Paid advertising in the Magazine

I'm now making available limited space in both the East Grinstead and Horley editions of the magazine for paid advertising for local businesses.

By "limited advertising space" is meant:

A MAXIMUM of one full page of ads for every four pages of articles and features. 

So, for example, if the August issue of the East Grinstead edition comprises thirty-two pages-worth of articles and features, the amount of space provided for paid advertising will be the equivalent of eight pages MAXIMUM. So the magazine will comprise forty pages total. Another example: if the November issue of the Horley edition comprises thirty-six pages of articles and features, the maximum space provided for ads will be the equivalent of nine pages, making the magazine forty-five pages in length,

As mentioned elsewhere, I wish to avoid making the Town Crier a glorified advertising hoarding where articles and engaging content play second-fiddle to an overwhelming plethora of ads. The more interesting, informative, helpful or interesting the content, the more people will engage with and explore the magazine and the better this will be for the advertisers within it.

Moreover, to provide maximum value for your paid ads, I'll not accept more than one paid ad in any issue for the same product or service. So for example, if I accept an ad for Joe's Painters and Decorators, I'll not also accept an ad from Fred's Decorating Services whilst Joe's ad is running. Or another example: if I run an ad for a French Tutor, I'll not run an ad for another French Tutor in the same issue.  I will however run an ad for a Spanish tutor as the service does not compete with the French  tutor.

The same principle will apply to cafes and restaurants. Two cafes providing basic tea/coffee cakes and sandwiches will not be advertised in the same issue, nor would, for example, two restaurants selling Thai Cuisine. However, a restaurant selling Thai cuisine and one selling, say, Italian cuisine will be permitted ads in the same issue as their products do not clash.

In other words, if someone pays for an ad, in fairness to them and in an effort to ensure they get maximum value for their ad,  their ad will not compete with a paid ad by someone else providing the same service.

This will be done on a first-come-first-served basis. For example, if Jim the Gentlemen's Barber pays for the next three months of advertising in the magazine and Mike's Men's Hair Cuts applies to advertise, Mike will be informed that space is not yet available and that he has been placed on the waiting list and will be notified as soon as space becomes available. If Jim continues to pay for advertising, then he keeps the space. If at any time he does not renew and space for a barber thereby becomes available, the barber at the top of the waiting list will be notified and given the chance to advertise. If he declines, then the next one on the waiting list will be given the opportunity. 

Once you pay for advertising, and for as long as you renew on time, you will keep the exclusive space for your product or service until you decide not to renew. At that point, the space will become available for another advertiser of the same product or service.

Please also note that paid ads do not affect in any way the existing paramount Town Crier policy of  inviting local people to provide interesting and informative content, which will be featured in the magazine for free. There may at times be a situation where a paid ad for, say, a physical fitness instructor appears in the same issue as an article about physical fitness by  a Pilates instructor. Where that occurs, every effort will be made to ensure the clashing items appear in different parts of the magazine. 

Please also note that my goal is to support as much as I can the efforts of  small local businesses to prosper. Therefore I will only accept your ads if  (a) you live in the area covered by the magazine and/or (b) you have an office, a shop or a market stall within the area covered by the magazine. You count as a small business for our purposes if you have 50 employees or fewer. 

This policy and the policy outlined above are an effort to give you as much benefit as possible from your ad.

Along with that, I am offering you advertising space at what I believe to be very reasonable rates, as follows:

ADVERTISING COSTS

These costs apply to either edition of the magazine

ONE QUARTER OF A PAGE: One month = £45; Three months = £130; Six months = £250

ONE HALF PAGE: One month = £75; Three months = £210; Six months = £400

ONE FULL PAGE: One month = £125; Three months = £350; Six months = £680

To apply for advertising please email:

EAST GRINSTEAD TOWN CRIER egtowncrier@gmail.com

HORLEY TOWN CRIER horlytowncrier@gmail.com

TERMS

Payment in full needs to be made latest one week before publishing date. This is so that we have plenty of time to put the magazine together.

I can create your ad for you if you supply the details you want in it, then run it by you for your approval before publishing. There is usually no charge for the art work unless a large amount of work is involved but in such an instance I will advise you of any additional costs in advance so as to avoid springing on you any nasty surprises.

REFUND POLICY

You can cancel your advertising any time, and we will refund all or part of payment on the following basis:

- If we receive notice of cancellation 30 days before the publishing date, we will refund you, less £20 admin charge.

- For payments made for more than one month, we will refund you in full less the £20 admin charge if we get 30 days or more notice before the publishing date of your first  entry; if less than 30 days’ notice, we will refund you for subsequent months in full (for example, if you pay for 3 months, give us 15 days’ notice before the publication of your first advertising, we will refund you in full for months 2 and 3, minus £20 admin charge)

- We cannot refund payment for advertisement if we receive less than 30 days’ notice, in the case of a one-month advertising.