Advertise

Why Advertise in OCN?

OCN is mailed FREE to every resident and business in the Tri-Lakes area. We mail more than 23,000 copies every month and put another 700 copies in stacks throughout the area. We put copies of OCN into the hands of those people most likely to buy your products or services: local residents and businesses.
OCN is a primary source for Tri-Lakes area news. Since its founding in 2001, OCN has been presenting unbiased, detailed coverage of Tri-Lakes area governmental entities and their deliberations and actions. Credibility is key. Advertising in a credible medium typically rubs off on the advertisers in that media.
OCN gives preference to Tri-Lakes area businesses. As part of OCN’s long-standing commitment to encouraging the economic health of the Tri-Lakes area, we offer a significantly discounted ad rate to Tri-Lakes area businesses as a way to help local businesses like yours succeed.
OCN’s low ad rates and monthly publication schedule help stretch your ad budget. OCN has one of the lowest ad costs per printed copy of any local publication. Since OCN is a monthly publication, your ad is out there for a month—more than four times longer than other local papers. Many of our advertisers tell us they’re still getting calls in the third and fourth week of the month.
OCN doesn’t use ad contracts. You aren’t tied down. Adjust your advertising month-to-month to meet your changing needs. Our advertisers advertise with us because they see benefit in it, not because they’re bound by a contract they signed months before. To reward frequent advertisers, OCN has a Frequent Advertiser Bonus (FAB) rewards program. You earn up to 10% of your ad cost as a reward you can use to reduce the cost of future OCN advertising.
You are supporting a good thing. Your advertising dollars support a unique all-volunteer, Tri-Lakes-focused effort to present factual, comprehensive news to all Tri-Lakes area residents and businesses.

Testimonials

Many local businesses have reported great response from their OCN ads. Here are a couple:

Janet Huffor, Stubby’s Dog Wash – “We have had GREAT response from our ads. Better than any advertising we have done before!”
Crystal Wright, Crystal’s In-Home Training – “I have had the best success with advertising in the Our Community News for my business. 95% of my new clients are coming from this local paper, and I couldn’t be more pleased. If you are thinking of advertising in the Monument area, I recommend you advertise with this paper.”

Click here to read more testimonials from happy OCN advertisers.

Circulation

We now bulk mail OCN FREE to every residential and business mailbox in the Tri-Lakes area from County Line Road south to Northgate Road and from the mountains east to Highway 83 and in portions of Black Forest. Our distribution by mail area is shown in yellow in the map below. We also distribute about 700 copies each month to stacks at shops and offices throughout the area. Click here to download a set of maps showing where we leave stack copies of the paper. Please click here to contact us if you would like to be added to our list to receive stack copies each month.

Our total mailed circulation is now 23,715 distributed as follows:

Monument (zip 80132): 12,674

Palmer Lake (zip 80921): 1,359

Black Forest (zip 80908): 1,876

South of Baptist Rd. (zip 80921): 7,801

Ad rate

Our discounted B&W ad rate for local advertisers is $6.50 per sq. in. The standard B&W rate for those without a business presence in the Tri-Lakes area is $8.67 per sq. in. To figure the cost of any B&W ad, multiply the width in inches times the height in inches times the cost per sq. in. For example, our business card sized ad is 3.25″ wide by 1.75″ high = 5.688 sq. in. x $6.50 per sq. in. = $36.97 for local advertisers ($49.31 for non-local advertisers). A one-eighth page ad in B&W, for example, 3.9” wide x 5.128” high, would cost 20 sq. in. x $6.50 per sq. in. = $130.00 ($173.40 for non-local advertisers).

Click here to download 2025 Ad Size Examples.pdf to see some ad size examples and the associated rate costs for local advertisers. Non-local advertisers should click here to download 2025 Ad Size Examples Standard.pdf. The costs quoted are for appearance of the ad in one issue and apply through our June 2025 issue.

Color

OCN offers good quality full-color ads at an additional cost of $1.50 per sq. in. for a total of $8.00 per sq. in. ($10.17 for non-local advertisers) so a business card sized color ad for a local advertiser would cost 5.688 sq. in. x $7.75 per sq. in. including color = $44.08 ($57.85 for non-local advertisers). A one-eighth page ad in color would cost a local advertiser 20 sq. in. x $7.75 per sq. in. = $155 ($203.40 for non-local advertisers).

Notice of Ad Rate Increase

OCN has not raised our B&W ad rate since July 2016. With our rapidly increasing circulation and increases in postal rates, we have seen significant increases in our production costs. For example, just in the past year, our mailing costs increased more than 20%! As a result, we have found it necessary to increase our ad rates.

After June 7, 2025, the B&W rate for local advertisers will increase to $7.00 per sq. in. and the color rate for local advertisers will increase to $9.00 per sq. in. Non-local advertisers will pay $9.33 per sq. in. for B&W and $12.00 per sq. in. for color.

An opportunity to save: Prior to June 7, 2025, you can purchase all the space you want at the current rate. You aren’t obligated to run any particular size ad or to run in any particular issues. You are just buying the space. We will hold that space on account for you until you are ready to use it. With OCN, purchasing space in advance like this is risk-free: If you find you bought more space than you need, we will refund your unused space at the rate you paid.

Special Placement

When available, special placement on pages 2-5 or the back page costs $0.25 per sq. in. additional. The special placement spots on page 2 are 4.9″ or 10″ wide, those on page 3 and the back page that might be available are typically 3.9″ wide by 4.9″ high and those on pages 4-5 are typically 3.25″, 6.6”, or 10″ wide. Advertisers who pay for special placement have a right-of-first-refusal on that special placement location for the following issue. That means if someone has paid for special placement in a particular spot in the paper, they have first call on that spot for the next issue. If they decide not to run in that spot in the next issue, then it is open for another advertiser to pay for special placement in that spot. Note that there is no additional charge for general requests such as “toward the front,” “toward the back,” “toward the top of a right-hand page,” etc.

Ad Sizes

OCN doesn’t have fixed ad sizes other than the sizes of business card (3.25″ wide by 1.75″ high) and full-page ads (10″ wide by 20″ high); however, we do have preferred ad widths of 1.9″, 2.4″, 3.25″, 3.9″, 4.9″, 5.9″, 6.6″, 7.4″, 7.9″ and 10″. Sticking to those ad widths gives us greater flexibility in where your ad is placed in the paper. The example ad sizes linked in the “Ad Rates” section above are based on OCN’s preferred ad widths. Note that those dimensions are full-bleed meaning that the border on the ad should be at those dimensions. Unlike most other newspapers, ad artwork should not have an inset. Requiring an inset, as other papers do, means they are charging their advertisers for the white space that surrounds their ads.

Ad Layout

If you supply the elements you want included such as text, logos, photos, etc., we can do the ad layout and there is no charge for that. If you have an ad you have run elsewhere, we can usually use that as is, resize it, or make most kinds of changes that might be needed. Many OCN advertisers do their own ad layout and send us print-ready electronic files. Click here for details on the formats we accept and our ad design recommendations.

Flyer Inserts

For even greater visibility, you might want to consider a flyer insert, that is, an 8.5″ x 11″ flyer inserted in and delivered with OCN. The insertion cost for a typical 70# or 80# glossy color flyer is $53 per 1,000. You supply the flyers and please include 2% extras to make sure we have enough copies to cover the mailing. Click here to download information about running a flyer insert.

Publication and Due Dates

OCN comes out the first Saturday of each month. Click here to download 2025 OCN advertiser due dates.pdf that shows due dates for our 2025 issues. OCN has two announced ad-related due dates for each issue. The first is Friday, three weeks prior to the publication date. That is the due date for ad space reservations and the due date for ad content for ads you want us to prepare. The second is Friday, two weeks prior to the publication date. That is the due date for ad artwork for those advertisers who prepare do their own ad layout. Note that these are due dates, not deadlines. Even if you miss a due date, we will work with you to get your ad in the next issue of OCN.

No Contracts

OCN does NOT use advertising contracts. All OCN advertisers advertise with us because they see benefit in it, not because they signed a contract months before. All OCN advertisers go month-to-month and can run the same ad or change it whenever you want. To simplify things, many of our advertisers ask us to rerun their ad every month until they tell us otherwise. They can still change the ad each month or skip months as they see fit.

FAB Rewards Program

OCN has a Frequent Advertiser Bonus (FAB) rewards program under which advertisers earn up to 10% rewards that can be redeemed to reduce the cost of future OCN advertising. There are details on OCN’s FAB rewards program posted at wp.ocn.me/fab.

Terms

Payment is due when the ad artwork is approved. We will gladly email or mail an invoice. We ask new advertisers to pay in advance.

Payment by established advertisers is considered late if not received by the publication date of the next issue after the issue that carried their ad or flyer insert. Late payments do not qualify for FAB rewards. A fee of the greater of 1.5% of the amount due or $2.00 per month may be applied to late payments.

Payment

Payments may be made by check, money order, cash, PayPal account, credit card (American Express, Discover, MasterCard, or Visa), or debit card, or using PayPal Credit® deferred payment service. Our preferred forms of payment are check and money order.

The fees associated with payments through PayPal of approximately 3.5%, reduce or eliminate the rewards you would otherwise earn under OCN’s FAB rewards program. Compared to credit or debit cards, using a check or money order greatly reduces the associated fees and thereby maximizes the FAB rewards you earn. FAB rewards can be redeemed to reduce the cost of future OCN advertising.

Please make checks and money orders payable to Our Community News and mail them to P.O. Box 1742, Monument, CO 80132-1742. Payments may also be dropped off at the Covered Treasures Bookstore at the corner of 2nd and Washington Streets in Monument. Anyone at the counter can take your payment and store it for us to pick up.

Double Up and Catch Up

For those with significant outstanding unpaid balances, rather than refusing to run any more ads for that advertiser, we have a “double up and catch up” program. To place an ad in the next issue, the advertiser must pay in advance twice the amount of the new advertising. Half of the payment covers the new advertising. The other half is applied against the past due amount. For example, suppose an advertiser owes $500 for prior ads and wishes to place a $100 ad. The advertiser would pre-pay $200. $100 would cover the new ad and $100 would reduce the outstanding balance to $400. Please contact us if you wish to take advantage of this program.

Pay On-Line

While we are glad to send you an invoice, if the ad you want to run is a common ad size and you prefer to immediately pay for it on-line, click here to make an on-line payment.

Email Updates

We periodically send out email messages regarding advertising in Our Community News. These messages include reminders about ad due dates and other important information such as ad rate changes or special offers.

Please click here if you are interested in joining our email list.

Frequently Asked Questions

Have a question? Please click here to see if one of our FAQs will answer it. If not…