About the Whidbey Marketplace and Community Journal

Business Description
The Whidbey Marketplace and Community Journal is an every other weekly, submission-based, advertiser supported publication featuring local events, business news, feature articles, free classifieds, and general island interest stories distributed by saturation postal mailing to all rural routes, post office boxes (excluding Oak Harbor) and select city routes on Whidbey Island.

Market Analysis
Whidbey Island is a unique market. Contained by ferry commutes and stretches of rural expanse, the local population prefers to shop the local markets. However, with that rural expanse comes the difficulties local businesses have reaching those markets. How do you advertise your product or service when the local media covers the next town over and even then, only a third of that market? A less traditional form of advertisement has fulfilled these needs. The Whidbey Marketplace and Community Journal is well on its way to becoming the first and only publication of its kind to reach the entire Whidbey Island community. With support in every new market since 1998, expectations of that circulation are not unfounded, and currently better than 65% of the Whidbey Island community receives the Whidbey Marketplace and Community Journal, every other week, in their mailboxes, dominating the circulation and saturation of Whidbey Island. Paid subscriptions are available to off-island residents and free subscriptions are available to any island resident not covered under current circulation.

Advertiser Demand in the Market
Through analysis of steadfast growth over the lifetime of the Whidbey Marketplace and Community Journal (founded in 1998), the demand for its service is self-evident. Averaging a 30% per year increase in advertiser base since 1998 and currently a healthy market share, proves the need for a non-traditional advertising publication for Whidbey Island. A more effective advertising medium than comparable competitors in the Whidbey Island market, the advertiser benefits from: a submission-based editorial, reflecting directly market beliefs and ideals; an incomparable price-per-recipeint rate structure; and circulation and saturation dominance. The Whidbey Marketplace and Community Journal is simply the best place to advertise your product, service or philosophy in the Whidbey Island area. And local businesses and organizations know that.

Distribution
The Whidbey Marketplace and Community Journal is distributed by U.S. Postal mail to all rural routes, post office boxes (excluding Oak Harbor) and select city routes on Whidbey Island. Circulation has increased every year, as advertising sales increase to support the additional cost, with an end goal of reaching the entire Whidbey Island population.

Printing
The Whidbey Marketplace and Community Journal is printed on a cold set web press by Snohomish Publishing, Inc. in a single section, tab format, using process colors on position 1, and on occasion position 2, and black on all other positions. This press has a high line screen and low dot gain, resulting in crisp and smooth reproductions, with higher quality than past vendors and competing publications. This has been the third print vendor (Sound Publishing, Inc., Nickel Publishing), with each change resulting in higher quality, better environmental impacts, and reduced costs.

Advertising
As an emerging advertising medium in the Whidbey Island community, the Whidbey Marketplace and Community Journal has captured a significant portion of the market share. Founded in 1998 the Whidbey Marketplace has gained that market share competing against Sound Publishing, Inc.’s Whidbey Newspaper Group, an established entity with publications reaching back generations. The reasons for the success of the Whidbey Marketplace and Community Journal are the saturation, circulation and readability of the product, the relevancy in the community, the professionalism of the publication, an aggressive sales effort, and an efficient operation. All of which allow us to offer very competitive advertising rates which when referenced from a price-per-recipient, our competitors are not even comparable.

Environmental Awareness
The environmental impact of producing over 120 tons of newsprint annually has received considerable attention. As of July of 2003, the Whidbey Marketplace and Community Journal is printed from a recycled post-consumer waste newsprint using soy-based ink, producing significantly less volatile organic compounds, and stating firmly our support of the recycling industry and effort.