The Rate Card Introduction Basic calculations Frequency discounts Volume discounts Combination discounts Modular rates Contracts Ad agencies Market info Readership and Circ. Promotional messages Co-op information Color charges Electronic ads Deadlines Special sections Column widths Line screens Odd sizes Legal disclaimers Ad acceptance guidelines Billing and Credit The fastest way to increase sales! Participate in this award-winning, newspaper-specific ad sales course on-site or in a Webinar.  • Get past upfront stalls and objections without any pushing  • Make the account believe he really needs you  • Get better information from your prospect  • Develop quick ad strategies that work the very first time  • Eliminate size, frequency, content, cost and most other objections before they ever arise  • Get dramatic responses for all kinds of advertisers  • Never have to push an advertiser to run again click here

As we discussed in the ad layout portion of this program, most ads are measured in column widths across and inches in depth. When a customer asks you "what's your rate?" they're usually asking for the cost of a unit of advertising, that is, what a box one column wide and one inch deep costs. This one column by one inch ad size is usually called a column inch.

The rate card will contain a rate for this one column by one inch space. Larger ad sizes are simply multiples of this rate. The most basic rate is called the open rate. This rate is typically quoted to advertisers that do not qualify for any kind of discount. The pages that follow will discuss discounted rates and how they work, but for now, let's talk about how to calculate an ad size based on the open rate.

Let's imagine that a customer has given you an ad measuring 2 columns wide by 6 inches deep. For shorthand, most U.S. publications would call that a 2x6, with columns coming first and inches second (except in the UK, where it would be considered a 6x2).

First, you'll need to know how many of those little one column by one inch units are in the 2x6. You do this by multiplying the columns and inches together.

So a 2 column by 6 inch ad would be a 12 column-inch ad. Similarly, a 3 column x 5 inch ad would be considered a 15 column-inch ad, a 5x16 would be an 80 column- inch ad, and so on.

Once you know what the total column inches of the ad is, then you simply multiply it by the column-inch rate found in your rate card. So, if the rate is $10 per column inch, then cost of a 2x6, or 12 column-inch ad, would be 12 times $10 or $120.

By the way, a 3 col x 4 inch ad would also equal 12 column-inches and would cost the same as a 2x6. So this is simple enough. Multiply the width in columns by the depth in inches, and then multiply that by the column-inch rate and you've got your total ad cost.

So what makes rate cards so complex and confusing? Understandably, publications like to encourage advertisers to run more than once and so they offer discounts to advertisers that agree to run more frequently. That's why newspapers offer all sorts of discounts off that open rate. And this is where it gets a bit complicated. These discounts typically fall into two categories--frequency and volume--which we'll talk about next.

Next: Frequency discounts