HOW TO GIVE AWAY MAGAZINES AND MAKE GREAT PROFITS
People are always
interested in saving money. If you can develop a product or service that will
help them save, you are almost guaranteed success. This report will tell you
about a special type of magazine you can produce and give away, free, that
will generate substantial profits for you.
The magazine I'm talking about is an ADVERTISING TABLOID. The magazine is
made up almost completely of advertisements from local businesses, with a
coupon section filled with money-saving offers from these businesses. These
are fairly easy to put together. The only real work you'll have to do is a
bit of leg work to get your advertisers for the first issue. The subsequent
issues will get easier and easier, because your original advertisers will
return to you, due to their success, and new advertisers will feel confident
about advertising with you.
What if there are free ad magazines in your area already? Get a few copies of
each one. Take your time to look through them all. Make a list of the things
that you like and dislike in each one. You should then be able to look down
your list of dislikes and find ways to improve upon the current magazines.
Also, consider the type of advertisers in each one, and the group of people
the publisher is marketing to. Your magazine could specialize in an area that
they are ignoring. You could do one that's all restaurants, or caters to
upper-income families, exclusively.
Here's the best way to start an advertising tabloid. First, think up a name.
Here are some words to your brainstorming: SAVER, FREE, MONEY, PAPER,
PEOPLE'S, CONSUMER'S, COUPON, GUIDE, GUIDEBOOK. Think of words that will
convey the moneysaving feel of the magazine. When you come up with one (for
example, "People's Free MoneySaver," then you are ready to start identifying
potential advertisers.
Make a list of the potential advertisers for your magazine. Put down their
name, address, phone, and type of business they are. For example, if your
magazine will market to upper income people, then make a list of the
recreation businesses that these families might like (marinas, bed &
breakfasts, etc.), higher quality restaurants, and higher-priced retail
stores. Even upper income families like to save money (they didn't get to be
upper income by spending it all!). Then prepare a letter to be sent to these
advertisers. This will be your first contact with them. Detail your planned
publication, how they will benefit from it (it will draw new customers in and
will give experienced customers an extra incentive to return), advertising
rates and how you plan to distribute it (we'll cover both later in this
report). Your computer will be indispensable for this. Set up a database
with the business' contact information, then type your letter as a form letter
in your wordprocessor. You can then merge these and print them, then print
labels for the envelopes, saving hours of time.
A good idea is to enclose a business reply postcard with your letter. Check
with your postmaster for details about getting set up for business reply mail.
You pay postage on the postcards, but only on the ones that get sent back to
you. Here is an example of what you should put on this postcard:
Yes! I am interested in talking with you about People's Free MoneySaver.
A good time to contact me would be _________________. Please ___ call or
___ visit.
Name ___________________________________________________________________
Business _______________________________________________________________
Address ________________________________________________________________
City __________________________________ State _____ Zip ________________
Phone ______________________________ Fax _______________________________
Now is the time to contact your printer for price quotes. You will get the
best results and prices by printing on 11" x 17" newsprint. Let your printer
know what your planned circulation is (determined by the number of people in
the market you are trying to reach) and a rough idea of how many pages you
think you'll need per issue. An 11" x 17" paper will carry 4 regular size
pages, so if you think you can sell 24 pages of ads, that would be 6 sheets,
printed front and back. Therefore, if you will be getting a 15,000
circulation (a good number to work with for advertisers), you would need a
quote on 6 11" x 17" pages, 15,000 copies each, collated and saddle stitched
(stapled like a magazine). Divide the price quote you receive by the number
of pages of advertising (24, in this example) and you will have your PER PAGE
cost. You can then divide this cost into smaller increments (half page,
quarter page, 1/8 page, etc.). As the ad size gets smaller, it should also be
proportionately more expensive, as an incentive to the advertiser to purchase
a larger ad. Observe the rates of other give-away advertising magazines in
your area when figuring how much profit to add in above your cost. Price
yours competitively and you'll do well. If your market is a more targeted one
than the competition gets, you can charge a bit more. You should offer a
multiple issue discount, like "advertise in three issues, get the fourth
free." This will increase your advance sales.
When you talk to potential advertisers, find out if they have camera-ready ads
that can be used. These are ready for the printer, and can save you the time
and effort of typesetting. Most businesses will have ads pre-made, which you
can insert into the master copy that will go to the printer. If they need an
ad made for them, your printer should be able to help you with the
typesetting.
There are a few ways you can distribute the finished magazines. First, you
could deliver them door-to-door. Don't put them in the mailboxes, as there
are postal regulations against that. Leave them in the customer's door
instead. Hire some teenagers to help out. Or, you could have the newspaper
insert them into the newspapers going to the area you want to hit. Most
papers can do this. Contact them for their cost.
Bulk mailing is infinitely easier and more efficient, but requires a bit of
paperwork and registration fees. If you are delivering in one zip code area,
you can use either five digit presort mailing, or carrier route presort
mailing. You should check with your postmaster regarding rules and fees.
Another option is to divide the copies among the advertisers and ask them to
give them to their customers. Other non-advertising businesses will often
agree to do this, since it will be a freebie to offer their customers. If you
do this, a good idea is to put a list in your publication of all the places
people can get a copy. This will make it easier for your readers to get
future copies, and it will entice other businesses to act as distribution
points. This can be a very successful distribution method.
The city I live in has around 350,000 people, and many free advertisers. The
best one has 48 pages, a 15,000 circulation and, at the start, was published
every two weeks. It only took them three issues to get to the point of
publishing weekly. Every issue, by my calculations, takes in around $6,000
of ad revenue. After you take the costs out, you have a profit of around
$4,000 per week! And this is being run by just three guys... You can succeed
in this, too! Just plan your steps ahead of time, and you'll do well!
