We were able to add 17,536 new Good News subscribers to our mailing list, representing a 168 percent increase over the number of subscribers added the previous year, and a 54 percent increase above our projected maximum number of new subscribers planned for in the year.

The increase was made possible by some very cost-effective advertising, which brought in subscribers for a record-breaking low cost of $3.99 (Australian) per subscriber.

Naturally, this number of new subscribers also meant a significant increase in the workload at the Australian office. The timely employment of a media assistant in June of 2006 and additional part-time help in the mailing department enabled the office employees to cope with the additional, but encouraging, increase in workload.

Every Household Reached

During 2006/2007 some form of print advertising was distributed to every household in Australia and, because over 11,200,000 advertisements were distributed, some households would have received more than one print advertisement offering The Good News magazine and a booklet. We are sowing these advertisements throughout Australia and, with the help of your prayers, God will according to His will, grant the increase by opening the minds of those whom He is calling (1 Corinthians 3:6).

Visits to the Australian Web site also increased by 83.6 percent for the year, with nearly 300,000 people visiting the site in 2006/2007.

Advertising to GN Readers

One of the most important target audiences for advertising and development are those who have already come into contact with the Church. A comprehensive subscriber development plan has therefore been developed.

• Monthly literature offers: For the past year we concentrated on maximizing the impact of our monthly literature offers that are mailed with every magazine and booklet. Some of these ads were rewritten to make them more effective and, beginning in June 2007, we began to test the use of color monthly literature ads.

• Bible Study Course: Another goal for our Good News readers and for those who visit our Web site was to encourage their enrollment in the Bible Study Course. We did this by advertising the course to The Good News subscribers twice a year on the address sheet when it was mailed. For those who visit our Web site, we developed and advertised an interactive Bible Study Course quiz that attracts an average of over 200 visits a week.

• Bible Study Course renewals: In 21 months we have been able to increase the Bible Study Course renewal rate after the third lesson from 19.1 to 26.7 percent. Some of the strategies employed to accomplish this included a test with every lesson of the Bible Study Course that was mailed as a hard copy, referring Web visitors to the interactive test on our Web site and following up those who did not renew after the third lesson with an additional renewal reminder and an offer of sermons on audio CDs. UN

Australian Media Statistics 2006/2007

New Good News Subscribers for 2006/2007 -- 17,536

GN Distribution as of June 30, 2007 -- 35,700

New subscribers, 2006/2007compared to 2005/2006 -- 168%

Web Site Visits (July 2006:13,904; June 2007: 25,523) -- 83.6%

Over 11,200,000 households were reached with print advertisements. (With 6.5 to 7 million mailboxes in Australia, some households would have received more than one ad.)