Question

Topic: Advertising/PR

Help! Another New Magazine With No Advertisers

Posted by Anonymous on 6/29/2012 at 6:43 PM ET 25 Points
I need some advice. I've been working really hard trying to bring my online magazine to print. The magazine is centered around photo/video content (think Playboy, but in a completely different genre). Everything has gone fairly smooth thus far. I've established my own distribution network with numerous businesses/retailers that have agreed to carry and sell the mag. I've developed a handfull of loyal followers, which I'm quite proud of. I continue to sell pics/videos on the website, and I've even managed to sell a couple of subscriptions before the magazine has even been released.

My biggest problem however, is that despite all of this I have not been able to to generate a single dollar in ad sale. I need ad sales to cover the print costs and it's the one thing I can't seem to get. I've had a couple of good leads, but thus far no one has pulled the trigger. It's put me in quite a dilemma.

It's like I'm in a catch 22. I feel like if I could get the mag out on the streets, then I'd be able to get the ad revenue I need. But everyone keeps telling me not to release until I have enough ad revenue before hand. So I don't know what to do at this point. I don't know where else to turn for potential advertisers, and I don't know if its the right decision to go it alone without any advertisers, banking on the mag being successful enough right out the gate to bring in enough sales and ad revenue to support the next issue.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
To continue reading this question and the solution, sign up ... it's free!
SUBSCRIBE
Or, SIGN IN

RESPONSES

  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 6/29/2012 at 10:25 PM Accepted
    How about launching your magazine as a Kickstarter project?
    Also - why are you wanting to change your online magazine to a print format, when many printed magazines/newspapers are going the other way? Can you convert your online magazine into a (subscription-based) app?
    From an advertiser's perspective, why should they pay for an ad in your magazine? Who will be buying it? Can you make ads free and instead charge for placement of photo/videos?
  • Posted by CarolBlaha on 6/29/2012 at 11:29 PM Accepted
    Can you lauch without advertisers-- that is the million dollar question. Cause if you can- then turn it to a positve, an ad free mag. If the numbers work-- publish and they will come. Truth be told, we buy for content not advertisers.

    If not, how many "no's" have you recieved? How many presentations have you made? Where does it break down
  • Posted by Peter (henna gaijin) on 6/30/2012 at 2:02 AM Accepted
    I have a bit of experience here, having started an online and print regional sports magazine (calkayakermag.com).

    You have an advantage. Most new magazines are starting from scratch, so need to tell a story of the vision to the potential advertisers. But in your case, you have a track record of the online version, so can show this to them. You need to show them how advertising in your magazine would help them. Include who the readers will be, how you will get the magazines into their hands, etc.

    Of course, you need to find advertisers who would benefit from being in your magazine. It helps if you have a niche where you are reaching a target market that advertisers can't reach all that well through other media sources.

    You also will likely have to discount or make deals - more up front than later, but it never really goes away. When discounting, I tried to structure it so that I would get long term advertisers - say give 1 free if they place ads in next 4 at regular 4X price. But often I was happy just to get an ad at first.

    I also took an added step to make it a bit easier for advertisers in that I would bill for the ad after the magazine is run (many magazines require pre-payment of ads).

    Even with all of this, it took a year and a half before I got the magazine where the ad revenue covers all the costs of each issue. So I laid out a bunch of my cash to start it.

    Definitely work with the printer. There are things you can do to keep costs down. For example, most printers work in groups of 8 pages, sometimes 16. If you set your page count to match what works for the printer, it is the lowest cost per page.

    If you haven't yet, a good read for you would be Starting and Running a Successful Newsletter or Magazine, by Cheryl Woodard:
    https://www.amazon.com/Starting-Running-Successful-Newsletter-Magazine/dp/1...

  • Posted on 6/30/2012 at 7:59 PM Author
    Thanks for the input thus far. The reason I want to move to print is because I believe it will allow me to grow the magazine on a much larger scale. I already have interest from an overseas distributor, and ultimately do want to expand into international markets, but I need the mag to work in the states first. I had already planned to create a subscription-based app, but I see that as an addition to the printed mag as opposed to an alternative.

    I’d have no problem printing without advertisers, but even if I'm able to print the 1st issue on my own, there's no way I could cover the costs of the 2nd issue without the advertisers. So I either put all my eggs in the 1st issue and hope it's successful enough to bring the advertisers in for the 2nd issue, or I (by some miracle) find some advertisers that are willing to buy. But again, where do I find those people? Where's the best place to start looking?
  • Posted on 7/1/2012 at 10:36 PM Accepted
    Here you need to look out for two things.

    1. Creating enough hype among your target customer group
    2. Sell that hype to your advertisers.

    Every advertiser look for higher ROI out of their single dollar investment. You need to find the set of customer who will be benefit from your magazine and readers.

    I would suggest one trick here.

    Go for one big brand advertisers in your target advertisers group. Give them a free hot spot for very cheap price on the name of inaugural discount and use that name to other advertisers.

    Two things will work at this stage

    1. Advertiser will think that the big brand has shown a confidence in your mag. they must have done some analysis and they can also take a little risk. still you sell them at a discounted price.

    2. Second is, rival companies may eventually turn up to give you price for better place in the mag compare to their rivals. though ts may have negative impact also, they may say, already a big player is in the league, we are not going to compete in this league anymore. Be careful at this stage


    Also, at the same side, you can approach advertising agencies / media buying agencies. They do more in depth analysis and can really look for suggesting more and more companies to pay for advertisement in your mag.

    Hope this will help you.
    Nishant Manchanda



  • Posted on 7/31/2012 at 1:42 AM Member
    Please answer my question? I really need help it's really urgent: https://www.marketingprofs.com/ea/qst_question.asp?qstID=39785
BACK TO TOP

Post a Comment

Related Discussions

Community Info

Top 25 Experts
(Advertising/PR)