The quest continues to harpoon all the material I can that proves there's no advertising medium that beats a community paper.

Again - I plan to collect all the statements, slogans, testimonials, analogies, etc., that point out that community papers are indeed the No. 1 way for advertisers to reach their customers. Later, I'll put them all together in a master document that will be available to all Black Inkling readers to use in their presentations and marketing kits.

So send your contribution along!

This week's resource is tremendous, and it's free! On its Web site, the National Newspaper Association offers house ads that point out community papers are indeed No. 1. These PDFs are available in a variety of sizes you can easily download. Throw your logo on, and they're ready to run in your paper.

For example, a series of ads provided by Robert Williams, co-publisher of the Blackshear (GA) Times, is titled "Think Outside The Box." They effectively point out how newspapers are superior to other media such as billboards, radio and television. PDF downloads are available for SAU sizes, 3x10, 4 x 15, and full broadsheet.

The ads are available to members and nonmembers alike at www.nnaweb.org/?/nnaweb/houseads01/C71\\

And by the way - does your hometown newspaper belong to NNA? If it doesn't, joining is the best advice I can offer for any community paper that's serious about reaching its potential as a business and product.

Thanks and a big tip of the hat to NNA, Mr. Williams and other contributors to this fantastic offer!

All my best,

Ken

Readers Helping Readers

Subject: Less expensive and easier-to-use photo editing software than a full-fledged version of Adobe Photoshop.

A light version of Photoshop

From Dirk Van der Linden, publisher, The Belmond (IA) Independent

We have always used what I call Photoshop Lite, actually Photoshop Elements. It often comes free with scanners and cameras. It does 99 percent of what we need and it's less than $100 if you do have to buy it. The new version has a great automatic B&W converter. On the rare occasion we need more (like once a year), we just have our central plant help us out with their fancy Photoshop.

Free from our friends at Google

From Jon Kinney, a veteran journalist from my hometown, Orrville, OH.

Check out Picasa 3, a photo editing and storing program free from Google. I like it!

(Ken's note - There is a popular Windows version. Picasa 3 for Mac requires an Intel machine running at least Mac OSX 10.4. It won't work for Power PC users. To find a copy just do a Google search for Picasa 3.)

Thanks and a tip of the hat to Mr. Van der Linden and Mr. Kinney!

Another Slogan

From Mary Rueter, GM, the Dewitt (IA) Observer

We use this line as a filler from time to time. We compete with two dailies that are quick to print the highlights of a story.

The Observer . . . when you want to know what's really going on in your community."

Thanks and a tip of the hat to Ms. Rueter!

Help! - The E-mail Blues

Do you ever sit down with your cup of coffee in the morning, open your e-mail box, and wish you'd poured some Tequila rather than Folgers when you see 30 or 40 messages that need an answer?

This is a problem that's particularly overwhelming at community papers.

Anne Adams, publisher, The Monterey (VA) Recorder, writes:

"The volume is ridiculous. I try to keep up with filing and deleting and responding and delegating but it's astounding how fast you can get overwhelmed."

Do any of you Black Inkling readers have a tip or two for handling voluminous e-mail, or reducing it?

And while we're talking about e-mail I have a question for the techies out there. I receive many/many e-mails related to this newsletter. Often, I would like to cut and paste the text into this newsletter, but when I do I find the formatting gets really weird, i.e. paragraphs are all choppy when pasted into a document or another e-mail. So I have to retype it manually.

Is there any way to cut and paste text from a straight e-mail (i.e. a legal or news story sent to your paper) into a document or another e-mail and keep the formatting straight?

My Advising Service:

I'm a specialist dedicated to improving the bottom line and quality of newspapers, from smaller weeklies to midsize dailies. For complete details about how my advising service can benefit your hometown paper, call 330 682-3416 or e-mail blummer@aol.com.

From a Fan:

"We didn't know how fast Ken's advice would pay for itself . . . "

Trevor Slette, general manager, The Cottonwood County Citizen, Windom, MN - "We signed up for Ken's consulting service knowing he had great expertise in our industry. What we didn't know was how fast Ken's advice would pay for itself. Not only did he give us guidance on our general scope of business, he inundated us with many different revenue ideas. He is a true gem in the newspaper industry."

Thanks and a tip of the hat to Trevor Slette!

Write at any time

2,700 community newspaper professionals receive Black Inklings. Feel free to send your comments and ideas to blummer@aol.com. If you know another person in the community newspaper field who may be interested in receiving this free newsletter, have them e-mail their name, job title, newspaper and e-mail address to blummer@aol.com.