The world of magazines is changing rapidly to keep up with the rise of online content. People often say that it’s not a good business to get into because it’s a dying industry. There is so much competition out there and new business owners are reluctant to start a business in such a cut throat industry. You won’t get anywhere in business without taking some risks and it’s still possible to start up a great, profitable magazine. The key is setting yourself apart from the competition and bringing something brand new to an already oversaturated market.
Online Presence
Print copies are on the way out, that’s a fact. While there are still a lot of people that prefer to have a tangible copy of their magazine or newspaper, sales are still massively in decline. You can still make a viable business selling a paper copy of your magazine but it won’t be sustainable. A few years down the line, you’ll see your sales dwindling and if you don’t have any alternative revenue streams then you’ll be in trouble. The reason that physical sales are dropping is that people are opting to read their content online instead. Revenue generated by adverts on the website is increasingly what keeps magazines in profit these days. That income will only become more important as time goes on so your online presence needs to be strong. Responsive web design is vital because you want your readers to have the same experience that they could with a paper copy. When you’re reading a physical magazine you can flick through to the parts you want to read easily. If readers are struggling to find the sections that they want on your site then they won’t be likely to come back.
Don’t Give Up On Print Completely
While the print edition shouldn’t be your main focus in terms of bringing in money, people still like them and they are still important. Newer magazines have adopted a business model whereby they offer a print edition for free as a way to generate interest in the website. This will drive traffic up and increase the amount of revenue that you bring in. By selling a small amount of advertising space, you can cover the printing costs so you break even on the physical copy and make your profits from the website. Use your highest quality content for the print copy because readers will be drawn to the site if they like what they see. If they read it and there isn’t anything interesting in there, they won’t bother looking at the site.
Show Character
Top quality content alone isn’t enough to drive a magazine forward anymore. There are so many different online magazines that readers can find good content in all sorts of places. The reason that people keep coming back to a magazine is that they enjoy the character of the editors and writers. Let your personality come out in everything from the articles themselves to the layout. Play around and have a bit of fun with it, it might be a risky move but it’s better than a magazine that has no character whatsoever.
