MANY Yes groups have been sharing in our delight at the prospect of launching the Sunday National on September 9, and believe us, we can’t wait.
Some have also asked what help they can give to make the seven-day National a success from September 9, since we are the only newspaper in Scotland that covers the Yes movement nationally, and we like to think our Yes DIY hub is helping the cause at grassroots level. Look out for even more Yes initiatives in the Sunday National.
Though we’d love it if you could, we can’t ask everybody to be as pro-active as Chic McGregor of Yes Kirriemuir, who launched a “personal promotional initiative” for The National. He wrote to tell us: “For the past three to four weeks, I have been distributing National newspapers systematically to the patch I usually deliver leaflets to.
READ MORE: Yes DIY: Yes group relaunch in order to prepare for indyref2
“I ordered 10 copies per day from my newsagent and today was the final batch taking the total up to 200. So nearly everyone on my usual leaflet delivery patch has received one free National over the past month.
“In order that the recipient did not come to the understandable conclusion that some paper boy had simply made a mistake, around each copy I attached the following simple message on a paper ribbon: ‘This is a complimentary copy of The National.’
“If you decide you like it, it can be bought from your local newsagent or an identical, but much cheaper, digital version can be downloaded online at www.thenational/subscribe.
“Obviously, 200 households is a very small sample compared to the two million or so in Scotland and judging by the circulation figures I’ve seen bandied about, it is unlikely that there were any subscribers other than myself on the patch at the start of the exercise.
“But if any new subscribers were generated then each one would fancifully equate to a circulation increase of about 10,000 if extrapolated nationwide.”
We are checking that just now Chic and we’ll get back to you.
He also told us. “Distribution was by letter box only, no verbal interaction took place so no chance that someone could be persuaded by anything other than simply receiving the paper through their letter box.
“On a few occasions, the house owner was in the garden but I simply missed those out.”
The newsagent Chic used was Thistle Gifts and News, 48 High St, Kirriemuir.
Chic added: “If there has been a discernible circulation result then I’m sure that would be enough to encourage other activists to do similar, in fact some have already said they would.”
We can exclusively reveal today that Chic’s efforts HAVE delivered an increase in circulation in his area!
We’re very grateful for the help, Chic, and perhaps other Yes groups could do the same.
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We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
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Callum Baird, Editor of The National
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