Chris Knight
Established Member
First I should thank Andy King for visiting these forums and being prepared to discuss his business, I take my hat off to people like him - actually wanting to talk to customers or potential customers. Too many people who take our money in one way or another are not at all prepared to discuss their products.
Andy I was struck by what you said in the HSE thread, quoted here:-
In a few words you have managed to illustrate what I feel is basically wrong with our domestic mags.
First, "a mainstream audience" is almost by definition, not everyone and yet you go on to say you try to cater for all. I wonder which you mean and why? What is the real mission of your magazine ?(sorry about the dated management consultancy jargon). Presumably it is to do more than make money otherwise you might as well sell drugs or rob banks. It sounds from what you say that you are choosing to compete on exactly the same basis as pretty well every other UK magazine with the result that your offering is not sufficiently distinctive so as to cause people to subscribe more willingly. Indeed, why should they if they can't have some sort of guarantee that what they read will be different from what the other magazines are publishing?
Inevitably, given the difference in populations, we will have smaller readerships in the UK than in the USA but it is not 17 times different - as the relative readerships of GW and FWW would indicate.
My prescription is simple. Don't follow the herd. Set out a direction that stands for something that people can identify with and stick to it. Dump the YABBA (Yet Another Bird Bath Articles) - OK so you don't do these but you know what I mean. Try for the inspirational. Audiences move on and become more sophisticated - why always try to cater for the lowest common denominator?
Andy please forgive my rant, I shall cut it short here - I think you will get my drift! Thankfully I don't have to make my living from publishing and so stand to be corrected on everything I have said.
Andy I was struck by what you said in the HSE thread, quoted here:-
andy king":ys3xe2k3 said:Again, our magazine is aimed at a mainstream audience, so we try and cater for all which is very difficult. Our subscriber base is pretty loyal, but the browsers, and I was one myself, will pick up each mag, whether it is ours, Woodworker, Practical, Trad, or New Woodworking and decide each month what they want to read and buy accordingly.
Trying to find out what makes an issue sell better than others when you have so many variables such as tool tests, projects, features and also what your rivals put out that month and how you can make the next issue do better based on the same criteria is an impossible task, but we persevere!
In a few words you have managed to illustrate what I feel is basically wrong with our domestic mags.
First, "a mainstream audience" is almost by definition, not everyone and yet you go on to say you try to cater for all. I wonder which you mean and why? What is the real mission of your magazine ?(sorry about the dated management consultancy jargon). Presumably it is to do more than make money otherwise you might as well sell drugs or rob banks. It sounds from what you say that you are choosing to compete on exactly the same basis as pretty well every other UK magazine with the result that your offering is not sufficiently distinctive so as to cause people to subscribe more willingly. Indeed, why should they if they can't have some sort of guarantee that what they read will be different from what the other magazines are publishing?
Inevitably, given the difference in populations, we will have smaller readerships in the UK than in the USA but it is not 17 times different - as the relative readerships of GW and FWW would indicate.
My prescription is simple. Don't follow the herd. Set out a direction that stands for something that people can identify with and stick to it. Dump the YABBA (Yet Another Bird Bath Articles) - OK so you don't do these but you know what I mean. Try for the inspirational. Audiences move on and become more sophisticated - why always try to cater for the lowest common denominator?
Andy please forgive my rant, I shall cut it short here - I think you will get my drift! Thankfully I don't have to make my living from publishing and so stand to be corrected on everything I have said.
