Re: Board question-Ads

["Karen Randall" <krandall@world.std.com>]

Hi folks,

I think it's fine to give Kathy the discretionary power to offer a 10%
discount as necessary.  I trust her to use it wisely.

I do have some unease about taking money for ads in advance.  My intentions
are to keep TAG on track.  But what if something happens to me or Cheryl?
Can the AGA guarantee that they can pull it together to honor the agreement
in a worst case scenario?  If not, will we make sure that we have that money
set aside so that it can be returned to advertisers if we can't follow
through?  I'd want to be very sure that we were not putting the AGA in a
position where it could be sued for breech of contract.  The idea of only
having to invoice once a year is appealing, but we need to look at all
possible ramifications.

I want to REALLY thank Kathy for the way she has taken the ball and run with
it.   With her help, I think we're much closre to making color TAG a
PERMANENT reality!

Karen


----- Original Message -----
From: "Kathy Olson" <kathy@thekrib.com>
To: "Karen Randall" <krandall@world.std.com>; "Erik Olson"
<erik@pulcher.thekrib.com>; "David VillaSunscape"
<davidlass@villasunscape.com>
Cc: "Dorothy Reimer" <dreimer@wwdc.com>
Sent: Sunday, December 15, 2002 4:24 PM
Subject: Board question-Ads


> Hi all (please forward to board members not listed above)
>
> Here is the situation on the ads.  All the invoices have been mailed.  So
> hopefully some checks will be coming in.  With the holidays, I think we
> will be lucky to get one new ad for the next issue, with a Jan 1 deadline,
> I gave them a slip date....no later than Jan 15th. I think with as slow as
> these guys go, it will probably take several months to get the ads
> secured.  My goal is 10/11 ads by this time next year.  Sooner the better,
> I don't think it would happen in 3 months but I am definitely going to
> try.  I would be hopeful to have it all done in 6 months.  Next Christmas,
> all should be very comfortable in my mind.  David knows the treasurery
> level, and can tell this if it is feasible for the AGA.
>
>
> The one ad we do most likely have would like...concessions.  I don't think
> this would be a typical thing, but I would like the board to grant me
> leeway, that for important "make or break" deals that I be given the
> permission to have a 10% discount.  I won't use this often, and I will use
> it judiciously.  i.e., in this case if they want the discount as they have
> asked, the condition is paying for a year up front, and they are taking
> one of the high billing ads.  No billing for me, which is nice, discount
> for them like they are asking, and the AGA gets a higher priced ad.
>
> For comparison, a lot of these guys advertise in the BB/ACA Journal, their
> ads cost less than ours to start and then they are special 15% discounts
> for yearly billing/issues.  (this is a comparison for us, the BB also has
> a circulation of 1300)
>
> Looking at the numbers....even if we did 10% for all 10 ads, that would
> mean, I would only have to get an 11th in order to make it pay.  I feel I
> need this leeway in order to secure ads, and am asking the board to give
> me permission to do this.
>
> I have included a breakdown of costs, below for you guys to review.
> Feel free to add input.
>
> I would really like to get an answer on this by Monday, so I can try and
> secure this ad and get it into the Jan issue.  To do this I feel like we
> need to act expeditiously.  Also, the advertisor is "on hold" until I get
> an answer from the board.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Kathy
>
>
>    -----------------------
>
> Black and White TAG  1500 issue for 6 issues (600 members)     9,000
> (equivalent 2250 for 4 issues)
>
> Color Tag 5000
> Minus        2250
> 2750 Balance needed from Ads
>
> Back Cover 500 SeaChem
> Front Cover 400 ZooMed
> Regular page    300 Tropica
>
> Balance 1550, left for other adds.
> 400 back cover..
> 4 general ads..1200
>
> Total 1600.
>
>
>
> Total number of ads to break even...8 ads total (with the back and inside
> covers).
>
>
> Additionally, add in current editor cost (Karen you deserve this)
> $625
>
> This would up it from 8 to 11 ads to break even.  That is with the AGA
> membership supplying 2250 an issue.
>
> That would mean that with Amano's free ads..13 pages of ads, plus table of
> contents and cover (total 15), this leaves 25 pages of articles.  I think
> this is a good ratio.
>
> With membership rates upped $15 per year average (ie base 20 per year,
> approx 15 for multi-year subscriptions), 700 paying members is 10,500 per
> year..2600 per issue, including mailing.  That would be a goal.  (of
> course this is supposed to be paying for all the other AGA stuff too).
>
>
>
>

  ------------------
  To unsubscribe from this list, e-mail majordomo@thekrib.com
  with "unsubscribe aga-sc" in the body of the message.
  Old messages are available at http://lists.thekrib.com/aga-sc
  When asked, log in as username is "aga-sc", and password "incorp".