home Internet professions How much is needed to create a newspaper. Advertising newspaper - business of small towns. Premises and equipment

How much is needed to create a newspaper. Advertising newspaper - business of small towns. Premises and equipment

Starting a business in a small town is always difficult. There are many reasons for this. The main snag is a small, as a rule, not very rich population, as a result of which it is rather difficult to find consumers for your goods or services. However, there are areas that, today, are profitable to develop in small towns.

For them, the obvious minuses of the province turn into pluses. Let's take a look at one such idea. It is about launching an advertising and information newspaper. Why exactly a newspaper can become a profitable business in a small town?

Let's start with the fact that we live in the age of the Internet, which every year increasingly squeezes out the usual sources of information and advertising media from the market. This is especially noticeable in large cities. In small towns, the same processes are taking place, only much more slowly.

This is influenced by:

a) the general high cost of the Internet in the province;
b) in some small towns it simply does not exist at all;

This is due to the fact that large providers strive first of all to "huddle" large cities, while the province is not the destiny.
From this we can conclude that the Internet, as a source of information and advertising, is ineffective in small towns.

Under these conditions, classical print media dominate. I think now it is clear to you why it is worth opening a newspaper.

So, let's begin.

First of all, you need to study the market, paying special attention to your competitors. If there are many newspapers in your city, and you do not have large funds, then I do not recommend you to get into this market. And vice versa, if there are few competitors, one or two, then you can safely start with 100-200 thousand rubles in your hands.

The next step is to decide on the concept of the publication, which means, it is necessary to decide what kind of newspaper will be: paid or free, how many pages (pages) it will have, what headings. Paid or Free? Look at the situation in your locality, if there is no free newspaper, make a free edition, if there is both paid and free, analyze which one is more successful.

Keep in mind also that free editions live on money from advertising, paid from circulation sales, respectively, and their content is somewhat different. By default, I still recommend leaning towards the free option, since for a small city this is still the best option.

Further, all recommendations will relate specifically to the free format. How to fill the newspaper? The most popular heading in the free newspaper is private classifieds. They will always read it, even if they don't want to buy anything, just out of interest. Therefore, advertisements must be present without fail, this is the core around which the rest of the material will be built.

If you can afford to keep a journalist on staff, which is very doubtful at first, or you have time to prepare the material yourself, you can print city news and events. If there is neither time nor desire, then give up this venture. Again, this is not an axiom, and in each case everything is individual, for example, if there is no newspaper at all in the city with local news, then it is imperative to make one.

A standard set of free newspapers: articles about business, cars, gardening, legal advice, construction. Useful information for your city: public transport schedules, telephones and opening hours of government agencies, weather forecast. Well, unforgettable about the entertainment part: jokes, horoscope, crossword puzzle.

I deliberately did not mention the TV program, there are different opinions about it now, someone thinks that it should be inserted without fail, someone says that it is not necessary. In this matter, make decisions yourself, starting from the specifics of your area.

Well, we have created the image of the future newspaper, the time has come to bring it to life.

First, you need to officially register our publication. By law, a newspaper can be published without registration if its circulation does not exceed 999 copies. Our circulation will be larger, so we must register.

By the way, a little about the number of newspapers in circulation, the standard rule for determining the circulation volume is as follows: divide the population by three, that is, if your city has 30,000 people, then the circulation of the newspaper should be 10,000 copies (30.0000 / 3).

When registering, you will need to choose the format of the publication, a socio-political newspaper, advertising, electronic and decide on the territoriality: an all-Russian newspaper or a regional one.

The best option for us is to register an advertising newspaper.

Let me explain why.

Public political publications have restrictions on the placement of advertisements (40% of the total area), advertising newspapers do not have such restrictions.

Registration cost - 10,000 rubles.

Having submitted all the necessary documents, we are waiting for a response within a month. At this time, we do not sit idly by, but start bypassing, calling all the entrepreneurs of the city and suggest placing advertisements in our newspaper.

If you are not lazy, then by the time you receive registration documents you will already have a database of advertisers ready to place their ads in the first issue.

At the same time, we are looking for personnel.

Initially, it is enough to have two employees, some get by with one, and especially fanatical ones do everything themselves.

Who do you need?

The layout designer, the person who will create the face of your publication, depends on him, whether your newspaper will look like a tabloid leaf, or like a serious media.

If you can't find a layout designer in your city, you can use the Internet and hire a freelancer. Advertising manager, a person who will promote your newspaper among advertisers.

With a certain skill, knowledge and talent, its functions can be performed by yourself.

How to print a newspaper?

We find everything, emphasize all the printing houses in our region, request a price list and choose reasonable prices.

Why is it necessary to bypass all the printing houses?

As a rule, the price in different printing houses fluctuates greatly, contacting the first one that comes across, you run the risk of overpaying. Well, that's all, now you have an idea of how to open your own newspaper.

Finally, I would like to say that a newspaper is still a creative business, so do not be afraid to experiment and implement your ideas.

The question of how to open a newspaper is asked by many people - these are professional journalists and advertisers, entrepreneurs and public figures. Whichever category you belong to, keep in mind: although the organization of the publishing process itself is quite simple, further "pitfalls" begin that can pull down even the most ingenious idea. Moreover, you will definitely not be able to "hook" one hundred percent of the target audience, as it could have been ten or twenty years ago, because today some people do not read paper newspapers at all, preferring online editions.

Publishing your own newspaper: a short plan of action

According to Russian legislation, any newspaper product with a circulation of up to 999 copies inclusively can be printed and distributed without registration. But we will consider serious volumes, that is, from a thousand copies and more. You will need to do the following:

Study the target audience, negotiate with specialists about the work on the materials and start working on them.
Contact the regional representative office of Rospechat and submit an application for registration of a new printed publication.
Prepare the first issue (or better, several at once), guiding the process of creating and selecting materials in accordance with the structure of the newspaper. You can develop your own unique content, as well as use materials approved for reprint (do not forget to indicate the author and source).
Finish editing and layout of materials to get a print-ready layout. The layout of the first release can later be used as a template for subsequent releases.
Submit the materials to print and get the circulation in your hands. By this time, you should already have thought out a scheme for the implementation of the newspaper.
Distribute the circulation to the planned outlets in accordance with the conclusion of the relevant agreements.

It should be noted that the specifics of each item of work strongly depend on the topic. For example, if you are thinking about how to open an advertising newspaper, then to collect material you will have to cooperate not with journalists, but with advertisers.

Possible difficulties

Most of the publications, with the exception of purely informational ones, create certain difficulties that have to be faced already at the initial stage. Let's consider the possible "pitfalls" in more detail.

Payback, demand and advertising

Practice shows that publishing your own newspaper without advertising is a non-profit and most often unprofitable business. First, the circulation is almost never sold out entirely. Second, if you include the cost of each issue in its wholesale price even before retail sale, then the final price will be too high, and no one will buy the newspaper. Placing advertisements is the only way out, which is easy to guess, having scrolled through any newspaper: almost no one can do without advertising.

This means that you will need to negotiate with advertisers and maintain cooperation with them, while competing with other publications and tracking three processes at once:

so that advertisers perceive your newspaper as a good tool for disseminating information and are willing to pay you;
so that there are not too many advertisements in the newspaper and so that it does not lose its attractiveness to readers;
so that the subject matter of advertising materials corresponds to the general subject matter and “falls into” the target audience.

Separately, you should work out the feedback and statistics collection so that you can prove to the advertiser that he is not wasting his money. If you are thinking about how to open a free newspaper (it does not matter for what purpose), then you need advertising like air, because the supposed monetization of this or that information campaign is too random a process to consider it seriously. Without financial support in the form of payments from advertisers, the newspaper's publication becomes unprofitable.

Information competition: a way out of the vicious circle

The most difficult thing is for a newspaper that has just appeared in the information field: advertisers do not consider it seriously, readers know little about it, and as a result, receipts are reduced to a minimum. The only way to overcome this is to launch your own advertising campaign to promote and announce the newspaper.

For a newspaper to be liked by readers, it must be useful. If you want to take a solid niche in the information space, ensure the generation of as unique and relevant material as possible. For example, think about how to open your classifieds newspaper. This is far from what professional journalists usually represent under the publication of a newspaper, but it is really relevant for people.

But first you have to be puzzled by two other problems: studying information trends (what is most interesting for people and what is least of all "explored" by other publications) and collecting information (for example, organizing an electronic or telephone service for receiving ads). This will allow you to create your own regularly updated database for printing newspaper ads.

Media in politics, economics and social activities

If you still want your publication to have a specific topic related to events that are relevant to people, be prepared for great difficulties:

You should enter this area only after drawing up a business plan, since the first few weeks or even months the project will require investments, almost certainly not bringing profit. Make sure you can afford it.
Get ready to engage in "information wars" even if you don't want to. Remember that any more or less resonant material can cause someone's dissatisfaction, and it is difficult to predict in what form it will be expressed.
Make sure you always have fresh materials. To do this, you will need not only to register the media, but also to establish a legal entity with a permanent staff.

It is important to combine professional efforts with marketing calculations, since a thematic publication is a complex information and market product that must be both in demand and sold at the same time. Remember that the reaction of readers is always only partially predictable, and the error of calculations here is much higher than when selling "real" goods.

Personal use

If your financial and personal capabilities allow you to invest in the mass distribution of any materials, then evaluate the advisability of opening your own newspaper - primarily from the point of view of real efficiency, not prestige. There are two more rational ways:

Pay for the placement of the materials you need to an existing publication.
If you really need it and if finances allow, buy an existing edition.

Remember that prestige in the information space is short-lived, and you need to manage your finances wisely, even if your opportunities are really great.

Establishment of a legal entity and recruitment

Organizing a legal entity for publishing a newspaper is not very difficult, especially if you use the support of a qualified lawyer who will tell you how to avoid bureaucratic delays. Use a simplified taxation scheme for the difference between income and expenses - this will protect yourself from having to pay taxes on unprofitable editions.

If you are not thinking about how to open a newspaper of free ads, but about a full-fledged information publication, then you will need:

If successful, you can expand the publication and add new headings - then new editors and journalists will be needed, especially if you intend to do reports and interviews. If your newspaper will contain advertisements and announcements, then you will not need journalists, editors and photographers. In addition, the best step is to hire a professional manager on a regular basis or on an outsourced basis for marketing optimization of the project and study of materials.

Perspective and calculated payback

The prime cost of a copy when printed in a professional printing house can be on average 5–10 rubles with a relatively small volume. The cost rises as the number of pages increases and decreases as the circulation increases. The average cost of a thousand copies of a newspaper, thus, will be from 5,000 to 10,000 rubles.

Travel costs vary considerably, and the included staff salaries are divided by the number of newspaper editions per month. Statistically, the weekly newspaper includes 15,000 rubles or more additional expenses. Thus, the publication of one thousandth circulation per week will cost from 20,000 rubles.

Wholesale sales of a print run at a price of 15–20 rubles will bring you, respectively, 15,000–20,000 rubles. To get a profit, you will need to either raise the selling price or contact advertisers. Publishing on average one ad unit for every two pages will allow you to double your income and get from 15,000 rubles in net profit from each circulation, that is, from 60,000 rubles per month. Of course, these are only approximate calculations based on statistical data.

Thus, the publication of the newspaper can be recommended as a business only to those who are ready to work on a project, optimizing it from a marketing point of view and maintaining contact with advertisers. Otherwise, it will be possible to count on the maximum coverage of expenses with income, reaching zero, if not negative. To create a successful media outlet, a full-fledged study of the project is required - the desire to publish a newspaper is clearly not enough.

In the field of mass media, newspapers have one of the places of honor. Now print media are actively being replaced by news sites.

However, there are still many people who prefer to hold in their hands the latest issue of their favorite newspaper.

That is why we can now observe the growth and prosperity of such publications. People who often read newspapers in society are usually considered intellectuals who value useful information and their own time.

It is the availability of relevant information that makes these publications successful. Compared to news sites, newspapers cannot afford to have a lot of unnecessary information due to their limited space.

Independent business

So, if you are interested in how to create a newspaper, then this question is worth considering. First, you need to register your business. After that, you should think about a suitable room. If we talk about what it takes to open a newspaper, then only large areas should be considered. For a start, you can limit yourself to a three-room apartment, which will be easy to convert into an office.

The lowest budget newspaper will require at least three rooms. The type of premises should be quite presentable, since over time advertisers will come to the editorial office, as well as citizens who simply want to submit an advertisement to the newspaper. The optimal place for localization may be something that is located near a bus stop.

No staff anywhere

If you are seriously thinking about how to create a newspaper, then you must understand that it requires a considerable number of people to fully function. You will need one accountant to get started (but this number may well change as cash flows increase), computer set operators, whose task will be to directly set articles and announcements.

You can't do without a professional designer. His responsibilities will include the creation of advertising layouts, if the advertiser does not provide the necessary material. Depending on the periodization with which the newspaper you are creating will be published, you will need at least one layout designer, that is, a person whose task is to create a newspaper layout. In addition, you need to hire two advertising agents.

Speaking about how to create a newspaper, it should be noted that employees do not have to be in the office all the time, as their main task is to make calls and arrange meetings with clients to publish advertisements in your publication. Naturally, the most important workers in this case will be journalists. Creating a weekly will require you to hire at least three professionals in the field.

Newspaper content

If we talk about how to create a newspaper, it is worth noting that a regular newspaper in a small town, as a rule, is published no more than twice a week. This allows journalists to prepare quality material for publication. Almost every newspaper can be roughly divided into three parts: an information block, an advertisement and a TV program. It is important to understand that the importance of a publication is determined by its content. If a reader buys a newspaper once and does not find any interesting materials in it, he will not buy it again.

You need to prepare for the fact that the first time you advertise in the newspaper, you will place for free, which will allow you to create its body. Until people find out that a certain publication exists, they will not submit ads to it.

If we talk about information pages, then most of the information can be obtained without any special effort. Structures such as tax services, police, Ministry of Emergency Situations and others provide information completely free of charge, since it is beneficial for them that the newspaper tells about their activities. In most publications, information from various government agencies makes up 60 percent of the content or more.

Branding

If you already have ideas for newspapers, then you should think about the name and logo of the future publication. It is these attributes that will take root in the minds of readers. If the name is unsuccessful, then it can simply ruin the newspaper, even if the materials in it are provided with very high quality. You should also think about the image of the publication. You can very quickly get a tabloid label from most people if you post substandard or fictional content. Content of exceptionally high quality can lead to success.

Concept

If you are thinking about how to create your own newspaper, then first you need to decide on the main idea and format. Research has shown that at the moment 35% of readers prefer regional business publications. However, you should also take into account the real balance of power of the media in the city where you are organizing your business.

If we consider the question of how to publish a newspaper, then it should be said that, if necessary, it is possible to publish specialized editions of some specific topics (finance, construction, etc.). If the reader market is already overloaded with serious projects, then you can try to start publishing an entertainment format newspaper. It is important to remember about profitability here, since a business publication can pay off in 7-12 months, and an entertainment one, quite possibly, will take three years for this.

The publication should be in demand among potential readers, as well as become attractive to advertisers. Successful competition and development require a lot of money, a lot of effort and time. All this will pay off only on condition of a serious approach to business. This is why it is important to create a newspaper advertising business plan.

The first steps

So you've made the decision to create a regional business periodical. Executives and business people can be your main potential readers. It is required to determine the volume of the publication, the circulation of issues and the frequency of publication, and then decide whether any supplements will be published, after which you can proceed to the design of the newspaper.

To found a private print publication, an entrepreneur will have to go through a lot of legal procedures and make certain investments, the amount of which will amount to 500 thousand rubles. We do not recommend investing borrowed (credit) funds - it is highly desirable to do with your own savings.

Brief description of the concept

The organizational and legal form that is optimal for registering a small print edition is an individual entrepreneur. The taxation system is the simplified tax system (simplified taxation system with a tax rate of 15% of the difference between income and expenses for the reporting period). It should be noted that registering a newspaper is a rather long and tedious process, which takes at least 30 working days. The document confirming the successful placement of the newspaper on the official "rails" is a certificate of registration of the media.

To correctly register your own printed publication, you must select the following OKVED codes in the classifier:

58.1 "Publishing books, periodicals and other types of publishing activities."
58.13.1 "Publishing newspapers in print".

An example of a list of topics that a provincial newspaper should focus on is given below:

The problems of the region and coverage of all significant events taking place in it.
Household topics (cooking, renovation, garden / vegetable garden).
Children's page (educational games, poems and informative stories).
Sports section (coverage of regional sports competitions and world sports news).
TV program and humor section.

It is important for an entrepreneur to understand that the vector of a newspaper's development is directly determined by the interests of the readership, therefore the final list of headings is formed experimentally and not immediately.

How much to invest in opening

The costs at the initial stage of founding your own print publication will be as follows:

Expenditure item	Cost amount, rub.
Payment for the rent of the editorial office for the first half of the year	120 000
Redecoration of the editorial office	50 000
The costs of registering a newspaper, as well as qualified legal assistance	20 000
Equipping the office with furniture	100 000
Purchase of office equipment and computers	150 000
Marketing expenses and website creation	50 000
Unforeseen expenses	10 000
TOTAL	500 000

Equipping the office with high-quality computer and office equipment is, of course, important to ensure comfortable working conditions for editors and correspondents. You also need to take a responsible approach to the choice of comfortable and reliable office furniture, including furniture for the recreation area - after all, the editorial staff spend most of their working day in a sitting position.

Marketing plan

The marketing plan, the main goal of which is to attract the widest possible audience of readers and develop a distribution network, includes the following points:

Search for a printing house with the most favorable conditions for printing the circulation of the newspaper.
Development of a high-quality informational website of the newspaper and connection to it "Yandex.Direct".
Advertising campaign including posters in post offices, distribution of flyers and placement of advertising modules in other print media in the region.
Active work to establish contacts with distributors of printed materials.

Now let's talk about the main aspect of any business - income. The optimal circulation of a provincial newspaper in the first years of its existence was 5 thousand copies. Volume - 16 pages (2 pages must be completely given for advertisements). The cost of one copy of the newspaper is 15 rubles. The frequency of publication is once a week. Weekly income from retail sales of the circulation will be about 75 thousand rubles, monthly - about 300 thousand. The projected average monthly income from advertising is 100 thousand rubles (25 thousand from each issue of the newspaper). Accordingly, a year the publication of his own newspaper will bring the entrepreneur 4.8 million rubles of "dirty" income.

Production plan

The premises of the newspaper editorial office must have an area of at least 80 square meters and be divided by walls or partitions into six main zones:

Office of the editor-in-chief - 15 sq. meters.
Advertising department area - 10 sq. meters.
Office of proofreader, layout maker and designer - 15 sq. meters
Area for journalists to work - 20 sq. meters.
Recreation and eating area - 10 sq. meters.
Bathroom and utility room - 10 sq. meters.

You should also equip the editorial office with security and fire alarms.

The following work schedule should be established for the newspaper editorial office:

Monday - Friday: 09:00 to 18:00.
Saturday: 09:00 to 13:00.
Sunday is a day off.

Naturally, the work schedule of the correspondents will depend on the assignments of the editorial board, which they received this week. As they say, the journalist's legs are fed.

This table shows the optimal list of employees of the print publication:

It is important! The above table shows the figures for the "net" salary of employees of the print publication. However, it is recommended to introduce a bonus system for journalists and editors for particularly interesting and complex materials, as well as to subscribe weekly bonuses to the journalist whose material is on the front page of the current issue.

Calculations of income and expenses

Below is a table that describes the current expenditure items of the print publication:

The profitability of a print publication organized in a small Russian town is calculated in this table:

It is clear from the table that the net profit of the print publication after payment of tax payments under the "simplified tax" will amount to approximately 900 thousand rubles. It is easy to calculate that about 75 thousand rubles of net income will be transferred to the account of the owner of the newspaper every month.

The profitability of the printed edition will be around 18%, which is far from the highest indicator. The full payback of the initial investment will come in less than a year.

Potential risks

Publishing a newspaper is a high-risk business. Not everyone will dare to spend time, effort and money on the implementation of such an undertaking. Below are the main risk factors that can negatively affect the development of this business and provoke problems.

Possible serious losses in the first time after the launch of the print edition. The fact is that the profit from the sale of a circulation most often only compensates for the costs of its production and printing - advertisers bring most of the income.
Difficulty earning respect from potential readers. It is necessary to understand as soon as possible what is interesting to the readership and create an appropriate attractive "face" of the newspaper.
Difficulties with the formation of a well-coordinated professional editorial team - it is difficult for a large number of creative people to get along in a limited space, therefore it is important to have an unquestioning leader in the team who would unite colleagues and prevent the emergence of conflict situations.
The problem of creating a stable functioning distribution network, which requires a point approach and personal agreement with almost every retail distributor of a printed publication.

As practice shows, the business of creating a newspaper is not the main one for most entrepreneurs. Most often, this is just an addition to a developed core business, bringing a small but stable income, as well as a kind of moral satisfaction. Therefore, when deciding to start your own newspaper, it is important to clearly understand the risks that you will have to face and be prepared for any negative situations.

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classmates

Many talented journalists and bloggers may be seriously interested in their own business - the newspaper.

To achieve maximum success in this business, you must follow two basic rules - to make your publication as interesting as possible, and also to organize the entire work process very competently and responsibly.

Opening of the editorial office of the printed edition. Where should you start?

The success of your business is largely influenced by the correct choice of topics for the future print edition.

Keep in mind that today advertising and information newspapers and advertisement newspapers are in significant demand, but publications of a social and political orientation cause much less interest.

To open a newspaper editorial office, you must:

determine the topic and audience;
choose the appropriate format;
choose a characteristic title that can interest and intrigue future readers as much as possible;
decide in which language your newspaper will be published (or it will be bilingual);
register your private publication with government agencies.

Registration of a private editorial office

Novice businessmen wishing to open their own edition of a print publication can register individual entrepreneurship.

However, in the event that the newspaper will be published by several founders, such forms as CJSC or LLC will become more preferable options.

It should be borne in mind that if you are interested in a business plan for a small-circulation free newspaper, the circulation of which will be no more than 999 copies, there is no need for state registration.

True, in this case there are certain drawbacks - due to the fact that a small number of advertisers will agree to cooperate with a small-circulation publication, the profit that such a business will bring will be minimal.

Also keep in mind that every major Russian newspaper must be registered with the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications.

Stages of creating a successful revision

For your newspaper business to be as successful as possible, there are several important steps you need to go through.

It is necessary to take great responsibility when thinking over the concept of your future publication. The brighter and more interesting the idea of your newspaper, the more potential customers it will be able to attract. Therefore, even before the first release, think carefully about what your target audience should be.
Having carefully studied the interests and needs of the audience, choose the most appropriate direction and nature of the future publication.
It is very important to correctly determine the format of the future edition - most often there are such formats as A4 and A3, but you can choose others as well.
Circulation volume also plays an important role here. If you are interested in making a good profit, it is recommended that you start with approximately five thousand prints.
Next, determine how you plan your future edition - color or black and white.
The next step is to determine how the newspaper will be distributed - this can be subscription distribution, traditional sale at newsstands and stalls, as well as free distribution.

Staff recruitment

At first, the staff of your editorial office may consist of a minimum number of employees:

journalist;
photographer;
proofreader;
layout designer.

Moreover, at the very beginning, all these functions can be performed by one person - the one who owns the business.

But in the future, it is advisable to hire different specialists - this will optimize the workflow in the best way.

Printing the first issue and choosing a printing house

The next step is to think about how the preparation and publication of your newspaper will take place.
Novice entrepreneurs can prepare a newspaper for publication even at home, using one or two personal computers for this purpose. At least, such equipment is quite enough to prepare materials for the first issue.

In the future, you will have to acquire your own office - this is necessary for regular meetings with advertisers, readers, as well as business partners.

You should also be very responsible when choosing a printing house for cooperation.

To find the best option, you should pay attention to the current price list, as well as technical capabilities.

Take care of effective methods of distribution of the printed edition - the faster the new issue is distributed, the more advertisers you can attract. This, in turn, is a guarantee of high real profits.

Estimated costs and expenses

In order to create your own newspaper business, you will need start-up capital, the amount of which depends on a number of parameters - staff, frequency of publication, format, color, circulation, and others.

But some types of costs are mandatory and the same in any case, so let's look at an example with calculations:

the size of the state duty for the release of a printed publication may be approximately 20,000-25,000 Russian rubles;
about 1,000 rubles must be paid for registration with the tax authorities;
the purchase of computer equipment will cost about 25,000-35,000 rubles;
the purchase of equipment for the editorial office - laptops, cameras, dictaphones, etc. - will have to spend about 100,000 rubles more;
printing the first five thousandth print run can cost approximately 20,000-25,000 rubles.

When planning your own newspaper business, analyze all the real opportunities and prospects. Take this activity responsibly - and then you will be assured of significant success.

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