LOCAL COMMUNITY MAGAZINES DO NOT HAVE TO RELY ON ADVERTISING

Contrary to widespread belief, local community magazines do not have to rely on local business advertising for their income. Local businesses will take an interest in your publications because you can offer them unbeatable advertising rates but income from advertising is supplementary to the income derived from magazine sales.

Our primary concern is to produce a magazine that people within, and people with connections to your community, will be eager to purchase from you. The idea of a community magazine focuses attention directly on that community and offers a product that those people cannot obtain anywhere else. A community magazine does have limited geographical appeal but it also offers the benefits of widespread appeal within the community. A concentrated interest in a small area is beneficial to you both in terms of readership and article submissions and in turns of local business advertising.

By its very nature and its abundance of nostalgic moments, a community magazine appeals to those members of the community of the older generations and I have found that my readership is composed primarily of age groups from forty years upwards, though there are many people off less substantial years who take an interest in past events from within the town. In this respect you will find you offer a market place for local businesses whose target audience are senior members of the community.

Almost everyone will, at some point in time, require the assistance of a local tradesman, but specialised areas of local business, and those aimed at senior members of your community, will find lucrative benefits from advertising in your publication. Advertising must produce results and offer the advertiser a good return on their investment no matter how small. If you can discover a niche area within your community, such as mobility aids, and target that advertisement almost exclusively at a direct market for those products, then you will return a response that will ensure that particular advertiser continues to use your publication for their advertising requirements.  By offering products that match your readers requirements you also provide additional interest for your readers.  Trying to promote the latest rock concerts in a community magazine will ultimately end in disappointment all round!

Remember to ask your readers to mention your publication when responding to any advertisement. It is important that your advertiser is aware of any success that your magazine brings them.

Community magazines are niche products for an exclusive area. Don't try to overdo it but do make the very best of what is available to you. The market is much bigger than you might first realise.

Michael Norfolk

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