# Small town business idea



## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

In Alton, Missouri, there's a local businessman who publishes a weekly newsletter/flyer. It's only six pages, and it's distributed free in various local businesses, but he makes his money on local advertising.

There is one wide page, folded, that becomes the front and back, and one insert page.

His advertisers include banks, insurance companies, realtors, hair salons, and other local companies. Most of those have an ad that runs every week.

He includes a local events calendar that is updated every week.

The school menus and school events are listed every week.

There's a recipe column, garage sale listings, for sale items, etc.

It's a wonderful publication, and I *always* pick up a copy. We have also run a classified ad in it.

I keep thinking that this would be a wonderful idea for someone with good computer skills and a good high volume printer. Most of the layout (the major ads) are the same each week, so his actual time-on-task can't be that much.

He also has a web site, but it's not as good as the publication.
http://altonadvertiser.com/


----------



## clovis (May 13, 2002)

These can be tremendous revenue streams when you get everything right.

I have toyed with the same idea in the past. I have 15 years in the printing business.

I think the key to success is: good content of stories/news, fair or inexpensive advertising rates, and having a good working knowledge of the software to layout the flyer.

I would think it would be easy to make decent cash doing this type of idea.

Clove


----------



## SFM in KY (May 11, 2002)

On a much narrower scale, I published a newsletter for a couple of years before so much was available via Internet, for horse breeders that covered the newest techniques in breeding/ artificial insemination practices with the various tests available, new products, laboratory facilities.

It was fairly new, especially in the area I was in, very few vets were even really up to date on it outside of some of the big vet college clinics, so it worked quite well and made a fair return on the investment for those 2 or 3 years.


----------

