Here’s what two newspapers who recently launched The Job Network had to say:

“The Job Network has given us a suite of products that allow us to compete on a level before unthought-of. I would suggest The Job Network to anyone looking to bring their recruitment advertising to the next level. It’s worked GREAT for us.

Jeff Purcell, Webmaster

The Lewiston Tribune & The Moscow-Pullman Daily News & NWMarket.com

“I was speaking to our internet Director and he said that after 12 years we finally have a home run with The Job Network.”

Dave Newman, Classified Advertising Manager

The Standard-Examiner Odgen, UT

For more information about The Job Network please contact Kevin Hoppes Vice President of Sales & Marketing at khoppes@thejobnetwork.com or by phone at 570-497-5762

Kevin Hoppes VP Sales & Marketing TheJobNetwork.com Email: khoppes@thejobnetwork.com

Phone: 570-497-5762

Cell: 570-952-4956

Fax: 614-386-5929

Daily Herald names new publisher

Grace Leong - DAILY HERALD

Rona Rahlf, a senior executive with Lee Enterprises Inc., on Tuesday was named publisher of the Daily Herald and its nine affiliated weekly newspapers and specialty publications. She succeeds Craig Dennis, who has left the company.

Rahlf, 43, has 19 years of newspaper management experience, including four as a publisher. She will serve as president of Pulitzer Utah Newspapers Inc., a Lee subsidiary.
Mike Gulledge, Lee's vice president for publishing, made the announcement and introduced Rahlf to the Herald staff Tuesday morning.

He said Rahlf was selected because of her broad experience in "building strong dynamic relationships with readers, advertisers and employees."
Most recently, she has served as a newspaper group leader within Lee. Since 2006, Rahlf has been publisher of The Post-Star in Glens Falls, N.Y. Before that, she was publisher for two years at The Montana Standard in Butte, Mont.
Under her leadership, The Post-Star received Lee's highest honor as 2007 Enterprise of the Year. In 2005, while Rahlf was publisher in Butte, The Montana Standard was also chosen as a finalist for Enterprise of the Year.

"She's a proven catalyst for success," Gulledge said. Mary Junck, Lee chairwoman and chief executive officer, said: "Rona and her team in Glens Falls have set a high standard for delivering strong local news, driving revenue, accelerating online innovation and continuing to build on powerful audience reach. We're sure she'll help guide her new team in Provo to reach even higher."
"It's a different environment now in our industry," Rahlf said. "There's opportunities here and we will identify them to best serve our readers and advertisers."

Rahlf began her career with Lee in 1987 as a shopper advertising sales representative in Billings, advancing to management positions within the Billings Gazette as Thrifty Nickel manager and specialty publications manager. In 1996 she became retail advertising manager of the Gazette. In 2000, she and three other Lee classified managers in Montana received a Lee President's Award for creating the statewide "Work For You" employment publication. In 2002, she was appointed human resources manager at the Gazette and also served as a regional human resources director. In Glens Falls, she has been involved in a variety of community projects, including serving as a board member with the Tri-County United Way. She and her husband, Willie, have two daughters and a son, who is currently serving a mission for the LDS Church.

The Daily Herald has a circulation of more than 33,000 daily and 39,000 Sunday and online reach totaling 4 million unique visits per month.

RANDY BENNETT NAMED SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT FOR THE NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA

John Kimball Becomes Senior Vice President of Newspaper Relations

Arlington, Va. – Randy Bennett, formerly vice president of Audience and New Business Development for the Newspaper Association of America, has been promoted to senior vice president of Business Development, NAA announced today.

In his new role, Bennett will be responsible for overall strategy, direction and management of the new NAA Business Development Department.  The new department will place a strong emphasis on digital and other industry growth opportunities.  NAA’s former Marketing and Technology Departments will be merged into the Business Development Department.

“With newspaper companies adjusting their business models and growing digital platforms, we are excited that someone as knowledgeable and experienced as Randy is now part of our senior management team,” said NAA President and CEO John F. Sturm.  “Randy’s decades of experience give him a keen insight on how newspapers can expand their digital footprint, something that will prove invaluable to our members as they navigate this period of transition.”

Prior to joining NAA in 1990, Bennett was director of online services for America Online, where he was responsible for developing information services and information provider relationships. He joined Quantum Computer Services (the original company name) in 1986 and helped grow membership fivefold in a four-year period. Categories under his direction included news, computer information, shopping, multi-player games and education. Bennett also has worked for Knight Ridder Inc.’s pioneering Viewtron service, the first graphics-based online service in the United States.

John Kimball Appointed Senior Vice President of Newspaper Relations

In another organizational change, John Kimball, formerly NAA’s senior vice president and chief marketing officer, has been named NAA’s Senior Vice President of Newspaper Relations.

“John’s new position will advance and advocate the value proposition of NAA membership to individual newspapers and newspaper companies,” Sturm explained. “With more than a decade of experience at NAA and nearly 30 years at newspapers across the country, I can think of no one better suited for this position.”

NAA is a nonprofit organization representing the $59 billion newspaper industry and more than 2,000 newspapers in the U.S. and Canada. NAA members include daily newspapers, as well as non-dailies, other print publications and on-line products. Headquartered near Washington, D.C., in Arlington, Va., the Association focuses on the major issues that affect today’s newspaper industry: public policy/legal matters, advertising revenue growth and audience development across the medium’s broad portfolio of products and digital platforms. Information about NAA and the industry also may be found at www.naa.org.

Contact

Jeff Sigmund, NAA Communications Manager

(571) 366-1088

Jeff.sigmund@naa.org

Strategies for ad inserts

BY-LINE

By John Foust

Raleigh, NC

I was talking to Sara, who handles the marketing for a company that places advertising in a number of publications. "Inserts will never replace our regular newspaper advertising, but we do run them on special occasions," she said. "And like everything else in our overall marketing plan, we want to make sure we're getting the most for our investment.

"An insert rarely stands alone," Sara said. "When we plan a printed piece, we know it will be competing with a number of other inserts in the same issue of the paper – just like our regular ads compete with other ads. Our big questions are: (1) How can we grab attention?...(2) How can we hold attention?...and (3) How can we drive response?"

Sara mentioned several things that she keeps in mind when she plans an insert:

1. Think big. According to Sara, the first step is to study the typical inserts in the publication that has been selected – and then print her insert on larger paper. "We can't assume that our insert will be first in line," she said. "Since it is likely to be in a grouping of other inserts, we want it to stick out around the edges. The way to do that is to use paper that is as big as possible."

2. Print on both sides. Sara noted that some advertisers print their inserts on one side, and leave the other side blank. "If an insert is printed on just one side, there's a fifty-fifty chance that the wrong side will be facing readers when they flip through the paper. Even if the inserts are placed face-up, there are readers that sift through them from back to front. We always print on both sides, so our inserts will be visible."

3. Print in color. "It's false economy to print only in black and white. There's probably more color in any given number of inserts than in the same number of ROP ads. We have to keep in mind that we're competing with a lot of glitz and glitter among the other inserts in the same issue of the paper."

4. Promise a benefit or provide timely information. Sara believes the old WII-FM philosophy is just as true with inserts as it is with other types of advertising: We all listen to the same hypothetical radio station – which stands for "What's In It For Me?"

"There's a lot of clutter out there," Sara said. "People are bombarded with commercial messages screaming to 'buy this,' 'buy that,' ' do this' or 'do that.' We figure that we have a split second to get their attention, and another few seconds to introduce our copy point. If our message does not appeal to their interests, they'll ignore us completely."

5. Create urgency. "It's our objective to motivate potential customers to take some form of immediate action," Sara explained. "We like to think of readers going through a stack of inserts with scissors in hand. We want them to cut out our information – whether it's a coupon or a return postcard."

COPYRIGHT LINE

(c) Copyright 2008 by John Foust. All rights reserved.

CREDIT LINE

E-mail John Foust for information about his training videos for ad departments: jfoust@mindspring.com

Going after the mom-and-pop shops

By Jim Townsend

No matter what you work for – newspaper, broadcaster, Internet pure-play or yellow-pages company – you’ve probably found it tough getting SMEs (small- to medium-sized enterprises) to advertise in your core products. It could be your company has spent considerable effort – and money – trying to figure out how to serve that huge, untapped market.

Let’s say you’ve taken a new or improved product to market to chase down all those small-business owners – the plumbers, the manicurists, restaurants, dentists, lawyers, notaries, etc. But we have to ask: Before you built it, whatever “it” is, did you ask your would-be customers if they wanted it?

Don’t get us wrong. We’re not ones to stomp on initiative. Great ideas happen all the time. And success often blooms from the husks of failures. The biggest risk you face is not trying at all.

However, before you try to wrest cash from the moms-and-pops, remind yourself that they really are moms and pops. They don’t have marketing budgets. Anything they give you comes out of their tills, their tip jars, their wallets, their take-home pay. You’re asking for their grocery money. Mom and pop have kids to feed.

No matter what you create, regardless the medium, there are basic principles you should be following when it comes to selling to small-business owners:

-- Does what you’re doing solve a problem? We mean, of course, besides your revenue problem. Whether it’s a product, a service, a whole new line of business, or simply an ad campaign, what about it makes it compelling to consumers? Before it’s going to make any sense to advertisers, it has to make sense to your advertisers’ would-be customers. Why would they need it? Why would they care? These questions are basic to all business ventures, not just reaching out to SMEs. But if you can’t answer the basics, start over. Put every idea to a two-word test: “So what.”

-- Don’t overlook the “small” ideas. Small ideas have the advantages of easy execution and minimal risk. If you stumble, you don’t fall far. The simpler the idea, the easier it is for your company, your consumers and your advertisers to get behind.

-- It’s not about “local.” It’s about community. Dozens of newspapers are running niche social-networking sites for local mothers and mothers-to-be – such as CincyMoms.com and MomHouston.com. They’re brilliant. Lots of mom-generated content that helps mothers navigate parenthood. Perfect places for the local baby boutiques and day-care services, as well as national Toys-R-Us. It works for local radio and TV Web sites as well. (And don’t charge small-business owners your full run-of-site rates in your niche pages!)

The niches you create should engage, empower and activate significant audience segments. It could be moms. Or dads. Or rabid sports fans. Or teens or young adults. The list goes on. To wit:

-- Know what motivates mom and pop. When the local high school band clinches the regional title, what newspaper doesn’t run a page in tribute with all sorts of congratulations from local businesses? The value to consumers is marginal. The value of that sort of page to advertisers is that it sends the message that their businesses are committed to the community. That sort of simple page works almost every time, because that’s exactly the message small-business owners want to convey: “We’re here, we’re your friends and neighbors, we support you, please support us.”

-- Don’t be sales reps. Be marketing consultants. You’re talking with people who don’t know you, don’t use you, and perceive (rightly or wrongly) that they can’t afford you. Not only do they not advertise, they don’t know how to advertise. You’re planting seeds of trust. Give that seed time to germinate. Take care to curb your powers of persuasion. If you pounce on the easy sales opportunity, your new client is going to end up with some sense of buyer’s remorse just for allowing herself to be talked into it – even if the ad lifts her business.

-- Sales managers: This isn’t easy business. It’s a longer than usual lead time with smaller returns per customer. If you really want a significant piece of that 80 percent of your market, you’ll have to be creative – and patient. It won’t fit seamlessly into your other sales goals.

Jim Townsend is a principal and editorial director of the AIM Group and Classified Intelligence LLC, global consulting groups that work with media companies, dot-coms and broadcasters to help develop profitable interactive media services. They offer strategic and tactical support, training, workshops, product development and research. Townsend can be reached at jim@aimgroup.com, 1-281-998-2540.

Variety of Topics Covered Regularly

By Randy Hines

Writing columns is not always an easy job.

I created a weekly column 30 years ago for a mid-sized daily. Coming up with topics wasn’t too difficult since I routinely covered two or three communities and had that many beats for material. Still there were days when I blankly stared at my manual typewriter, knowing the deadline was only three hours away. If only I had thought of the technique practiced today by one local columnist, who calls people peddling items in her newspaper’s classified section. “Is there a story behind your selling that?” she asked my wife.

Producing a monthly media column for Utah’s newspaper association has not been so bad. I’ve been allowed to explore various topics. They included interviewing, sports, editorial pages, features, photography, captions, headlines, layout, grammar and Associated Press style. Other discourses ventured into advertising, circulation and management areas.

This column originated back in 1993 for the Tennessee Press Association when I convinced friend and colleague Jerry Hilliard to team up. Usually one of us came up with the idea for that month and the other one would give suggestions and feedback. We co-authored pieces until 1999 when Jerry left East Tennessee State University to go back into newspaper work. I too left ETSU to teach in the University of North Carolina system, but took the column along and kept at it.

It has been enjoyable to applaud, criticize and encourage journalists these 15 years. I’ve had the pleasure to meet some of you at workshops and conferences. These columns have even taken on an international tone this decade when they were dispatched from stints in England, Germany and Russia.

But all good things must end someday. And this seems like the time to call it quits, at least on a regular basis. I recently completed work on “Print Matters: How to Write Great Advertising” with UNC Chapel Hill’s Bob Lauterborn (Racom Books, 2008). The educational instructor’s manual version was co-authored by a lifelong friend, Dr. Karen Sandell from UNC Wilmington. Now my attention needs to focus on a second edition of my first textbook, “The Writer’s Toolbox: A Comprehensive Guide for PR and Business Communication.” Susquehanna University has granted me a sabbatical from teaching for spring 2009 to finish that project. I’m also freelancing for magazines and copy editing two others.

Then there’s that novel everyone is working on. Yes, mine will be about the newspaper industry, of course. Based on fact and fiction, the humorous book will look at small-town life in the South through the pages and characters of its local daily. I’ll be sure to let you know when it’s finished and a publisher is brave enough to bring it to your local bookstore.

Meanwhile, please support your local press association. It’s there to make you a better member of your local team. And plenty of other press association columnists are ready to applaud, criticize and encourage you. So the next time you see one of your paper’s regular columnist in your newsroom, give that person a smile and say “nice job.” It’s been real.

# # #

Dr. Randy Hines is a professor at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, Pa. He is a Fulbright Senior Specialist who spent part of the summer in Barnaul, Russia. Hines can be reached for workshops at randyhinesapr@yahoo.com.

How are you performing? Ask your readers

By Jim Pumarlo

When is the last time readers complained about the accuracy of a story? Or called to say they’re pleased with a story but irritated by a headline? Or found fault with how their ideas and statements were conveyed in a story?

News staffs translate hundreds of facts daily – some information is received firsthand and other secondhand. Some facts are included in comprehensive reports on important community subjects. Others are part of the daily churn of police reports, obituaries, weddings and engagements, and government meetings.

Through all of these stories, one tenet governs the work of newsrooms: accuracy. If the facts are wrong, the newspaper loses its credibility.

In the pursuit of fairness and accuracy, newspapers should consider implementing a “fact check” sheet. Individuals who either are sources or subjects of news stories are the best judge of how editors and reporters are doing their jobs. So why not ask them directly.

The process can be straightforward. Select a couple of stories from each edition and send a copy to an individual who either was contacted or who might have been identified in each story. Then ask a series of questions. For example:

Are the facts in the story/photo accurate, including spelling of names and addresses?

Were the quotes attributed to you used in proper context?

In general, do you consider this newspaper to be accurate?

Other questions regarding news content can be asked as well. What are the most interesting sections of this newspaper? Do other topics or issues warrant attention? Are any “voices” or constituencies lacking in coverage?

The “fact check” is an excellent tool to ask additional questions about your newspaper beyond strictly the news product. For example: What’s your primary source of news? What other publications/media outlets do you routinely depend on for information? How long have you subscribed to this newspaper? If you do not subscribe to this newspaper, why not? Can we improve upon customer service – in any department?

Newspapers should regularly check in with their customers to see how they are doing their jobs. And there are other avenues to do so:

• “Ask the editors” night – Open the telephone lines for an evening to let readers ask anything on their minds. Top-level managers from the various departments should be on hand with the goal of answering as many questions on the spot as possible. If you don’t have the answer, take down the customer’s name and telephone number and respond within 24 hours. This is an excellent promotion during National Newspaper Week, but it obviously can be done any time.

• “Brown bag’ lunches – Convene a series of conversations with readers. Buy your customers lunch in exchange for their feedback. If you’re soliciting comments on overall content, be sure your participants are representative of your community’s demographics. Or maybe tailor the session and its participants to a specific content area – for example, agriculture, business or youth coverage.

• Reader boards – Organize a board comprised of readers with rotating membership. The individuals meet with the editor on a monthly basis and offer everything from editorial ideas to a critique of newspaper content.

The “fact check” is most useful as a regular connection with readers. Be sure to vary your selection of stories from routine news briefs and meeting reports to in-depth series and feature stories. If applicable, it might be worthwhile to send the same story to two different individuals to see if they offer similar perspectives on the report. Share the feedback with the individual writers whose stories were selected as well as with the entire news staff and other departments.

The concerns or ideas identified on the questionnaires will offer insight into what readers believe your newspaper is doing right and will challenge editors to improve areas where their staffs are not meeting expectations. The goal is to solicit feedback from a range of readers – new and longtime residents, young and old, men and women – and from a geographic representation of your markets.

Newspapers should be sincere in asking readers to be honest and straightforward in their answers, underscoring that the feedback will direct your staffs to strive a stronger product. At minimum, these ‘fact checks” earn newspapers high marks for showing concern about accuracy, fairness and breadth of coverage. The comments often can prompt a follow-up phone call and a fruitful conversation beneficial to both the reader and editor.

Editors also should seize the opportunity to explain to readers in a column what you’ve heard and what steps will be taken to address the concerns. And for those expectations that might fall short of what can be practically accomplished, explain that to readers, too. In the end, you may not get everyone to agree, but your goal is to help them understand your decisions and operations.

Jim Pumarlo writes, speaks and provides training on Community Newsroom Success Strategies. He is author of “Votes and Quotes: A Guide to Outstanding Election Coverage” and “Bad News and Good Judgment: A Guide to Reporting on Sensitive Issues in a Small-Town Newspaper.” He can be contacted at www.pumarlo.com.