Merchant Ads Fund Cookbooks
Selling ad space to local businesses is a great way to boost your profits or fund your book costs. Simply set your price per ad (most groups double or triple the price of the ad). Ads can also be sold to members of your group as dedication or memorial pages. Ad pages are located behind the index and are in black and white.
Ads are offered in full-page, half-page or quarter-page sizes and pricing can be found in Cookbook Specialists’ Guidebook.
Community Support with Merchant Ads
Reach out to local businesses and ask if they want to purchase an ad in the back of your cookbook. You may also want to expand and reach out to home-based businesses as well.
Let business owners know approximately how many books you are printing to give them an idea of how many people will be seeing their ads. Tell them the ad will appear in this printing of the cookbook only.
Ad templates can be downloaded, found in the sample cookbook or requested. They are a great way to show businesses the sizes available and pricing. A pro tip is that the quarter-page ads are the perfect size of a standard business card. Some businesses have stock ads for the newspaper and those may fit a half or full-page ad better.
Organize Merchant Ads
Have 3 envelopes and sheets to keep track of the merchant ads. Label them clearly as full-page, half-page and quarter-page. When you collect the ad, make sure to add the name of the person, the amount they paid and the name of the ad to the list and place the image in the envelope.
Note – it is helpful to have a list of the ads when you submit your order. Keep in mind our design team will not know that John Smith owns ABC Auto, so use the name that is on the ad when providing us with a list of the ads. (See below for a free download of Merchant Ad Log Sheets)
Make sure ads do not have tape, staples or paper clips that will damage other ads if you are mailing them. If you will be scanning and emailing the ads electronically, then name the file names the name of the business.
Resources
Cookbook Specialists can provide you with emailed sample pages. Just give us a call at 1-800-363-1679, or email at book@cookbookspecialists.com.
Merchant Ad Download Resources
Check out our Merchant Ad information packet filled with tips and resources to talk with your group about Merchant Ads.
Merchant Ad Information Packet
Alternate Merchant Ad Log Sheets