Ready for 2009

As Tribune Company reorganizes, we assume you may have heard some things about our future. But we're confident that we'll be providing you services in 2009 and beyond. In fact, we know that as newspapers look to cut costs, they'll need more content to help generate advertising. That's why we're here. Whether you're looking for stories from our Web site or a paginated section front or page for your job, auto, real estate or other sections, we can help, and at a much lower cost than you might expect.
As 2008 comes to a close, we're gearing up for 2009 with more stories, photos and graphics for your newspaper or Web site. We'll post a series of stories in the next week or two, focusing on ways your readers can improve their housing situation, personal finances, education, relationships and more in the year ahead.
If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to drop me a line at mbuscaglia@tribune.com.
-Marco

Turkey day

Sure, we've been caught up in the Christmas spirit around here, given the holiday packages we've been posting to the site, but there is that small holiday strategically placed between Halloween and Christmas that encourages excessive eating, football gazing and tryptophan-fueled naps. You know this, of course, and are probably knee-deep in potential Thanksgiving-related ads from grocery stores and other interested retailers. If you'd like to dress up those T-Day ads a bit, check out our Thanksgiving package, which is a cornucopia of content.

-Marco

looking ahead

As we continue mapping out our service for 2009, we'd love to hear your ideas and suggestions. Tell us which content packages you liked, which one didn't make the cut and which ones you'd like to see. We're also interested in what's working for you. What sections are making money? Which are not? Is there anything we can do to help? You can post here or e-mail me at mbuscaglia@tribune.com.
-Marco

Holiday cheer

The very idea of a happy holiday season may seem a little far-fetched at this point, given the economy, but it usually seems like people pull together a bit more during difficult times, and appreciate the chance to get together and share their ups and downs with others. In fact, it's those little escapes that keep a lot of us focused on the big picture. And it shouldn't cost a ton of money for a little holiday cheer. Haven't we all experienced some of our best parties in someone's garage or basement, oblivious to the outside world for a few hours?
I'm hoping our latest holiday entertaining package has that fun-for-fun's-sake spirit in mind, offering some creative and inexpensive ways to celebrate the holidays with others. It's our second of four holiday packages and it should serve you well if you're looking for content to pair with ads from grocery stores, bars, restaurants, party supply stores and other retailers looking to connect with readers in the mood to put aside their problems from a few hours and let loose this holiday season.

-Marco

Auto preview

The Cars.com 2009 auto preview is up. Because of the size of the file, we have to do things a bit differently. Instead of downloading the file from the site directly, you'll need to contact our sales group at 1-800-637-4082 or webmaster@tmsspecialtyproducts.com.You'll then be given download instructions upon purchase. It's just an extra step to make sure you'll get a complete stuffed file filled with each story and photo. Click here for a complete list of autos featured in this year's preview.

Pages vs. packages

Anyone using our site has noticed we no longer sell paginated special sections but that doesn't mean we can't produce the pages you need. When we decided to re-invent our service last year, we talked to numerous clients and decided that a package of stories and photos was more beneficial to you because of the added frequency and flexibility: we produce more content, you can use what you want without having to pull it apart. In the past, we put out 26 special sections a year. This year, we've easily tripled that number, meaning you have more choices for special sections, not to mention the various pieces — stories, photos, graphics — that can be purchased and used individually.
Still, we know some papers have a need for complete layouts and we're more than happy to help. Our designers have produced pages for newspapers across the country, including the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, the Miami Herald and numerous others. If you need a single page or a complete section based on the content on our site — or if you'd like us to write some local stories for that section — we'd love to help. And it won't cost you much money. Promise. Just drop me an e-mail at mbuscaglia@tribune.com and we'll get the process started.
-Marco

Happy holidays?

It's kind of hard to start thinking about Christmas, Hanukkah and New Year's Eve in the middle of September, but anyone who is in charge of special sections knows those holidays sneak up on us, whether we're ready or not. Well, we'll help you get ready. Next month, we'll release three of our four holiday packages, beginning on Oct. 1 with our first holiday gift guide. On Oct. 15, we'll release our holiday entertaining package. Our second holiday gift guide, which will focus on gifts within various budgets, will be available on Oct. 29. Finally, our last-minute gift guide will be ready on Nov. 17. In the meantime, you can grab our Halloween package, which was posted earlier today.
-Marco

Photo ideas?

This week, we'll begin adding more stock photos to our service, thanks to our provider, jupiterimages. If you're looking for any specific photos, let us know. For now, we'll begin adding to the images in the wedding, employment, green living and real estate sections of the site.
-Marco

Back to work

 Here's hoping everyone had a nice Labor Day weekend. The TMS Specialty Products crew spent part of it engaged in a little summer outing on Friday afternoon, complete with lunch at Chicago's Superdawg, a round of miniature golf at the Bunny Hutch and ice cream at The Chocolate Shoppe. And yes, we traveled everywhere by minivan. Pictured above are TMS-SPers, from left to right, Todd Rector, Matt Maldre, Lisa Schryver, Jason Lee, Erin Vidales, Kristi Elliott and Marco Buscaglia.

Fall home improvement

OK, summer's not over yet, but now that school's back in session for most students, it feels like the end of something. Your readers may want to take a breather before the holiday rush begins after Halloween, so give them and your advertisers some ideas on renovating their homes this fall with our latest home improvement package.
-Marco