2011 January

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

Dress Your Emails For SuccessJohn Foust helps us understand how we can improve our emails. Page 3

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

Graphics Series ContinuesEllen Hanrahan has been kind enough to start a monthly column for our Graphics folks. This is her next segment.Page 5

Selling With Social MediaLandy Chase of Char-lotte, NC teaches how we can use the much hyped social media to our advantage.Page 6

USPS UpdateChanges at the Postal Service will effect us all. Learn what those changes may be so you and your staff will be prepared.Page 9

This is the second of a three-part series by Bob Berting on a Three Call System of sales success. The first call establishes credibility, the second focuses on building trust, and the third solidifies belief. This month Bob Bert-ing will show how to build trust on the sec-ond call. Watch for the final installment to come in February.

Let’s think about some strategy before we get into the second call. The assumption is that you are talking with the person who makes the buying decision for the prospect company. We notice that some popular columnists use magic phrases to quickly sell a prospect, but when it comes

The Second Call:Building Trust

to the real world of selling, it is actually a process. That process begins with the reality that customers buy improvement. They also buy solutions to their problems. But before they buy improvement and so-lutions to their problems, the salesperson has to establish credibility, and now in the second call, build trust.

A FACT FINDING APPROACHThis session begins with a needs analysis by the advertising salesperson which in-cludes matter of fact questions—not pro-gressive interview style questioning.

The sharp salesperson has already looked at the prospect’s website, so they should

have insights about the prospect’s busi-ness to help them with their question-ing. There is a natural flow of discussion where the salesperson needs to listen in-tently to the prospect because listening builds trust. The more the prospect be-lieves and trusts you, the quicker they’ll accept your ideas.

DO ROUGH LAYOUT SKETCHESAs the needs analysis begins to wind down, ask the prospect if it’s OK to do some rough ad sketches. The whole strategy now is to get

Southeastern Advertising Publishers Association

THE MONTHLY NEWSLETTER FOR THE FREE PAPER INDUSTRY JANUARY 2011



The Second CallBuilding Trustthem involved in the ad content. This is a creative way of personalizing an ad layout with a message from the prospect. Don’t worry if you are not artistic—simple stick figures and circles and squares will be suf-ficient. The BIG IDEA is to get their ego involved. Ask for the reasons why custom-ers shop their business. These reasons can be the headlines of the rough layouts you do. Next ask what special services they offer. This information can go into the boxes you’ve drawn in your rough sketch.A REAL LIFE STORY ABOUT ROUGH

SKETCHESI once had a paint company owner who was questioning a campaign proposal by me. We were in his shipping department so I pulled off a roll of brown wrapping paper and drew 4 squares left to right. I then began to ask him what services he might advertise. As he related the services I printed each one as the heading of each ad. Soon all 4 squares were filled with his copy ideas. We also discussed the image he wanted to project. Soon he began to realize that a campaign could be very ef-fective. He then gave me permission to convert the rough layouts to comprehen-sive ad layouts. This approval is impor-tant, because there is no need to proceed with further layouts without it.

LET’S ANALYZE WHY WE DID THE ROUGH LAYOUTS

If you get the prospect’s ego involved in

the planning process, they are more re-ceptive to not only seeing your compre-hensive layouts, but understanding the need for a campaign to tell the story of their business.

The prospect can see that the salesperson understands good layout design, will re-spect the salesperson, and consider them in a more professional light.

The salesperson takes the rough layouts and gives them to the staff graphic artist who is able to produce comprehensive layouts that actually reflect the needs of the prospect and a clear understanding of the image to be projected.

ASK ABOUT THEIR BUDGETIf you have shown them how effective an ad campaign can be and how much improvement there will be in their busi-ness as well as solutions to many of their problems, the prospect should be recep-tive to a budget discussion. Even without a rough layout exposure, this would be a process of telling them you want to bring them an advertising plan (not proposal), and you need some guidelines to decide how much the plan will cost. Explain that the national average for an advertising budget is 5% of yearly gross sales. If the prospect will agree to that premise, ask how much of their budget is committed to other media. Of course commitments to other media can be changed (as any ad

agency knows), but as least you’ll have a figure to work with regarding an advertis-ing plan that will put you in their media mix.

THE FINAL STEPAt this point, ask permission to bring an advertising plan and some comprehen-sive layouts to the third meeting. The ad layout size will be determined by the salespersons estimate of how much of the prospect’s budget can be allocated to their publication. When the prospect agrees to do so, set the appointment. This process is based on trust and belief in the advertising salesperson who will show how improvement and solutions to their problems can be achieved. Now the stage is set for the third call which will be dis-cussed in the next issue.

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.bobberting.com. He can be reached at 800-536-5408 or [email protected].

Southeastern AdvertisingPublishers Association



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

Here are some tips to create more effective e-mails:

1. Think before starting with the word, “I.” Instead of saying “I enjoyed meeting you at this week’s Chamber of Commerce event,” say, “It was good to meet you at this week’s Chamber of Commerce event.” Of course there are exceptions, but it is always smart to consider alternatives before putting the spotlight on

yourself in the first word.

2. List all of your contact information. This is especially true for your initial message in a dialogue. Don’t make the other person work to find your phone numbers, fax, and snail mail address.

3. No photo of yourself. Photographs have become acceptable – and in some cases expected – in some professions. But as far as I can tell, this is not common in the publishing industry. If you are one of a few in a chosen profession to use a picture of yourself, you risk being seen as egotistical. When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

Dress Your EmailsFor Success

continued on page 4



4. No clever sayings under your name. Sure, they’re funny, but they trivialize business messages. Examples: “The average dog is smarter than the average human,” “Always drink upstream from the herd,” “Remember you’re unique, just like everyone else,” etc.

5. No emoticons. These come in two forms: (1) the cartoonish faces that can be inserted into e-mail messages, and (2) those that can be created with keyboard characters. The most common keyboard emoticon is :-). While emoticons may fit an informal setting, they are usually out of place in the business world.

6. Be careful with abbreviations. Although it is fine to use common abbreviations like “hwy” for “highway,” “mpg” for “miles per gallon,” and “FYI” for “for your information,” slang terms like “LOL” (“laughing out loud”), “IMHO” (“in my humble opinion”),

and “TIA” (“thanks in advance”) are not appropriate in business communication.

7. No fancy signature. Give your e-mail format the “CEO test.” The next time you receive an e-mail from a c-level executive, take a look at his or her name. Chances are, the name will be no larger than – and perhaps smaller than – the message, and it will appear in the same font as the message. Executives would rather focus on the message and not on the sender.

8. Use readable typography. In my opinion, e-mail has a lot in common with the printed page. The difference is that the words are on a screen, not on paper. The same basic rules of typography apply to both: (1) Dark print on a clean background. (2) Easy-to-read font. (3) No microscopic type.

9. Watch out for all-caps. It is widely

known that upper case letters are synonymous with shouting. Use them only in those rare instances when you have to emphasize one word – or if you need a graphic device to distinguish a sub-headline in the heart of your message.

10. The no-scroll rule. The best e-mails are those which can be read quickly. You’ll make it easy on your recipient if you compose succinct messages that can be read at a single glance.

(c) Copyright 2010 by John Foust. All rights reserved. E-mail John Foust for information about his training videos for ad departments: [email protected]

Southeastern AdvertisingPublishers Association



CharactersAN IMPORTANT PART OF ANY VISUAL MESSAGE IS THE TYPEFACE. THE WRONG ONE CAN IMPEDE READ-ABILITY… SO WELCOME TO SOME INTERESTING

Ellen entered the publishing business after nine years as a high school art teacher and taught software pro-grams at the technical school level. She also writes a graphics column for The Independent Publisher. Reach her at: [email protected] Hanrahan ©2010

Choosing a typeface is just as important as choosing the right graphic for your message. Size of the ad can affect the typeface… just because an ad is small doesn’t mean you have to choose a condensed typeface. As a mat-ter of fact, in some cases a smaller point size is more effective than a condensed typeface. In our industry, type becomes a visual ele-ment and needs to be treated as part of the design process. Type is the most under-used element in a majority of the ads, flyers, booklets, etc., that I see and yet it is the most powerful tool in our “arsenal.” It is often overlooked as an element, perhaps because art or photos are more “exciting.” Nonetheless, used properly, type provides that “visible voice” that John McWade (Before&After, bamagazine.com… it’s an absolutely essential web site to learn about design), author of many books and articles refers to, and can provide a compel-ling focal point in any ad. Type (and human) families are comprised of related characters, each one different than the other but, nonetheless, sharing certain simi-larities, such as height, weight and a distinc-tive look (without the sibling rivalry). So let me introduce you to a little background informa-tion regarding our cast of characters…character An individual letter, number, punctuation mark or auxiliary character.typeface A particular style of type design, including the full range of characters in all sizes (upper and lower case, numbers, punc-tuation and auxiliary characters). Identified by such family monikers as Helvetica, Times, Century, Utopia, etc.font A full range of type of one face and size. Some fonts are comprised just of ornamental devices, symbols or decorative figures that can be used like artwork, but treated as type.The term typeface and font are often used interchangeably.

Coming to TermsThe following are standard terms used when discussing type and design devices…

ampersand This character was originally a ligature of et, Latin for “and.” It later became corrupted as “and per se, and.”

ascender The stroke on a letter which extends above the height of the lowercase “x.” Ascenders are found on b, d, f, h, k, l & t.

Baseline An imaginary line on which the upper and lowercase letters appear to rest or align themselves.

capitals Upper case letters of the alpha-bet. Cap height is about 2/3 of the point size.

condensed The characters in a condensed typeface appear more narrow than usual. Condensed type is designed to maintain the integrity/read ability of the characters. If we condense and extend (scale) on the com-puter, these traits may be compromised.

counter Space within a character that is enclosed or partially enclosed…o, g, p, etc.

descender Characters where the stroke descends below the x-height (and baseline). Check out g, j, p, q, and y (sometimes f in italic faces).

dingBat Special or ornamental font.extended Characters that appear to be

elongated or “stretched out.” Extendedindent A technique used to break up text

intensive copy for greater readability. This is a hanging indent.

italic Refers to the slant of a character and varies with the typeface… used for empha-sis, quotes and/or special effects. Italic

Kern Use minus letterspace or subtract space be tween certain letter pairs for opti-cal spacing. Com mon pairs include the let-ters W, A, T, V.

legiBility The clarity and characteristics of the individual characters.

letterspace Add additional space between individual letters. L E T T E R S P A C E

Have a great New Year!Each character has a unique personality. It is up to the designer to match the typeface to the message to unify, clarify and augment the text.

e ac

K

mit

r

6060606060606060606060

e

UD } )11 70. 0.

mmmmmmm

8 CC3

type family This encompasses all the typefaces that exist in a variety of closely relat-ed forms—italic, book, bold, etc. Each typeface has its own variations—

some occur in weight, such as: Utopia, Utopia Semibold, Utopia Black. Some occur in style: Utopia Italic, utopia expert, TITLING CAPITALS, and Utopia 123

(ornaments). Some type families are very large and offer a variety of weights and styles… a good choice to add variety, yet still retain a unified look to your ad or document.

Ligature Two or more individ ual

letters designed to join together to form a distinct unit.

Line Length The length of a line of copy. A gen eral rule is to have line length be about 1/2 to 2 times the point size of the typeface.

Linespace The space between lines of type, referred to as leading (ledding).

Lowercase Small letters of the alpha bet. The term comes from the fact that in the age of metal type, the printer stored these letters in the “lower case.”

orphans One or a couple of words that end up on a line by themselves at the end of a paragraph. (See widow)

pica A basic unit of type measurement with approximately 6 picas in an inch (.9962). Typography is based on picas and points.

point A smaller unit in type measurement with twelve points in a pica.

readabiLity The comfort level that is achieved in the ease of reading text.

script Typefaces designed to approximate fine handwriting… this is

not the same as italic. Scriptserif & sans serif A serif character has a

line or stroke crossing the ends of the main strokes. Sans serifs have no strokes (sans is French for “without”).

stroke A straight or curved line.swash A character with an exaggerated

flourish that replaces a serif or terminal.terminaL In serif faces, this is the free end

of the stroke that doesn’t have a serif.uppercase The capital letters.widow A single word that appears at the

top of a page and is the ending of the previ-ous paragraph.

X-height Height of the lowercase x and the basis of measurement for the height of the main element in all lowercase letters.

ff ft



Social Media: New Roles of Sales Prosby Landy Chase

In today’s hypercompetitive business environment, buyers believe that they can get what you sell from any number of different vendors and be reasonably satisfied with the purchase. You, as a sales person, probably disagree with this point, and you may very well be right. However, it does not matter. The issue of accuracy is irrelevant here; the fact that buyers believe it is all that mat-ters. What you actually sell, be it a prod-uct or service, is therefore viewed as a commodity by the marketplace. Again, within a new dynamic we find both a problem and an opportunity.

The problem you face is that if you fo-cus on trying to differentiate your offer-ing based on features and benefits, the only way that you are going to consis-

tently win business is by lowering your price. In other words, the one “benefit” you offer the marketplace is the ability to provide the same thing as everyone else, for less money.

The opportunity here is that, in a busi-ness climate lacking product differen-tiation, buyers have come to realize that good, useful advice is valuable – in fact, it is more valued by your potential cus-tomers than anything else that you can offer as a sales person. If you are seen as a qualified expert by the marketplace – if you are a source for timely, relevant information that your sphere of influ-ence can find benefit from – then the marketplace will come to you to obtain that advice. Put another way, if you con-sistently provide people with good ideas for running a business better, he or she

will buy from you primarily because he or she values your opinion. Yes, people can buy what you sell from someone else, but the risk of giving up your ex-pertise overrides the benefit of chang-ing vendors, even for a lower price.

The challenge that good sales people have always had with this all-important “advisor” aspect of the job is the diffi-culty inherent in establishing one’s ex-pertise. In the past, this took months, or even years, to accomplish, because a sales person had to have first estab-lished a face-to-face relationship with the buyer in order to provide said ad-vice.

That has all changed with the advent of the Internet. As noted earlier, your buy-ers are doing most of their communi-cating online. Part of that communica-tion involves seeking out information, and much of the needed information can be described as expertise. Online resources – here, sales people – who know how to place their expertise in front of a potential customer when that potential customer is in need of advice can reap huge rewards in the online en-vironment. Sales people must there-

continued on page 7

Partners in Printing Since 1900

David C. ZehPrint Sales Consultant

mobile: 770.722.0076 email: [email protected]

www.waltonpress.com

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

toll free: 800.354.0235 local: 770.267.2596 fax: 770.267.9463

Organizational SoftwareOrganizational SoftwareTools you need to be more effi cient.

Software Developed by: Little Fish Big Ocean, Inc.

Lead Developer & Founder

[email protected]@[email protected]@MaxProPublishing.comwww.MaxProPublishing.comchris@[email protected]@MaxProPublishing.com

407-656-2777

Never miss a sales opportunity

AGAIN.Get the co-op info you need to sell

your advertiser through your smartphone.

309.690.5385 | [email protected] multiad.com/recas

Get started

for just

$10per monthper user!



fore change the way they think when it comes to making contact with potential customers. Instead of working in an en-vironment where we push our message on potential prospects, we must reverse the current. We must learn to pull pros-pects to us who are in need of good ad-vice. This will happen not because we want them to hear our sales pitch, but because they want our opinion. When they value our opinion, they will be-come our customers.

Thus the internet has become the source for exchanging information, and with this, the primary delivery mecha-nism for dispensing advice. Your pros-pects no longer need to call someone to get useful ideas; the Web makes all of the information in the world available in an instant. Instead of having a meet-ing with an outside vendor to discuss a need or problem, your buyers can do re-search on their own, at their leisure, and in the privacy of their office. Instead of having to ask the vendor a question for clarification, your buyer can narrow down their online search with a few keystrokes. In these respects, the need to call in an advisor for business prob-lems has been severely diminished.

So the sales person of the future will

not be a solicitor, but a value generator. Shift your focus from what you want to what your market wants – namely, good, useful information – and learn to provide it on a regular basis. Soon, instead of you chasing your prospects, your prospects – and their dollars - will be chasing you.

Social Media: New Roles of Sales Professionals

continued from page 6

Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Landy Chase, MBA, CSP is an expert who specializes in speaking to corpora-tions and associations on advanced profes-sional selling and sales management skills. For more information, visit his website at www.landychase.com or call (877)550-2655.

Watch For Southeastern AdvertisingPublishers Association

Coming Soon!



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

Conference Schedulesto network make 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.

AFCP/CPF Annual Conference: St. Petersburg Beach, FL May 5-7, 2011. AFCP and the Community Papers of Florida team up to present another HUGE joint conference May 5-7, 2011 at the beautiful Tradewinds Resort on St. Pete Beach. If you can’t make the SAPA Conference in Birmingham on July 15 & 16, 2011 this would be a close second.

Display & Classified Ad Sales & BillingCirculation Direct Mail Payroll Accounting

Integrated Management Software designed by publishers for publishers

MERRIMAC SOFTWARE ASSOCIATES INC.TAMWORTH, NH 603 323 8811 WWW.MERRSOFT.COM

Free PapersWorking For You

Wouldn’t you love to see one of these?Your free community paper lets you race around in many ways. You read our printed publication at your own home at your own speed, you can zip around our website with no limits, and you can even zoom through our content on your smartphone. Th at’s speed without limits.

Insert Your Logo Here

Another sign we’re working for you.


What does this sign mean?Some signs you see along the road leave you scratching your head wondering what they mean.

One sign you’ll never have to wonder about is ours. We are committed to bringing you the best our community has to off er each issue. Your free community paper has the best local content, the best values, and the most readers.


Another sign we’re working for you.By the way, the sign at the top is a European “Bridge Ahead” sign.


Does your advertising leave you feeling this way?Advertising can be pretty complex. You may not know which way to turn. Th ere is a sign you can rely on — ours. Call us today so that our professionals can make the most of your advertising investment.


Another sign we’re working for you.

Download These Ads And More Athttp://www.sapatoday.com/promoads.html



by Donna Hanbery

POSTAL PIECESHere is a summary of some of the other news and postal proceedings of interest to free paper publishers.

USPS ENDS FISCAL 2010 WITH $8.5 BILLION LOSSES

Everyone knew the Postal Service was swimming in red ink as a result of government funding mandates. In its official, year-end report, the USPS reveled an $8.5 billion loss for fiscal 2010, even greater than the $7.8 billion loss predicted earlier in the year. In spite of aggressive efforts to eliminate jobs as they become vacant, and to trim expenses, the Postal Service was required to pay $5.5 billion to prefund its retiree health care costs, and another $2.5 billion in adjustments to the agency’s workers’ compensation obligation. From an operating standpoint, the USPS did better than the prior year by cutting its operating loss from the 2009 sum exceeding $1 billion, to $500 million.

Once again, the Postal Service reported a decline in mail volumes with first class mail declining 6.6%.

SATURATION INCENTIVE COMMENTS

In hearings before the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) on the Postal Service’s proposed saturation and high density volume incentive, SMC felt compelled to take issue with comments filed by the Newspaper Association of America (NAA). NAA, the trade association that represents

daily newspapers and their total market coverage (TMC) advertising products, supported the saturation/high volume proposal but used its opportunity to file comments before the PRC as a launching pad to vent complaints about alleged “unfair treatment” of newspaper TMC programs by the USPS. NAA alleged the Postal Service had engaged in “favoritism” toward saturation mailers who compete with newspapers for advertising. NAA claimed that its members had suffered volume losses due to the “unwarranted competitive rate advantage” the Postal Service gave saturation mailers over newspaper TMCs. The NAA urged the USPS to give high density mailers the same rate credit as that offered for saturation mail. Further, NAA recommended that the distinction between high density and saturation rate categories be eliminated.

The SMC comments demonstrated that both high density and saturation mail had suffered volume declines in the past year. The nearly identical drop in USPS postal volumes for saturation and high density mailings was due primarily to the recession and not any rate advantage. Further, SMC pointed out, “in terms of total volumes, the Postal Service lost 984.99 pieces of Saturation mail, nearly five times greater than the 204.7 million drop in High Density volumes. The Postal Service should be more concerned about the loss of saturation volumes.”

EXIGENCY APPEAL MOVES FORWARD

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals approved consideration of

the USPS appeal of the PRC order denying its exigency rate case on an expedited basis. SMC, and other parties that appeared before the PRC in the summer, and opposed the 5.5% exigency rate increase, have intervened. The USPS has opposed the participation of interveners and filed its initial brief in November 2010. The PRC, and other parties as permitted by the Court of Appeals, will be given an opportunity to respond to the USPS brief in January. Even if the Postal Service prevails on appeal, the requested rate increase of over 5% would not be ordered by the Court of Appeals. Any relief granted by the Court of Appeals to the Postal Service would likely result in a remand to the PRC for further consideration in accordance with the Court of Appeals order.

SHIPPING SERVICES PRICE INCREASE APPROVED

On December 2, 2010, the PRC approved the price adjustments requested by the USPS in its shipping services prices. These price adjustments will go into effect on January 2, 2011.

COLLINS BILL INTRODUCEDOn December 2, 2010, Senator Susan Collins, ranking member of the Senate Committee that oversees the Postal Service, and the author of the current law, PAEA, that governs the Postal Service, introduced a bill, the Postal Service Improvements Act of 2010 to help the Postal Service achieve financial stability and future cost savings without undermining customer service. In a press release issued with the bill, Collins stated “the Postal Service is at a crossroads. It must embrace changes to revitalize its business model, enabling

USPS Update

continued on page 10



it to attract and keep customers. This legislation would help spark new life into the Postal Service, helping it evolve and maintain its vital role in our nation’s economy.”

For mailers, and those that value the Postal Service and the mail, the Collins bill can be applauded for addressing the number one issue desperately needing Congressional attention. Senator Collins’ bill would fix the overpayment by the Postal Service to the Civil Service Retirement System, estimated to be at least $50 billion, as well as overpayments the Postal Service has made into the Federal Employees Retirement System. The legislation would direct the Office of Personnel Management to correct the methodology for calculating the Service’s obligations to these pension funds. These changes would allow the Postal Service to transfer any amounts overpaid into these funds into the Retiree Health Benefits Fund. The Postal Service has been drained with cash it should spend to modernize the Postal Service by the requirement that it pay $5.5 billion a year to prefund its Retiree Health Benefits Fund. Some other proposals and changes in the Collins Act include the following:

* Collins bill would require the arbitrator in considering postal labor contracts to consider the USPS’ financial health when rendering decisions about collective bargaining agreements.

* Would require the Postmaster General to submit to Congress a strategic plan for restructuring future Area and District field offices.

* Would require the Postal Service, together with the Postal Regulatory Commission, to develop a plan for the co-location of post offices in retail facilities. The plan would require the use of postal employees, under the management of a Postmaster, but would allow diversion of bricks and mortar post offices to be within non-governmental, retail facilities or businesses.

* The bi l l would require more transparency and openness in the Postal Service’s contracting process and would require greater Postal Service justification of contracts that are not let through a competitive bidding process. It would establish an ethics official at the USPS and PRC to review any ethical issues at the contracting office and would ban certain contracts.

* It requires the Postal Service and PRC to identify ways to increase the USPS use of negotiated service agreements.

* It would require retired Postal Service employees receiving workers’ compensation to switch to retirement benefits if workers’ compensation benefits exceed retirement benefits.

The Collins bill now joins the other bills and proposals, presented or promised, about the Postal Service. In September 2010, Senator Carper (a ranking Democrat member of the Senate Oversight Committee), introduced a bill that would address the CSRS retiree health issues and also give the Postal Service greater flexibility in adjusting its days of delivery.

On the House side, Stephen Lynch the pre-election Chairman of the

House Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, Postal Service, and District of Columbia, introduced a bill in July 2010 that would direct the OPM to change its methodology to allocate CSRS retirement benefit liabilities to follow the formula recommended by the independent actuarial firm hired by the PRC in its report on retiree funding. With the change in control of the House, the new ranking member, Congressman Darrell Issa has announced that he will introduce legislation that he vows will make the Postal Service profitable again while keeping first class stamp prices below 50 cents. Issa, an outspoken critic of the Obama administration, has described the USPS as having “too many postal workers, too many distribution centers, too many post offices and a reluctance to make those changes.”

In the press announcement for her bill, Collins listed supporting organizations and endorsers. She announced “I want the Postal Service to survive and thrive. This valuable and viable American institution with roots in our Constitution must be put back on steady course.” Collins is to be commended for her leadership and her sincere concern for the value of the Postal Service to mailers and the American economy. As the newly elected Congress, and postal stakeholders, look at changes in the laws governing the Postal Service, there is an abundance of diverse views and positions.

SMC will keep its members and free paper publishers posted on the process and will continue its efforts to demand correction of the “one big thing” that has crippled the Postal Service, and mailers, with excessive and unfair government prefunding, and continued overfunding, mandates.

USPS Updatecontinued from page 9



by Brian GayRecap of 2010

PaperChain had a fantastic year promoting the free paper industry. Here is just a sample of what went on during 2010.

One of the main items was to be sure your publication is ready when a media buyer calls your paper. This means that whoever takes the call can respond to the media buyers’ questions. This includes having a sheet that lists everything a media buyer may want to know about your paper like the publication’s open rate, circulation, ad deadline, email address to receive ads, process color charges, insert rates, shipping address and contact information.

Next PaperChain did a campaign to draw attention to the various associations’ classified networks. This is what funds the associations, and the rate of decline has slowed down for many of the classified networks. Speaking of classified networks, PaperChain incorporated the various associations’ classified networks in the March of Dimes promotion. On April 22 an ad ran in the USA TODAY thanking the sponsors and the PaperChain logo was included. This is the second year PaperChain was recognized.

PaperChain delivered ROP and inserts to participating publications. We received

Reportseveral reports about successes from members. One member reported getting 12 full pages all because of the PaperChain sponsorship of the SRDS listings. Another publisher received inserts and display ads because of the SRDS listings. There are many more success stories out there because of the PaperChain sponsored SRDS listings. Often a media buyer calls and places an order and no one bothers to ask where he or she learned about the paper. They found you because of SRDS and PaperChain.

PaperChain was visible at the AFCP conference in Apri l and the IFPA conference in September. Many publishers stopped to check their SRDS listings. If a correction needed to be made, representatives from SRDS were there to help.

Quick facts regarding PaperChain from the CVC audits were released this year:

2,673 Audited Member Publications

62,877,272 Audited Circulation

97.1 Receivership

76.9% Readership

25,276 is the total number of times that someone went to the SRDS data base to check on a PaperChain member paper in the first 8 months of 2010. This goes to show that your data needs to be accurate

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


In a letter to George Washington, Th omas Jeff erson wrote:

“No government ought to be without censors & where the press is free, no one ever will.”

Your free community paper works hard each issue to provide you with great value. Th at value comes to you, our readers, at no cost. To some, freedom of the press means freedom from interference from others. We believe freedom of the press means that connection to our community should not cost the reader. You should not have to pay to be connected to or be a part of this region. Th at’s why we’re free.

Let freedom ring.

so media buyers can contact your paper.

A press release was sent out that explained that while paid papers were declining in circulation, the free papers were actually growing and were up 1.41%. PaperChain is the connection to local audited free community papers.

Much more happened with PaperChain in 2010, but I am only allowed so much space each month. Find out more by contacting your PaperChain committee person. Each association has a person on the PaperChain committee.

Don’t wish it were easier; wish you were better. Don’t wish for less problems; wish for more skills. Don’t wish for less challenges; wish for more wisdom.

Jim Rohn



Documents

2011 January