Go see this show: If you are a blogger or have wasted large chunks of your life surfing the Internet, and if you live in or near New York, or if you can find any excuse to be there between now and December 4th, do whatever it takes to go see Dave Gorman’s Googlewhack! Adventure at the Village Theater. I saw it tonight and couldn’t help but think every blogger I know should see this show. (Indeed, New York bloggers should pick a night and all go meet-up at the show. It’s that kind of show.) Gorman, a British comic, rivals David Sedaris in his ability to spin a hilarious yarn from the thinnest of threads. I won’t give away any of the plot of this true story — he made the audience promise not to — but rather suggest you listen to this Scott Simon interview with Gorman. Really, go. No excuses. But if you can’t get to New York, here’s the book.

Magazines with blogs: The lauch of the Adfreak blog by Adweek reminds me that I haven’t updated my “blogs owned by magazines” blogroll. If you know of one not on my list, please e-mail me.

(via: micropersuasion.com via adrants)

And the good news? BtoBonline.com is reporting that business-to-business magazine profit margins were clobbered between 1999 and 2003. That’s no surprise. However, the extent of the drop in margins is: from 11% (of ad revenues) to .6% in 2003, according to new profitability report presented at the meeting of American Business Media prepared by The Jordan, Edmiston Group Inc.

Quote:

During the five-year period covered by the report, the average b-to-b magazine’s ad revenue fell from $3.4 million to $2.8 million, and its EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) plummeted from $505,000 to $24,000.

Any silver lining? Well, yes. It’s no longer 2003 and advertising in most business to business categories is rebounding. And, according to Jordan Ediston, a lot of overhead has been cut in the past four years so that when revenues increase, profit margins will be more robust than before.

How magazines get started (continued): the Lancaster (Pa.) New Era profiles Pennsylvania Trophy magazine.

Quote:

There should be a way more hunters could view these tremendous deer and enjoy the yarns, he thought to himself. There was a way, and the 28-year-old Penryn resident made it happen. The premiere issue of Pennsylvania Trophy magazine has been flying off the shelves of Turkey Hill Minit Markets this fall. The locally produced and published 60-page magazine includes 20 first-person hunting accounts and 120 photos of deer, bears, turkeys, elk, waterfowl and other game taken last season by hunters from south-central Pennsylvania.

The magazine is so popular, the publisher is going statewide and Pennsylvania residents are encouraged to send in photos of their hunting photography. (Warning: If you’re a big fan of the movie, Bambi, stop reading this post at this point.) The article even includes this helpful tip for improving your photos chances for being included in the magazine: “Clean up the animal if there is a lot of blood, and stuff a deer’s tongue back in its mouth. The best pictures are those taken with the animal still in the woods or field. Get up close, and take a picture from several angles.”

(Is this a trend story? I recall blogging a magazine like this in Iowa last year.)

(Explanation: How magazines get started.)

Congratulations: Someone just e-mailed to congratulate me on winning some awards last night and was curious why I had not mentioned them on the rexblog. As the awards were not to me, but for the work done by lots of people at Hammock Publishing, the e-mailer makes a point. The awards, a part of the Folio: Show, were a silver Eddie for best association magazine for American Spirit, a bronze Ozzie for best use of photography for American Spirit and a silver Ozzie for best redesign for Ride PWC Magazine. The staff and clients of Hammock Publishing are the recipients of these accolades and I am very proud of them. But me? All I do is blog. (Thanks for the e-mail, however.)

Missing post? Somehow, I erased the following post from yesterday:

Rafat Ali is reporting that American Demographics has been sold to Crain and will merge with Advertising Age. Of course, this is the same American Demographics that Primedia said it was not selling a few months back. If I was at the other place I’m supposed to be, rather than at this place I’m supposed to be, I could ask the parties involved for details. On Friday, Folio: (who should know) was reporting this about AD

Since then, Rafat has updated the information.

Also, AdAge, itself reports on the acquisition:

The American Demographics brands of analysis will become a regular feature in Advertising Age, in print and online, both as targeted special reports and as part of Ad Age’s ongoing coverage of marketing, consumer trends and demographics. The standalone monthly magazine will cease publication after the November issue.

Ten tips - How to launch a magazine: Next week, I will point to a page with ten tips for performing brain surgery.

Don’t do it: Felix Dennis warns his fellow British magazine publishers to not fall prey to the American way of doing business.

Quote:

At times shouting, he told the audience at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London that the magazine industry is in danger of “a painful, lingering death” at the hands of “the American disease”. Dennis warned that US magazines have been so desperate to meet rate base (RB)– the level of circulation they promise to advertisers – that they have ended up paying huge sums to retailers for shelf space and allowed thirdparty subscription agents to take most of the subscription fee just for delivering readers. He said: “There is only one rule in magazine circulation departments in the US – meet RB or die.” In the US, warned Dennis, publishers pay an ever-escalating retail display allowance (RDA) just to get the titles in the shops.

How magazines get started (continued): How a new magazine for Latinas in Indianapolis was conceived. Speaking of conceiving magazines, here’s an article in Salon, about the magazine Conceive.

(Explanation: How magazines get started.)