Starting & Running a Successful Newsletter or Magazine

Table of Contents......Page 11
Introduction......Page 15
1. Smart Publishing......Page 23
Three Publishing Options......Page 26
Finding Your Place in the Publishing World......Page 30
Creating Relationships......Page 36
Surviving Through Efficiency......Page 42
The Publisher’s Golden Rules......Page 46
Smart Publishers—Some Examples......Page 49
2. Building the Reader Relationship......Page 57
The Qualities of a Good Audience......Page 59
Learning About Your Audience......Page 64
Choosing an Editorial Mission......Page 69
Evaluating Your Competition......Page 73
Designing Your Publication......Page 77
Making Business Decisions......Page 81
Making a Test Issue......Page 88
Gearing Up Your Operations......Page 89
3. Developing Your Circulation Strategy......Page 95
Targeting the Best Subscribers......Page 100
Choosing Efficient Marketing Channels......Page 105
Running Successful Promotions......Page 117
A Sample Marketing Plan......Page 120
4. Subscription Budgeting and Profitability......Page 127
Renewals and Conversions......Page 130
Estimating Subscription Revenues......Page 134
Estimating Publishing Expenses......Page 136
Using Break-Even Analysis......Page 142
Making a Budget......Page 146
5. Building Your Advertising Business......Page 153
Creating Advertising Relationships......Page 157
The Publisher’s Job: Strategy......Page 160
The Marketing Director’s Job: Communicating......Page 177
The Sales Job: Building Relationships......Page 186
The Publisher/Advertiser Relationship......Page 193
6. Adding More Products......Page 201
Strategies for Adding Products......Page 203
Choosing the Right Products......Page 209
Some Well-Executed Products......Page 231
7. Raising Money and Working With Investors......Page 237
The Financial Stages of Publications......Page 240
Your Financial Attitudes......Page 248
Writing Your Business Plan......Page 255
Persuading Lenders or Investors......Page 260
Sources of Money......Page 263
Sample Fund Raising Strategies......Page 273
8. Gathering and Using Financial Information......Page 277
Financial Challenges......Page 280
Using Numbers to Make Good Decisions......Page 284
Get Numbers You Can Trust......Page 294
A Sample Publisher’s Scorecard: Cruises Update......Page 299
9. Getting Help From Other People......Page 303
Making Limited Resources Work......Page 305
Vendors......Page 310
Consultants and Independent Contractors......Page 314
10. Managing Employees......Page 323
How to Find Experienced People......Page 325
Encouraging Collaboration......Page 331
Developing Your Own Experts......Page 334
Avoiding Common Hiring Mistakes......Page 336
People Give Back What They Get......Page 343
11. An Internet Publishing Strategy......Page 345
Essentials for Start-Up Websites......Page 349
Niche Strategies Are Working......Page 350
New Revenue Opportunities Have Arrived......Page 359
Building Your Online Business......Page 368
Profitable Sites on Modest Budgets......Page 379
12. Making Strategies......Page 385
Why Publishers Need Strategies......Page 387
Goals and Strategies......Page 389
Planning......Page 394
13. Troubleshooting......Page 407
Recognizing Trouble......Page 409
Strategic Problems......Page 413
Fixing the Most Common Problems......Page 416
14. Resources for Publishers......Page 437
Associations......Page 439
Books......Page 443
Courses and Seminars......Page 448
Periodicals......Page 449
Publishing Industry Services......Page 451
Accounting......Page 454
Publishing Business Software......Page 455
Websites, Electronic Mailing Lists, Newsgroups, and Online Bulletin Boards......Page 456
Index......Page 457