Give the advertising editor or manager a voice on your editorial board.
Let him or her help determine advertising rates, sales goals, design deci-
sions and staffing positions. Give the person a prominent place on the
staff and the support needed to ensure that the publication succeeds
financially.
Ideally, this person should have an advertising staff that will assist in
contacting businesses and in designing and selling advertisements. If
the small size of the staff makes it impossible to assign students to sell ads
exclusively, don’t eliminate the advertising editor’s position. Instead,
have this person carry out his or her goals by communicating them
clearly and often to the staff as a whole.
You might also consider bringing in a professional sales representative
to discuss with the entire staff the importance of selling advertisements,
as well as some techniques that will help increase revenue. Another idea
is to spend a day during the summer with the editorial boards of other
schools. Find out how they manage their staffs, sell ads and raise money.
Most staffs go away from such experiences with enlightenment, encour-
agement and enthusiasm.Financial Considerations
After educating your staff on the importance of advertising, it’s time
to determine just what ads mean to your publication. How much does
your publication rely on advertising? Some simple math will help you
decide.
When you meet as an editorial board in the summer, take time to
decide how often your newspaper or magazine will come out, how many
pages will make up your paper or yearbook, and what special effects
(color photographs, spot color and so on) you would like included.
Review the expenses for last year’s publication, and do a cost analysis.
A cost analysis is an itemized overview of all expenses—production
and printing costs, photography supplies and processing, staff activi-
ties and workshops, service charges, supplies, and mailing and shipping
costs—everything.(^390) PRODUCING THE NEWS
FUNKY WINKERBEAN reprinted by permission of King Features Syndicate.
cost analysis
an itemized overview of all
expenses