That’s right. I’m hitting the road again to bring the “Web love” to magazine folks in Vancouver. This is the second-last stop on a cross-country tour that started in Toronto, got snowed-in in Halifax, and will conclude its first circuit in Edmonton at the end of March. So far, it’s been a hell of a lot of fun — the faculty is top-notch and the participants are reporting back that they’ve embarked on new Web initiatives already. What more could one ask?

So here are the details for Vancouver:  read more »

Just a reminder that there are only 3 days left to register for Web Weekend. Registration closes on November 9, 2007 and only a few spots remain. Don’t miss the chance to take part in two-day online marketing program designed specifically for magazine publishers.

Small Magazines staff: Inquire with Magazines Canada about bursaries.

In case you missed the note in my last newsletter (hint, hint — you should sign-up!), Magazines Canada and Centennial College are putting together a “Web Weekend” on Saturday, November 24 and Sunday, November 25 at Centennial College in downtown Toronto.  read more »

A couple of months ago I got to share my feelings about “digital editions” with a room full of unsuspecting publishers at the (first ever) MagNet conference in Toronto. The title of the session was Digital Editions: New Medium for an Old Magazine? and, in preparation for the session, I really had to do some research. The thing is that the session title and description got handed to us presenters (a complaint I heard across the board from other presenters) and we had to do our best. In my case, doing the research helped me to build a more complete argument for why I feel digital editions — in the traditional meaning of the term — just aren’t a good investment for publishers. Here’s why… read more »

(UPDATE: Just a quick clarification that the example below was sent to expired subscribers. So these folks had already received — and not responded to — a renewal series. That’s why I put the response in the 1 - 3% range, vs. what one might expect as part of an actual renewal series.)

Print-based magazines are constantly managing subscriber churn. Every year one group of people lets their subscription lapse, while others either renew or subscribe for the first time. Similar to almost any type of revenue-generating enterprise, the magic is keeping attrition rates low and managing the cost of acquiring new customers or keeping existing ones. E-mail marketing is one way to approach a lapsed campaign at a lower cost than a typical direct mail.

For example:

• If your publication decided to send a simple direct mail package to 2000 lapsed subscribers, you could easily invest $1000 or more on the printing, lettershop services, and postage costs.
• If that campaign delivered what I understand to be the industry average of 1%, you’d be lucky to get 20 returning subscribers.
• In this scenario, each returning subscriber came at a cost of $50.

To me, that seems like a pretty high price to pay. Though the lifetime value of that customer may work in your publication’s favour in the long run, it would certainly be nice to be able to invest less in encouraging that subscriber to come back.

Now, let’s say that your direct mail outperforms the 1% rule and gets up to 2% or 3%, reducing the cost per returned subscriber to just $25 or $16. Well now we’re talking, right? Wrong: what if you could achieve the same results for $25? Not $25 per returned subscriber — but just $25 for the whole campaign! Interested? Keep reading… read more »

As an avid magazine reader, I’m constantly on the lookout for new titles. Need Magazine came across my desk the other day via New Internationalist. Looks interesting — a bit like Yes! magazine but for the global development community — so I’m going to check it out. Once I’ve got the first issue, I’ll post an update.

Just in time for your holiday reading pleasure, Magazines Canada has published their latest set of resources for small magazines. These 11 ‘hotsheets’ cover the gamut: Blogs and Small Magazines (by yours truly), Developing Your Niche, Fundraising for Small Magazines, Online Circulation Promotions (by colleague John Spencer), Swaps and Exchanges (by friend Lisa Whittington-Hill of This Magazine), Online Editorial Features, and much more. Other authors include names like: Matt Blackett, Deborah Brewster, and Hal Niedzviecki.

I’ve only managed to skim through these and can already tell that this is an incredible collection of no-cost resources for small publishers. (Have links to other great resources for small publishers? Please post them below.)

Lots of organizations seem to want to know about “Podcasting” — recording audio interviews or shows that people can listen to over the Internet and via their favourite music management software. Similar to radio shows, recorded interviews and other audio segments can provide a powerful message in a convenient delivery format that can be listen to on the way to work, or while cooking dinner. And, as someone that doesn’t have a television, it provides a connection to the kinds of media that I want to consume without all the visual clutter and advertising that comes with a TV diet. read more »

Over the last two weeks, I’ve been having a great back-and-forth with the Jon Spencer — the “data geek” of Abacus Circulation — that riffed off a few ideas provided by Steve Izma of Wilfrid Laurier University Press about the delicate balance between putting content online for free and making a living as an author or publisher.

The conversation was prompted by the upcoming New Internationalist annual general meeting (where the cooperative comes together to democratically decide on the themes for the next year’s worth of magazines); there was some indication that the question of “does putting magazine content online for free impact subscriptions?” might be raised. Jon and I both work with the New Internationalist: Jon as a circulation advisor and I as a Web strategist. So, given our different roles — and mutual interest (in seeing New Internationalist succeed) — we tackled that question together.  read more »

I had the pleasure of delivering a session on Friday at Magazines University for the Small Magazines Spotlight. “Mags U” is a four-day conference for magazine publishers from across Canada and the US held annually in Toronto. The event is organized by a number of groups, but appears to be spearheaded by Magazines Canada — a Canadian magazine industry association and the folks that brought the Genuine Canadian logo to the cover of many Canadian magazines.

The session I delivered was given the title of “Build it (online) and they will come” and I was asked to explore ideas of how to use the Web to connect to readers, to increase circulation, and to generate revenue. I also wanted to provide some practical tips and look at the role of strategy and creative approaches in the work I’ve done with publications over the last few years. I was flattered to find that well over 30 people were interested in hearing what I had to say on the topic (you just never know at these things). In the room were folks from Canadian Art, Dandelion, Descant, Film Print, Front Magazine, Geist, Graphic Monthly, New Quarterly, Owl Kids, Style, Tart Magazine, Urbane, and many others that I wasn’t able to jot down.  read more »