Are you making this mistake with regional monthly newspapers?

My two girls recently finished up a 5-day camping trip with their grandparents and cousin, about an hour from my home here in the Willamette (Will-Am-Et) Valley.

It was later in the day so we decided to grab some dinner at a local restaurant. As we walked in, I noticed one of the monthly newspapers where I run an ad each month for SofTouch™ Dental. After looking through it and noting the publication date, I wondered why our ad wasn’t inside.

Even though it was about 5:30, I decided I’d call my ad rep and ask.

“Clark, hey, Jerry Jones here. I was looking at the September 2011 edition of the newspaper and noted our ad wasn’t inside. Why?”

“It hasn’t printed yet.”

“Well, it says September 2011.”

“Jerry, that’s the Linn-Benton counties edition. Not Marion-Polk counties.”

“Oh. Well. How can we get in here, too?”

Even though I felt like an idiot, I made the right decision: I called my ad rep to find out what was going on. Turns out, I uncovered an opportunity to expand the reach of SofTouch™ Dental to an additional 2 counties.

There are a couple lessons here:

1)    Always check publications where you pay for placement to ensure your ad is there and accurate; and,

2)    Investigate, ask questions and look for additional opportunities.

For SofTouch™ Dental, it could mean an additional 2 to 3 full denture cases each month from the added exposure. That’s serious cash and serious profits.