Someone (Viking?) was implying that the ADS in magazines SUPPLEMENT magazines incomes -- ie, mazgines/newspapers get income from the cover price. That is not correct (the cover price is all-but irrelevant), magazines, like all media, are simply things that exist because of advertising. People sit down and go "whats a new way to sell ads - oh I know, we'll do a motorbike magazine / a business magazine / a women's magazine". It's not the other way around. But don't take my word for it, I've only ever bought a couple hundred million of magazine ads on three continents, I asked a mate who does the finances for newspaper empires, "M, what percentage of a newspaper or magazine's income is derived from the cover price. I thought it was nothing, but you tell me to be sure..." At 11:29 PM -0500 6/21/01, - - wrote: >It is around 0 - 2 %, it covers the cost of printing if they are >lucky. Just an example, a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal is >$110,000. Since a magazine or newspaper has to have at least 50% >editorial (that's why you get all these shit articles when you buy a >fat magazine - they have more ads then content, so they just make >stuff up!) you can do a simple calculation. Today's WSJ has 108 >pages. Assuming they have an equal split that's 54 "pages" of ads. >Factoring out volume discounts and small ads pay more per square >inch, you can assume the average page cost is still 110k. $110k x 54 >is $5,940,000 - just for today! > >The only reason they charge a cover price is to offer a "discount" >to subscribers, so that subscribers feel good for getting a >'dicsount' (it's normal 'price-point' decision making like for many >products). They could give a shit what you pay, but the only thing >that counts for determining ad rates is your subscriber base. That >is why magazines are obsessed with getting and retaining >subscribers, and keep sending you the magazine for life even if you >stop paying - the more you have the more you can charge for ads. >There is an entire independent bureau that monitors this because it >is so important. > >It is definitely a good business. Remember the guy I told you I >worked for that is now at AOL Time Warner and is on the Forbes 400 >list? He started out by producing the "Mac Buyers Guide". All it >was, was a list of all the software you could buy for the Mac and he >hired some guy to write some reviews. He expanded into gaming and >all the *fringe* electronic stuff in the eighties. He sold it, for >stock, to AOL very early on because they wanted his most valuable >asset "his subscriber list". The damn stock is now worth over $140 >million!! (At the time the stock was only worth 20 million, but >still quite a haul.) > >Publishing is the way to make some big bucks fast. (think Citizen >Kane) The problem is finding a niche that can generate a shit-load >of subscribers! > >Probably a lot more than you wanted to know, but hey, I had a few >minutes to spare!! Have a great trip! > >-- --- You are currently subscribed to e-gold-list as: archive@jab.org To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
