Magazine Articles

[whereisharry]

Hi,

Jusy interested to know what is the ususal practice for publishing a magazine, the magazine will be advertisment funded but as far as the articles go what do you tend to go for:-

a - Pay the company/interviewee for an interview as they are giving up there time
b - Ask for an article to be submitted by certain organisations/compaines as in exchange they are effectively getting free exposure
c - would you expect the interviewee/article writer to pay you to have it submitted as it is advertising.

Wouls be interested to hear what format current magazine publishers operate at.

many thanks for any help

[Maslins]

I think "b" would be most common in my experience for the kind of things I imagine you're talking about.

Obviously tabloids pay the likes of Brangelina £millions to have articles about them because it helps to sell magazines/papers.

Presumably it just comes down to supply & demand, ie how popular is your magazine and how many people would want an article published in it.

[whereisharry]

Thanks Maslins,

i think that is the approach I'm looking for as I don't have millions to pay1

[debbidoo]

What about journalism students? You might get a few good articles from them, for much lower rates than you'd pay a journalist who's qualified. Obviously the quality may not be quite as high, but I bet a load of journalism students would love the opportunity to get some experience, and have something published that they can put in their portfolio.

Just a thought :)

[whereisharry]

Good thinking, will look into that, depends how much they charge though!

[OldWelshGuy]

sign up to a good press release rsource, then you can follow up the releases and be getting hold of people who want to be interviewed etc.

My best advice to you is to have all your editorial features in place for the NEXT publication in advance of THIS publication. if you try and pull it all together on deadline it will kill you (I speak from bitter experience )

[whereisharry]

Thanks for that, do you have any info on any good press release sources and what sort of costs are involved?

thanks

[scotmum]

I have to say I'd go for c - the article is an advertorial. The businesses that you are writing about (or they write about) is an advert in itself. Get them to pay more for an advertorial and throw in some ad space later in the mag for 'free'.


For press releases try Press Loft. Depends what kinds of products/businesses you are interested in. I am signed up to a few sites that email me daily/weekly press releases about the things I write about. They also send me photos to include in my articles. This is a free service.

[whereisharry]

scotmum - will check press loft out thanks for that

Its actually a sports magazine and the articles wil be from clubs/organisations, would press loft still be relevant?

[scotmum]

Press loft probably won't meet your needs. Try these:

www.pressbox.co.uk
www.prweb.com
www.prfree.com
www.free-press-release.co
www.responsesource.com
www.emediawire.com
www.clickpress.com

Not sure if they'll be any good but they may lead you to the right path?

[whereisharry]

scotmum - thats fantastic will take a look, many thanks for that

[whereisharry]

If there are any "free magazine" publishers here, how many homes to you circulate to please?

Thanks

[scotmum]

Morning whereisharry - I circulate 10,000 copies of a free magazine targeted at women. I don't do a mail drop as advertisers do not seem to like this approach. I go to the places women go to and either hand them out or leave them in restaurants, hairdressers, playgroups, schools,etc.

[whereisharry]

thanks for that, interesting that you say advertisers do not like a mail drop, I will certainly take that oon board

[scotmum]

When I was touting for business that was a real issue which I took on board and made sure that the advertisers felt that they were paying almost for a marketing service from me. They are also really suspicious of delivery companies pushing magazines through people's doors as they can be unreliable, although not all.

It would be worth thinking about who you are actually targeting and make sure this is visible in your media pack that you show to potential clients. Doing a mail drop for a readership like yours would be of less value than more of a targeted campaign. If I was to receive your mag I would probably bin it as it doesn't interest me, while you would probably bin mine as it focuses on women's issues.

Think about where your readership goes and place you mag there. Go to matches and hand out the mag there.Get it into schools, if the material is appropriate.

Once I had figured out that I had 2 customers, in effect (the advertiser and the reader) I realised that I needed to meet two needs and that is quite tough but not impossible.

[whereisharry]

scotmum- thanks again for that, very informative, I really like the idea of getting it into schools and had not thought of that, can I ask how you approach potential advertisers, do you cold call bu email etc or actually go and visit certain places?

Many thanks

[scotmum]

I have tried various methods: sales letter, then phone call -this is easy for businesses to ignore and throw away.

I tend to just get out there and make a personal call to the advertisers I target. The only down side to this is that the person who purchases and decides on advertising is often not there. I tend to deal with small independent traders so often the person working in the shop is the owner and therefore decision maker.

If you were trying to get into schools you could offer the schools some kind of free gift - balls, or some kit for example, to get yourself in there. A donation of some kind would be a great press opp also for you - write a press release and send it to your local paper to show your generosity and plug your business.

[whereisharry]

good idea with the free gifts to schools, you have me thinking now! thankyou

[whereisharry]

Can anyone reccomend any good magazine/leaflet delivery companies whocover all areas of Wales?

[whereisharry]

morning,

If anyone runs a delivery company then any chance you could give me an idea of rates?

thanks