Outsourcing all ads helps
El Sol News rise and shine
Andrew Buxton is publishing director, managing director
and a partner in El Sol News. He has worked in
newspaper production for years including a spell at UK systems developer PCS. ‘I had heard of the idea
of outsourcing to India and I actually found Express KCS on the Internet,’ he says. Although he’d been
planning the launch for some months, in the end there was very little time between the finalisation and
the intended launch date of 1 December.
‘We had already had a chat a couple of months earlier, but then Andrew called a week before
publication and asked if we could start right away, so we went over for a meeting and set it up’ recalls
Robert Berkeley, managing director of Express KCS.
‘It would have taken a month longer without outsourcing,’ Buxton says. ‘There aren’t enough
experienced people here on the island to handle
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this type
of work, especially as they they’d have to be
English speakers.’ While outsourcing has an image of lower costs,
Buxton says that this wasn’t as important as the level
of service that Express KCS can offer.
‘We get really good ads and a fast turnround.’ El Sol’s full-time staffing levels are fairly minimal – three
on the editorial side including editor Isabel Cardenes, operations manager Clare Mapp and designer
Marisa Ruiz, plus advertising manager Carmelo Carballo with two sales staff, and distribution manager
Steve Mapp. ‘Going up to two full-time designers to handle ads in-house would have been a big leap for
us, while freelancers are more expensive without the same level of service,’ Buxton explains.
El Sol News’ advertising is largely from local restaurants, hotels, tourist attractions (such as whale
watching) and property agents. Most ads are taken by the sales staff and the majority will require design
and layout, or modification for regular repeats. Relatively few include electronic artwork.
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