What Bob said... Roy Inman
on 4/21/11 10:07 AM, Bob Werre at [email protected] wrote: > > > > > > To all, > Any magazine that sees a way to make advertising bucks, perhaps satisfy > some reader curiousity while at the same time not losing customers will > put together a supplement for their readers & advertisers. The nitch > market thing is good for those who are curious about things on the > fringe of the typical HO/0 three rail market served by the various > magazines. > > If we use Classic Toy Trains as an example, they generally include one > feature about AF while the overwhelming bulk will be Lionel--that's > their usual fair. If they suddenly devoted an issue mostly to AF it > would be great--but if they devoted a whole year to AF the magazine > would likely die. If the S Gaugian devoted an issue with strong Erector > content, that might work, but again if they ran a whole year of the > stuff, subscribtions would fall. So I commend RMC for taking a chance > on this wild bunch of old geezers. Remember if they do it > again--hopefully they will have better content. The only problem right > now is that was intended as a promo piece for the entire organization. > This will be your 'tax dollars' at work. > > Model Railroader sends me a monthly newsletter talking about where they > will put special emphasis thus trying to encourage advertisers to spend > their dollars on that particular issue in order to make it 'special'. I > believe the July issue will feature N scale, while August will feature > the National Train Show part of the NMRA. Remember, the August issue > will hit newstands in late June. Are we in that issue pushing our > commintment to that show, or how about our participation in the > convention itself? > > The real tough thing about advertising is the time it takes to really > get things rolling, if the market is tough. Case in point, I was > approached by a new one man company who introduced a device that mounted > a spotlight on the top of a pickup/SUV. His personal experience of > getting his boat out of the water, camping and trying to find tools at > night lead to this product. He designed and produced the product for > about $20. I shot a wonderful color ad for the guy, which he ran in > some 'truck' magazine. Trouble was, getting the product made and > running that first ad took most of his money. He went and hired a > person to take mail and phone orders--after the ad ran he sold 14 > units! What were his problems (this guy was a marketing pro with many > years of experience)? Well, first off they're tons of 4 Wheel, Pickup > trucks, SUV and car magazines, so the market was split just like our's > is. Second he didn't have staying power, it takes years of running ads, > promotion, marketing and some luck to get a brand recognized (again in a > tight market). His third problem was he didn't sell to dealers, face it > a good dealer will do much of the marketing for you. Fourth, you had to > cut a hold in your roof--many guys aren't going to do that (just like > many guys won't do scale wheels on SHS cars)! To finish up, the company > did succeed somewhat by going after the industrial market, but it never > really made it with the SUV crowd. > > If we were trying to start a new scale (call it X scale)--give me two > million, two years and we'd be talking some serious turn-around! > > Bob Werre > PhotoTraxx > >> > (snip) >>> > > well. No other magazine is doing something like that. You also don't see >>> > > a 16-page insert of "This is N-scale" or "This is G-scale". They singled >>> > > out S, and I think that is fantastic. >> > (snip) >> > >> > RMC has been doing these yearly inserts for several years now. I think >> > last year was on traction, before that there was one on laser-cut kits, >> > Civil War modeling, etc. They seem to be selecting niche areas of >> > railroad modeling, but I do not know their selection criteria. >> > >> > Take care >> > Bill >> > >> > -- >> > == Scale Model Railroad Products == >> > == Manufacturer - Retailer - Importer == >> > >> > Bill& Diane Wade >> > >> > B.T.S. >> > RR 1 Box 141A >> > Belington, WV 26250 >> > >> > Phone: 304-823-3729 >> > FAX: 304-823-2901 >> > http://www.btsrr.com >> > >> > We wish you Fair Winds and Following Seas. >> > >> > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
