Apply the newspaper trifecta for increased revenue

Chip Hutcheson

May 1, 2025

How to generate increased revenue — that’s the topic that never grows old in the newspaper business. But finding answers seem to be more elusive with each passing year.

For starters, read Pub Aux every month. You will find worthy ideas on that subject from columnist Robert Williams. His revenue-generating ad suggestions in “Great Idea Exchange” will benefit your newspaper.

In past articles we have mentioned a wide assortment of revenue ideas, but I don’t want to plow the same ground this year. So rather than specific ideas, consider these thoughts on ways you can increase revenue.

• Always be on the lookout for a good ad idea. Scour other newspapers to see what ad ideas you can emulate. Going back a few decades, I subscribed to the N’west Iowa Review to garner ideas. Even though it was far from my Kentucky newspaper, that newspaper provided an abundance of ideas that we could replicate.

With most papers having e-editions, it’s easier (and cheaper) to see what others are doing. Suggest to other publishers an e-exchange where you can view each other’s publication. It will not only generate ad sales, but can provide news and editorial ideas.

• Don’t be a casual observer to your ad department. Be involved! I know many of you are questioning the use of the word “department” since you may have only one person as an ad representative. But consider the entire staff as your “department.” Ask others you work with to always be thinking of ad possibilities. They don’t have to make contact with the advertiser but can be a conduit to generate an ad placement.

• As the owner/publisher, be the most enthusiastic cheerleader for your ad reps. Praise them for a job well done — but also encourage them to keep up the good work in the days ahead.

When I left my job as sports editor of a daily newspaper to take over the operation of my family’s weekly newspaper, the publisher of that daily continued to be a great encourager to me. I was 28 years old and had never sold an ad. He would call me on a regular basis after looking over my paper and tell me things he liked about it. I recall a special section that was done a few months into my publisher role when he called to congratulate me on a successful “community history” special edition we did — one that quadrupled the normal weekly income. But what made it more meaningful was his comment, “Now you can follow this up with a ‘Progress’ special.”

I had not thought of how those sections would complement each other. Praise — followed by an idea about what to do next — was a combination that served me well.

As a publisher, always set your staff’s view on a “next step” to keep your momentum, general ad sales and fuel your readers’ desire to buy the newspaper.

That’s the newspaper trifecta!

• Don’t reinvent the wheel. It might surprise you to take a look at your newspaper from 10 or 20 years ago and find successful ad ideas that have fallen by the wayside. Perhaps a change in personnel (and their interests) or the changing business landscape in your community resulted in a perennial best selling ad campaign being abandoned. While your advertising base has certainly changed, there’s a strong possibility you can revive a campaign from yesteryear.

• Don’t abandon the personal touch. Near the end of my newspaper career, I found ad reps who were eager to contact as many people as they could in a day, and that resulted in resorting to texts and emails rather than a visit. While texts and emails certainly have their value (especially to send an ad proof), don’t neglect the person-to-person contact.

The ad rep should not fall into the trap of thinking that time is being wasted by engaging in conversation with the customer. Quite often that conversation can result in a moment where the rep suddenly sees an ad opportunity to make a sale. And that can come after the businessperson indicates there is no interest in placing an ad.

• Comprehensive news coverage will pay off on the revenue side. If your newspaper is the one news source in the community that everyone counts on, then your ad rep can expect to have success. A weak news product will translate into lower ad revenue.

• Embrace digital opportunities. Others can speak much more into this discussion than me, but if you are not doing a podcast, then start one. And sell ads for it. Promote it on social media. It will bolster your newspaper profile not only in your community, but in your region. It gets your newspaper name in front of businesses in nearby communities that might eventually advertise with you.

• Finally, it can never be emphasized enough — know your community and seize on that knowledge to sell ads that support local schools, civic organizations and worthwhile causes.
Whenever one of our high school athletic teams advanced in statewide competition, and especially after a state football championship win, virtually every business we contacted wanted to have a congratulatory ad. The same was true when a local golfer won the U.S. Women’s Amateur. We only had one day to sell the product, and even after that special section ran, we had advertisers asking to run a congratulatory ad in the succeeding issue.

Small town communities love their local heroes and have a sincere desire to honor them. Don’t pass up those opportunities.

Chip Hutcheson is the retired publisher of The Times Leader in Princeton, Kentucky. He was NNA president in 2015. He currently serves as a content strategist for Kentucky Today, the online news website of the Kentucky Baptist Convention. Email him at chiphutcheson@yahoo.com