A couple of the most frequently cited causes of apprehension to engage in a home based business are fear and self-doubt. These two things handicap our ability to formulate a plan of action. Alternatively, we allow the negative voices in our head to convince us that success is unlikely, therefore we fail to even try. Hence, to become a successful home based business owner, we must minimize the effects of fear and self-doubt.The truth is that both self-doubt and fear are quite natural. They are so natural that many people who are fearful, and doubt their abilities, do not allow these feeling and thoughts to keep them from moving forward. By moving forward, they are able to show themselves that their feelings of fear and self-doubt were unfounded, and that they are actually extremely capable of being successful. On the other end of the spectrum, those who do not take action remain motionless in their lives, and only gain confidence in areas in which they are compelled to take action, such as work. However, even in a work environment, these individuals are still overcome by fear when it comes to advancing their careers, developing new skills, or creating new associations.There is an opportunity cost to allowing the fear of failure and self-doubt to navigate which path you take. When people give up before even trying, their predictions of failure will become true because the actions, or lack thereof, which they decide to take will cause their predictions to come true. Such a tautology will lead anyone to will lead any capable individual to forgo home based business opportunities which they would have been ideal.Feelings of fear and self-doubt come from different sources, and in different forms. Whatever the form or source may be, we can learn how to meet them head on, and counteract them. I have compiled a list of then things which anyone can do to eliminate fear and self-doubt, and bring huge home based business success.1. Write out a list of each of your fears. Acknowledgment will allow for confrontation.2. How do your fears and self-doubt impact your life negatively? Get a pen and paper and write these down.3. Wait for those negative voices to come inside your head, and expose them as artificial4. Build a support network of individuals who experience your same fears and self-doubt.5. Join a support group of people who have similar issues.6. When an negative thought or message comes your way, counteract it with a positive thought or message, and act as a positive person would.7. Consult readings and videos which compel you to take action.8. Recognize your past, and leave it there.9. Make a list of your goal, plus what you need to do to make them come to life.10. Whatever you determined you need to do to make your goals come to fruition must be done on a daily basis. Doing this will cause your fears and self-doubt to diminish day by day.What you need to recognize is everyone who either has owned, or currently owned a home based business had to deal with fear and self-doubt at one time or another. This even hold true for the so-called online business experts. The only thing separating them from yourself is the fact that they did not allow fear and self-doubt to deter them.

When you hire a property management company to serve as the liaison between yourself and your tenants, you want to be sure you’re getting the best possible property management services for the money. The services a property management company provides can range from ala carte to an all-in-one inclusive package. Along with that comes an array of fees for each. There is no set in stone fee structure we can provide you. But we can educate you on what common fees to expect and what each is commonly for. In the end it will be up to you to compare company fee structures and choose the best one that fits within your budget. Below are some of the most common fees and what service they provide.Commission This is an ongoing monthly fee charged to the owner to compensate the property manager for the responsibilities of overseeing the management of their property. This fee can vary from as little as 3% to over 15% of the monthly gross rent. In place of a percentage some managers may charge a flat monthly amount which again can vary from $50 to over $200 per month. All property management companies generally charge this fee.Lease-Up or Setup FeeThis fee is charged to the owner to compensate the property manager for their initial time invested and resources used in setting up an owners account; showing property and/or other activities resulting in tenant placement. I guess you could look at it as a “finders fee” for placing a tenant in your property. Once a tenant has been placed and first rent income comes in, the property manager will deduct this fee from the rent proceeds. Some property managers have been known to require this fee upfront prior to tenant procurement. Usually this fee is non-refundable once the property manager has started the process of tenant procurement or any legwork has been initiated with the property. This fee can vary from none to as much as the first months rent, and usually is a one-time fee per tenant.Lease Renewal FeeThis fee is charged to the owner when a property manager renews a current tenants lease and covers the costs of initiating paperwork or communication involved in implementing the new lease document. A property manager may also justify this fee if they perform a year end inspection of property. This fee can vary from none to $200 or higher, and may be charged every time a lease renewal is implemented.Advertising CostsDepending upon the property management company’s contract, either they will pay the advertising costs or the owner or they could split the costs. If the manager is willing to cover this cost, most likely they will charge the lease-up or setup fee as outline above. If the management company covers this cost make sure to find out what type advertising or marketing of your property is included. If it’s placing your listing on their own web site and other free online classified sites you may not be getting your monies worth. They are many good rental or tenant resource online web sites that bring in qualified tenants for a reasonable fee and you will want to consider these. And don’t forget about print media, yard signs, listing on the MLS or even an open house. Nothing is worst than having your property vacant, bringing in no money only because you or your property manager skimped on advertising.Maintenance Mark-up ChargesThis is one of those costs you may never really of known about or had it disclosed to you. A “Mark-up” is a charge over and beyond the final bill on maintenance and/or repair work done to your property initiated by your property management company when using their vendors or in-house maintenance staff. This should be disclosed in your Manager/Owner contract which usually will state the markup as a percentage above the final invoice from vendor. For example, your manager had to call a plumber to replace the dishwasher in your rental property. Total charges for completing the job: $400. If your property manager contract states you will incur a 10% markup on all maintenance work the actual cost to you will be $440. Just one of those things to be aware of as these all eat into your profits.Early Cancellation FeeThe dreaded “3 months and no tenant”. Your property manager insist he or she’s doing everything they can to find you a tenant. But here it is 3 months and still no tenant; what do you do. Well, look at your Manager/Owner contract and that might be your deciding factor. I am not a fan of this fee, and believe it to be an unnecessary fee and for you manager out there this could be the deal breaker. I’ll tell you why; if a property manager is doing their due diligence and keeping the owners in the loop as far as decision making, market conditions and communication lines open an owner will not be second guessing his property managers abilities. The odds of this scenario happening is unlikely but you must be prepared for it. A cancellation fee can range from none to over $500. To be fair, some managers legitimately deserve this fee especially if they have pocketed advertising costs, incurred lots of legwork and time invested in your property.”You’ve Got To Be Kidding Me” Fees – These are ones I have personally had the pleasure of running into.

Your property is vacant, but we still will charge our monthly commission or a small flat fee.
“A For-Rent Yard Sign Fee”. I believe this was $25/mo.
“Preventive Maintenance Fee”. This was to cover the “just in case” and changing out A/C filters. If “just in case” never happens they still pocket the money. I believe this was $20/mo and I still was charged for filters.In Summary Read your Manager/Owner contract, understand what you are signing, ask lots of questions and know what the fees will buy you in services. A good real estate lawyer can help in negotiating the terms in a contract that suit both parties. These contracts are not set in stone. If your property manager will not negotiate, there are other property management companies that are eager to earn your business.

Hiring a good property manager could mean the difference between the success and failure of your property. You need to make sure that they are capable of handling every aspect without fail. When choosing your property manager, you need to make sure that they have the experience and expertise to handle your vacancy rates, tenants and payments.

Tip1- Experience

Choosing someone with experience is vital. This doesn’t just mean someone with years in the property trade. You need someone who is experienced in your local area. A local property manager will not only guide you on your property, but they will also be able to give you the crucial local knowledge you need to excel. Local experience can go a long way with a property, from determining rental rates to personally knowing the tenants.

Tip 2- Dedication

The property manager you hire needs to be fully dedicated to your property. You can find this out by looking into their customer reviews. This is the best way to find out about how efficiently they perform their services. You need someone who is consistent in their duty- as well as being experienced.

Tip 3- Resources

When you hire a property expert, you don’t just hire their services. You also hire someone who has access to a world of resources which otherwise would be unavailable. By making sure that your property expert has the tools you need to progress, you can be certain to succeed. This can include tenant screening services, rental collection, and portals between both yourself and the tenant. Sole property managers generally do not have access to these resources, so it is better to go with someone who is part of a reputable firm.

Tip 4- Professionalism

Your property expert is the face of your investment. You do not want to hire someone who does not look the part. Appearance can say a lot about a person, and someone who wears a suit and tie will say a lot to your tenants. If you want a phenomenal property manager, then you need someone who believes they can make a difference. You want them to carry out their duties without question, performing the necessary steps to give your property the best chance of securing quality tenants.

Calculating and comparing newspaper advertising costs can quickly get complicated. Once you’ve tracked down a newspaper advertising rates card, you’re then faced with the delightful challenge of making sense of it all. There’s no “one size fits all” to make our lives easy. Instead, newspaper advertising costs depend on a number of factors, some of which you might find surprising. To answer the question, “How much does it cost?”, the answer would be: “It all depends.”

8 factors that affect newspaper advertising costs (within the one publication) are:

type of ad
size
day of the week
section or lift-out
page position within a section
left hand side VS right hand side
colour VS black and white
annual spend/expenditure commitment
In this article, I’ll discuss the 8 factors that determine newspaper advertising costs in Australia. I’ll also provide an example of how much it would cost to place a display ad in The Courier Mail (a Queensland newspaper). As you’ll see, newspaper advertising costs can quickly add up. If you’re on a tight budget, as many of us are these days, knowing what most affects the cost, allows you to cut back where you can.

#1 Type of Ad – Display VS Classifieds VS Inserts

The first factor that decides the cost of a newspaper advertisement, is the type of ad. Most Australian newspapers offer a number of different types. Display advertisements appear throughout a newspaper, and may use colours, illustrations, photographs, or fancy lettering to attract the reader’s attention. These provide a great deal of creative control over the content of the ad, without being limited to just text. They also aren’t grouped according to classification, unlike classified ads. Display advertisements are typically charged at a rate per single column centimetre. In other words, the height in centimetres and width in columns determines the cost of the advertising space. On the other hand, classified ads are typically charged based on ‘lineage’ or per line.

Another form of advertising offered by most major newspapers are ‘inserts’ – separate advertisements that are placed inside the newspaper, and can have more than one page. Inserts are usually charged at a rate of per 1000 per number of pages. For the purposes of this article, we’re going to limit our discussion to display advertisements.

#2 Size Matters

The second factor that contributes to the cost of newspaper advertising, is size. As mentioned above, display advertisements costs are calculated based on their height in centimetres, and width in columns. Most newspapers have their own standard sized advertising spaces, which your ad needs to fit into. Some newspapers offer non-standard sized spaces, such as a ‘U’ shaped ad around the edges of an open paper, but be prepared to pay a higher price for irregular sizes and shapes.

Let’s look at the standard sizes available in The Courier Mail, as an example.

“Small Page Strip”, 6cm high by 7 columns wide, the minimum casual cost per day (based on a Mon-Fri Casual rate of $AU58.51) is $AU2457.42.
“Medium Page Strip”, 8cm high by 7 columns wide, the minimum casual cost per day is $AU3276.56.
“Quarter Page Strip”, 10cm high by 7 columns wide, the minimum casual cost per day is $AU4095.70.
“Horizontal Half Page”, 20cm high by 7 columns wide, the minimum casual cost per day is $AU8191.40.
“Full Page”, 38 cm high by 7 columns wide, the minimum casual cost per day is $AU15563.66.
“Vertical Half Page”, 38cm high by 4 columns wide, the minimum casual cost per day is $AU8893.52.
“Vertical Third Page”, 38cm high by 3 columns wide, the minimum casual cost per day is $AU6670.14.
“Vertical Quarter Page”, 38cm high by 2 columns wide, the minimum casual cost per day is $AU4446.76.
“Portrait Half Page”, 28cm high by 5 columns wide, the minimum casual cost per day is $AU8191.40.
“Portrait Third Page”, 20cm high by 4 columns wide, the minimum casual cost per day is $AU4680.80.
“Portrait Quarter Page”, 20cm high by 3 columns wide, the minimum casual cost per day is $AU3510.60.
Here you can see that the cost of a standard size display ad can range from at least $2457.42 per day for a small page strip, and up to at least $15563.66 per day for a full page advertisement. That’s an awful lot of money to invest in a single page, that will only be published on one day. Most of us simply don’t have that kind of cash to throw around, so you’d really need to know what you were doing. This example demonstrates how much the size of a display advertisement affects the price.

#3 Day of the Week

The third factor that contributes to the cost of a newspaper advertisement is the day of the week on which the advertisement is published. Typically, newspaper circulation is greatest on the weekends, and so the advertising rates for major Australian newspapers are adjusted accordingly. In our example of The Courier Mail, the rates are cheaper on a weekday, more expensive on a Saturday, and most expensive on a Sunday. For the most basic display ads, Saturday ads are 25% dearer than Monday – Friday ads, and Sunday ads are almost 90% dearer than Monday – Friday ads.

This pattern may vary though, depending on the circulation of a particular publication. For instance, The Age is most expensive on a Saturday. To illustrate how much of a difference it makes – a small page strip ad in The Courier Mail on a weekday would be at least $2457.42, and the exact same ad run on a Sunday would be at least $4637.64.

#4 Different Sections or Lift-Outs

Most newspapers are divided into different sections and many have lift-outs – and this is the fourth factor that determines newspaper advertising costs. Different sections attract different readers and different volumes of readers, and so the advertising rates are adjusted to reflect this. For example, an advertisement placed in the CareerOne (Employment) lift-out in The Courier Mail, costs 2% more than the general section. The rates for CareerOne, also vary depending on the day of the week, as mentioned above. Some examples of other sections that may have different rates include: Adult Services, Funeral Notices, Real Estate, and Business.

#5 Page Position Within a Section

The next factor that can significantly affect the price of a newspaper ad, is the page number on which the ad appears, within a certain section. The most expensive part of the paper is typically the front section, which might include the first 10 or so pages, and is referred to as the “early general news” or EGN for short. In our example of The Courier Mail, page 2 in the EGN section attracts a 60% loading. Similarly, the first 11 pages have at least a 50% markup. This type of loading is common practice across Australian news publications. Now let’s say we wanted to place a small page strip ad in The Courier Mail on a weekday, on page 3 in EGN, the cost would be at least $4054.74.

The first few pages and back pages of other key sections of the paper, such as Business, also attract a higher loading. For The Courier Mail, the very back page attracts a 65% markup. You can see how the page position of an advertisement can have a substantial influence on the price.

#6 Left Hand Side VS Right Hand Side

The next factor is also related to position of the ad, but relates to which side of an open newspaper the ad appears in. You might be surprised to know that, in some publications, an ad that appears on the right hand side of an open paper, will cost more than one that appears on the left hand side. This is to do with the way readers actually read a newspaper, and where their attention is focused. This factor may also be tied to the page position of an ad, and which section it appears in. For example, in The Courier Mail, for ads on pages 12 to 21, a right-hand side ad costs 5% more than a left-hand side ad.

#7 Colour VS Black and White

Another factor that substantially affects the price of a newspaper advertisement, is whether the ad features colour, and how many colours. Colour ads are more expensive than monochrome or black and white ads. Some newspapers may distinguish between multi-colour advertisements and those that only feature one added colour (called “spot colour”). For example, The Courier Mail charges 30% more for multi-colour display ads, and 20% more for ‘spot’ colour display ads. Remember, that this is combined with any positional loading.

So let’s say we wanted our small page strip ad in full colour in The Courier Mail on a weekday, on page 3, that would be calculated as: $2457.42 + 30% colour loading = $3194.65 + 65% positional loading for page 3 = $5271.17

You can see here how the cost of our ad has more than doubled after we’ve factored in the colour, and position of the ad.

#8 Annual Spend/Expenditure Commitment

Now here’s a factor that also affects the price of your newspaper ad, but this time it’s a decrease, with a catch, of course. If you have the budget, and are prepared to commit to spending a certain amount annually, usually by entering into a 12 month contract, then you may be entitled to a discount. However, the discount depends on how much you’re prepared to spend. For example, to qualify for a 4% discount on The Courier Mail’s advertising rates, you need to spend at least $38500 per year. If you’re a small business owner, chances are you’re not working with this kind of budget, so bye-bye discount.

Just in case you’re curious, businesses that annually spend at least $2.3 million with the Courier Mail, receive a 13% discount. In my opinion, this form of discounting simply highlights how biased mainstream advertising is towards big business. Where’s the discount for all the struggling small businesses? But that’s another story.

Summary:

To sum up, those 8 factors again, and how they’ll affect the cost of your ad:

type of ad – display VS classifieds VS inserts – rates based on different measurement units
size – pay more for bigger ads
day of the week – weekends are more expensive
section or lift-out – early general news (EGN) is more expensive
page position within a section – front pages and back pages cost more
left hand side VS right hand side – RHS is dearer
colour VS black and white – pay more for full colour
annual spend/expenditure commitment – get a discount if you spend up big
Now that you know what affects the price of a newspaper advertisement, you’re better prepared to decide where and how you want to spend your advertising dollar. If newspaper advertising seems beyond your budget, then it might be worth considering more cost-effective alternatives, such as online advertising.