Associate Membership
Keeping your products and services at the forefront of customers plans requires constant, consistent promotion. Associate membership in AFCP provides many promotional options keeping your products and services "top-of-mind."
The free paper industry includes more than 10,000 individual publications with total circulation more than twice that of all paid daily newspapers combined and generating more than $4 billion in revenues. Free papers are delivered by private carrier force, the U.S. Postal Service and by demand distribution at high-traffic areas in communities across the country.
While diverse in their publishing strategies, all free papers need products and services and look to AFCP Associate Members and Trade Show Sponsors for assistance.
Free paper operations are major consumers of:
- Newsprint and ink
- Graphics software and art services
- Editorial syndications and features
- Business software and specialty computer programming
- Classified front-end systems
- Computer hardware, both Apple and PC
- Office supplies
- Circulation supplies and equipment
- Health benefits and business insurance
- Telecommunications and electronics
- Collection services
- Electronic banking and credit card processing
- Trucks, vans, autos and other transportation equipment
Free papers represent a distinct industry that operates outside of paid newspapers. To market your products and services to the free paper industry, you need to use different strategies than marketing to paid papers.
AFCP's mission is to improve the profitability of its members, and that includes its associate members as well as publishing members. As an associate member, your profitability is important to us. AFCP is dedicated to creating opportunities to present your products and and services to the free paper industry.
Consider these opportunities:
The AFCP Conference & Trade Show is the largest and best opportunity to reach decision makers within the free paper industry. More than 500 people regularly attend AFCP's annual conference and most are publishers, general managers and chief operating officers.
Consider these comments from previous Trade Show Sponsors.
- This is the most respectful and relevant event in the free paper industry. Perfect environment for doing business. Makes a positive statement about your organization that instills confidence in prospective clients.
- The AFCP show is always a good one. They are professionals who go out of their way to make things run well.
- Very well organized and many opportunities to get your message out.
- This is the trade show to attend for our industry. Hands down!
By attending AFCP's Annual Conference & Trade Show, you automatically become an AFCP associate member and obtain all of those associate membership benefits.
Specific information about this year's AFCP Conference & Trade Show.
Free Paper INK is THE trade magazine of the free paper industry. Three-fourths of Free Paper Readers do not read Publishers Auxiliary and more than one-third do not read Editor & Publisher.
Free Paper INK is published monthly to non-members and members alike. INK covers free paper meetings across the country, new equipment, products and services available to the industry, economic trends and topics of interest to the industry. It enjoys the widest and highest readership of any publication in the free paper industry.
Check out Free Paper INK by reading it online (click the icon to the right) and review the Free Paper INK website.
Clearly to reach the free paper industry, you should advertise in Free Paper INK.
All associate members receive free website advertising on all of AFCP's websites.
Advertising includes:
- Banner ads that cycle on each page. (120 pixels wide by 240 pixels high in gif, jpg, png or flash file formats.)
- Placement in AFCP's Associate member database allowing publishers to search by category and by name to find you when they are ready to source products and services.
- A web page dedicated to each associate member allowing full contact information, more extensive description of products and services and logo.
All associate members are licensed to use the AFCP logo on marketing materials giving your company immediate recognition.
To assure that you always are included when publishers source products and services, you need to keep you name and logo in front at all times.
Sponsorships constantly remind publishers of your company giving you constant recognition.
Sponsorship opportunites include:
- Functions at the annual conference & trade show.
- Inserts of specialty advertising products in conference attendee bags.
- e-Newsletters under the title "Cheers" are issued on a regular basis from the AFCP headquarters to more than 3,000 free paper professionals. These e-newsletters cover topics of interest to free paper publishers. Sponsorships of e-newsletters are available at minimal cost.
- Podcasts of training materials, current events and topics of interest to free paper publishers are created by AFCP. Each podcast is available to member publishers at no additional charge providing wide distribution within the industry. Sponsorship of podcasts are available at minimal cost.
Contact the AFCP office for more information about sponorship opportunities.