Printcasting

It's been a few months since Printcasting launched, and you publishers sure have been busy. Despite no marketing on our part, you're publishing from 22 states across the U.S., and 20 countries around the world.
 
You inspire us! To thank you for your efforts, we have a couple of special offers for our members in the U.S. First, we want to help you make money by placing and paying for your first ad. And second, we want to help make you a success by covering some of your printing costs. All of this is totally FREE to you, and there are absolutely no strings attached. Read on to find out how to take advantage of these offers.
 
1. Let us buy your first ad -- you pocket the money
We've made it easy for local businesses to place ads in your publications. All they have to do is go to your Printcasting microsite (the URL we sent you after you created your Printcast -- see an example here) and click the orange "Place an Ad" button in the sidebar. Or, they can click the red "Place Your Ads" button on the home page and find your Printcast in the list of targets.
 
But we'll also help you jump-start your Printcast by placing and PAYING FOR your magazine's first ad. Starting August 19, we will begin placing $10 ads in 50 Printcasts at our expense. And we'll even give you our normal share of the ad fee.
 
As you may know, Printcasting.com already gives 60% of every ad placed in Printcasting magazines directly to the publishers (via a Paypal transfer -- see the Revenue Share Payment Requirements in the My Account area to learn what you have to do to participate in revenue sharing). Normally we keep 10% for operating costs, but for this special offer we will give our 10% directly to you, which will make your share 70%, or $7. (The remaining 30% is set aside for content contributors -- which includes your own content if you have registered a feed).
 
How do you qualify? Make sure your Printcast has at least two editions, with one of them published in August or September. Then, send an e-mail to printcasting@printcasting.com with a link to your Printcasting microsite and include "Place My First Ad" in the subject line of your e-mail. Please note that in order to serve as many people as possible, we'll place the ads on a first come, first-served basis and must place a limit of one ad per user.
 
Why are we doing this? We want to show committed publishers how the advertising tools work, and get you to start thinking about how to get local businesses to advertise in your Printcasts. We believe so much in the Printcasting advertising tool's potential that we're using it ourselves to spread the word about it.
 
2. Then, LET US PAY to print your first edition
The whole business premise of Printcasting is that print ads bring in much more money than pure-play online ads -- a fact that is backed up by the rates charged by direct mail campaigns and niche magazines.
 
To charge these kinds of rates on Printcasting, we know that publishers will need to print and distribute copies locally. How to cover those costs? Eventually we believe your advertising will more than cover your printing expenses, and you will make a profit, but it takes some initial investment to get there.
But not to worry -- we're here to help! On September 30, we will pick 20 publishers and cover the printing costs for their first edition, at a limit of up to 200 copies or $200 per edition (whichever comes first). Let us know you'd like to participate by sending an e-mail to printcasting@printcasting.com with a link to your Printcasting microsite, and include "Print My Edition" in the subject line of your e-mail.
 
As with the advertising offer, we'll approach requests on a first-come, first-served basis and must place a limit of one edition per user. Also, because We'll check out your Printcast and make sure it's in print-ready condition (if it's not, don't worry -- we'll give you some ideas for how to get it into shape) and adheres to the Printcasting Terms of Use. Then, on a date of your choosing, we'll send an edition off to Fedex Office Print Online  (formerly Fedex Kinko's). When your edition is ready we'll send you an e-mail so you can pick it up at a Fedex Office location near you. (This is why you have to be in the U.S.)
 
Thanks for letting us be your publishing partner
Thanks again for being an early adopter of Printcasting.com. It's because of your early interest that we're even able to offer to partner with you, the print publisher of the future. And that's how we think of you -- as a partner in this Knight News Challenge experiment.
 
But we're not stopping there. In the next few weeks, we'll follow up with tips on local marketing and distribution based on what works for us, and what we're hearing from publishers. And of course we'll also share success stories that people send our way.
 
Best regards,
Dan & the Printcasting Team