- What about classified ads?
- Can I pay with a credit card, debit card, or PayPal?
- Can I get a discounted ad rate if I buy ad space in several issues?
- Do you have a discounted ad rate for certain organizations, individuals, or events?
- Will you run a free article about my business or run an informational article I have written?
- Have a different question?
What about classified ads?
OCN does not carry a classified ad section; however, many of the sorts of ads that would typically run in a classified ad section (help wanted, houses for sale or rent, cars or furniture for sale, garage sales, etc.) have run with great results as business card sized ads (3.25″ wide by 1.75″ high). You aren’t limited by word counts or other restrictions that typical apply in classified ad sections. You can include photos and as much ad copy as will fit comfortably in the space without making the type size too small for people to read. We will be glad to work with you to craft an ad that meets your needs. For even greater visibility, consider running a larger ad. Our Advertise page gives examples of a variety of ad sizes and the associated prices.
Can I pay with a credit card, debit card, or PayPal?
Yes, OCN accepts payments made using credit or debit cards (American Express, Discover, MasterCard, or Visa), PayPal accounts, or PayPal Credit®. These payments require that you have email and web access. If you wish to pay by credit card, debit card, PayPal, or PayPal Credit®, we will gladly email an invoice with a link to a secure PayPal page where you can make the payment. You do not need to have a PayPal account to use this service. The rewards you earn in our Frequent Advertiser Bonus (FAB) rewards program are reduced by the associated PayPal fees that we are charged for processing your payment (about 3.5% of the amount of the transaction).
Can I get a discounted ad rate if I buy ad space in several issues?
To get discounted ad rates, other publications generally require the advertiser to sign a contract committing the advertiser to a minimum number of ads within a specified number of issues. Many advertisers have told us they regretted signing such contracts because their advertising needs changed and yet they were still bound to fulfill the contract.
OCN does not use advertising contracts. We want people to advertise with us because they see value in doing so not because they are bound by a contract. You can purchase ad space month to month to meet your changing advertising needs. All local advertisers pay the same low rate.
To reward frequent advertisers, OCN has a Frequent Advertiser Bonus (FAB) Rewards Program. As you pay for ad space, you can earn up to 10% as a reward that can be redeemed to reduce the cost of future OCN advertising.
You can also buy all the ad space you want in advance at the current rate. You aren’t obligated to run any particular size ad or to run in any particular issues. If you purchase space in advance, we hold that space on account until you are ready to use it. In addition to writing fewer checks, another advantage to buying space in advance is that you are buying the space at the current rate so even when we must raise our ad rates to cover increases in production costs and circulation, your ads are run at the rate you paid. Some of our advertisers have paid a year or two in advance, which has been quite a savings for them. Unlike advertising contracts, it’s risk free: If you find you bought more space than you need, you can get a refund for the unused space at the price you paid. To purchase space in advance, all you need to do is pay for the amount of space you want to purchase.
Do you have a discounted ad rate for certain organizations, individuals, or events?
Aside from our discounted rate for local advertisers, OCN does not make value judgments as to which organizations, individuals, or events have more laudatory goals and therefore deserve to be subsidized through a lower ad rate. OCN is published by Our Community News, Inc. staffed by volunteers. Our ad rate is set to cover our cost of production. That has resulted in OCN offering a per-printed-copy ad rate that is often substantially less than what you would pay in local commercial newspapers. All local advertisers pay that same low rate.
To reward frequent advertisers, OCN has a Frequent Advertiser Bonus (FAB) Rewards Program. As you pay for ad space, you can earn up to 10% as a reward that can be redeemed to reduce the cost of future OCN advertising.
Will you run a free article about my business or run an informational article I have written?
Unlike some other newspapers, OCN does not give certain businesses preferential treatment over their competitors by running free business promotion articles. Our policy has always been that business promotion articles run as paid ad space. The same policy applies to informational articles, which are typically “soft marketing” tools intended to establish the expertise of the business. We will be glad to help you prepare such articles for publication but they must run as paid ad space. If we feel they could be mistaken for OCN news articles or columns, a “paid advertisement” notice will be run above them. If you are interested in running an article, please contact us so we can determine how much space would be required and what the cost would be. Given our relatively low ad rate considering our large circulation, you may be pleasantly surprised. For budgeting purposes, figure that using 10-point type, you can fit about 12 words per sq. in. so a 300-word article would take about 25 sq. in.