Top Line Take Away-  Take Your Time and Do It Right

 

Does this sound familiar? A new publisher, filled with excitement, has an idea for a new magazine. It is a niche that nobody has thought of before. The team is assembled often on a shoestring budget and races to produce the first issue before someone else gets the same idea and beats them to the punch. All focus is on the first issue.

The editorial team races to assemble the first issue. The sales staff is told to get out there and sell ads, often at any price just to make the premier issue look good.

The first issue is finished, a cover is selected, and the new title is sent to the printer and launched. Great job team.

After the first issue hits the public, they receive a few dozen subscription orders from the issue, everyone is excited.

They don’t realize it yet but they will run out of money before the third issue is sent to the press.

So what went wrong?

The First Problem–  in their race to produce a first issue they neglected to find out what their audience really wanted. They failed to explore the proper balance between the different editorial departments in the magazine.  They went with their guts rather than get actionable audience feedback.

The better path- Create a web presence and build an audience before launching the print publication. Carefully monitor traffic and see what editorial articles resonate with your target. Sue the site to collect contact information and establish a dialog with potential subscribers.

By the way, don’t worry about someone else stealing your idea.  A good execution is a much better defense than being first. The magic is in being the best not the first.

 

The Second Problem-  the sales staff racing to get some revenue in the magazine heavily discounted the advertising. Sure they landed some good looking accounts, in fact often these were their best prospects, but in the process priced their product way below what is economically sustainable for the publication.

The better path- understand that the first ad sold to an advertiser sets the price for all following activity from that advertiser. Yes it is important to have the proper advertisers in the first issue. This should be done strategically. Identify the leaders in each targeted category, try to sell them on rate card but if that is not possible give them a free ad in the first issue. This gets your title in front of the client but protects your future revenue.

Management needs to understand that launching a magazine is a long term commitment. If they can’t afford to run in the red for a year or two they should rethink the launch itself.

 

Finally, think of your magazine as an integrated brand and not just a print vehicle. There are many paths for your content, each with its own uniqueness.

The web can help attract an audience and offer content beyond what the print magazine alone can deliver.

The print vehicle has the advantage of permanence and might appeal to a less web-based population.

If you are offering expertise in an area, don’t overlook seminars, white papers, webinars, consulting and other way of spreading your expertise as addition revenue streams. They all contribute to building your credibility in your field. Content has value, don’t be afraid to charge for it.