This article brings you up the learning curve on newspaper ad costs. We've isolated the ad costs for national papers that you might be interested in, as well as for some city newspapers that might catch your fancy.

Wall Street Journal Advertising Costs

Ad costs for the Wall Street Journal are steep, but you are tapping into a wealthy demographic. Perfect if you are selling islands or private jets, but not a good way to sell pens or toilet paper.

A full-page black and white ad in the Wall Street Journal National Edition will run you $164,300. A full-page color ad in the Wall Street Journal National Edition runs $210,300. Wall Street Journal advertising costs are a bit more reasonable if you go for only a half-page ad. $96,900 is the cost for Wall Street Journal ads that are black-and-white half pagers, whereas you'll pay $137,595 if you want a color ad.

Washington Post Newspaper Advertising Rates

A full-run, full-page black-and-white ad in the Washington Post can cost as much as $100,000, based on rates available on the newspaper's Web site.

Newspaper Advertising Costs for the Los Angeles Times

Buying a newspaper ad in the Los Angeles Times will run you about $70,000 for a full-run, full-page black-and-white ad.

Newspaper Ad Rates for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

If you steer clear of the largest cities, there are some more affordable newspaper advertising prices. In Milwaukee, for example, you can buy a full-page ad for around $15,000.

Local Newspaper Advertising Costs

If you live in a small town and advertise in your local newspaper, advertising costs really drop -- in comparison to the bigger national publications. A full-page local newspaper ad might run a $1,000 in your community.

Tips on Buying Newspaper Ads

The newspaper ad costs give you a general feel for what it takes to run a big advertising campaign. Here are a few tips for starting a newspaper advertising campaign:

• If you buy your ads through an advertising agency, expect to pay a 15% markup. That may mean the ad agency commissions are taken off the standard price and paid to them by the newspaper, or it may mean the ad agency pays X and charges you 1.15x. In either case, you pay more than if you went straight to the publication and negotiated your own rates.
• If you commit to spending a specified dollar amount over a period of time, usually a year, a certain frequency level for your ads, you'll get a better per-ad rate. Newspapers are happy to trade volume for margin.
• Don't forget to measure results. At the end of the day, it's all about what your customer acquisition costs. A $200,000 newspaper ads that gains 3 new customers for a $200 product is clearly a bad deal for everybody but the newspaper publisher.

Good luck in your advertising campaign. Peruse the rest of the Gaebler Ventures - Resources for Entrepreneurs site for additional articles on newspaper advertising costs.