Hi.
My name is Patric Morgan and Im the editor of Living Magazines Cardiff and have been since we launched in 2007.
I can see that this post is fairly old but Id still like to address the issues that have been posted here. Some comments are opinions which I have no problem with but some comments seem inaccurate so Im here to iron out a few details.
Firstly, a little bit about our magazines. We launched in November 2007 as a small community project in Rhiwbina where myself and my business partner lived. It was clear to us that the community needed some kind of help promoting the local business there, as shops were closing left right and centre. It was our feeling that something needed to be done and as I had experience of publishing magazines, we raised the capital from local businesses to produce a first issue. Business owners of Whitchurch, Llandaff and Llandaff North, picking up on the new publication in Rhiwbina, demanded that we produce one for their area, which we started in 2008. Both magazines are still going strong.
The ethos of the magazines then, is the same as it is now helping promote local businesses to the people on their doorstep. We received no (and never have done) funding to produce the magazines other than from advertising. Therefore, as advertising is crucial to our survival, it is in our interests to do all that we can for our customers so they keep coming back.
When we launched our first magazine, it was clear that in order for the advertising to work, the readers had to be drawn into the magazine in the first place. Quality had to come over quantity. There is no business logic in paying printing costs for more issues of publications that no-one will read.
Since then, weve sought our local news ourselves, and interviewed local celebrities (Sam Warburton, Howard Jones, Andy Fair-Weather Lowe just to name a few). The magazines have become such a part of the local community, that more than 50% of our magazines are now written by the readers themselves, providing a unique insight in North Cardiff. The National Library of Wales has recently requested back copies of all our magazines as they have deemed them important enough to capture Cardiff in bygone eras. The Guardian has also written that we are a vital source of news in the local community. We are most certainly not a rag mag, crammed full of adverts and publishing generic features that have no local relevance at all. This seems to be the case of some other publications that exist to make a bit of money by outsiders these are people who pretend that they are from the local area by putting a local name on their front cover, and as they are from outside the local area, actually draw business OUT of the community as they feature advertisers from further afield.
The general gist of the post seems to be the high rate of advertising for minimum return. In fact, we havent put a penny on our prices since the end of 2008. There is no VAT to pay on our prices either. And if the prices seem high, its because we produce a high-quality publication that is effectively distributed. Rhiwbina Living is hand-delivered by us to 4,400 homes and businesses each quarter. We deliver it ourselves because weve had a bad experience (back in 2008) of someone taking our our stock and not delivering all of them (for which we had to pay).
6,000 copies of Whitchurch and Llandaff Living are produced five times a year. These are free to pick up from our custom-made stands at Tesco Extra (Western Avenue), Tesco Express (Whitchurch), Co-op (Whitchurch) and the Spar in Llandaff, as well as many shops, coffee houses and other public areas in the vicinity.
Id just like to respond specifically to a few points:
1. The content. We ensure that each issue contains relevant reading material for the area. We regularly receive news from local schools, police, Neighbourhood Watch, charities, community groups and individuals. We do not fill our pages with paid for advertorials which are passed off as reading material. We receive letters from local residents and actively promote participation. This is on top of our interviews and local history features, written professionally by us.
2. Mit74 says that hes received a call from us but we havent made any cold calls to businesses since 2009. Our marketing is mostly done by word-of-mouth and email marketing (which is where Homer J Simpson got the information that was posted). The magazines generally market themselves. There are a few other publications that were set up around the same time as us and have similar names (Cardiff Life, Community Times etc) so there may have been the possibility that one of these had called Mit74 instead.
3. Mit74 also suggests that mags like this get most their income from targeting new businesses rather than return custom. Believe me, it is far easier for me to keep a customer happy and on our books for longer than sourcing new leads, chasing them, converting them, designing their artwork and building that trusting relationship. Of course, new business is welcomed and actively sought through our marketing but the purpose of the magazines is to promote local business, and not make a quick buck and move onto someone else. Since 2007, we have helped over 500 local advertisers, from the local gardeners to UWIC and the Wales Millennium Centre. More importantly, a large percentage of our advertisers have been coming back to us (obviously when they need to market something) year on year since 2007.
4. Stevednp3 says that hes advertised with us and had zero return. Logically, some adverts are going to be more effective than others for lots of different reasons. Ive also looked at Stevednp3s profile and his business seems to be printingwales.com (forgive me if I am wrong on this). We have never advertised printingwales.com so I wonder if again, this was advertised in another publication?
5. Our magazines are produced on glossy full-colour 130gsm paper. This provides the reader with the message that this is a high quality publication when they first lift it. It is designed to entice the reader in, and ultimately, to respond to the adverts.
6. As part of this, Homer J Simpson suggests a few points that will cost them more time in staff/labour. As my co-editor is currently off on maternity leave, my current role (and its a full-time one) is designer, photographer, writer, editor, proof-reader, journalist, reporter, accountant, distributor, marketing director, delivery boy and tea-maker. It all works very well and I see no need to increase my work load to produce the same revenue. Our audience is very wide as we upload our magazines to our website. We have regular online readers (ex-pats) from as far afield as Australia who also like to contribute to the magazines.
To conclude, Id like to point out that we go above and beyond to help our advertisers. We offer them free editorial and listings on our popular website livingmags.co.uk and we also promote these through our social media outlets (Facebook and Twitter accounts). Weve even dressed up in fancy dress to help promote one particular advertiser at no extra cost. We dont claim to be the best magazine in the world but we do produce a high-quality publication that the locals love and expect on a regular basis. We also understand that local business is the lifeblood of local communities and it is this that we are trying to protect and promote.
If anyone would like to chat to me in person, you can email me at editor at livingmags.co.uk
