Calling all merchants

Subscriptions are appreciated but I am also asking merchants who don’t place ads in the Navasota Examiner to consider doing so. Before continuing, in the interest of full disclosure, I am a freelance writer for the Examiner and could benefit from additional ads.

What lead me to write this was two things. The first was that in the last few days more than one person asked me why there was no real estate listed in the Examiner classifieds. There used to be. The second is that I am often asked whether I’ve stopped writing about plants for the Backyard Horticulture column. The answer is no. The Examiner has several unpublished articles, and I am continually working on new ones because I enjoy doing it.

Of course, priority is given to covering actual news over human-interest stories. And I knew that somehow the number of pages had something to do with the number of ads, but it wasn’t until recently that I learned more about how this worked. I stopped by the Examiner offices on a Wednesday, the day the paper is published. Ana Cosino, the Publisher and Ad Director, Angela Scurlock, in Sales and Intern Celeste Anguiano had a copy of the newspaper on Ana’s desk. They were preparing to go page by page counting the number of ads on each page. That number gets written at the top of each page. The information is transferred to a form, signed and given to the Post Office. Who knew!

I wanted to follow the process further, so I went to the Navasota Post Office and spoke to Supervisor Peter Casales. He said they receive the forms and verify that the information is correct. The Examiner is able to maintain its second-class postage rate for periodicals by maintaining its ad-to-article balance. So, now you know that the number of pages is not always related to how much there is to write about.

One advantage that advertisers may not be aware of is that the Examiner is often contacted by people who ask where they can find various products and services. Examiner staff pull recommendations from businesses that support the newspaper with their ads. New people coming to the area may use social media, but they are not familiar with the many sites represented by our local businesses. In any city, the newspaper is often the first place that newcomers check.

I have a weakness for unusual earrings. I’ve found really cool ones at garage and estate sales and am always on the lookout in the classifieds. For me, the Buy Local campaign includes supporting those businesses that support the Examiner.

Talk Around Grimes allows Grimes County community residents to submit opinion articles for review to The Examiner but doesn’t guarantee publication. The column represents the thoughts and opinions of the author. Opinion columns are NOT the opinion of the Navasota Examiner.

Deborah Richardson is a freelance reporter for The Examiner with a fondness for flora in its natural setting.