It's time to make a hot splash!

Being a creature of habit, the first thing I do when I hit the kitchen in the morning is make a cup of Keurig coffee and take it into the family room for my morning news routine. This isn't a 7-Eleven jumbo cup; it's a standard cup, doesn't hold that much or take long to drink. But this morning I spilled it all over the coffee table (how appropriate) and floor. It went everywhere! Boy, when you spread it out and get a good look at it there is a lot more coffee there than meets the eye.

If you're selling free paper advertising, you've got a product in hand that holds the same mystique. And you may have to pour it out all over a prospect to get them to realize that.

Case in point: there is a lot of interest right now in the $684-million advertising budget that's devoted to the coming Affordable Healthcare Act rollout. The Obamacare marketing budget is being driven down to the state level in most cases and I had the opportunity yesterday to speak with a very nice young ad agency lady about the value that Free Community Papers of NY can provide to an organization that needs to reach as many New Yorkers as possible. Predictably, the young gal told me that metro market dailies would be the recipients of the print dollars in this campaign and thank you very much for calling. Incredible! With a program that potentially affects more people in more places than ever these experts have selected one of, if not the fastest shrinking medium available to them. And as far as all those folks in Upstate New York that don't live in a metro area?  Who knows.

This is nothing new, and my pitch to them isn't over, but it's time that all of us in the free paper business take our media kits and marketing information and pour them over every big agency and prospect we can, just like a cup of hot coffee. Make a big spread. Make it hot. When the volume of value we offer burns into their thick skin on a consistent basis maybe we finally will become the default choice for print dollars, or at least get consideration up front. That will only happen when they know we are the best choice with more reach and readership than our metro daily competitors. But to do so we need to be polished, professional and on top of our game with reliable marketing facts. That's where training and assistance that groups like FCPNY can provide to help you do the best job you can.

Call us at 315-472-6007 or email tcuskey@fcpny.com for assistance. Thank you.

PS: If you're reading this and you live in New York State, consider sending a message to our elected officials by voting against all incumbents in the next elections. Let’s send a message that we want New York to be about New York. The agency mentioned above that the NY Health Department is using is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Nothing like keeping all the dollars here in NY. A printing firm I once worked for stopped bidding on state work because bids went to out-of-state printers who didn't have to pay the NY taxes and corporation-related fees that we did. That's wrong, but voters can fix it. Thank you again.