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& Your Mobile Website

TCNATodayTCNA offers connections—connections to information, trends, training and direct revenue opportunities.

Board of DirectorsThe leadership of TCNA is in good hands. The board of directors, director, and assistant are listed with contact information.

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Graphics Series Ellen Hanrahan, our resident graphics guru, demonstrates how you can organize, use type, and artwork to create great ads.

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Work PositivelyDr. Joey Faucette gives us three keys to being more productive.

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Marketing Seminars For Your CustomersBob Berting , Mr. Community Paper, gives us the step we should take when conducting marketing seminars for our customers.

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USPS UpdateDonna Hanbery of the Saturation Mailers Coalition shows what is going on down at the USPS and how it will change in the remainder of 2015.

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by: Sam Hinton, Assistant Professor in Web Design at University of Canberra

When you search Google on a mobile device, any website that is not mobile-friendly will be harder to find from today.

Depending on the website, this may translate to fewer visitors, an apoca-lyptic scenario that has been dubbed “mobile-geddon.”

Being ranked highly on Google search results is important for most organiza-

tions with websites, especially small businesses. A high Google rank means your website is easier for people to find, as many people don’t read be-yond one or two pages of search re-sults.

In other words, if your site is not in the top 20 search results returned by Google, chances are people won’t be finding your website quickly, if at all.

HOW GOOGLE WORKSWhen you type some words into

SERVING THE COMMUNITY MEDIA OF TEXAS MAY 2015

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Google and click the search button, Google checks an index it has created of the web, and finds all the pages that contain the words you searched for. Once Google has the list of webpages that match your search, it organises them in order of relevance.

The precise method that Google uses to order its search results is a closely guarded secret, and with good reason. If Google’s page ranking method (or algorithm, in computer science terms)

9 Ways to Use Numbers in HeadlinesJohn Foust teaches us that just like the headline above there are lots of ways to use numbers in headlines

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was well known, then people would engineer their web pages to improve their search rank.

Very soon unscrupulous individuals would use this knowledge to promote their web pages, even if they were un-related to the search term you had en-tered. Relevant search results would be buried under a mountain of spam.

Despite the secrecy, web developers have deduced a number of well known things that can be done to improve the search rank of a web page. The art and science of this is called search engine optimization, or SEO for short.

Google’s decision to improve the search ranking of mobile friendly sites reflects the rapid growth in mobile browsing. Around 30% of all web traf-fic now originates on a mobile device rather than a desktop machine, with many sources predicting that mobile internet use will eventually overtake desktop use.

As mobile browsing becomes more common, Google is trying to ensure

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9 Ways To Use Numbers in Headlinesby John Foust, Raleigh, NC

Whether on a printed page, monitor or mobile device, the headline is the most important part of an ad. It tells the reader what the ad is about. With the blink of an eye, he or she decides whether it’s worth the effort to keep reading.

Numbers can help you create com-pelling headlines, as long as they are specific and relevant. Here are a few

examples. Note that these numbers as expressed as digits, not words:

1. “Only 6 townhomes left.” Using a specific number, rather than saying “they’re going fast,” communicates proof of scarcity. As sales increase, the countdown should continue. You can also use this technique to indicate time: “Only 8 days left.”

2. “Save $1,000 on new carpet.” A specific dollar amount is easier to vi-

sualize than “a lot.” It’s worth men-tioning that this headline works better with a verb (“save”) than with a pas-sive phrase like, “$1,000 discount on new carpet.”

3. “Save 25 percent on Merino wool sweaters.” This is a variation of the dollar tactic in the carpet headline. The difference is that a percentage

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that its search engine continues to find sites that are relevant to its users. So this change is essentially about main-taining the quality of Google’s search results.

But because the mobile test is design related rather than content related, it also means that one site can potential-ly be ranked more highly than another even if its content is less relevant.

DESIGNING FOR THE MOBILEA mobile-friendly website is one that is designed to be used on mobile de-vices. Generally speaking, this means larger text, simpler layouts (single col-umn, like a book, rather than multi-column, like a newspaper), and larger buttons and links which are easier for fingers to click.

From a web design perspective, cre-ating websites that work equally well on desktop and mobile devices pres-ents an interesting design challenge. A site that works well on a desktop often does not work well on a mobile de-vice, and vice-versa. This means that designers often have to come up with

more than one design for a web site.

In general, designers attack this prob-lem in one of two ways: either, they create two separate web sites (a mo-bile one, and a desktop one), or they come up with a single “responsive” de-sign that automatically modifies itself based upon the device that is looking at it.

Most web designers are already adopt-ing a mobile-first approach to design, where web sites are designed around mobile use, and then adapted to desk-top, rather than the other way around.

PROBLEMSGoogle’s decision to change its page ranking algorithm raises some impor-tant issues, not the least of which is how reliant some organizations have become on a single company to direct traffic to their websites.

Although Google is not the only search engine (Microsoft’s Bing is its main competitor), it dominates its competi-tors, getting around two in every three searches in the US. By comparison,

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Texas Community Newspaper Association (931) 698-4096 (888) 450-8329 fax 3

PresidentAmber Weems 830-693-7152

PublisherVictory

Publishing

DirectorRandy Eiland806-793-2500

PublisherAmerican

Classifieds/Lubbock

Vice PresidentJonathan McElvy

713-686-8494Publisher

The Leader News

DirectorDennis Skinner 903-794-0996

PublisherAmerican

Classifieds/Texarkana

TreasurerRick Wamre 214-560-4212

PresidentAdvocate

Media

Executive Director

Douglas FryTCNA Office

931-698-4096

SecretaryNicole Morris 361-668-6397

Publisher/EditorReal Hometown

Media

LeadershipNot only is the board of directors made up of some of the sharpest and most dedicated media minds in Texas, they also take time from their very busy sched-ules to make decisions that will help your and your business.

by Bob Berting, Berting Communications

One of the things you can do to posi-tion yourself and your company as the leaders in the advertising/marketing space is to conduct a marketing semi-nar for them. The steps to make such a seminar relevant and worthwhile for you and your customers are straight forward.

First you invite your inactives, regu-lars, and prospects to a morning mar-keting seminar that is sure to please them. The theme could be: “ Creative strategy to give more impact for your advertising budget”. Even though the seminar is an educational semi-nar about understanding a good me-dia mix with top of mind awareness,

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Marketing SeminarsFor Your Customers

there will be plenty of information about your publication to make them far more receptive to your sales approach.

The promotion for the event has to be enthusiastic and well planned

Pick out a great place to meet, get a dynamic seminar leader, and you will have a very special event that your cus-tomers will not forget. Many publish-ers will run a front page article and a head shot and bio of the seminar lead-er at least 6 weeks in advance of the

Administrative Assistant

Vickie BeldenTCNA Office

931-698-4096

ACTUAL DIRECTOR MAY DIFFER FROM

PHOTO

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event, which is followed one week lat-er with a large display ad. The ad can then be converted into a flyer which can be mailed out or hand carried to customers one week later. All poten-tial attendees can also be reached by e-mail as well as the publication website.

The customers can be charged a fee, which could be 49.00 and they will gladly pay it, because it’s a bargain they can’t pass up. You can supply lunch at which time your salespeople can eat with them and discuss the seminar content with them. Perfect timing for the salespeople and their customer to interact.

HANDLING THE LOGISTICS:HANDOUTS:

Imprint file folders with the name of your publication on the file tab. En-close all hand outs with specific infor-mation about your publication, along with the seminar materials. Hand these out before the seminar begins so attendees can scan and get a better pic-ture of the seminar.

Welcome and ground rules: Welcome the attendees and tell them the agenda for the day, how long each segment will be, when to expect a break, etc. Invite questions at any time. Encour-age them to fill out and return the evaluation form.

Tell attendees how to get the most from the seminar:

Get them to think about the goals they want to accomplish from the seminar. They will see themselves focusing on those areas.

NETWORKING:There are many businesses that attend this type of seminar. Urge the custom-ers to meet a new face, learn about a new industry, share ideas about busi-ness and exchange business cards.

Networking is a practical way to build their business.

ASK QUESTIONS:There is no such thing as a bad ques-tion. The seminar leader will stand by during the break and at the conclusion of the seminar to answer questions. The seminar is designed to give the customers an opportunity to ask ques-tions.

SHARE AND APPRECIATE:In many cases, the employer of the at-tendees paid their fee and gave them time to attend. Attendees are urged to go back to their office, share the knowledge gained, and say thanks to their employer.

NOW YOU HAVE THE GUIDELINES…

Seminars continued from page 3 If you have questions about a custom-er seminar, please feel free to contact Bob Berting at bob@bobberting.com or 800-536-5408.

Bob Berting, newspaper marketing con-sultant, has published his new e-book for sales professionals in the newspaper in-dustry entitled “Advanced Selling Skills For The Advertising Sales Pro”. This is a publication for beginning salespeople who can learn advanced selling techniques and experienced salespeople who can sharpen their selling skills. Salespeople can learn more about this publication by using the link www.adsalespro.com and see the table of contents as well as reading the complimentary first chapter. Payment of $19.95 to download the 34 page e-book.

Bob can be contacted at bob@bob-berting.com or 800-536-5408. He is located at 6330 Woburn Drive, India-napolis, In 46250.

BACK TOBASICS!

PLAN NOW TO ATTEND THE COMMUNITY PAPER CONFERENCE THAT WILL IMPROVE THE WAY YOU DO BUSINESS

SEPTEMBER 24 - 26, 2015SAN ANTONIO. TEXAS

HYATT REGENCY RIVERWALK

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I welcome your input and suggestions. A former art teacher, I entered the free paper publishing business in the early 80s. I write for IFPA, Community Papers of Michigan, and am still learning.E-mail: hanrahan.ln@att.net Ellen Hanrahan ©2015

Grads & Dads LAST MONTH WE GAVE A HEADS-UP TO MOM, NOW WE HAVE GRADUATIONS AND FATHER’S DAY COMING UP. EVERY MONTH THERE IS SOME EVENT, HOLIDAY OR PROMOTION COMING UP. SO LET’S KEEP THINKING AHEAD…

…until next month!

A SALUTE TO DADSMost of the information I gave you last month about Moms applies to Dads as well. A lot of artwork can be incorporated into headings to group a series of ads together.

TypeITC Kabel, in various weights and sizes, was used in Ad A. Lower case letters in this type family have a large x-height—so you can use the type smaller and still maintain readability. The type is too simi-lar in size and weight, which means there’s little or no contrast to provide an emphasis or focus. Type choice for Ad B is Apex Sans by Thirstype, also used in various weights and sizes. But, when used correctly, there is more contrast to provide the necessary focal points. Information has been made easier for the readers to find and retain. (For you type fanatics, go to www.thirstype.com to see a number of other typefaces that this independent type foundry carries.)

ArtworkArtwork used in an ad, or any design for that mat-ter, should be a part of the package. It should not look as if it were an afterthought or used to fill a “hole.” You will get a more cohesive design state-ment if the artwork—from photos to line art, is planned as part of the message. Now, having said that, look at the two ads below. What do ya think?In Ad A, the word “grads” to the right tends to lead the eye out of the ad and not bring you to the information below it. There’s nothing wrong in using the art as large as you can and cropping part of the art. The artwork in Ad B may also appeal to the high school student as being less stodgy and may ex press their jubilation a little better in this event.

If April showers bring May flowers… what do Mayflowers bring? Pilgrims! It’s a joke, and has been rattlin’ around in my head, so I hope I am now rid of it. Thanks to you. Anyway, this is actu-ally the time of year when the graduates are com-ing–grade schools, high schools, colleges and tech schools. We have announcements to sell, so let’s promote it. Below are two ads produced for this particular pre-order sale. As usual, two differ-ent looks, but one works much better.. Same space size, same information, but one is ho-hum while the other commands attention. Ad B even looks larger than Ad A. Realize, too, these ads will be surrounded by other ads on the page, which also makes a difference in the ability of the ad and information to stand on its own merit.

OrganizeEven though each area is set off in Ad A, there is no connection. 20% off is a benefit if you pre-order the graduation announcements for these two particular schools. What is the event and what do you get is a more logical sequence of thought. This is the sequence shown in Ad B. The announcement preorder information acts as the headline opener so you know right away what the “sale” is all about. The terms of the sale are maintained in close proximity and are of equal weight and size for equal importance below the dis count percentage.

A. Keeping similar information together is essential. It’s that proximity thing. If you are going to use shadows or drop shadows, make sure they are clean and look as if they are part of the words and not just a blurry “smudge” behind the typeface. Newsprint is not kind to grays.

B. Yeeee-ha! That’s probably the feeling of most grads. Use that to your advantage in conveying an overall feel to the ad. This ad is more dynamic because of the angles. The artwork is part of the overall design and adds to the message. Plan the graphic, don’t just fill up the space.

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Order and reserve your announcements now through April 11th and receive a20% discount. Deposit required.

Napkins, Open House Invitations, Thank Yous, Name Cards and Seals also available.

West Bend Booster834 South Main Street West Bend 262.334.5899

SolutionAs seen in this side-by-side comparison, the message is more noticeable, more focused and more understandable in the B version. It’s not that easy to put together an ad that gets noticed, communicates the right message and organizes the pertinent information. But it’s our job to find the right solution and to stay informed. Try these websites: www.bamagazine.com from John McWade, editor of Before&After magazine and Chuck Green’s www.ideabook.com. They’re not just about techniques, but also the whys and ideas behind design.

Show dad you care!

Father’s Day is Sunday, June 20th

Father’s Day

tGif aIde s

Father’s Day Dining

DAD'SDAD'S

Substitute this art for one in the Mother’s Day Ad from last month… Or use selective cropping to create those headers on the page.

Big or small, you can use them all! Better stop now, I’m beginning to sound like Dr. Seuss.

Dads Or just take a word and combine it with the appropriate artwork!

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Work Positive3 KEYS TO INCREASE

YOUR PRODUCTIVITYBeing productive is a challenge for most of us in busi-ness today. Perse-vering and achiev-ing your business

dreams in the midst of a negative world is increasingly difficult. The uncontrollable negatives from riots to earthquakes to a tenuous economy as-sault us daily.

How do you focus your attention and achieve your business dreams in this doom-and-gloom environment?

Think of your attention as a finite re-source like time. Become selective about to whom and what you give your attention.

Follow these 3 Keys to Increase Your Productivity today:

GIVE ATTENTION TO POSITIVE THOUGHTS

When you receive negative news, ac-knowledge your emotional reaction. Disappointment, anger, frustration,

and other emotions must be processed to avoid blocking your emotional in-telligence development.

However, do so quickly. Give yourself a little time to experience those emo-tions. Then flush them. Yes, multiple flushes are required sometimes. Sure, some emotions circle the bowl more than once.

FLUSH. MOVE ON. NOW.As you flush quickly, you create room in your mind for what you can do to redirect the negative news. You focus on what you can control and influ-ence, refusing to rent space in your head to what is beyond your reach.

Give attention to positive thoughts that are actionable.

GIVE ATTENTION TO POSITIVE PEOPLE

When you receive negative news, there typically is a messenger. If it’s technology-driven, cut it off. If it’s hu-man, thank them and excuse yourself.

There are negative persons who en-joy delivering bad news. If there’s too much good news, they create negativ-ity.

I call them Eeyore Vampires.

Their mantra is “It’ll never work.” They suck positive attention from you even when away from work trying to love what you do with those you love.

Treat Eeyore Vampires like they have a contagious disease and you’ll catch it.

Give your attention to positive people. Those persons who bring out the best in you, who have your best interests at heart, and who ask questions like, “How may I best serve you?”

GIVE ATTENTION TO POSITIVE OUTCOMES

Each of us experiences outcomes that fall short of our expectations regardless of how hard we work or how much we prepare. When your negative news is of this kind, remind yourself of a pre-vious experience when you exceeded your expectations and succeeded.

Celebrate that experience once more. Give attention to sustaining that cel-ebrative attitude. Tell yourself, “If I did it once, I’ll do it again.”

Most likely, that positive experience was the accumulation of previous learning experiences of “bad news” like the current one. Reliving that suc-cess guides you to the next.

Give attention to positive thoughts, people, and outcomes, increase your productivity, and achieve your busi-ness dreams today.

Dr. Joey Faucette is the #1 best-selling author of Work Positive in a Negative World (En-trepreneur Press), Positive Success coach, & speaker who helps business professionals in-crease sales with greater productivity so they get out of the office earlier to do what they love with those they love. Discover more at www.GetPositive.Today.

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indicates proportion. Of course, the body copy should indicate the dollar amounts of the 25 percent.

4. “According to XYZ Survey, we rank number 1 in parts availability.” If this kind of headline isn’t supported by evidence, it won’t have an ounce of credibility.

I remember a car dealer who ran ads claiming to be “number one.” Not sur-prisingly, other dealers countered with claims that they were number one. The problem was that it was a blanket statement, with no facts to back it up.

5. “4 out of 5 dentists recom-mend…” This line was made famous by a brand of sugar-free chewing gum. Before you use this kind of testimonial evidence, make sure you are quoting a legitimate survey.

6. “1,500 widgets sold so far this year.” Years ago, this tactic was used

by McDonald’s. Right there on the golden arches sign was the message “Over 240 billion sold.” It was a big joke to say you were so hungry that you were going to make the number change.

Other examples of quantity-headlines include, “We’ve sold 26 homes in the past 3 months;” “Last year, we helped 3,425 students pass their college en-trance exams;” and “Since we opened our doors, we’ve paved over 1,000 miles of driveways.”

7. “5 ways to cut your electric bill.” This headline promises important in-formation about a specific problem. It would certainly get the attention of anyone wanting to reduce energy costs.

8. “In your area, there is a house break-in every 32 minutes.” Here’s an example of a headline that creates a sense of urgency. Again, make sure the

advertiser – in this case a home secu-rity company – uses verifiable figures.

9. “28 years of dry cleaning expe-rience.” This headline equates years with expertise. Another way to sell experience is to add the number of working years of the people who work there: “Our staff has 191 years of ex-perience.”

(c) Copyright 2015 by John Foust. All rights reserved.

John Foust has conducted training programs for thousands of newspaper advertising professionals. Many ad de-partments are using his training videos to save time and get quick results from in-house training. E-mail for informa-tion: john@johnfoust.com

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Bing gets only one in six searches.

Organizations with older websites, or those which have not been designed to be mobile friendly, may find that making their web sites mobile friendly is not a trivial undertaking. For many, this will mean making a decision be-tween spending money on upgrading the web site, or suffering a lower page rank on Google.

Google has provided an on-line tool that can be used by web site owners to

check whether web pages are mobile-friendly. It has also provided informa-tion for web developers on updating their websites.

But organizations should consider the impact of the changes on their web site before rushing to update, as not all websites will be equally affected. The biggest impact will be on organizations who rely on people discovering their site through Google search and whose customers are more likely to use mo-

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bile devices to find their websites.

Although predictions range from the benign to the calamitous, it’s not clear how much of an impact Google’s new algorithm will have. Organizations that are concerned about these chang-es should monitor their web traffic closely over the next week to ensure that they are not seeing a significant reduction in web traffic.

If the number of visits on a site start to fall, it may signal that the site is suc-cumbing to the mobile-geddon, and it’s probably time to think seriously about an upgrade.

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USPS UpdateBy Donna Hanbery, Executive Director, Saturation Mailers Coalition

Although this article correctly de-scribes the law and the process – the USPS filed revised rates with the PRC on April 16, 2015 and announced that it intended – if the rates were ap-proved – to 1) implement the cpi rate adjustments on May 31, 2015 and 2) to go ahead with its promotion calen-dar as planned and filed.

POSTAL PRAYERS AND PREDICTIONS: WHAT’S GOING

ON WITH 2015 RATES?Do you believe in miracles? Is your mailed paper suffering from the chal-lenges of fixed costs, declining adver-tising base, and the press of competi-tion? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then this is the year when your prayers could be answered.

2015 “could” be the year when the only change in postal prices could be a rate decrease. For those of you who do not follow all-things postal on a daily basis, the filings and announce-ments of the Postal Service, the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) and other “experts” on postal rates and proceedings, has been confusing – at best. This column is an effort to ex-plore and explain where we are, at the moment, with postal rates and pro-ceedings. It also shares a cautious pre-diction (and fervent prayer) that this year could produce only one change in postal prices – a decrease!

A REVIEW OF THE LAWS AND PROCEDURES

Under current postal laws, the Postal Service is permitted to raise its prices as frequently as once a year to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). These annual price adjustments

are limited, by law, to CPI changes de-termined on a “class” basis. The over-all increase across each class, must not exceed the CPI price cap. That means the overall price increase, or other rate adjustments, for a specific class of mail, like First Class or Standard Mail, cannot exceed the CPI when comput-ed across the class.

The price filing the Postal Service is re-quired to do with the PRC must “show the math” to justify that each rate pro-posed covers the attributable costs for each product. Work-share discounts must also be justified to show that the amount of the discount is not, except in limited circumstances, greater than the costs saved or reduced by the mail-er’s work-sharing. If the Postal Service wants to change rules or regulations in a way that would impact the costs of mailers (such as adding additional preparation requirements) these rules and regulations changes must also be included and justified as part of the postal rate filing.

Although all products are expected to have prices that cover their attribut-able costs, there are some categories or classes of mail - like periodicals - where the Postal Service has con-sistently been unable to reduce costs enough that the postal rates charged cover the costs of mailing. Because the periodical class is a small class in terms of overall volume, there has been little the Postal Service can do to improve the cost coverage of this class. The 2006 Postal Reform Law (PAEA – the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act) prohibits the Postal Service from raising rates on a class ba-sis above the CPI rate cap. This may be one of the reasons that free papers seeking to convert from ECR satura-

tion mail to requester or periodical status have encountered significant re-sistance and difficulty from the Postal Service in obtaining approval to begin to mail papers as requester publica-tions at periodical rates.

Prior to 2014, the Postal Service gen-erally filed its CPI annual increase in October with price adjustments to take place in January of the following year.

PAEA does include an exception for circumstances when rates can be filed that are greater than the CPI rate cap. This exception, known as the “exi-gency” exception, allows the Postal Service to seek higher than CPI rates to recoup losses “due to” extraordinary or “exigent” circumstances. Since the law was passed, the Postal Service has made two attempts to raise rates on an exigent basis. The first exigency case was not successful for the USPS, but set some precedent showing the proof the Postal Service needed to show to raise rates on an exigency basis.

In 2013, the USPS filed its second exi-gency rate increase seeking to recoup losses it suffered “due to” the great re-cession. The Postal Service did a dual filing with both a CPI rate increase and a 4.3% “exigency” increase that it hoped to charge forever going forward if approved by the PRC.

On December 24, 2013, the PRC ap-proved the Postal Service’s request for an exigent increase, but ruled that the 4.3% exigency increase should be a limited “surcharge” that would only be in place long enough for the USPS to recoup the revenues the PRC found it lost “due to” the great recession. The PRC held that the USPS was entitled to recoup approximately $3.2B in revenue lost due to the recession and

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ordered the USPS to file periodic fi-nancial reports to show the PRC, and the mailing public, how much it had recouped in revenue and contribution from the exigency surcharge.

The Postal Service was disappointed in the decision and appealed to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia with a request to make the exigency surcharge “permanent.” The mailing industry also appealed. The Court of Appeals took the case up on an expedited briefing and oral argu-ment was scheduled. Oral arguments took place in September 2014. The Postal Service, and the industry, have been waiting for a ruling from the DC Court of Appeals since that date.

The length of time to receive a ruling has been a surprise to everyone in the postal community. Last year, SMC and other organizations made presenta-tions to the USPS urging it to postpone its “normal” CPI fall filing and to com-bine any “normal” CPI increase with the 2015 exigent increase roll-back or-dered by the PRC.

THE 2015 RATE FILINGThe fall months came and went with-out a CPI filing. But the Postal Service was telling mailers that it would pre-pare and file a CPI increase in January 2015. The Postal Service was doing this for several reasons. First and fore-most, the Postal Service wanted the money. In January 2015, the USPS filed a 1.966% CPI increase that it planned to implement on April 26, 2015. In press releases accompanying the filing, the USPS predicted that this additional increase would produce approximately $1B in additional rev-enue for the USPS. The filing was also necessary to allow the Postal Service to propose and implement changes in mail preparation and regulations that would apply to different mail prod-ucts. For example, mailers of standard flats and periodicals were facing signif-

icant changes and new rate categories for FSS (Flat Sorter Sequencing) mail. The rate filing is also something the Postal Service must do to justify, ex-plain, and obtain approval of its annu-al calendar and program of incentives.

The 2015 filing included a schedule of proposed rates for the CPI increase. It also included a separate schedule of the rates to be reduced some time later in the year, if the December 24, 2013 PRC order limiting the 4.3% surcharge was upheld.

If everything had gone “as planned” for the Postal Service, it would have adjusted prices on April 26, 2015. De-pending upon what the Court of Ap-peals decides, the USPS would have its rates in place to roll back prices if the PRC order was upheld. (Of course, if the USPS won its appeal, the new pric-es with the CPI increase would stay in place until the next CPI adjustment. If the USPS achieves a “partial win” on the appeal, it might be able to keep the 4.3% in place longer.)

TWO STALLED CASESAs of the writing of this column, the Court of Appeals has not yet decided the exigency case. Some postal ex-perts believe that the length of time the Court of Appeals is taking makes it more likely than not that the court will affirm the PRC order. (It is still a waiting game.)

The Postal Service’s 2015 CPI increase proposal did not go quite as the USPS had announced. The PRC did approve the USPS filing for first class rates and special services. But the PRC found that the Postal Service had not com-plied with the law, in terms of the math, calculations and explanations needed to justify all rates, and remand-ed portions of the case that related to standard, periodical and parcel classes of mail. The first remand done by the PRC gave the USPS enough time to “fix the math” and still proceed with

its April 26, 2015 implementation. The USPS filed a new set of rates and work papers, but this filing also fell short. The PRC sent the case back to the USPS, once again, for further cor-rections.

By the date of the second remand, it was too late for the USPS to correct its filing in time for an April 26, 2015 implementation. By statute, and PRC ruling and interpretation, the USPS must file “correct prices” at least 45 days between the date of filing and its proposed rate implementation date.

As all this was going on, the USPS was also required by PRC exigency deci-sion order to file a financial report to show how it was doing in terms of revenues received from the 4.3% exi-gency surcharge. The USPS missed a required deadline and the PRC took the USPS to task. When the USPS did file the required report (in late March), for the quarter ending December 31, 2014, the USPS showed it had re-ceived cumulative surcharge revenues of almost $2B. At this pace of revenue recoupment, it appeared the Postal Service was on track to have recouped all of the revenue it is entitled to re-ceive from the exigency surcharge, un-der the December 24, 2013 PRC order, as soon as July or August 2015.

Mailers were all wondering “what will the Postal Service say or do next?” Will the Postal Service go ahead with the increases approved for first class rates and special services? Mail service providers and software designers were quick to point out the headaches this would cause for the USPS and the in-dustry. On March 27, 2015, the USPS announced that it would delay the implementation of its 2015 price filing to a later date when all price changes could take place at the same time.

TODAY’S HOPES AND PRAYERSThat brings us up to date with this column and the prayers and predic-

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tions for the industry. As of mid-April 2015, the USPS has not yet responded to the latest PRC order regarding the deficiencies noted in its CPI filing for standard, periodical, and parcel rates. The Postal Forum, the annual cus-tomer service and outreach event con-ducted by the USPS, will take place in mid-May 2015. This will be the first forum for the new Postmaster General, Megan Brennan. The lack of a correct-ed filing suggests that the USPS does not want to implement a price change and increase in the middle of the an-nual USPS postal party.

So that could bring us to the end of May 2015. If the Court of Appeals ap-proves the PRC order on the exigent case, the timing for the rollback of the exigency surcharge could be as soon as July 2015.

Here is the $64 question that could answer the prayers of mailers and publishers: Does the USPS really want to implement two rate changes in a pe-riod as short as three months or less?

Mailers have been urging the USPS to recognize that price and rule changes are disruptive to mailers and the mar-ketplace. Predictability in rates and service are key for mailers needing to communicate with customers and keep customers happy.

Speaking on behalf of SMC’s members and free paper publishers that mail, SMC works with other mail associa-tions through the Mailers Technical Advisory Committee (MTAC). In the May 2015 State of the Industry Report, SMC and others presented this mes-sage to the USPS about 2015 prices.

2015 PRICE FILINGThe USPS could boost mailer confi-dence, and increase sales and use of promotions, by announcing an inten-tion to implement one price adjust-ment in 2015….

The USPS should be encouraged to file

corrected prices with the PRC that in-cludes the CPI and the post rollback prices and announce it will implement the incentives as soon as approval is obtained, but will seeks to postpone any other price adjustment in favor of one - midyear price change.

The USPS has a new PMG. Changes are also in play with the departure

of the USPS Chief Marketing Officer. Let us hope that Postal Service man-agement is listening to the pleas and prayers of its customers about 2015 rates and prices. For all of you fac-ing the challenges of the marketplace, here’s hoping that 2015 could be an answer to your prayers; a year when the only postal rate change is a de-crease!

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