Message 417 of 4438 |
From: Glenn Richards <reachglenn_2000@y...>
Date: Tue Dec 28, 2004 10:06 am
Subject: Re: [indie1031fm] Re: Indie Mag
I am not trying to start a business or magazine company. Just start an Indie 1031 fanzine with other listeners… if there is the interest and proactive members that would be required to do so. There seems to have been some suggestion that there is so.
You raise some good points though. Here is my response.
<<Q1. Who are you gonna get to advertise in the future? Who's going to drum up these sales? How much are you going to charge? What sizes are you going to have available?>>
A. Initially nobody. Part of the first will be to see if there is any interest to advertise in such a thing in the future anyhow. This is not really about the advertising as much as it is the content & intent. Would be nice to cover the print cost but the initial idea is to get word of Indie out there to potential listeners.
<<Q2. What "Indie content" are you going to have and where are you going to get it?>>
As Fan-zine suggests that the content is supplied by the fans in regards to the topic, in this case Indie 1031. This is not supposed to be any official Indie 1031 magazine or anything like it. This could be produced by themselves if they wanted to.
The content could be anything from an interview with an Indie D.J, a review of songs being played on indie. Tips on how to get a better reception in OC, anything where there is a common interest with potential indie listeners, current listners and the radio persona.
Just general info that all might drive potential listners to the dial.
An idea might be “Check One Two Review” where we take select songs from the specialty show and review them. What do the listeners think of these songs and when the show is on what day etc. The purpose is to create interest & get people to listen to the show etc.
Also we could review products that are being advertised on indie. i.e malaboo, beer, etc. That would be my job.
<<Q3. Who are you going to get to distribute it? How are they going to distribute it? Get these commitments ahead of time before you print one copy.>>
A There are 2 ideas. We would need some volunteers who already visit cool places that Indie fans might be found record shops, coffee shop etc. They are already going there so just remember to drop them off. Flakes could be a problem with this though although if anyone showed interest why not try.
Maybe a small record label could distribute who already visit local stores, has local bands etc and maybe has a little music played on indie. I have a few contacts here.
<<Before you go spending $400 (which is a noble gesture), draw up a plan for a year, two years, five years -- what you want to do with this, the purpose, the strategy. Otherwise, all you're going to end up with is one copy of a zine that you paid for.>>
I’m not that serious about this. I fully expect to lose the $400. Otherwise I wouldn’t do it.
<<But also realize this. The advertising climate right now is crap. Indie itself has difficulty getting advertisers. What are you gonna provide to make advertising a reality?>>
Nothing. There is no plan to sell advertising for the first run. Maybe give some ads to people who can help us out. The bottom line is we can put an ad in the zine asking to contact us if they are interested in ad issue 2. If there is interest there will be an issue, we can make a decision based on the level of interest. If there is no interest we are done, unless we raise the money again.
<<Not to be a hard-ass about this, but I'd really hate to have you put out all this effort and fail in this endeavor. And I still say that if such a thing is done, it really should be done in conjunction with Indie's marketing department. Why? Because you'd have access to much more cool Indie content than a fan would typically on their own.>>
Perhaps, the point is that this is a fan based deal though. If someone wants to make those connections direct with Indie marketing that should be fine as long as they (indie) are cool with it. It would seem to be in their interest I would imagine. The more angles we come from the better, and this could be one of them. I just feel that once you enter the corporate loop things tend slow down and feet drag and everything needs approval, permission, can say this, can’t say that - who is liable for what and worst of all “expectations”. At that point the whole thing would become a big drag.
Also if they wanted to do an “Official Indie Zine” or mag why not just do it themselves.
<<And also, not to be a print snob, but I do think people are spoiled, if they pick up a mag (or even a zine) that it's at least in color. To say nothing of being on nice, glossy paper. Which is going to cost more than $400. The upside, though, is that you can also charge more for ads.
![Smile :-)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
;>>
The downside is that it won’t happen without a lot of $$$. I do agree with you that it would be much nicer. “you can’t always get what we want” mick jagger
I think that it is very possible to produce a professional looking zine, interesting & making the most of the fact that it is b&w.
<<PS--Also, if you really want to squander $400 on Indie, I think a much better investment would be to make up some cool Indie T-shirts and sell those. That way, you'd make your money back (through the T-shirt sales), and the message would continue to be spread whenever anyone wore the T-shirt. And once you make the $400 back, you could do it again. You go into the magazine business, you are throwing that $400 away.>>
Anyone with a blank t-shirt and a can of spray paint has an indie 1031 t-shirt if they really want it..
+ I would imagine that they plan to produce them themselves or plan too.
<<Oh, and also, a print run of 1500 is NOTHING. If the purpose of this is to draw more listeners to Indie, even if every single person who bought one started listening, it wouldn't even make a dent in the ratings. Heck, even if they convinced five of their friends to listen, it still wouldn't put a dent in the ratings. Sorry to be such a naysayer, but this is reality.>>
I don't claim that this would be the "end all solution" to indie getting new listeners or better ratings. It’s just something small that we can do. You can always get something out of nothing if you try hard enough.