Kevin Slimp Online
Kevin Slimp is a favorite speaker and trainer in the publishing world. He can be reached at kevin@kevinslimp.com.

Current Newsletter

When Less is More in Newspapers

Feb 01, 2024 at 06:30 pm by INT

In late January, I had such a good time visiting with the publishers of the Wyoming Press Association at their annual convention. I spoke on a few of my favorite topics: Growi.... Read More

Predicting 2024 for Newspapers

Jan 10, 2024 at 10:45 pm by INT

Making bold predictions is easy. This year, I’ve paid close attention to forecasts by respected sportswriters in national print and online publications to see how my foo.... Read More

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Recent Columns

Kevin’s Top 10 Tips for 2024: As 2023 ends and 2024 begins, Kevin puts on his coaching cap

Dec 23, 2023 at 11:00 pm by INT

The end of one year and the beginning of a new year seem to make me a little reflective. In the past three weeks, I’ve found myself in 13 states. Traveling has allowed m.... Read More

New Tools in Photoshop Elicit Warning

Oct 31, 2023 at 07:55 pm by INT

Latest versions of Photoshop include use of artificial intelligence   By now, you would think I’ve learned not to write things that will get me in trouble. So, be.... Read More

Kevin critiques common issues in newspapers

Oct 11, 2023 at 11:00 pm by INT

A funny thing happened to me in Denver a few days ago while I was in town to speak at the Colorado Press Association Convention. I had just finished my fourth presentation of.... Read More

Making space for the important stuff on a newspaper page

Sep 13, 2023 at 11:00 pm by INT

Simple changes invite readers to pick up your paper   Younger readers might not know what I'm writing about when I mention Facebook "memories." Still, most of you are f.... Read More

Fixing problems before they appear on the page

Aug 16, 2023 at 11:00 pm by INT

Kevin shares ideas to prevent font and photo errors   My friend, Kari, wrote to me from her newspaper in Indiana this morning. Her message reminded me of the questions.... Read More

Sharing the Good News of Newspapers

Jul 07, 2023 at 02:25 pm by INT

As I listen to the July 4 fireworks outside my window, my thoughts revolve around the newspaper colleagues I’ve met over the past few weeks and the lessons I’ve le.... Read More

Improving Your Newspaper: No two papers are alike

Jun 02, 2023 at 03:30 pm by INT

If you regularly read my columns, you know that I write about focus groups quite often. Don't worry. I'm not writing bout focus groups today. However, I want to discuss anothe.... Read More

Putting in the Effort to Get More Ad Sales Results

May 16, 2023 at 03:45 pm by INT

It dawned on me this morning that my schedule changes significantly from day to day. There are always some things that have to get done most days. Regardless of what else is o.... Read More

Taking Control of Your Time

Mar 12, 2023 at 09:49 pm by INT

It has been one of those days. You’ve had them. It began with a website that wasn’t working like it was supposed to. When you have a website that lists items for.... Read More

The Secret to Newspaper Growth

Feb 22, 2023 at 10:45 pm by INT

Earlier this month, I traveled about an hour from my home to conduct focus groups for a weekly newspaper in Tennessee. Focus groups come in all sizes and shapes. This particul.... Read More

Front Page

Mirror-Exchange Agrees: Paid newspapers are doing just fine, thank you very much

Oct 29, 2014 at 09:14 am by staff

Kelli Bultena, publisher of Tea (SD) Weekly, sent me a link to a column titled, “The Bad News About the News,” in the October 16, 2014 edition of The Brookings Essay. The essa.... Read More

Epoch Times Agrees: Free papers are doing very well, thank you very much

Oct 29, 2014 at 09:02 am by staff

I sometimes write a column twice, for different audiences. This version of my column on Robert Kaiser's essay includes statistics from free newspapers across North America. K.... Read More

Don’t forget about Bridge: One of Adobe’s most useful tools

Oct 01, 2014 at 04:55 pm by staff

Checking my email has produced better than usual results this morning. Besides looking over questions from readers and browsing through the more than 2,000 spam messages I rec.... Read More

PDFs, Lines & Problems: Answering Readers' Questions

Aug 14, 2014 at 05:12 pm by staff

So much to write about, so little space. That’s my dilemma this morning. I’ve had people writing and calling, wanting my thoughts concerning some quotes from well known indu.... Read More

Hmm: Adobe Cloud. Should I or shouldn’t I?

Jul 03, 2014 at 11:45 am by staff

I’ve written a couple of columns related to the Adobe Cloud. Still, I’m stopped several times at every speaking event by publishers wanting to know if they should upgrade. C.... Read More

Convention attendances improves in 2014

Jul 02, 2014 at 06:30 am by staff

A colleague just walked into my office with a big grin on his face. “At the risk of making your head grow any bigger, I thought I’d show this to you.” He was holding a copy.... Read More

Remote office becomes reality for Wisconsin pubs

Jun 20, 2014 at 12:15 pm by staff

I first met Mike Mathes in 2012 when he invited me to visit the North Woods of Wisconsin to speak during an annual retreat for newspaper publishers. The retreat honored Wiscon.... Read More

A Look at Collegiate Newspapers & Programs

May 15, 2014 at 04:03 pm by staff

Getting Real Instead of Being Cool in Collegiate Journalism Programs by Kevin Slimp I asked my new friend, Kevin Schwartz to coauthor a column about the trend of college n.... Read More

Critiquing 10 Free Papers With Ed Henninger

Apr 27, 2014 at 03:38 pm by staff

You should see my physical mailbox at home. Lately it’s been full of packages from newspapers. Sometimes these packages contain a letter with one or two copies of papers. Othe.... Read More

Kevin Agrees With Upton Sinclair

Mar 11, 2014 at 03:56 pm by staff

I don’t remember putting off writing a column as long as this one. I’ve talked to industry experts, polled editors and publishers, and spent the past four days thinking about.... Read More

Isn't It Time to Update Your Newspaper?

Feb 27, 2022 at 01:19 pm by INT

Redesigns. They’ve been on my mind a lot lately. When Ed Henninger, the undisputed guru of newspaper and magazine design, decided to retire three years ago (I never rea.... Read More

Free On-Site Training Available For Your Newspaper Staff

Jan 03, 2022 at 10:15 am by INT

In my end-of-year column last month, I mentioned that newspapers and magazines are uniquely positioned to utilize government grants to pay for on-site training. I first became.... Read More

Hard Drive Failure! Here's what I've found to revive dead drives

Jan 03, 2022 at 10:00 am by INT

A couple of months ago, I wrote a column referring to the multiple backup drives on my desk, in addition to the off-site backup I utilize. I mentioned that I keep several driv.... Read More

My Best Advice as Your Paper Enters 2022

Jan 02, 2022 at 11:15 am by INT

After so many years of consulting and advising newspapers, it still never ceases to surprise me when I find questions from publishers in my email. Still, when I click on Apple.... Read More

Taking a Look Around My Desk

Dec 21, 2021 at 11:30 am by INT

Today, I’m going to invite you into my office to see how I work and some of the tools I use. Many folks reading this column have been to my webinars and seen the printer.... Read More

Speaking of Software

Jul 05, 2021 at 11:30 am by INT

My friend Reed Anfinson, publisher in Minnesota, called in a bind last week. His paper wasn’t going to press on time due to a technical error with the InDesign newspaper.... Read More

Investing in the Future of Your Newspaper

Jul 05, 2021 at 11:09 am by INT

About 15 or so years ago, I received a call from a newspaper designer at a small weekly in Tennessee. She was panicked because of a technical issue that was causing a lot of c.... Read More

Speaking of Software

Jul 05, 2021 at 11:02 am by INT

My friend Reed Anfinson, publisher in Minnesota, called in a bind last week. His paper wasn’t going to press on time due to a technical error with the InDesign newspaper.... Read More

Reasons to Bet on Print

Jun 03, 2021 at 11:15 am by INT

Tangible evidence leads Kevin Slimp to feel good about the future   Before you begin reading this column, please answer this question: “Are you sitting down?&rdqu.... Read More

Making Plans Toward 2028

May 18, 2021 at 11:32 am by INT

Newspapers remain a vital component of a healthy community   In my previous column, I mentioned that there seem to be a lot of positive feelings in the community newspa.... Read More