Homeowners Association Newsletters ...

Homeowner Association Newsletters

Downloadable PDF: CO Lasertype Rate Sheet.pdf
Downloadable PDF: Camera-ready Art Policy.pdf

Why advertise in the HOA newsletters?
Because advertising in the homeowners association newsletters works!

Each newsletter is tailored to that neighborhood, people read them and see your ad. The newsletters are small enough that your ad doesn't get lost, and many of the newsletters are posted on the HOA's website, in addition to ours, giving you further exposure. The newsletter is the means by which the association's board of directors communicates with the residents. It's filled with such neighborhood news as the association's board of directors' meeting dates, minutes of the last meeting, welcoming new residents, social activities like bridge night and ladies' night out, and seasonal events like a holiday lighting contest, Easter egg hunt and neighborhood garage sales. We also include articles about things happening in the area such as information from the sheriff's office, the latest happenings at the park and recreation district and library, city council meetings and community events.

Advertising in the HOA newsletters is cost-effective

You can place an ad the size of a business card in all the newsletters, reaching more than 12,000 homes at a cost of 4.8¢ per home. An insert in all 20 newsletters is 11.3¢ per home - you can't mail anything for that!

For the types of businesses that do very well with the classified ads, our classifieds are a good way to advertise less expensively. For example, a 3-line classified reaching more than 12,000 homes is $145.67 or 1.2¢ per home - and you can say a lot in a 3-line ad!

With our 23 years of experience, we can assist you in deciding how to advertise your business. Some businesses work better with an insert while others do better with a display ad or a less expensive classified. Call us - we're here to help you get the most for your advertising dollar.

Advertising effectively

After more than 23 years of working with homeowners associations, we've learned a few things about advertising in these newsletters. Unless you're advertising a one-time event, the most important thing is repetition. It's much more effective to pick one or two newsletters and be there for three to six months - or even a year and receive our largest discount - than to exhaust your advertising budget by going into all of them for one month and then stopping. We're always amazed when people ignore this simple, yet crucial, advice.

Because the newsletters come out once a month, people need to see your ad frequently to get the best response. We have received many calls over the years from residents wanting to know if we have the number for an advertiser who just stopped his or her advertising. If you stop to think how likely a person is to take the time and effort to call us, you can bet there were others looking in the newsletter for that ad!

Plan to develop a presence in the newsletters. Because this is the most effective way to advertise, we offer a special discount for running three months or more. You can download our Rate Sheet that has a map of the area showing you where the associations are located, the ad rates, deadlines and discounts.

Remember: it's not necessarily a matter of spending more or less money on your advertising. It's the ad size, and demographics, and what kind of business you own, and the time of the year, and the economy . . . Call us and we'll help you choose the neighborhoods and type of ad that will make the most effective use of your advertising dollars.

What kind of ad should I run?

An insurance agent built his business - in a large part - by running a small business card-sized ad in the same four newsletters year in and year out. A massage therapist tried a business card-sized ad, then a 1/4 page and finally found that she gets the best response from an insert offering a discount on her services.

Most of our home improvement type businesses - carpenters, painters, lawn care and tree services, electricians, etc. - do better with a less expensive classified than a display ad. And yet, some of our painters and lawn care specialists run an insert in the spring to get their summer business jump-started. We had a painter (who ran a classified year-round for years) tell us he filled his entire summer schedule on the insert he put into all the newsletters in the spring - residents had seen his ad all year, he'd developed a presence, and now he was reaping the rewards. And then there are businesses that simply don't get a response from advertising in these newsletters. For example, it takes a special kind of ad for a chiropractor to get a call; even then, most often, the call doesn't result in a new patient.

We make a good portion of our income from ad sales. But we don't sell ads only because we make money.

We believe that if we help you be successful, we will be successful. If your advertising is working and you enjoy working with us, you will refer people to us and our business grows.

If we take $109.75 for an insert when we know you'll get better results with an $11 classified, we've made an additional $98.75, but your ad won't bring you business. Not only will you not advertise again, you'll tell other business owners it’s not worth it. Give us a call and we'll be glad to discuss the most effective way to promote your business.

There is a poster that reads:

“When we serve our clients, we serve ourselves.”

Good advice.

Unfortunately, advertising is often a best-guess situation. The economy, time of year, weather, world events and much more determine the effectiveness of advertising. We don't have all the answers, but with 23 years of experience we have a pretty good understanding of what works and what doesn't. Call us and we'll do all that we can, use whatever experience and information we have, to help you build your business.

Camera-Ready Art Policy

Download Policy: Camera-ready Art Policy.pdf

In the past few years, more people have been using programs like Publisher and Word to design their ads. Please keep in mind that when you design your ad and send it to us, it must be "camera-ready." Camera-ready art means we can take the file, put it into Quark XPress, and print it without having to modify it in any way. Word and Publisher files are great to use in the office and print on your laser printer. However, the files they create don’t print well when imported into a professional layout program.

We have created a one-page information sheet that explains our Camera-ready Art Policy and the issues involved. If you plan to design your own ad, please download the Camera-ready Art Policy PDF. It will outline the steps you need to take to turn Publisher and Word files into camera-ready art.

If you want to create your own ad, and it isn't camera-ready, we will do our best to fix it. If we have to work on your ad such as importing pieces, retyping text, enhancing photos, etc., we will discuss how much of an additional charge there will be before we start. The charge is dependent on how much time it will take and is often is a little as $10.

Hint: After designing your ad have someone, who hasn’t been closely involved in the design process, read it for typos, correct phone numbers, grammar, punctuation and the effectiveness of the layout. It’s very hard to be objective about something you have created. Your advertising represents you and your business, and you want to make a great first impression! We are dedicated to helping each of our clients promote their business in the most effective and economical manner possible. Please don't hesitate to call if you have any questions.

Discounts

You are always able to run your ad one month at a time. We don't require contracts, and we're more than happy to give you a reminder call before the next edition to see if you want to run again. However, because repetition is so important, we offer three discounts.

• Prepay your ad for three months and get a 10% discount.
• Put your ad on a "Standing Order*" status and get a 10% discount.
• Prepay your ad for a year and you pay for 10 months and get two months free.

* With a Standing Order we'll automatically run your ad and send you an invoice the first of the month. You have until the end of the month to pay the invoice. With a Standing Order, it's your responsibility to call us by the 15th of the month for the next month's issue if you want to stop the ad or make a change to it. Putting your ad on a standing order guarantees your ad will be in the newsletters even when you're too busy to think about it.

Even if you prepay your ad, run it on a Standing Order or pay for a year in advance, you can always change your ad copy by notifying us by the 15th of the month for the next month's issue.

Credit Cards

We accept MasterCard and VISA. If you would like to pay by credit card, you have the option of authorizing us to charge your credit card automatically or we can call each month to verify the credit card charge. We will mail you a copy of your paid invoice and credit card receipt each month.