Re: how to set up a coffee news layout ?
 

All your options are in the following thread...
http://www.sowpub.com/forum/showthread.php?p=6384

Phil

Re: how to set up a coffee news layout ?
 

I am in the process of looking at CN,Flying Cow and Free Jive Weekly. Did you ever start your publication?
Ed

Re: how to set up a coffee news layout ?
 

I have not. I have been spending a lot of time researching copyright laws. Probably too much time. But I have almost everything in place. I want to go out with the best product I can. I just can't decide on what to use for the main articles. I want to do some story re-writes myself but I lack confidence in my writing skills. I have another idea for main stories but the cost would be about $60 a week. I am already at nearly $40 a week with other content I have lined up.

I have scrutinized the publications you mention. I have not called them but wonder how they can run AP and other news syndicate stories without attribution. I contacted AP to buy stories and learned you cant be a shopper or a restaurant publication and get copy from them. You must employ an editorial staff. You cant just cut and paste stuff you find on the Internet and publish it. Yet it appears that is what some do. If you look closely you will find that the CN does not do that. Take a lesson from the big dogs.

Where exactly are you in your research? Are you serious about publishing or just looking at the prospect at this point?

Re: how to set up a coffee news layout ?
 

I have not. I have been spending too much time reading about copyright law. I have almost everything in place but still trying to decide what to use for content in main articles. I would like to do story re-writes but I do not have a lot of confidence in my writing abilities.

I would like to buy stories but that would cost around $45-$60 a week. I am already at about $35 on other content I will use.

I have not spoken with 2 of the 3 companies you mention. But I am very curious how they can run AP and other syndicate stories without attribution. The larger of the 3 does not do that. Have you spoken with all of them yet? Have you made any major decision since your post on the 1st?

I've done a lot of these!
 

Excuse me if this gets long - I have a fair amount of experience on this one. When I first started my own printing business 15 years ago two of my first clients did this type of thing. I did the graphic design and printing for them and they sold ads and set up restaurants. Both of them had several variations and formats, depending on the restaurant. Aside from a newsletter, they did menus and place mats with ad spaces.

I noticed that someone commented on how the prices were too low. Don't think that just because you have a good idea you can sell it for any price. There is a limit to what the market will bear - a lot of that will depend on where you are selling. Factors like the restaurants popularity and amount of competition will be huge factors. My clients typically sold out the ads, but only after offering major discounts to some clients to get them in. As for profitability - they made an ok living. They weren't driving German luxury sedans, but they paid the bills! Both customers serviced about 8-10 restaurants. They neither did their own design or printing - 100% of their time was in selling and servicing their advertisers and restaurants.

Even if there's no-one offering the same service (restaurant newsletters), your competition is anyone who sells advertising. Businesses typically spend a finite amount of money on advertising, so if their budget is already maxed out on other mediums, you'll have a tough sell no matter how economical - unless you can prove to them that they will get better results from your medium. Not to say it can't be done, just don't expect it to be easy ... plan on talking to a LOT of businesses to fill the space.

As for the format (the original question!), that is going to depend on how many ads you can sell in a given market. I've seen everything from a single 8.5 x 11, 11 x 17 to an 8-page 8.5 x 14 booklet style. For the premier edition, something simple might be a good idea since you don't know how big it will be.

A few thoughts on how to make it a better value ... if you look at CN, it's not very attractive (which is probably in part why they don't sell that well). Another problem is it's a display ad that cannot be removed from the restaurant. That means most people will glance at it and forget about it once the meal arrives. Simple black and white ads, mixed in with black and white text are not going to garner attention and potential advertisers will be less than impressed.

Ok, I should charge for these suggestions! But hey, it's a good cause! :)
Some ways to make it more compelling...
Consider having some "shells" printed in full color. Shells are pages that are pre-printed in volume and in a format where you can just add the new content each month - or however often you publish. The alternative is to have them printed in color on a digital printer (color copier) each time. Don't underestimate the selling power of color.

Using recycled content will get old fast. Honestly, I don't even look at the Coffee News because I expect the information to be stale. One way to mix it up is to solicit input from the readers. People LOVE to see their work in print! Create a contest with some kind of prize for user submissions. A great prize could be a gift certificate to the restaurant where they are eating - the restaurant might even give you this for free. You will find that the non-portable nature of the newsletter will create some major objections. A way to solve this is to create a web site where each ad is posted online. You'd probably need to talk advertisers into posting some money saving special offers online to compel people to go to the site. But that probably won't be enough - to really make an impact, how about having some cards printed up for each restaurant (you can get those from us!!) These cards could serve multiple purposes .... use it to advertise your ad business (a small line or two of text), it will be a free business card for the restaurant, but most importantly - it will drive people to visit your website where they will see the online ads. The trick here is to make the card double as a discount voucher (like 10% off next meal) but it has to be validated by going to the website and getting the validation code.

Obviously these are just suggestions - the idea being you have to create demand for your advertising service. This can only be done by creating visual appeal and a system that will ensure the ads are seen. Coupons (on the website) would be huge as they can be tracked. As an advertiser sees the coupons coming in, they know where the customer came from, and will advertise again.

Almost forgot ... as for programs to use for layout. First of all I think you're better off paying someone to design them for you - especially if you don't have design experience. Poorly designed ads will kill your business fast, plus if you do this right, you'll want to dedicate more than full time to selling. If you do decide to do the layout and you're doing more than just copying and pasting business cards, you're going to need more than one program. We use the Adobe Suite (Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, etc.), but there are less expensive options out there - especially if you're going to run them on a digital copier. Some design elements you would ideally create with a drawing program (Illustrator, Corel Draw, etc.), some with Photoshop - especially if there will be pictures, and a page layout program puts all the pieces in their place (InDesign, Quark, Publisher, etc.) Although if you're going to be serious, I would steer you away from Publisher ... it's not very printer friendly.

Re: how to set up a coffee news layout ?
 

OK GUYS, wanted to see how things went with your idea of the news letter.. wanting to start one myself.. now.. darn it a couple years behind you on the posts.. so let me know how it went?

Re: how to set up a coffee news layout ?
 

I am REALLY late to this discussion but maybe not too late to help some. We actually help people start their OWN paper. We are NOT a franchise and our content is superior in quality to any we have seen. Feel free to reach out to us if we can be of assistance. :)

Re: I've done a lot of these!
 

I would like to respond to a few points you made here:

[quote=remipub;22629]Excuse me if this gets long - I have a fair amount of experience on this one...

A few thoughts on how to make it a better value ... if you look at CN, it's not very attractive (which is probably in part why they don't sell that well). Another problem is it's a display ad that cannot be removed from the restaurant. That means most people will glance at it and forget about it once the meal arrives. Simple black and white ads, mixed in with black and white text are not going to garner attention and potential advertisers will be less than impressed.
I completely disagree, a simple single color ad gets plenty of attention if it is well-designed. I dont think adding color to the ad causes a reader to suddenly recall that ad when their meal is finished. There is a lot more to it than that.

Ok, I should charge for these suggestions! But hey, it's a good cause! :)
Some ways to make it more compelling...
Consider having some "shells" printed in full color. Shells are pages that are pre-printed in volume and in a format where you can just add the new content each month - or however often you publish. The alternative is to have them printed in color on a digital printer (color copier) each time. Don't underestimate the selling power of color. Again, (with all respect) color is not what sells. The opposite is often true...simple sells. Small businesses today are looking for ways to get their name out any way possible..on a TIGHT budget. Sure, full color looks really pretty..but you have to pass that additional cost on to your customer. Now suddenly you are not the best deal in town. And THAT is the selling point of free weekly papers. They promote small businesses that otherwise couldnt afford to advertise.

...One way to mix it up is to solicit input from the readers. People LOVE to see their work in print! Create a contest with some kind of prize for user submissions. A great prize could be a gift certificate to the restaurant where they are eating - the restaurant might even give you this for free. You will find that the non-portable nature of the newsletter will create some major objections. - Not sure this is the safest approach. When locals provide your content, you quickly lose control of your image. And that is one of the hardest things to establish and maintain. Some local expert (reader) providing
content can easily blow up in your face....false information, opinions, etc. Very risky approach in a business where peoples opinion of your product pays your bills (or not).

[i]Almost forgot ... as for programs to use for layout. First of all I think you're better off paying someone to design them for you - especially if you don't have design experience. Poorly designed ads will kill your business fast, plus if you do this right, you'll want to dedicate more than full time to selling. If you do decide to do the layout and you're doing more than just copying and pasting business cards, you're going to need more than one program. We use the Adobe Suite (Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, etc.), but there are less expensive options out there - especially if you're going to run them on a digital copier. Some design elements you would ideally create with a drawing program (Illustrator, Corel Draw, etc.), some with Photoshop - especially if there will be pictures, and a page layout program puts all the pieces in their place (InDesign, Quark, Publisher, etc.) Although if you're going to be serious, I would steer you away from Publisher ... it's not very printer friendly.[i]

Can't help myself....again I totally disagree. You need two programs. These will set you back less than $130 total if you buy them brand new off the shelf. Photoshop Elements and Microsoft Publisher will do EVERYTHING necessary for this business and they are both completely printer friendly. Anything more expensive is overkill. They are simple to learn and easy to use. As far as hiring a person to do the layout / design? HUGE mistake! You dont make money in this business (at least a first) by paying others to do work you can do yourself! ANYBODY can layout a professional looking weekly paper. Yes, you will be busy but the way to succeed in this business is to NOT spend money paying someone else to do it. You design the paper. You sell the ads. You deliver the paper. You succeed and make a nice living. It really works...but steer clear of bad advice..its everywhere :(

Re: how to set up a coffee news layout ?
 

Is anyone getting their content from somewhere such as: Facts Weekly or Laughable News? If so, how is that working out for you?

What would be the advantage of working with a company such as Tidbits, where they do provide some personal training (for a fee, ofcourse)?

Thanks!