Knowledge Based Articles - Special Sections

Creating a Plan for your Special Sections

Some early year planning can make a difference in your year-end profits

Special Sections can add significant revenue to your publications. Good quality sections improve readership and appeal to new advertisers. They can also make a significant difference in your year-end profit picture. Some solid planning time spent early in the year will pay big dividends at year-end. Following are some quick steps to help plan your special sections.

Review your Special Sections from last year

Take a look at the sections you produced last year. Were you satisfied with them? Have you continued to produce the same sections year after year? That is a good thing if they are continuing to improve in ad linage. If they are dropping in space sold each year it may be time to either discontinue publishing the section or look for a new twist to give the old section some life.

What New Special Sections should you produce

Take a look at the marketplace. What types of new businesses have opened in the past couple of years in your area? Are they advertising with your paper?

More Revenue From Your Special Sections

As weekly and daily papers are looking for additional ways to increase revenues in their publications they are becoming more creative. They are beginning to look “outside of the box” to find new ways to generate sales from their special sections.

Special Sections On-Line

As the Internet captures more viewers everyday it has become a resource for finding information about almost any topic. Weekly and daily papers are beginning to use the Internet as a source to publish topical information using their special sections. It is quickly becoming a valuable add-on source to the printed version of the special section.

Develop a 4-Week Package in Print

I doubled and tripled the revenues from some of my special sections by adding additional weeks to the package. Instead of asking for a one-time run you can design a package price for multiple weeks. The salesperson can make one sale for multiple weeks and substantially increase revenues from the section.

It Takes the Right Tools to Build a Great Special Section

By Dave Baragrey

Building a great special section requires more than just a few articles and some ads. It takes great material, preparation, sales training and lots of effort to produce a great special section. Following are some tools to help you build great special sections.

· Interesting Reading Material – As the primary source of information in your community, you have a responsibility to your readers to provide useful information in your special sections. I am stunned when I see good newspapers that work hard to provide good local news coverage fill their special sections with trash.