Self-service help-wanted classifieds

Instead of bemoaning the loss of old categories in classifieds, a strategy of developing new categories has turned into significant print classified revenue growth at the Times-Herald Record in Middletown, N.Y.

A photo and six lines – at just $39 for 30 days – is keeping realtors in the classifieds in Wheeling, W.Va.

There's no one-size-fits-all program for "Run Till It Sells" classified ads. Two media companies having success with the concept in vehicle sales have different requirements and different approaches.

Representatives of the Shelby County Reporter, a weekly in Alabama, and the News-Argus, a six-day daily in Goldsboro, N.C., presented their programs at a recent SNPA P2P video conference.

Stealing the value meal concept from McDonald's and the "Have it your way" slogan from Burger King, Creative Circle created some winning house ads for several of its classified redesign clients that saved time in the call center and increased upsell sales at the same time.

No, you're not dreaming. It's an ad for kitchens hidden inside a fake classifieds page – thanks to a nifty 3-D effect applied to the text.

The Index-Journal of Greenwood, S.C., has introduced a new rate structure and guidelines for its classified advertising pages that have already boosted the number and types of ads appearing in the paper. The new structure emphasizes jobs, real estate and auto categories, in addition to free ads.

When a reader has a good idea, it pays to listen.

A reader of The Herald Tribune in Batesville, Ind., asked the managing editor why the paper didn't list discounts for senior citizens on specials and services. The ME reported the conversation to Laura Welborn, regional publisher of Southeastern Indiana Media.

Why not, indeed? Welborn thought.

"A lot of times the seniors already know where the discounts are. They know to go to Waffle House on Tuesday nights," Welborn said. But targeting those discounts for regular advertising and grouping them together could be done with little expense.

In the next couple of weeks, The Herald Tribune, the Greensburg Daily News and Rushville Republican will launch Savvy Senior Savings, a classified advertising section that will tuck in behind the other classifieds for all print editions of the three newspapers. It will also be listed online.

It's that time of year, when readers of the twice-weekly News Reporter in Whiteville, N.C., start on the annual classifieds Easter Egg Hunt.

Friday is the kickoff for this year's hunt. A small Easter egg graphic may appear between classified ads or inside classified ads, or on top of a larger ad on the pages published Tuesdays and Fridays prior to Easter. Readers are asked to find all the eggs, keep count and enter the total number in a contest.

As media companies seek out new sources of revenue, some are turning back to older strategies that once fattened newspapers. During the recent SNPA P2P video conference on classified advertising, several participants detailed variations of "Run Till It Sells," in which the advertiser pays one flat price to run an ad virtually indefinitely.

This week the eBulletin looks at a Savannah Morning News program targeting real estate agents. Next week we'll examine how two companies are ramping up vehicle sales.