In the Dark Ages, before we had the Ad System, I used to send flyers to all the EWM offices announcing the next Mailer deadline and clearly stating that all ads are accepted on a first come, first served basis. Then the Ad System was born and, in the spirit of our move toward paperless-ness, I stopped the flyers. Excellent, except I still feel the need to get the First Come – First Served message out there. So here goes.
Right now we’re dealing with the November Mailer and what’s happened is that some of your ads won’t be in it even though you submitted them on time. By September 27th — official deadline day — the Mailer was already over-full. Those of you who submitted your ads early — before September 26th — received emails saying your ads were Accepted. After the 26th, the Ad System saw we had more than enough for both the Luxury and Regular sections, so it marked incoming ads Pending. That meant the publication was full and, unfortunately for you, it stayed full. And that’s First Come – First Served in action
Note: If you placed your November Mailer ad before September 26th and received an Accepted email with a Confirmation Order Number, you’re ad is in and you’re all set to go. But please don’t stop reading. This next paragraph is for you, too!
One sure way to avoid missing out on the Mailer — or any publication — is to do as Beth suggested from the start of the Ad System. When you get a new listing, make a marketing plan, upload your photos through the Photo Manager, write your ads and submit them as far forward as possible — ideally until the end of the listing. Beth said it perfectly: “Set it and forget it!” You’ll spend some time up front getting this done, but you won’t have to worry about being shut out and you won’t have to explain to your seller why their listing doesn’t appear in a publication they think is important. Remember, the beauty of the Ad System is that you can always go in and edit or cancel your ads.
FYI, the deadline for the December Miami-Dade Mailer is Friday, October 26th. So plan ahead and Get Served First!!
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