / illus tra tion to copy to price to advertiser.

• HAVE A DEFINITE FOCUS: What are the most important items in the ad? Use text or graphics to emphasize your message.

• DESIGN SHOULD BE UNIFIED: The re la tion ship of graphics and text should combine to create a clear and concise message.

• FEATURE CONSUMER BENEFITS: Who is the audience? Are they inter-ested in price, status, time, etc? Once you have established the market focus, gear information to their needs.

• AVOID CONGESTION: Don’t overcrowd the ad. Usually there’s so much other vis ual stimulation and/or information that this may be a good chance to plan some breathing (white) space.

• CONSIDER DETAILS: At times you can tell the story by empha-sizing a unique feature or defin-ing the most appealing aspect of a product. Be careful of abbre-viations. Not everyone knows what some abbreviations and acronyms stand for. It’s better to assume that people don’t know what the abbreviation means and explain it whenever you can.

• NAME THE PRICE: Reader’s will often overestimate, or figure they can’t aff ord the item when prices are omitted. Brand names also appeal to some readers.

• BUY NOW: Stimulate prompt action by urging readers that this is a “limited time offer” or “this week only.” If you use a coupon, make sure the value will get the reader moving (10% doesn’t cut it anymore). If you use mail-order coupons, be sure there’s enough space for all the information to fit!

It’s not in the “cloud”Developing effective advertising takes more than just the software and a computer… it’s your skills! Designing can be tricky …but can be developed. It’s the ability to exercise good judgment in using the basic elements and principles of design. Learn to use them effective-ly to develop new and appropriate visual solutions to complex commu-nications problems. This fundamen-tal skill helps you to be able to help the customer present their products or services in the best way possible.

Organization is key—you can’t just put everything into the adver-tising space without regard to how it will be perceived by the reader. Technical skills are something we all know about. Design tools change—tools today are digital and change frequently. Graduates from tech schools or colleges never had to do things piecemeal and by hand! Our methods of storing informa-tion and production procedures in our own departments have seen the elimination of film, processors, chemicals, disks, DVDs—and that’s just in the last few years! And the software—since I last wrote Adobe has gone virtual— and that poses more challenges! People skills, (basic communica-tion skills) …means being a good lis-tener and a good verbal communi-cator able to build and sustain posi-tive and productive relationships with others. It means being able to establish and maintain mutual respect; having a positive outlook and exhibiting grace under stress. We provide visual communica-tion, but we have to be able to get our information from customers, sales staff, co-workers and pass this on to others. Mutual respect and grace under pressure are certainly helpful. Being able to compromise and “teach” can also be a huge plus. Business skills require an under-standing of the marketplace. To advise our clients, we need to clear-ly understand their business chal-lenges, trends and options, which is difficult. So we have to rely on the feedback that we get from the sales staff in order to more clearly define what the customer needs… good listening skills are essential, since we usually don’t interact with the customer.

In the next year… there will be more ad compari-sons (you can always send me some of your “do-overs”); design, type and color considerations as well as read-ability and legibility issues. In other words more of the same… so we can prepare better advertising for our customers. I resolve to actually do some of the things I said I was going to do a year ago. Oops!Anyway, I will return next month… so until then…



USPS Updateby Donna Hanbery of the Saturation Mail-ers Coalition

POSTAL SERVICE PLANS TO EXTEND TIME FOR DELIVERING

SOME STANDARD MAILOn December 27, 2013, the Postal Ser-vice submitted a filing before the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) seeking an advisory opinion about a USPS plan to level out the delivery volume of ad-vertising mail. Referred to as “load lev-eling,” the Service is proposing to revise its service standard for Standard Mail entered at the Destination Sectional Center Facility (DSCF), thus qualifying for the SCF discount, after 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, or any time on Friday, Satur-day, or Sunday, to give the USPS four days, instead of today’s Service Standard of three days, to deliver the mail.

The Postal Service has been talking about load leveling throughout 2013. The Service states that a disproportion-ate amount of Standard Mail is being brought to the Postal Service and en-tered on Friday. Under current service standards, mail entered before 4:00 p.m. on Friday is required to be deliv-ered by Saturday or Monday to meet current service standards. The Postal Service complains that the high volume of Friday entries for Standard Mail at DSCF facilities is creating pressures on the Postal Service for Monday delivery. The need to get First Class Mail on the street, combined with the heavy vol-umes of Friday entries, has resulted, the Postal Service states, in an uneven work load for postal delivery operations and “extraordinary allocation of resources to meet Monday delivery expectations.” The Service states “specifically, the high volume of Standard Mail with a service

standard that creates a Monday delivery expectation contributes to the signifi-cant challenges faced by the Postal Ser-vice in seeking to achieve efficient and timely completion of delivery opera-tions on Monday.” The Service writes “this general imbalance in the propor-tion of volume with a Monday delivery expectation contributes significantly to increased overtime work hours and delivery operations at a time when the Postal Service is faced with increased costs while revenues decline as a result of the overall reduction in mail vol-umes.”

In support of its proposal, the Service as-serts “that in 2013, DSCF Standard Mail comprise 62% of Standard Mail volume and 32% of overall mail volume.” The Service asserts that Friday is the busiest day for drop ship appointments of Stan-dard Mail and wants to extend the time permitted for delivery of mail entered after 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, or entered any time Friday, Saturday or Sunday.

Under the proposed revisions to the service standard, Standard Mail en-tered at a DSCF on these dates would be changed to a service standard of four days, from the current three. Upon re-ceipt, the mail would get a color code that would allow mail entered after 4:00 p.m. on Thursday or on Friday to be coded for Tuesday delivery. Mail en-tered after 4:00 p.m. on Friday or on Saturday or Sunday would be coded for Wednesday delivery.

The proposal to lengthen the service standard for mail entered at the DSCF applies only to Standard Mail. The ser-vice standards for Periodicals and First Class Mail would not change. Mail en-tered at the DDU would not be impact-

ed by this rule.

At the present time, the Saturation Mailers Coalition (SMC) is seeking in-put from its members to determine how this change in the rules would effect our members’ mailings and programs oper-ated for customers. SMC has always stressed to the Postal Service that the ability of the Postal Service to work with saturation program mailers, including free paper publishers, to meet retailer’s expectations of a regular, expected in-home date is critical to our ability to use the mail. Although many SMC mem-bers are already bringing their mail deep into the system to work-share the mail to the highest degree possible, and to achieve reliable delivery on the re-quested in-home dates, we know many members work with printers, are in more rural areas, or may need to enter all or portions of mailed editions at the DSCF.

SMC is reaching out to free paper pub-lishers to provide us with information on the total circulation brought to a DSCF, current in-home date windows, and to determine if a paper is sent weekly or some other frequency.

If implemented, this change in service standards could go into effect as early as March 28, 2014. For publishers want-ing to follow the proceedings before the PRC, the Docket name is DSCF - Stan-dard Mail Load Leveling, Docket Num-ber N2014-1.

PRC APPROVES − BUT LIMITS − 4.3% EXIGENCY RATE INCREASE

On December 24, 2013, the Postal Reg-ulatory Commission (PRC) issued an order approving, but limiting, the USPS request for a permanent postal rate in-

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crease of 4.3%, on top of its annual CPI price change, as an “exigency” rate in-crease to compensate the Postal Service for the revenue lost from the Great Re-cession of 2008-2009.

The PRC found that the Postal Service had justified a basis for showing lost rev-enues of approximately $2.8 billion due to the extraordinary or exceptional cir-cumstances of the Great Recession and related mail volume losses. The PRC or-dered that the rates originally proposed by the Postal Service, and attached to its original exigency increase, could go into effect on January 26, 2014 as a sur-charge. The PRC found that the across the board approach to the exigent rate increase was equitable in that it distrib-uted the increase proportionately to all categories of mail. The PRC found that the Service’s dangerously low liquidity levels made the rate adjustment neces-sary to maintain and continue needed postal services.

The PRC did not, however, support the Postal Service on its desire to have a per-manent 4.3% increase added to postal rates for all noncompetitive postal prod-

ucts. The Service had argued that the Great Recession had caused it to suffer continued loss of revenues and contri-bution and contended that in fiscal year 2012 alone it lost 58.3 billion pieces, worth $6.6 billon in net revenue. The Service claimed that it was continuing to suffer annual Great Recession related losses and that by the end of fiscal year 2014 the net revenue the Service would have lost as a result of the Great Reces-sion would approach $40 billion.

The PRC noted that there was substan-tial mailer opposition to the Postal Ser-vice proposal. Many mailers had assert-ed that the Service’s losses were related more to changes in mailing habits and predictable diversion to electronic and digital media. The mailing industry, as a whole, opposed adding the exigent rate increase as a permanent adjust-ment to base rates.

The PRC found that the Postal Service’s econometric analysis had several flaws including, importantly, that the Service had not made any effort to distinguish losses due to electronic diversion from losses from the Great Recession.

The PRC made adjustments in the Postal Service estimates and limited the amount of losses it found resulting from the Great Recession to volume loss of $2.8 billion in 2014 after - rates contri-bution (profit).

The PRC specifically rejected the Ser-vice’s efforts to collect the 4.3% rate adjustment forever finding this would be “inconsistent with the fundamental policies underlying the price cap. Un-der the price cap, the Postal Service is expect to respond to declining volumes by reducing costs and improving effi-ciencies. Although the Great Recession accelerated volume decline, it does not eliminate the Postal Service’s obligation to respond to revenue losses by reduc-ing costs or improving efficiency.” The PRC found it appropriate to determine an end date for the collection of the 4.3% exigent rate adjustment.

In giving the Service permission to im-plement the 4.3% exigent rate increase as a surcharge, on top of the approved CPI rate increase, on January 26, 2014, the PRC ordered the Service to report the incremental and cumulative sur-charge revenue to the PRC on quarterly basis. The Service was directed to file

USPS Update continued from page 6



USPS Update continued from page 7a report by no later than May 1, 2014 providing a plan for removing the sur-charge after the Postal Service had col-lected an additional $2.8 billion in ad-ditional contribution.

The PRC decision was not unanimous. With three voting Commissioners, the decision was 2 to 1. Commissioner Taub supported the 4.3% increase, but dissented over the time limitation. Taub found that the majority PRC Commis-sioners had underestimated the lasting financial effects on the Postal Service of the Great Recession.

The Postal Service reaction to the de-cision was terse. In an Industry Alert, the Postal Service stated it was “disap-pointed” in the PRC’s split decision to limit the duration “of a modest exigent rate increase. We are reviewing the de-cision in an attempt to determine the basis for the Commission’s decision. We will provide additional comments later.” It remains to be seen if the Postal Service will take its efforts to subject its customers to a forever 4.3% increase to the Court of Appeals.

Charts showing the combined price changes for the CPI and exigent rate increase for saturation addressed, satu-ration simplified or EDDM, and High Density mailings accompany this ar-ticle.

In connection with the new rates, the Postal Service adjusted it rules allowing detached address labels with satura-tion mail programs. The new rate for the DAL is 3.4 cents. Under regula-

tions promulgated to accompany the price change, the USPS will disallow the use of detached address labels with standard flats with a simplified address. Going forward, the detached address label must have an address on the la-bel and this must serve as the piece address. All flats using a simplified or EDDM format, must bear simplified addresses directly on the flats. A DAL may not accompany a flat with a simpli-fied address.

PRC APPROVES CPI INCREASE WITH FULL SERVICE EXCEPTION

In November 2013, the Postal Regula-tory Commission (PRC) issued an order approving the Postal Service’s annual CPI rate adjustment, with an exception. The PRC found that the rates proposed were consistent with the law. How-ever, the Postal Service plan to require the full service Intelligent Mail Barcode (IMB) on all first class mail, standard mail, and periodicals to “qualify for au-tomation rates” resulted, in effect, in a higher rate increase than what would be allowed under the CPI rate cap au-thority of 1.696%. The PRC ruled that the Postal Service can proceed with its CPI rate increase so long as it does not concurrently implement its plans to re-quire full service IMB on all mail as a condition for automation rates.

For free papers that predominantly use enhanced carrier route saturation mail or high density mail to deliver papers by mail, the CPI filing did not contain a full service IMB requirement. ECR mail

will still, predominantly, be drop-ship entered where it bypasses most han-dlings and is not automated.

The PRC also found a question in the discounts allowed for commercial and nonprofit work share discounts for standard mail 5-digit automation digit flats. This portion of the Postal Service’s request was remanded to address the PRC’s question.

The PRC gave the Postal Service the right to go forward as planned with its proposed CPI rate increase adjustment so long as it did not impose its proposed full service IMB requirements.

In a statement issued to the mailing in-dustry on November 29, 2003, the Post-al Service announced that it was disap-pointed in the ruling from the PRC but would move forward with its CPI rates without the IMB requirement. Calling the PRC’s decision “ill conceived,” and stating that it would hinder the Postal Service’s ability to promote a technol-ogy that enhances the value of mail, the Service announced that it would delay the proposed January 26, 2014 imple-mentation of the full service intelligent mail requirement for automation price discounts. In the press release and an-nouncement, the Service stated it was strongly committed to full service adop-tion for all mailers and that the Postal Service would move forward to aggres-sively achieve 100% visibility in the mail through full service.

Accordingly, mailers can expect, at a minimum, to see their postal rates in-crease pursuant to the CPI-proposed rate adjustments on January 26, 2013.

Donna E. Hanbery, Executive DirectorSaturation Mailers Coalition

33 South Sixth Street, Suite 4160Minneapolis, MN 55402

(612) 340-9350 Direct Line(612) 340-9446 Fax

[email protected]



must have an effective time manage-ment system, demonstrate self-dis-cipline, and have an organized work plan.

Bob Berting is a professional speaker, newspaper sales trainer, and publisher marketing consultant who has conducted over 1500 live seminars, tele-seminars, and webinars for newspaper sales staffs, their customers, print media associations and trade associations in the US and Canada.

Contact Bob at 800-536-5408 or [email protected]. He is located at 6330 Woburn Drive, Indianapolis, IN 46250.

days are good for a half hour trip to Harvey’s Hardware store. Harvey is happy to see him because Harvey is lonely. The salesperson could easily spend an hour with Harvey and justify it by saying it’s account development. After all, Harvey does run 10” ads oc-casionally and he wants to be right there when Harvey is ready to increase his ad size.

LUNCH TIMEAt 12:00 noon the salespeople return to the office, then out to lunch togeth-er and begin “market research.” The newest salesperson always has every-thing figured out the first week. If the paper is a broad sheet format, it should be a tabloid. If the paper is mail-de-livered, it should be carrier-delivered. They then commiserate together—the economy is weak, people are not spending, business is down, and the radio station is cutting its rates again.

AFTERNOON SELLING TIMEBack to the office from lunch, followed by paper shuffling and a few phone calls…and finally about 2:00, the salesperson is back out on the street

for his selling activity. The salesperson knows something is wrong because the merchants are not running out of their stores and throwing advertising copy into his car. The salesperson nev-er thinks, “Well, the publication has been in business for 20 years—maybe they’re doing something right.” The new salesperson cannot understand the merchants’ sales resistance.

LATE AFTERNOON WIND DOWNThe salesperson wants to be back in the office by 4:00, to insure he can leave promptly by 5:00. He quickly submits his copy to the layout depart-ment and tells them he’ll look at the finished production ads in the morning.

This pattern of wasting time means that once bad habits are formed, the sales-person will continue to waste time, day in and day out. But when a salesperson makes good sales calls on a regu-lar basis, i n c r e a s e d sales will result.

However to do this, he

Bad Time Mangementcontinued from page 4

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.

Free PapersWorking For You

“Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.” Thomas Jefferson

The liberty we enjoy in this country came about because ordinary citizens stood up against the big guys. They 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 offer 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.



SAPA Annual Conference: Orlando, F l o r i da : SAPA (Southeastern Advertising Publishers Association), IFPA (Independent Free Papers of America), and CPF (Community Papers of Florida), will join together at the fabulous Caribe Royale in sunny Orlando, Florida on September 18 - 20, 2013. We are already working on

Conference Schedulesspeakers, activities, and networking opportunities that will make this a conference to remember. Top-notch speakers, exciting activities, friendships, and time to network will be some of the things you will remember most about the conference. Call Douglas Fry at 931.223.5708 for more information.

N E W S P A P E R P R I N T I N G C O M P A N Y




A c c o u n t E xe c u t i ve

5 2 1 0 S O U T H LO I S AV E N U E / TA M PA , F LO R I DA 3 3 6 1 1( 8 1 3 ) 9 0 2 - 1 1 9 6 / C E L L ( 5 6 1 ) 2 3 9 - 2 4 9 5P ro d u c t i o n : ( 8 1 3 ) 8 3 9 - 0 0 3 5 / FA X : ( 8 1 3 ) 8 3 9 - 7 2 9 5E M A I L : d o u g s @ N P C p r i n t i n g . c o mw w w. N P C p r i n t i n g . c o m

Doug Schwenk

Throughout the developed world, we have moved from “manpower” to “mindpower.” We have moved from the use of physical muscle to the use of mental muscle.

Learn something new. Try something different. Convince yourself that you have no limits.

Brian Tracy

Southeastern AdvertisingPublishers Association

Douglas FryExecutive Director

104 Westland DriveColumbia, TN 38401

Voice: 931.223.5708Fax: 888.450.8329

[email protected]

WOW, they say time flies when you are having fun, I must be having a BLAST!! This past 2 years as PaperChain chair-man just flew by and I wanted to take this opportunity to thank some folks for their help with PaperChain.

I want to thank the members of the Southeastern Advertising Publishers Association. Free paper publishers are the best, always willing to lend a hand when needed and support PaperChain and their associations programs. We could not do what we do without the publishers help. SAPA members are so supportive of industry initiatives and we appreciate the support of SAPA for not only their monetary pledge, but for support of programs as well.

Thank you Douglas Fry, your Execu-tive Director, for all that he has done

for PaperChain over the years! He has been a true leader for our industry and has offered his guidance at every step of PaperChains development. His clear thinking and willingness to share helps us all.

We also need to thank all of the other associations and executive directors that pledge resources to fund Paper-Chain, including AFCP and IFPA. Without this funding we would not have our agreement with SRDS that elevates our members listings when media buyers search individual DMAs. This has been a huge boost to free pa-pers all across the country and we are very close to renewing that agreement.

Lastly I want to thank the volunteer board of PaperChain for their time and talents. John Draper, Publisher of the

UpdateFree Star in Pipestone, MN is the in-coming chair of PaperChain and he will do a great job for us all.

Thanks again for your support of Pa-perChain and our industry.

Greg BirkettPaperChain Chair



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