Derek Powazek and Paul Cloutier

By FOLIO: Staff
04/03/2007

Derek Powazek and Paul Cloutier
Co-Founders ﾕ 8020 Publishing

JPG combines the best of online, print and community publishing.

Many publishers are fumbling their way toward "community publishing" and "social networking," but 8020 Publishing, originally launched in 2004 by Paul Cloutier and Derek Powazek, may have discovered one of the first workable models.

The company's first magazine, JPG, originally launched in 2004 as a print-on-demand side project. Powazek and Cloutier, veterans of Wired and Thresher respectively, developed a model that caters to digital photography enthusiasts with three parts: The print magazine, the Web site and a community of digital photography enthusiasts. The magazine was originally printed through self-publishing service Lulu. "During that process we realized we had a much bigger opportunity to empower the community to make the audience with us," says Powazek.

The audience can sign up at jpgmag.com to upload photos to the Web site and vote on other submitted photos. The best photos are selected for publication in the magazine by JPG editors.

The buzz around JPG drew the attention of private equity firm Minor Ventures, founded by CNET creator Halsey Minor, which gave the enterprise a few million dollars in funding. In 2006, JPG re-launched as a traditional offset printed, six-times-per-year magazine with retail distribution. The first print run was about 20,000 copies, while the Web site drew 1.5 million page views in the first month after the re-launch. For each issue, photographers submit photos based on a theme. "It's half-wisdom of the crowd, half-editorial, and we think it leads to a photo magazine that's much more real," says Powazek.

Advertisers can buy traditional full-page ads but also sponsor themes for about $20,000. For one issue, participants had to shoot photos around the theme "big." A lense manufacturer sponsored a theme called "Embrace the Blur" and the audience submitted just shy of 7,000 photos. "The idea that we're trying to create is participation: How can advertisers participate beyond just putting up messages that say, 'Buy our stuff,'" says Cloutier.

VITAL STATS:
JPG expects $2.5 million in revenue by the end of the year.