Distribution Policy

The distribution policy is strategically designed to maximize brand success, advertiser satisfaction, and increased readership. By adhering to these proven guidelines, publishers can achieve financial growth and stability within their communities. This streamlined approach simplifies the publisher's role in managing their part of the distribution while maintaining balanced production-to-print ratios.

Requirements:

• A signed franchise agreement must be on file before any distribution changes can be made.
• Each distribution change incurs a $500 fee. 
  • This fee will only be waived one time per year if the publication is at Gold status or higher. 
  • If a publication falls back below Gold status, the publisher must then adhere to the distribution policy for their current tier.
• All changes are within your territory’s current zip codes.

A Change in Distribution is defined as and of the following:

• Adding one or more new routes
• Deleting one or more routes
• Replacing one or more routes

(NOTE: ALL take place w/in current territory zip codes)

• 1x change per year is recommended (fees may apply based on policy by tier)
• A second change may be permitted upon approval (a $500 fee will incur)

Distribution Policy by Tier:

• Just Launched ($16K - $19.9K):
  • No changes in distribution or binding are permitted to establish brand
• Bronze ($20K - $24.9K): 
  • Allotted one annual distribution change for $500.
• Silver ($25K - $29.9K): 
  • Allotted one annual distribution change for $500.
  • Perfect Binding is available when a publication reaches a total page count of 44 pages AND 3-month revenue forecast of 25K is attained.
• Gold ($30K - $39.9K): 
  • Allotted one annual distribution change for $0. 
  • Distribution can increase up to 8,000 residential single family homes with a 3-month revenue forecast of $30K+. 
• Platinum ($40K - $49.9K): 
  • Allotted one annual route change for $0. 
  • Distribution can increase up to 10,000 residential single family homes with a 3-month revenue forecast of $40K+.
  • Note this does not affect the quantities of Pub copies, clients, businesses or additional readers. 
• Diamond ($50K - $60.9K): 
  • Allotted one annual route change for $0. 
  • Distribution can increase up to 12,000 residential single family homes with a 3-month forecast of $50K+.
  • Note this does not affect the quantities of Pub copies, clients, businesses or additional readers. 
• Black ($70K+): 
  • Allotted one annual route change for $0. 

  • Distribution can increase up to 15,000 residential single family homes.

    Note this does not affect the quantities of Pub copies, clients, businesses or additional readers. 

*See chart below for a quick overview of the Distribution Policy by tier.

Tips for Managing Additional Readers:

• Additional readers are NOT included in your residential distribution. They include businesses, clients & the individuals added by you, the publisher.
• Additional readers' entries are self-managed by the publisher through the ARC.
• It is ideal to keep additional readers to a minimum, as this distribution method is not route based and subsequently incurs additional postage costs.
• DO NOT add entire/full subdivisions as additional readers; use annual distribution to make this kind of addition.
• DO NOT add areas outside your territory. Areas outside of your territory will be removed from the distribution list.
• Maintain ROUGHLY 500 clients and businesses, this will help to keep your readership numbers high, as businesses/clients have higher readership calculations than residences.

All clients are automatically added to your additional readers at the time the contract is signed. Please note that if the address information is not complete at the time of signing, the address will not transfer. We encourage you to double check your client addresses on the additional readers list when signing contacts to make sure they are complete. 

Guidde: Distribution Policy Overview