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The DON ZIERDT Agency |
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Your Window to the College Market |
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If you really don’t need the money... You put your newspaper to bed after a late production night, got it to the printer and distributed it to all your locations. It looked great! It's Miller time! Except, now you have to do tear sheets and invoice the advertiser after your newspaper hits the stands. This is where newspapers lose much revenue. If the advertiser does not receive proofs and an invoice, you may not be paid. Most companies must have a valid invoice to pay its vendors. Many financial woes that college newspapers face are self-inflicted because of neglect of a simple process. Here is a simple process for consistently billing clients: 1. Get a computer and a simple billing program (or utilize a spreadsheet). 2. As soon after an ad runs as possible (weekly?), gather proofs (tear sheets/copies of the paper) and check each for quality and adherence to insertion order specifics (if there is a problem, call the advertiser immediately). 3. Input all your advertiser’s information to allow for future ease of billing. Building a database allows you to send info (e.g., marketing) more easily. 4. Create an invoice and mail it with the corresponding proofs. Simple? Yes. Some other items: · Make invoices payable within 60 days. Have late or finance charges begin after 60 days. · Requiring prepayment may eliminate some of the invoicing process, but does not eliminate the need to send tear sheets. · Use judgment when invoicing multiple-run advertisers. Waiting until the end of a two-month weekly run to invoice makes no operational sense (and can kill your cash-flow). · BEWARE THE DEAD ZONE. This is the time after Spring Break when business issues, such as invoicing, are more likely to go unaddressed (because of graduating staff or thoughts of summer). Mini-dead zone: the holiday break (mid-Dec.– mid-Jan.). There are many external forces that can delay receipt of revenue. Do not be part of the delay. Bill and send proofs quickly. |
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Invoicing |
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Phone: 609-265-0442 |