Celebrating 35 Years in Print…
As a family, we are celebrating 35 years since we produced our very first magazine. We have put a little advertising guide together to celebrate it, but also in the hope of building new partnerships for the next 35 years.
Vince launched his first magazine back in 1989. A black and white A5 community magazine covering the Neath, Dulais and Swansea Valley named the ‘0639 magazine’.
Since then, a lot has changed, but the core principle of a free local magazine remains the same. Essentially, it is funded through advertising and so it can only work if it works for its advertisers, and we have 35 years of proof that it does.
Vince retired in 2021, but his sons Leon and Matty, and his daughter-in-law Leanne continue in the family tradition. He’s kept himself busy since retirement, but we asked him what he thought was the reason behind the longevity of the magazines and this is what he said: –
“Like any business – you need a bit of fortune but essentially it is all about putting in the hard work”.
“The magazine can only survive if it works for the advertisers in there, and there are a lot of aspects involved in that. Obviously, the service on offer and the design of the advert are important but essentially you need to get people to read the magazine in the first place. You can have the best offer and slickest design ever but if nobody sees it, then its wasted.”
“The magazine needs to be easily available to its readers. Before I retired then I would walk 20 plus miles a day putting magazines through letterboxes. I know Leon, Matty and Leanne all still do this now and it is hard work but its needed”.
“But even when the magazine has got into the home, there still needs to be a reason for the householder to look at it. We will never be able to produce a magazine that appeals to everyone but with relevant local stories and information, over the years, we have thankfully been able to appeal to enough people for it to work for our advertisers”.
“When I retired, I’d had customers advertising in the magazine for over thirty years. It is a partnership when you deal with people. In all businesses, we have good times and bad times, and people’s livelihood can be at stake depending on where they spend their advertising budget – I always saw it as a responsibility but I’m proud to say that more often than not – it worked out.”
Leon, Matty and Leanne produce five magazines between them and this is a little guide into advertising in them and we hope it is of interest to you and that we can build new partnerships.
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