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Client testimonials
Hi Toolbox team,
I’ve been spending the last two weeks discussing the amazing ideas of Newspaper Toolbox with several of our newspapers. Everyone is excited to add the NEW IDEAS and FRESH LOOK to our advertising promotions. One of our ad reps describes the artwork as “Gorgeous!” Our graphic designers are also excited about the quality of the campaigns, the ease of using the designs, and the time that will be saved.
I wanted to share with you our plans at the Philipsburg Journal. We’re planning to add 8 Newspaper Toolbox promotions to our January and February schedules, which include:
- What to do in January?
- YOLO
- 8 Ways to Say I Love You contest
- What to do when Winter won’t stop?
- Presidents Day Contest
- Senior Care: For a safer, healthier and happier life
- Beauty Experts
- What to do in a CRASH
We are planning to add Newspaper Toolbox promotions to every month in 2015 for all our newspapers.
Our plan is also to run at least one contest per month.
In addition, I’ve found these promotions provide totally new ideas as well as fresh ideas for current promotions we run. For example, we run a Senior Lifestyles promotion and an Auto Service promotion every month. We now have new artwork and editorial to use every month.
Thank you for helping us to an exciting start in 2015!
JOHN COOK, PUBLISHER
PHILIPSBURG JOURNAL, PA
We have been using Newspaper Toolbox for about one year and I love the ideas! The website is very helpful. They have great directories for just about everyone. We have even signed some non regular advertisers to a year contract of one a month allowing us to get our foot in the door for further advertising needs. I would recommend Newspaper Toolbox.
MICHELLE A. WILSON
ZANESVILLE TIMES RECORDER MEDIA, OH
I have had wonderful success with this service. We do a weekly advice column using Toolbox; it brings us a revenue of $23,400 per year, with just that one use.
In the first year, we brought in about $80,000 by using Toolbox ideas. We did customize some of them to fit us, and we also kept some the same. We are a five-day-a-week publication with about 5,000 daily subscribers.
MELISSA SPILLERS
ADVERTISING MANAGER
THE NEWS-EXAMINER
CONNERSVILLE, IN
I would highly recommend that all newspapers, large and small, take the Newspaper Toolbox tour. My first thought was, “I’m afraid of how much this is going to cost.” But other suppliers in the industry charge much more and yet you just get bland ads; there’s nothing searchable like yours. To be honest, being able to just go to your website — search, download, and away you go — is much easier than flipping through months’ worth of books.
My typesetter recently took 45 minutes to search for graphics with our old supplier. I came back into the office where we opened Toolbox, searched in “financial,” and BAM! There was the ad of my dreams, all laid out. I downloaded it, opened the file, and started typing. What normally would have taken from one to one-and-a-half hours from search to finalized ad now took about 20 minutes. I LOVE TOOLBOX and this is only my first day using it. Thank you so much for contacting me. I am extremely excited about the huge potential I see from this partnership.
CAROL WEBSTER, PUBLISHER
GRIZZLY GAZETTE
SWAN HILLS, ALBERTA
Good morning,
I just wanted to let you know that when we got the November/December 2014 book I saw the ready-to-sell campaign for a travel agent. I took it to a local travel agent who had only bought smaller special-section ads in the past and hadn’t bought any ads in the last few months. I showed them the ads and they immediately bought all seven ads for a total of $2,450.
Thanks,
GREG HORN, PUBLISHER
KAHNAWAKE NEWS
Hello! Just wanted to share with you our first success story from the Toolbox. This was sold by a relatively new sales team at our Salisbury, Maryland publication which just started publishing on May 14.
It took them only 2 ½ days to sell this with $1,295 of incremental income. Nice! Thanks again!
HEATHER CREGAR
PROMOTIONS MANAGER
DELAWARE STATE NEWS, INDEPENDENT NEWSMEDIA INC.
“The Kankakee Valley Publishing newspapers purchased Toolbox for 3 small dailies and 3 small weeklies. Through the first 3 months of 2014 these properties have generated $12,057. We have paid the entire year’s subscription cost several times over in Q1. I am very happy with the Toolbox service and highly recommend it!”
SCOTT KOON, PUBLISHER, MONTICELLO HERALD JOURNAL
KANKAKEE VALLEY PUBLISHING
“Dear Newspaper Toolbox,
Before we signed up for your service I was impressed with the features but worried about the cost and whether it would fit into our budget this late in the year. After you told us what it would cost, it was a no brainer. In a time of tightening budgets, when more is done by fewer people, my graphic art team was thrilled with the easy to change layouts and downloadable files. So far we have a 19:1 return on gross sales versus cost of this service. It was a good investment for our daily newspaper.”
KEN CLEMENTS, ADVERTISING DIRECTOR, IDAHO SATE JOURNAL, POCATELLO, ID
A long partnership!
“I have been using the Newspaper Toolbox service since 2001. Back then, I had subscribed the newspapers that made up the Madison Publishing Group in BC because I truly saw the value in Toolbox and I needed help to boost our sales. Over the past 12 years, as Glacier Media has grown and made numerous acquisitions, Newspaper Toolbox continues to be the perfect partner to help grow sales and increase the bottom line for our newspapers.”
PETER KVARNSTROM, PRESIDENT, COMMUNITY MEDIA
GALCIER MEDIA GROUP, CANADA
“Here is a copy of our Hunting Section we ran in August, which we did from Toolbox. It was a nice little section that generated $2,300 in revenue.”
KEN CLEMENTS, ADVERTISING DIRECTOR, IDAHO STATE JOURNAL, ID
Three pages sold with one Newspaper Toolbox idea
“Attached are the proofs for the We Come to Your Home, which generated about $4,000 in income.”
MARDELL WEISENBURGER, AMERICAN NEWS, ABERDEEN, SD
“Hi, Candide. Here is my double truck from my We’ve Got Everything for Your Christmas List idea. Also, my Veterans Day page from yesterday.
Love this Toolbox! Thanks again.”
TODD TILGHMAN, ADVERTISING MANAGER, UNION CITY DAILY MESSENGER, TN
“We had another great month with Toolbox sales ($25,908). Hagerstown continues to rock these promotions and booked over $11,000 in sales again this month. In Petoskey, we have dedicated a staff of two part-time reps to work on projects like these.”
CHRISTY LYONS, ADVERTISING DIRECTOR, PETOSKEY NEWS REVIEW, MI
“Candide,
I have attached the last 3 pages that we have done.
We ran Prepare your Swing and Spring Cleaning in March, and Oral Health Month this week (all attached).
We are currently selling the Caring for Aging Parents to run next week. My first design for it was based on what you had in the January / February book, page 42—just redesigned to fit 2 full broadsheet pages. The response has been so fantastic. We are now designing additional pages to go with the other 2 because we have more demand than what will fit on 2 pages.
We have used several ideas of yours. We started the service three months ago and absolutely love it. Thank you.”
ELIZABETH WILLIMANS, CROSSVILLE CHRONICLE, TN, CNHI
“I am very pleased with the results we’ve seen since we started using the Newspaper Toolbox. As resources get tight, the monthly book and the website have become the place that we turn to when planning out our months in advance, as well as during the month when we need a quick revenue hit. Newspaper Toolbox is a part of our plans for next year, and will be well worth the minimal investment required.”
PETE VAN BAALEN, CNHI, VICE- PRESIDENT CAPITAL & CENTRAL DIVISIONS
“We love using Toolbox. Your ready-to-sell features are a great help when looking for new ideas and layouts. It also makes it a lot easier for our production team. I just recently sold one of your features and it went over very well. It was a fresh new idea. We also received a great response from our readers.”
CHERYL WOODMAN SHERWOOD, CHATHAM THIS WEEK, CHATHAM, ON
“It’s great — a very helpful service! I feel you provide a lot of choices that help me with my special pages. Your reader contests are wonderful, bright, attention getting. Love the Who Am I? We will be implementing your idea, as I did with It Happened In… The editorials send great messages; they fulfill the name of the game.”
DAILY DEMOCRAT, IA
“The ready-to-sell concept pages are just wonderful. Most times they pretty much sell themselves. They are very well presented and the ideas are great! I don’t think I’ve ever gone looking for something that I didn’t find. Love it!”
LYNDA DUBUC, FORT ERIE TIMES, FORT ERIE, ON
“We have only been using Toolbox for a very short time, but I really like what you offer. Ready-to-sell concepts are great — very successful for us so far. Thanks for the good ideas!”
VALERIE COLBERT, LOUISIANA PRESS JOURNAL
“Toolbox is a very helpful resource. There are good ideas, and being able to access the creative stuff allows more time for selling!”
REBECCA GICANTE, THE STANDARD, ST. CATHARINES, ON
“As a designer I find Newspaper Toolbox to be an effective resource to create a product that satisfies our customer needs. Newspaper Toolbox helps us to promote our newspaper as being desirable.”
VALERI MC LEAN, SOUTHWEST BOOSTER, SK
“You publish a product I personally find invaluable to our community newspaper business.”
RON PILGER, PUBLISHER - CAMROSE BOOSTER, CAMROSE, AB
“I think Toolbox is great. It helps me create excellent features that are fairly easy to sell. I like the ideas; this feature of Toolbox especially catches my eye and gets my brain thinking of wonderful ideas for the New Year!”
SHAYDA JOHN, PEACE ARCH NEWS, WHITE ROCK, BC
“I would estimate that we have sold at least $100,000 in new business with Toolbox pages and ideas over the last 7 months.
Our publishers, general managers, and ad managers love the service, since the artwork is excellent and ready to be downloaded and usually easily sold.
It has helped to breathe new positive life into our staff during these tough times. We enjoy the printed book at each location so we can look through it for new revenue and theme page ideas before we go online to extract art from your website.
During our last budgeting process we asked publishers to make a new calendar for Toolbox or to add the Toolbox ideas directly into our special section calendars to increase our special section sales considerably. It gives our sales folks something special to sell all the time. It can be the “foot in the door” for many calls.
Thank you for your excellent service!”
BILL BREHM JR., PRESIDENT OF BREHM COMMUNICATIONS, SAN DIEGO, CA
A publisher from a northern town has achieved tremendous sales results over the past several months. Read the story below:
A while back, Joel Caya, a subscriber of Newspaper Toolbox, wasn’t too pleased with his newspaper’s state of affairs.
First of all, he felt that many businesses in his area didn’t believe in the impact his newspapers were having on the community. Furthermore, he realized that many of these businesses were not even being contacted by his staff. But most importantly, he couldn’t believe that his staff wasn’t taking full advantage of the countless sales opportunities available in Newspaper Toolbox.
He decided to try a new formula: hire an inside sales rep to sell the money-making concepts found in the Toolbox. The inside sales person would share the commissions from her sales with the outside sales reps since they would be the ones to pick up all the material needed for the ad.
Sylvie St-Pierre sold $45,000 worth of Toolbox concept pages, theme pages, and money-making ideas. She did so over a period of 16 weeks, while working part time and while selling other projects on the side.
Mr. Caya was thrilled to see that new advertisers were being reached while new markets were being developed.
Thank you for this great testimonial!
“Newspaper Toolbox is one of the most helpful companies I have ever had the pleasure of dealing with. If you cannot find what you are looking for, be sure and contact the company for more info. Not only is Newspaper Toolbox a great selling tool, the staff is very knowledgeable and encouraging. Do not miss out on this wonderful product!”
MADELEINE WRIGLEY, SHELBROOK CHRONICLE ADVERTISING SALES,
SHELBROOK, SASKATCHEWAN
“With just one idea, I was able to sell 16 pages of local advertising. Send me a contract right away!”
AL GUTHRO, PUBLISHER, THE CALGARY SUN
“I can pay for a year’s worth of Newspaper Toolbox with just one promotion. Some people say there’s no such thing as a new idea; while that may or may not be true, you can always customize ideas to your own market or individual advertisers from samples seen in the Newspaper Toolbox.”
DOUG HARE, ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER, DAILY HERALD TRIBUNE
“This is the first issue of our new monthly, On the River. You’ll see some of your stuff here, but we have lots more sold for upcoming projects (over $5,000 in church services from your November issue). There is about $7,500 in this issue!”
BILL MACINTOSH, ADVERTISING MANAGER, THE MIRAMICHI LEADER
“At the Tri-City News we’re always trying to find ideas — new or old — to generate results for our advertisers and new revenue for us. Newspaper Toolbox has definitely helped on both fronts.
In recent months we’ve used a number of ideas, plus graphics, to get revenue through “one-off” and sustainable features.
We’re currently looking at other ideas and are hoping that we will soon be able to find new advertisers to support both the crossword and horoscope features.
Best wishes, and keep the good ideas flowing.”
BRIAN MCCRISTALL, PUBLISHER, TRI-CITY NEWS
“We like it. It brings us added sales, thanks to timely ideas and presentation. The editorial content is good in that our salespeople can run with an idea without having to first convince the reporters.”
WAYNE MAJOR, PUBLISHER, KAPUSKASING NORTHERN TIMES
“We took the Guess Who They Were idea from the Ideas Worth Sharing section of your website and sold two pages of advertising. It went over really well, and we more than paid our yearly subscription to your service with just one idea!”
FRANK MCTIGHE, PUBLISHER, FORT MACLEOD GAZETTE, NANTON, ALBERTA
“Our team appreciates The Newspaper Toolbox features because they allow us to bring ready-made specs to our clients without spending hours in prep time! We have been able to sell many features to date, including the horoscopes, Remembrance Day, and the church page. We look forward to increasing our bottom line with many more in coming year!”
LINDA LEBLANC, BOWES PUBLISHING, TIMMINS, ONTARIO
“I looked at The Newspaper Toolbox and was sold on its merits in five minutes. It’s a really great product.”
PAUL MACNEILL, PUBLISHER, THE EASTERN GRAPHIC AND CCNA DIRECTOR,
MONTAGUE, PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND
“I absolutely love this service! I look forward to when it comes in. It’s like getting a Christmas present every couple of weeks because I can’t wait to start selling from the ideas in this book! Thanks a bunch and keep up the good work.”
LISA LABELLE, MEDIA SALES CONSULTANT, TIMMINS, ONTARIO
“We absolutely love your product and we use it regularly. Your promotional ideas are great and we thank you.”
THE ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT, WILLIAMS LAKE TRIBUNE, WILLIAMS LAKE, BC
“Enclosed is a copy of the Life and Legacy feature that we ran. It is a great idea that I took out of your Toolbox. Once I started on it, the feature fairly much sold itself. The A to Z Index was especially fun to put together and it was a fairly easy sell. Keep up the good work!”
MENNO VAN AGTEREN, SALES REP, CHILLIWACK PROGRESS, CHILLIWACK, BC
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