10 Steps To Profitable Print Advertising

Save money on borders and other illustrations by using "clip art." Available at local art supply or book stores, "clip art" books contain copyright- free designs that you cut out and drop into your layout.

Limit yourself to one typeface for the headline and one for body copy. Use boldface or larger type for emphasis, not another type style. Having too many typefaces is like mismatching clothes, plaid with stripes and dots. Is that the image you want to send out?

Make it readable. Don’t use type smaller than that used by the newspaper. Don’t put type over your illustration and avoid "reverse" type, white type on a dark background.

Because newspapers are printed on rough paper, photos generally don’t reproduce well. If you do use a photo, ask the newspaper’s photo department for tips on how to get the best reproduction in their paper.

Leave enough white space so the ad looks clean and balanced.

Most towns today have a flurry of newsprint vying for your advertising dollar-metropolitan newspapers, local papers, campus papers or weekly papers. What’s the best choice?

The first thing to consider is reach-the number of people in your target audience who read the paper. Your ad rep should be able to provide you with circulation statistics broken down by gender, age, income and other demographics. Look for papers that reach the largest number of people in your target audience.

The next point to consider is price. Newspaper space is measured in inches per column or lines per column. An inch equals 14 lines, so you can easily convert line rates to inch rates for comparison. A simple "cost per thousand" or "CPM" formula can tell you how much it costs to have your ad seen by 1,000 people in each paper.

CPM equals the cost of an ad divided by the newspaper’s circulation in thousands. For example, if you buy a $200 ad in a newspaper with a circulation of 20,000, your CPM would be 200 divided by 20, or $10. It costs you $10 to reach 1,000 people in that paper.

On the other hand, if you buy a $300 ad in a paper with a circulation of 50,000, your CPM would be $6, a much better deal. Compute the CPM for each paper you consider and you’ll easily see which is the best bargain. But remember, an inexpensive ad in a newspaper that reaches few people in your target audience is no bargain.

Finally, ask about special discounts. Many metropolitan newspapers publish separate zone editions for different zip codes or areas of the city. By advertising in a zone edition, you reach the readers of a major metropolitan paper in your area at a fraction of the normal cost. Some newspapers also offer large discounts if you sign a contract to buy a certain number of inches or lines per year.