Started an Advertiser Magazine/Shopper... NEED HELP MARKETING PLEASE!!!!

[Bernard]

So I've been an analyst in Print Advertising with an Ad Agency for years... Recently the company downsized and I decided to start my own company. I was always amazed at the amount newspapers and magazines charged for ad space vs the cost to print and distribute their media... And I thought it was especially unfair to small neighborhood businesses that often offered great deals but simply couldn't afford the high costs to compete with the bigger corporations. And the only alternative seemed to be flyer printing or newsprint coupon shoppers which were not only very poor quality but also expensive. So I thought i'd set out to become the small business hero and offer extremely affordable print advertising in my free coupon shopper/advertiser at high quantities and very high quality at a cost to fit any small business' budget. I was able to take my connections from my old job to get the lowest possible printing costs and distribution.

So I started my company, built a media kit and rate card, had a website built, flyers, business cards, even 100's of copies of sample magazines to show off the quality of our advertiser and sizes of our ads... Basically where Savvy Shopper & Coupon Clipper magazines (if you've ever got those advertisers in the mail) were charging $800 for a 1/4 page ad each month, we were charging $150 for that same ad at the same quantity.

So what's my problem- exposure and closing the deal. I was an analyst for most of my career... I never had much sales experience and i assumed that my rates were set so low that I wouldn't have to try to sell that much. But I'm finding that not to be the case. Please give me some advice on what I should do to help sell my ad space. I figured that once I had 20,000 copies of the 7 versions (140,000 copies) on the shelves then small business owners from the various zones (counties) would simply see the quality and rates and the ad space would just sell itself. So I'm desperate now and tonight i lowered my costs even lower to just break even and no profit just to hurry and sell all my ad space so that i can have the publication printed and distributed by June. To give you an idea- I lowered the already low $150 quarter-page ad to just $50. Anyway.. Please Please Please help me out. Any advice would be appreciated... If I confused you about what we do- our site is Bargain Hunters Coupon Shopper (http://www.AmericanBargainHunters.com)... And if you want to see the quality you can check out the sample of digital version here. (http://content.yudu.com/Library/A1s377/AmericanBargainHunte/resources/index.htm?referrerUrl=)

[KristineS]

First of all, price is the last thing I worry about when buying advertising space. I want to know about distribution. What's your readership? How many eyes will I be in front of and what percentage of those eyes will belong to customers who will want to buy my products or services? Your media kit offers national stats, but nothing local.

Add to that, there's the perception of your price. Yes, magazine print ads are pricey, but they can still deliver for certain types of businesses. If you set a low price and then drop it even lower, you don't look like a value priced option, you look like you can't sell your space. It sounds to me like part of the issue here is that you came up with an idea you thought would be a no brainer for small business owners, but you didn't talk to small business owners to see if their thinking was the same as yours.

It does look like the quality of the publication is nice - so that's a plus, but you're still facing the problem of convincing business owners that it will work for them. If you do have customers that have advertised and found the magazine worked for them, I would solicit testimonials. I'd also move away from the strategy of emphasizing how much other prints ads may cost in comparison to yours. Most of the businesses you're targeting probably wouldn't even consider advertising in any of those larger magazines anyway, so all you're doing is making a case for an argument no one is having.

Also, as a side note, on your clients page, you have the logos for the clients, but when you click them you just get a bigger version of the same logo. If you want that page to be effective, I'd have the larger picture be the ad they placed and possibly a testimonial if they would provide one.

[vangogh]

Low prices don't automatically close a sale. In fact they can come across as so low that people wonder why. If everyone else is charging $800 and you're charging $150 the natural question is why. People might conclude that your prices are lower because it's not worth as much. Like Kristine said people might be more interested in distribution than price. Ultimately people want to know they can have a greater return than what they spend.

One thing I'd want to know before advertising with you is who'll see my ad. What are the demographics? I'd want to know if the people who'll see the ad are people likely to be interested in my product or service. I didn't see that information on your site.

Is all your marketing directing people to your website? To be honest, I think the site could stand some improvement. Again the demographic info is missing. How about adding some case studies of businesses who've seen a great return. The image slider on the home page isn't helping. It moves too quickly and only distracts for seeing anything else on the page. I wouldn't focus so much on the competition. All you're really doing is telling me as a potential customer where else I might spend my money. I get you want to show you cost less, but I don't think that's how it will be received. Focus on what you can do for people, not what your competition doesn't do.

Another thing to keep in mind is your magazine is Bargain Hunters. Not every business wants to advertise to bargain hunters. They aren't the greatest market for every business. One thing you might want to do is figure out which businesses in your area are going to be the best fit for the people your magazine reaches and then reach out to those businesses more directly.

[Steve B]

I started the exact same business as you about 5 years ago. We ran it for 2 years and had to give up because we couldn't sell the space as easily as we thought. We were getting going just as the recession was hitting. We probably would still be doing it if it wasn't for the recession. Ours was a direct mail coupon magazine - and I also though that once it got mailed out that businesses would be calling us. Instead, it took considerable relationship building with the local businesses to get a sale. You will need to have someone personally calling on the businesses on a routine basis in order to get sales.

I also agree with the above posts that your low rates are probably hurting more than helping.

If you want to PM me - we can exchange phone numbers and I'll see if I can help you out more.

[nealrm]

We ran a magazine for many years and finally stopped a few year ago. At the time we were selling ads at $75 for a half page and $150 for a full. More for the back and inside covers. Distribution was also similar. The reason we stopped - even if I sold the ads at cost, the value of the advertising was less than the cost of printing the magazine. The advertisers were pay over $10 a piece for every lead generated. In addition, even with a quick turn around it is impossible to have fresh content. Internet advertising can be up in minutes, billboards and newspapers in days, magazines take weeks.

Magazine of this type are dead. Dirt is being throw on the grave and the tombstone is in place. DON'T GET INTO THAT BUSINESS.

I suggest you migrate your skill to other areas. Perhaps as an analysis for PPC advertising.

[Harold Mansfield]

I gotta say that I'm surprised to see anyone open a magazine or paper these days. That really takes guts. In my file cabinet is a business plan for a local magazine that I scrapped at least 8 years ago because it was obvious that the web was going to put me and everyone like me, out of business.

I just want to agree that lowering your prices is a double edged sword. Too low and you look cheap and there is no perceived value. Too high and no one will buy. When I think of buying an ad, I think of it's reach. That will determine the price I'm willing to pay. If the price is too low, I get suspicious that something is wrong or the company is close to shutting down and taking my money with them. A firesale is a bad sign.



So what's my problem- exposure and closing the deal. I was an analyst for most of my career... I never had much sales experience and i assumed that my rates were set so low that I wouldn't have to try to sell that much. But I'm finding that not to be the case.
No. It is not.


I figured that once I had 20,000 copies of the 7 versions (140,000 copies) on the shelves then small business owners from the various zones (counties) would simply see the quality and rates and the ad space would just sell itself.
You've done some fancy figuring here, but it looks as if you never had a plan to get to those 20,000 copies or those 7 different versions. You assumed growth with no rhyme or reason why it should grow. So basically you pulled the numbers out of your butt, decided that they sounded good and then sat back and waited for it to happen all by itself.

Don't feel bad. A lot of people do this. Hope that the idea alone is good enough to make miracles happen and people will just come running, and then they find out that it takes actual work.

I hardly ever tell anyone that they have a bad plan, but you started with no plan, and it seems you don't have the money to adjust and continue. And not having any sales experience puts you in a bad situation because you can't even sell your own product.

However, I don't know your area of distribution and it seems that you've done at least some research and decided that this was viable. So what you need now is someone ( probably you) to go out and sell ads and to be able to promise distribution numbers to make them make sense.

There aren't really any easy answers, not many suggestions I can make from where I sit. You're going to have to come up with a solution based on where you are and the resources around you. I can tell you this, if all you have is a paper full of coupons, you're just prolonging death.
Content is king. If you really want to increase your reach, start writing about and promoting the community and community organizations.

Last thing I want to mention is...you have a Facebook page. You aren't doing anything with it. I would be intent on building my fans base from the community. With Facebook's new tools and promoted posts, with a large fan base, you can extend your advertising reach by offering to promote them online.

Newspapers and magazines are dead. Less than a dime a dozen. But what businesses do not have, want, and can't figure out is how to do is reach large numbers of people online. I see a missed opportunity there. And one that is far more viable than print.

[markhendricks]

One quick idea:

Sell the classified ads to consumers and businesses that want them.

Give space ads free for a year to businesses who will place your
shoppers at their business and/or put them in shopping bags and
also place them in those stands outside their business that say
TAKE ONE FREE.

If you ads work for them for the year (or say do it free for three months, whatever)
then charge them for the ads, or by then sell the adspace to their
competitors who have seen the ads running for 3-12 months.

2 cents... :-)

As always, my best to you --

Mark Hendricks