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The magazine industry is a tough world to break into if you are not sure where to start.\u00a0 In the United States alone there are thousands of magazines dedicated to multiple niches and audiences.\u00a0 That means putting a plan in place before you start your quarterly perfect bound or saddle stitch publication for your local market is vital to your magazine\u2019s success. \u00a0 There are almost 225 million magazine readers<\/a> in the United States alone, so the audience is out there.\u00a0 It\u2019s your job as a publisher to captivate them with your magazine so today we\u2019ll take a look at some of the basics for starting your own magazine from scratch.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Find Your Niche and Define Your Target Audience<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n You may have been writing a blog or posting stories online for a while when you start discovering the same core of people are reading your content day after day.\u00a0 This is a good place to start when it comes to choosing your audience. If your passion is outdoors and the voice you write in speaks to those readers then the magazine should orientate towards that audience. The articles and images you provide in the magazine should focus heavily on the outdoor community.\u00a0 You\u2019re not only building a magazine but a community of readers who you\u2019ll eventually want to see as paid subscribers (more on that later).<\/p>\n Dedicated Magazine, which started in early 2019, was conceived because of the need for storytelling within the community.\u00a0 The creators were originally a part of the auto-scaling hobby and when they found the need for a publication that catered to their niche, they dove headfirst.\u00a0 \u201cThere are magazines out there that showcase scaling and modeling but we were more focused on our niche market of low-riders and modern imports,\u201d David said of the inception of the magazine.\u00a0 They were focused on their core audience and brought them a product that they knew they would enjoy.<\/p>\n Instant Custom Magazine Pricing:<\/strong><\/span> Learn More<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Free Magazine Templates: <\/strong><\/span>Learn More<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n It will be easier for you to publish content on an audience you know about or have been involved with.\u00a0 Throughout the magazine<\/a> process, you will have to outsource some writing but keeping it within a niche you know will keep those freelance budgets down.\u00a0 It\u2019s important to note that the audience isn\u2019t just the reader but the advertiser. Advertising will be a big part of your magazine, which we discuss later, but they are also an audience you will need to understand.\u00a0 So, if you\u2019re magazine is an outdoor magazine, then your audience is also the camping store down the street and the content needs to make sense from their standpoint as well. It\u2019s crucial you understand your community first before setting out on the magazine journey.<\/p>\n Competition<\/strong><\/p>\n There are so many magazines being circulated today that it\u2019s important you research other publications in the market you\u2019re thinking about entering.\u00a0 If you\u2019re launching a magazine in a market with a population of 10,000 residents and there is a magazine in the area already providing content on similar material, you may want to reconsider your audience.\u00a0 It comes down to value. Does your publication offer something your competitors don\u2019t? If so, the readers might just migrate towards your magazine!<\/p>\n Assemble Your Team\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Starting out you\u2019re probably going to wear a lot of hats, for the first issue or two.\u00a0 You may find yourself writing articles, selling ad space, taking photos and much more! But, with proper funding in place and ad dollars rolling in, you will need to begin to consider assembling a robust team.\u00a0 Some key positions you might want to think about:<\/p>\n The editor will ensure cohesiveness throughout the magazine.\u00a0 This person will be your second in command and steer the direction of the magazine for your writers\/photographers.\u00a0 They tend to be decent spell checkers too! (winky face)<\/p>\n Selling ad space in your magazine will be extremely important in determining the success of your magazine.\u00a0 You\u2019re going to want to hire a sales manager that can reach out to prospective advertisers and sponsors to support your magazine.\u00a0 The sales manager will be a great promotor of the magazine as well, locking down key distribution points.<\/p>\n The writers and photographers are vital to your magazine because they produce the content.\u00a0 People pick up the magazine and subscribe because of relevant content, which means you should consider hiring experienced full-time writers and photographers.\u00a0 There are options, depending on your budget to hire freelancers as well.<\/p>\n Adding a graphic designer to the team will help with the layout and overall art direction of the magazine.\u00a0 Graphic designers can also create ads for your advertisers when they don\u2019t have the resources to do so; this is an excellent option for add-on sales!<\/p>\n Advertising\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n According to MarketingCharts<\/a>, \u201cThe consumer magazine ad market is expected to be worth $15.6 billion in 2019.\u201d\u00a0 There are advertisers out ready and willing to spend money in your magazine and it\u2019s just a matter of you getting a piece of the pie.\u00a0 The long term viability of your magazine will rely on your ability to create engaging content while enticing advertisers to buy space in your print publication.<\/p>\n A great place to start when it comes to ad sales is building out a media kit you can present to prospects.\u00a0 Your media kit should have the standard information below:<\/p>\n 1. Ad Space Sizes\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n You can show how the ad would appear on the actual page of the magazine.\u00a0 Each space should have the dimensions and orientation for them to see. Often, ad space in magazines is laid out by half horizontal\/vertical, quarter and full-page ads.<\/p>\n 2. Demographics\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Who is reading the magazine?\u00a0 Advertisers need to know who is reading the magazine because it will help them determine their message.<\/p>\n 3. Placements\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Magazines have key placements that add more value than regular placements in the publication.\u00a0 The back cover will be a more expensive full-page ad than a full-page ad inside the magazine. It\u2019s also important to add online placements in your media kit if you plan on having a corresponding digital magazine.<\/p>\n 4. Rates<\/strong><\/p>\n Price per ad will depend on a few factors.\u00a0 Placement, size, and frequency will determine ad rates for your publication.\u00a0 The larger the ad, the more it should cost. As advertisers start seeing a return on ad spend they are more likely to advertise again in the magazine, in which you will want to add-in discounted frequency rates for multiple runs.\u00a0 A good example of such discounts can be found here<\/a> where the monthly magazine splits discounts as 1x, 3x, 6x, 9x and 12x.<\/p>\n Instant Custom Magazine Pricing:<\/strong><\/span> Learn More<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n 5. Distribution and Circulation<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n How many magazines will be printed and where can I find them?\u00a0 Adding the stands around town or local stores to find the magazine will help sell the publication to potential advertisers.\u00a0 If you plan on mailing the magazine to subscribers that number should also be included in the media kit.<\/p>\n Advertising is a great way to offset a lot of the start-up costs for your magazine.\u00a0 In the beginning, there may be a small number of ads in the magazine but as the reach grows so should the ad revenue!<\/p>\n Circulation and Subscriptions\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Securing locations with a high volume of traffic will increase the reach of your print magazine.\u00a0 Places like coffee shops, restaurants and libraries are hot spots for people to digest the magazine.\u00a0 If you\u2019re able to work with local shops and get them to buy bulk orders of your magazines then more eyeballs will be reading it.\u00a0 Those eyeballs convert to dollars because advertisers are looking at how many people are actually reading the publication.<\/p>\n Another option is actively pursuing subscribers in your target audience.\u00a0 Using social media and other marketing tactics, you can push the new publication.\u00a0 Charging people that are interested in receiving the magazine monthly or quarterly a small fee of say $5.99 per issue.\u00a0 This is a great way to pay for the printing costs.<\/p>\n Find A Printer<\/strong><\/p>\n Whether you\u2019re printing 250 magazines or going statewide and printing 3,000 plus magazines, you\u2019re going to want to find a trusted printer.\u00a0 PrintingCenterUSA has helped thousands of magazine publishers fulfill their dreams the past 40 plus years with affordable magazine <\/a>pricing.<\/p>\n Below you can find some sample pricing for printing a small-run magazine.<\/p>\n Now, if you\u2019re able to get some subscriptions at $5.99\/issue you\u2019re already ahead of the game.\u00a0 Let\u2019s say the magazine is on its third issue and gaining some traction as the subscription base rises.<\/p>\n -100 subscribers at $5.99 each = $599<\/p>\n -12 advertising spaces sold: $4,900<\/p>\n Total Advertising Revenue = $5,499<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n That\u2019s just the beginning!\u00a0 There\u2019s a good chance you can cover most of your expenses within the first couple of runs of the magazine.\u00a0 As more and more vendors sign up and more advertisers see the value, the ad revenue will only increase. Eventually, the magazine will be able to add more pages which leads to more ad space!<\/p>\n Creating a magazine from scratch can be rewarding and it is just like starting a business.\u00a0 It takes time to build a community of readers and businesses before your magazine can truly flourish, but it\u2019s all possible.\u00a0 If you build it, we\u2019ll print it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The magazine industry is a tough world to break into if you are not sure where to start.\u00a0 In the United States alone there are thousands of magazines dedicated to multiple niches and audiences.\u00a0 That means putting a plan in place before you start your quarterly perfect bound or saddle stitch publication for your local market is vital to your magazine\u2019s success. \u00a0 There are almost 225 million magazine readers in the United States alone, so the audience is out there.\u00a0 It\u2019s your job as a publisher to captivate them with your magazine so today we\u2019ll take a look at some of the basics for starting your own magazine from scratch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","h5ap_radio_sources":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[5,40,45],"class_list":["post-1370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-arts-and-entertainment","tag-ideas-examples","tag-marketing-tips"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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\n Specs: 8.5\u00d711, 64-pages, 80# gloss cover, 80# gloss text (inside), full-color
\nQuantity: 500
\nTotal printing cost (shipping not included): $2,337.30Price per mag: $4.67<\/p>\n\n