how to set up a coffee news layout ?

should I just layout the ads on landscape and then have them printed on one sheet ...I am making a 'sample' to show to advertisers...

thanks

Always Google & Peek around at the Competition's resources...

http://www.metrocrestcoffeenews.com/FaqsMCN.htm
http://www.metrocrestcoffeenews.com/...ayoutSheet.pdf

Phil

Originally Posted by bobmcalister

should I just layout the ads on landscape and then have them printed on one sheet ...I am making a 'sample' to show to advertisers...

thanks

Bob....I helped a guy and his wife get started in one of these, 5 yrs ago. He now goes up and down the Interstate corridor...with restaurants AND sponsors in each town.

It's 8 1/2 by 11, "Landscape" and full of "Trivia" stuff (you can get Trivia paperbooks) Plus, he LAMINATES with 3 mil....and folds each piece and sticks them in the plastic bases he buys from me...and sets them on the Rest. Tables.

A few towns he has TWO sheets STAPLED.

He changes the piece EVERY MONTH. Charges $395 for 3 months AND... about 80% of his advertisers RENEW....and if they don't renew after the first 3 mos...3 do later...in a different time-frame.

Send me your mailing address and I'll pop a couple in the mail to you.

Only one problemo;
"You MUST contact prospective advertisers...."IN-PERSON"...which means, this is "PHYSICAL WORK"...getting in and outa yer vehicle a dozen times a day (Hard on yer Starter)

Don Alm

Just make sure you don't copy the "Coffee News" too closely. A company out of Canada called "Flying Cow" was sued and had to change their format. I actually looked into doing both of those before deciding I could probably do it myself without having to fork over a ton of cash to some established company.

And it's good to see you posting more often here Don! You've helped me learn to look around "everywhere" for the creative marketing opportunities. I had a thought the other day while imagining the 'captive' audience at the dentist offices looking up at the posters on the ceiling. Has anyone ever tried to sell picturesque photos with advertising to put up there? Then I realized that I'm starting to think like Don Alm! And I'm pretty sure that that's a good thing.

Bob, keep us updated on the newsletter idea. I'm struggling with the feasibility of doing one myself right now. I'd like to see how your's progresses, and if I move forward on mine, I'll let you know how that goes as well.

p.s. I still don't have a format either, but I'm leaning toward two 8 1/2 x 11 pages folded in half and stapled together like a book. Then more pages can be added as needed. The print shop I work for has a new printer/copier that will do full color, fold and stitch automatically so it would finally be a more reasonable cost for me.

Bob,

Here's some ideas and templates from Chuck Green to consider:

http://www.okidata.com/mkt/html/nf/bdt_home.html

Good luck!

Rod

thanks don ...

dont have your email for my addy but anyone can send me anything at anytime at
3647 valley road
jackson, miss
39212

thanks
ps..for those of you looking on the google maps, my side of the duplex is the right side ....heh heh

Hello all! First time poster here who plans on being a regular. I've decided to start looking for opportunity as an entrepreneur.... and work toward my ultimate goal of leaving the 8x8 cube I've spent the last 8 years in!


So I'm curious.. anyone that was involved in this discussion ever move forward with doing this newsletter idea? I've started creating my own and I'm going to give this an earnest attempt. My main concern is doing enough to differentiate from Coffee News. Any ideas on how one could find something like this out? If I just surround "light-hearted news" with ads, am I still risking a lawsuit? Is changing fonts, paper color, etc.. with a completely different name enough? I don't want this to resemble Coffee News in any way, but with just a single double-sided news page letter, surrounded by ads, it's bound to resemble.

Flying Cow gives the following info on what happened in their Nova Scotia lawsuit:
"I heard that there was a lawsuit going on between Coffee News and Flying Cow. Is this true and what happened?
The verdict came out on January 9th, 2006. In the ruling, the Supreme court of Nova Scotia said that they did not want to limit competition and that Flying Cow was free to continue operations with a slight format change. On January 10th, 2006 Flying Cow was back to business as usual and on January 23rd, 2006 we debuted our new format to rave reviews."

I found a bit more information here that says:

2703203 Manitoba v. Parks, January 6, 2006 NSSC (Richard J.) Copyright Infringement/Get-Up/Punitive Damages

The plaintiffs sell a publication entitled COFFEE NEWS which has established a particular get-up over a long period of time. The defendant embarked upon a program with the aim of replacing the COFFEE NEWS publication with their FLYING COW publication. To accomplish this objective, the defendant used the design, format and other aspects of the COFFEE NEWS to cause confusion so that advertisers, distributors and readers might be persuaded that the two publications were "sister" editions rather than competitors.

Held: Injunction granted to prevent the defendant from publishing the FLYING COW in its present format and from further infringing on the plaintiff's copyright and from passing off. It is not material that the defendant's product is identified by a different name since the get-up is sufficiently similar that the public would be confused into thinking that the two are associated. Because the conduct of the defendant was highly reprehensible, punitive damages of $100,000 were awarded.

Even more in depth info is here.

My other main concern.. content. I notice that Coffee News and Tidbits (Flying Cow) both offer the "lighter side of the news" with stories from around the world. I assume their getting their content off the web as well? Is it legal to write a story from another story that you've read somewhere... rewording this article... or is this copyright infringement?

By the way.. some good info here on the process.

Thx all! Nice to meet everyone!
Jeff

Refer to my "Oct 25, 07" post above.

If you let me know, I can send you a copy of the "Trivia" NL that's been successful on Restaurant Tables in my area.

Don Alm
"53 Ways to Make Money"
http://www.midasreports.com

[Ankesh]

For content:

1. Search for stuff under creative commons copyright. They are usually free to use. Sometimes you just have to mention "Source: ______" after using the content.

http://search.creativecommons.org

2. You can use softwares that create games likes Sudoku and Crosswords. And paste these games on the newsletter.

3. You can probably joint venture with someone like Randy Cassingham. Pay him to allow you to syndicate his content. He publishes "This is True" and "Stella Awards" newsletters. Both are topics that masses love to read. And both are kind of timeless. I don't know how much Randy charges though...

4. You can also pay a fee to those syndicating companies like United Media. And publish comics and columns.

Hi Jeff,

Just use Coffee news for basic ideas...

Research... Study but Never copy...

The Key is coming up with Smart “twists” on Great ideas... You can always run it by your Lawyer...

Having an expert Accountant and a Lawyer as part of your business plan & business network is a very Good idea...

A few hours of their Knowledge annually is more than Worth the investment if you're serious about the business long term...

I see Coffee news has changed the links I posted awhile back...

Update...
coffee news layout...
http://www.google.com/search?q=coffe...ient=firefox-a

Here's a thread with some Good ideas...

As Tim suggests...

Vondre' has had Great Success with Niche newsletters and is an Encylopedia on Local ideas...

Definitely contact him...

Newsletter Brainstorm
http://www.sowpub.com/forum/showthread.php?p=17397

Best of luck with Re-Creating the idea...

And make sure you Research and Study the SowPub archives...

Lots of Golden nuggets...
http://www.sowpub.com/forum/archive/index.php/f-3.html
http://www.sowpub.com/forum/search.php

Phil