July 2008

Face Up: OnEarth

Issue: SummerFrequency: QuarterlyLaunched: 1979Circ: 175,000Editor: Douglas BaraschPublishing Company: The Natural Resources Defense CouncilArt Director: Gail Ghezzi

Your Next Generation Web Site

The explosion of the Internet and its availability on various types of devices has established a new reality in the magazine industry.

“My Ad Didn’t Work, You Suck”

Second to hearing nothing at all, the last thing you want to hear from your client, as an ad sales person, is something along the line of “my ad didn’t work, you suck.” If you’re hearing this from your customers,...

Working With Online Subscription Agencies

With the Cost of acquiring and re-qualifying subscriptions continually rising, publishers need to generate business from new, reasonably priced sources. Increasingly, that means online subscription agencies. “Online subscription-generation Web sites are absolutely a new source for us,” says Terri Smith,...

The One-Man (or Woman) Art Department

If you’re the whole of a one-person art department—or even just part of a very small team—you know what it’s like: you’re busy laying out every department and feature while arranging photo shoots; sourcing clip art; hiring illustrators; balancing the...

Are User-Generated Issues Worth It?

For its 10th anniversary issue in June, Budget Travel solicited some 2,800 pitches from readers, using them to generate all of the text and photography to create a 100 percent user-generated issue of the magazine.

The Back-End of the Web

These days everyone is looking for back-end technology that handles all aspects of the business, from ad insertions to billing, with the look and feel of the most popular social media. If not a one-system-does-all solution, then something pretty close....

M&A Scorecard | July 2008

Despite the continued soft economy and questionable credit market, recent weeks have been sprinkled with a number of smaller, more niche-market deals. The bigger news was that Texas-based Austin Partners was said to be the majority buyer of Entrepreneur Media...

Turn and Burn or Passing the Torch?

While no one wanted to admit that the market at the time was in a state of recession, the consensus among speakers and attendees at DeSilva + Phillips’ annual Dealmakers Summit earlier this year in New York was that the...

From Editor to ‘Content Strategist’

At the FOLIO: Publishing Summit earlier this year, Meredith Publishing Group president Jack Griffin said, “We don’t hire editors anymore, we hire content strategists.” He was referring to Meredith seeking out editors who aren’t simply about putting words on page...

Event Planning in a Tight Market

Soaring gas prices, airfare and hotel rates are now affecting one of the largest growth areas for publishers: magazine events. While American Business Media says events have eclipsed print as the largest revenue stream for its members, skyrocketing travel costs...

Covert Charges

A few seasons back, while doing research for a magazine story on the literary establishment in Boston, I hooked up a recorder to my phone line and called George V. Higgins. “Do you have a few minutes to talk?” I...

Social Networking: Here to Stay

If you publish a magazine, there’s little doubt that you’ve developed a digital strategy. At first, publishers just loaded up the print magazine on the Web and mistakenly thought that they had one.

2008 Regional Magazine Survey

Spurred by a low barrier to entry—including low-cost self-publishing systems and, in many cases, door-to-door distribution—the city and regional magazine category continues to grow, with not just cities but even regions and small towns supporting multiple titles vying for the...

Case Studies in Custom Publishing

Defining the mission is always critical for a custom publishing project. Is the project about brand exposure? Customer conversions? Maybe even sales?

Breaking through the Mail Clutter

Project: Little Brown BookLaunched: 2005Circulation: 175,000Objective: To create an ongoing dialog with Bloomingdale’s most valuable customers, and to drive them to the store.

A Working Partnership

Project: Channel AdvisorLaunched: 2005Circulation: 45,000Objective: To identify Ingram Micro Channel with emerging technologies and reinforce its reputation as a premiere distributor.

Relaunching a 116-Year-Old Association Magazine

Project: American SpiritPublisher: Hammock Inc.Launched: 1892Circulation: 40,000Objective: To relaunch, reposition and modernize a magazine that’s been around since 1892.

A Doubleclick Alternative

Vance Publishing has added a new section to its sales sheets in the past year by teaming up with online ad serving technology AdJuggler.

Driving Walk-in Event Attendance

When LatinFinance held its Fifth Finance Summit in Argentina last month, the event was tracking a bit behind on attendance, due in large part to political turmoil.

SEM Benchmarks

At the Circulation Management Conference and Expo, held in Chicago last month, Real Simple’s marketing director Kim Miller gave a series of tips on maximizing search engine marketing.