Dear Circulation Friends:

Hello again! WOW, has this been a busy couple of months. It seems like all of us are doing some kind of: redesigning, realigning, downsizing, upgrading, renaming, ABC changing, budget crunching, power selling, staff training ... ALL (NECESSARY STEPS) WHILE ... communicating and coordinating, striving to keep our business healthy and successful and, ultimately, GROWING. That's the beauty of our business! Opportunities are presented (new and different every day), and all require TEAMWORK, internal and external, for the good of our CUSTOMERS. Inside I've included a couple of sayings I've had up on my wall now for a few years: "TEAMWORK" and "CUSTOMERS." I shared them with my publisher the other day. "This is our goal, our focus," I said. I couldn't help but notice how accurately they describe what we do. These ideas always have and always will represent the very basis of our business. I challenge all of you to look at your respective organizations. Do you have a "common vision"?

On October 2, our training committee presented its second annual joint seminar with NYNAME. My congratulations and thanks to all involved. Special thanks to Bob Prevost (Albany Times Union) for filling in for a last-minute change - I know Mark appreciated it! He's included more details inside. Look for information in upcoming issues regarding a seminar he's planning for early next year. As a matter of fact, the presenter for that session is the author of this issue's "Past President's Corner." Thanks, Ron!

We got together again on October 17 in Cooperstown to celebrate yet another of our many achievements. Our annual Carrier of the Year celebration honored 36 outstanding carriers. Please acknowledge Paul Felicissimo's efforts for a job well done. Inside this newsletter you'll find results from that day. We're also conducting a survey (enclosed), and would like you to participate by providing information which will enable us to move with the changing times of our industry. Whether you have youth or adult carriers we need to know how to continue making this day as meaningful and as useful as possible in honoring our carrier force. Paul has put together a committee to address these issues. Thank you in advance for your timely responses.

Towards the end of October, I attended ISCMA's Sales and Marketing Conference. I had the opportunity to speak with circulation executives and advertisers, some planning to attend our conference next May. Look for Will Kustyn's update on other speakers and topics. Both site and agenda will be sure to entice you to attend and bring family. Our officer's on-site planning meeting takes place during November. More to come on Saratoga Springs after the first of the year. Until then, make sure you mark your calendars for Sunday, May 16, through Wednesday, May 19, 1999.

My best wishes to all of you and your families through the holidays. Hard to believe I'm writing that already. Hope they're happy and safe. As always, please don't hesitate to call me or any of our board members or chairpeople to share ideas or if you have any questions. We're always looking for your input. Don't forget about our Web site. Talk to you soon!

Best regards
Nancy L. Breault
Your President

Welcome back to Clyde B. Barrow, former director of circulation at the Youngstown, Ohio Vindicator. Clyde has been appointed publisher of Hudson Valley Newspapers, publisher of the Hudson, N.Y. Register Star and the Catskill, N.Y. Daily Mail. He is also responsible for two dailies and three weeklies that cover three county areasin the Hudson Valley region.

• Mark Vinciguerra, The Syracuse Newspapers, has been promoted from sales division manager to single copy circulation manager. Congratulations, Mark! He is also director of training for NYSCMA.
• Barbara R. Evans has replaced Rich Procida as circulation/sales promotion manager at the Poughkeepsie Journal.
• Shannon West, assistant circulation manager, Cortland Standard.
• Andrew F. Gee, circulation manager at the Evening Observer in Dunkirk.
• Kenneth Ditton, district sales manager at the Jamestown Post-Journal.
• Roy Biondi will be appointed publisher, Olean Times-Herald, effective January 1, 1999.
• Keith McPherson, single copy merchandiser, Elmira Star Gazette.
• Jim Fitzpatrick, district sales manager, Elmira Star Gazette.
• Jean Hawthorne, promoted from DSM to single copy sales manager, Glens Falls Post-Star.
• Cory Phillips, promoted from DSM to home delivery manager, Troy Record.
• John Anderson, DSM at the Jamestown Post-Journal.

News from Anderson,
Randles & Associates

Announcements

• Rich Randles has purchased a majority interest of the firm from Ron Anderson and becomes its president. Anderson becomes vice president. Previously, they held equal shares in the firm.
• Larry Martin, for may years a circulation executive in Virginia and Arizona and a consultant to Anderson, Randles & Associates, has joined the firm full time. He'll be involved in client acquisition, client service, executive recruitment and all other activities.
• Anderson, Randles & Associates will hold a "Circulation Bootcamp" for publishers, general managers and editors. The seminar, the first of its kind, will focus on what newspaper management should know about their circulation departments and how to build volume. Designed for community-sized newspapers (circulation up to 50,000), the seminar will examine best circulation practices, key indicators, and even "what your circulation director doesn't want you to know."

A review of the past presidents list revealed that I'm the most distant past president (1972) who is still active in our business. And very active, at age 63, as a partner in a circulation consulting business (Anderson, Randles & Associates) and as president of a publishing company that does Circulation Idea Service, Circulation Marketplace and Publishers Circulation Reference (for weeklies). Not ready to stop just yet!

I care very much about NYSCMA, having been a member since 1960. The stronger you make the association, the more value you and your newspaper receive from it. Keys to this strength include attending and participating in the annual conference, developing excellent business programs for those conferences, developing and running strong training programs and producing a top-notch bulletin. How can you help? Get involved, as I did a long time ago. And insist that your meeting and bulletin be idea-oriented, as a big part of NYSCMA is to help you learn and develop as a professional. One good idea can pay all your NYSCMA costs for a whole year plus a lot more.

Let's emphasize that theme by closing this brief column with an idea: retention marketing. No matter what your newspaper's size, create the position for one or more part-time retention marketers, who would work every evening and Saturday and make the following telephone calls aimed at saving existing subscribers:

• Verify all starts and restarts to ensure that they have started OK and that, if solicited, they are legitimate. During verification, try for credit card payment to ensure retention.
• Call all subscribers during the grace period to try to get them to renew - twice, if necessary. Ask for a credit card. Even offer to have their money picked up, if necessary, to save them.
• Call all permanent stops. Try to save/resell them. At least find out the true reason for the stop and pass it on to the proper people.
• Call all indefinite temporary stops if they haven't restarted in a month. Keep trying weekly until you reach them. Otherwise, many will not restart.
• Call the previous day's complaints to make sure they are OK today.
• Call all carrier-collect non-payment stop requests prior to stopping the paper, and seek to collect the money and save the subscriber. You'll succeed on 50 percent or more of these!

A stop saved equals a start gained!

Ron Anderson
President, RCAnderson Associates Inc.
PO Box 300
Pittsford, NY 14534
(716) 248-5385