Starting your own newspaper publishing business in Nigeria is not as capital intensive as you think. Newspapers in Nigeria (dailies and weeklies) have gained so much momentum for good reasons. Nigeria is the highest news consuming nation in Africa and one of the highest in the world. Despite the massive proliferation of internet base news outlets in Nigeria, there are still people who are craving to read not just anything but trustworthy newspapers and so if you are thinking to set up a standard paper, be assured that there is good business in it. If you already have one, you can still make so much money from it if you follow this article.

You may like to know that a newspaper publishing can generate its own income to pay for the cost of its production and much more. A newspaper gives much more room to deliver a message than a flyer or newsletter. Also, advertising in a newspaper is inherently preferred by everyone over any other type of print media. It offers many ways for other people or business or organization to be involved, and allows you to establish relationships with businesses.

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At the beginning of your newspaper publishing business, before the newspaper becomes popular, it may be a huge task to get it into the hands of many people but if you keep promoting it relentlessly, you will soon be smiling to the bank for the huge profit you will be making. If you have been wondering how to make so much money from a newspaper publishing business, wonder no more.

Here are the steps to follow:

1. Conceive Something Bigger

See beyond a newsletter and conceive a newspaper. The truth is that a newspaper can do so much more than a simple newsletter.

A lot of starters often want to limit themselves for fear of expenses and when they beat the odds to dare begin with a newspaper, they realize how important it was for them to go big. Newsletters to the best of my knowledge are preferable for private and public organizations as they serve as public relation tools.

Conceiving something bigger also requires that you think of a newspaper that could serve a large audience of millions and not just a community of thousands. This is where you want to get and you must begin considering it from the beginning.

2. Carve Out Your ‘Niche’, Name, And  Size

Selecting the right niche is essential to the success of your newspaper publishing business. A niche is a portion of the market you want to target. There are many different issues, programs, causes, and problems, products, and services you could focus on. But it is important to remember that your newspaper, in order to become a staple in your community, needs to be somewhat predictable to those who are interested in it. It should also focus on something that catches the attention of most people and you are passionate and knowledgeable about.

You also have to consider demographics, your strengths, political environment, recurring social issues and availability of content among other things.

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Make sure your newspaper name and content is always about your chosen focus. Meantime, make sure you do not get so specific in choosing your niche such that you exhaust all your content in only a few issues. What you focus on should be inexhaustible.

Choose your name based on your niche. Choose the size of your paper based on your ability to fill it with good content. The titles of the articles need to be catchy enough so that if someone happens to pick up one of your newspapers and just glances at the front, they see something that appeals to them right away.

3. Determine Your Circulation

As you try to figure out how many copies of your newspapers to get for each issue, you need to keep three factors in mind

•  The size of the population in your target area

• The available labor force

• Cost versus potential revenue or available funds

Undoubtedly, if your town has a population of say 2,000 people, you do not need to order 10,000 newspapers. At the same time, if you live in a city of 2.5million and print 150,000 newspapers with a workforce of 2 persons, you will never get the papers out quickly enough. Seek a way to make sure you distribute all copies of your paper to your readers on time. To do this, you can also seek the services of newspaper distribution agencies.

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Another factor is your revenue desired from the newspaper. If you sell ads space in your newspaper, you must weigh how much room you can allot for ads and the potential revenue from those ads against the number of copies of the newspapers that you intend to print for each issue.

4. Advertise On Your Newspaper

If you do it right, newspaper publishing business can be a very self-sustaining business. Canvasing for ads which in some cases could be paid for upfront can generate so much profit for you.

I realized that with all the space you have in the newspaper, just selling a few ads space can raise enough money to cover all your expenses. There is plenty of space to make some clean profit. I recently came across these wonderful facts about newspapers and advertisement:

• The newspapers are paid for by the advertisers.

• You make money on each issue from the advertising.

• You can solicit advertisers just by explaining that by purchasing an ad space in your paper they are contributing to the community by helping you to reach the community, and they also are reaching out to the community with what they offer. It is a win, win thing.

• You build more solid relationships with businesses and business owners by partnering with them.

• Ads give your paper a better feel and look. People expect ads in newspapers.

• Ads increase your paper’s credibility and circulation potential. Businesses who advertise will also buy your newspaper!

5. Make Attractive Advertising Rates

Your advertising rates will be increasing as you are able to penetrate the market and have more persons read your paper. This is because the more persons you have, reading your paper, the more persons who become aware of the business you advertise. At some point, businesses should flood in to buy ads space from you, if you focus on reaching more persons with your paper.

SEE ALSO: How You Can Make More Profit Through Advertisement

Also, it will also depend on whether the ad is bigger or in color. If it is either bigger or in color then you will need to charge more

I noticed from research two factors you still need to be aware of in your newspaper publishing business:

The population of your area: The smaller the population, the less they are used to paying for advertisements. You may need to adjust your pricing to factor this in.

The competition: The competition in this case is not competing publications, but rather competing avenues of advertising. Study the ad rates of other newspapers and even of advertising agencies to be able to determine your own rates. Unrealistic ad rates will scare away advertisers who are simply looking for avenues where they can pay less while reaching more people. Therefore, strive to stay competitive.

6. Look For Advertisers

Ads will not come and meet you where you are. The best way to look for advertisers is to ask. This is how to start:

i) Approach everyone you currently know is a business owner and all those you currently do business with. Ask them to buy an ad space.
ii) Ask each of the above business owners to give you referrals. It should be that the more persons they refer who finally buy ads space for your newspaper, the cheaper the rates for theirs.
iii) Approach and ask each of your referrals to buy an ad space. Use the name of the person who referred you.
iv) Ask them for referrals too.
v) Continue this pattern.

SEE ALSO: How To Make Your Advertisement Very Persuasive

Rest assured this will give you a good start. But if you happen to run out of places, you can call businesses. But when you do, here are some things I found important to be kept in mind:

•  Talk only to business owners or the one who can make a decision

• Explain what the newspaper is all about and how beneficial it will be for them to advertise on it

• Provide samples of your newspapers if you have them

• Provide a price sheet

• Provide all your contact information

• Follow them up to have them make a decision to advertise

• Don’t be afraid when they say, ‘No’

• You may want to offer free ad design services

7. Design Your Newspaper

Design is a strategic step that must be handled with caution because a poor design can repel your readers and consequently your advertisers. Some design programs you can use are Microsoft Publisher, CorelDraw and Quark Express amongst others. You can equally access free templates and pre-structured newspaper layouts online.

SEE ALSO: How To Setup Lucrative Online Advertising Agency

As you design the paper, some of the things to do are:

• Have the name of your paper, written large and on the top of the front page.

• Have your business name, phone number, address, email address and any other pertinent information somewhere on top of the front page.

• Include the current issue number and volume number somewhere near the top along with a date.

• Ensure your own content is very easy to find and read. Also ensure they have strong headings and alignments.

• Justify your columns to ‘full’ so it gives a clean edge to both sides of your article columns.

• Stick with the same type of font for all your articles.

• Place ads along the bottom of each page.

• Fill up spaces with pictures, puzzles, quotes, and other graphics.

The most important thing about a newspaper is keeping it simple to read. The rule is to write for the 12 year old. Avoid getting too complicated with graphics and keep your articles separated and with bold Headings.

8. Sell Your Newspaper

Your first issue will always draw the attention of your community and there is going to be a sense of excitement. That is why you want to start with the best paper you can. You will find your friends and business acquaintances go out of their way to help distribute your newspapers.

Canvassing readers from your neighborhoods is a great way to get your paper in front of people. It’s harder but very effective, especially starting out.  Here are some rules you might go by:

i) Never go against your community’s norms.
ii) Never assume that people do not want to read your paper. But go knock on their doors and present it to them.
iii) Secure the paper in some manner so it doesn’t get blown away or rained on.

Another effective means to get your newspaper publishing to reach your readers is to find friendly businesses and restaurants that will accept your newspapers. Any place where there is a waiting room is ideal. People often look for something to read while they are waiting. If you chose a good ‘niche’, many of these businesses would be very pleased to accept your paper for their customers to enjoy while they are waiting.

Restaurants are the best, we’ve found. Also, doctor’s and dentist’s offices, libraries, coffee shops, waiting rooms of every sort, retail stores with community bulletin boards, hospitals, convenience stores, gas stations, restaurants, apartment building offices, etc. are great places to consider. Make sure you keep track of the rate your newspapers are taken and note those places that need more copies and get them supplied on time.

If you really want to make so much money from Newspaper publishing business, do not minimize any of the information I have just shared with you.

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