So, you’re thinking about starting a magazine. When you tell people about your new idea, they may ask you things like:
How will you get enough readers? How will you make money?
It’s true that magazine retail sales have been on the decline over the last decade. Between 2014 and 2016, magazine rates dropped from 103 million readers to 75 million. And nowadays, the average reader only spends about 15 minutes reading a magazine.
Doesn’t sound like great news if you’re looking to start a magazine. But despite all that, the digital publishing industry is alive and well. More people are reading newspapers and magazines online than ever before. And if you decide to create a digital magazine, there’s great potential to profit!
But how do you start an online magazine with the best foot forward? In this article, we’ll explore how to give your magazine the successful start it deserves!
Identify Your Audience
If you’re looking to start a magazine, chances are you already have some ideas in mind for topics and stories. But first, you have to establish a focus.
Who is your target audience? Better yet, who is your ideal reader? What are their typical age, income, and education level? What types of topics do they find interesting? What kinds of stories and content do they share online?
Be cautious of generalizing your target audience. Trying to make your magazine appeal to everybody may seem feasible. But this will only weaken your magazine’s stance and make it harder to attain regular readers.
Define Your Niche Market
You’re looking to create a digital magazine to establish your company as an authority. You want your digital magazine not only to be a place readers look forward to coming to. You want it to be a place where readers turn to when they need information.
Know exactly what types of information you want to share and sell. But you can only do this by first understanding the niche market your magazine will sell to.
How prevalent is your niche and how many other publications will you have to compete with?
It may be the case that your target audience is more likely to read print magazines than digital ones. Or, it could be that your niche doesn’t have enough content to draw from to publish on a monthly basis.
By defining your niche, you’ll be able to figure out what will work for your magazine…and what won’t.
Publish Quality Content (and Stay within Budget)
There are hundreds of digital publications that your target audience finds interesting. What is it about your concept for a digital magazine that they’ll find appealing?
Content is the most important ingredient in the recipe for any successful magazine. After all, this is what readers come for… and it’s what keeps them subscribed, always coming back for more.
But how do you produce high-quality content if you can’t afford to hire talent?
Building your readership is the only way you’ll be able to eventually profit. As you profit more, you can invest in your team of writers and expand your magazine in new directions. This all will snowball into more readers, higher profits, and more for everybody… your team and your followers included!
You can learn more about increasing your readership in cost-effective ways early on. By doing so, you’ll invest your money in the right places.
Optimize Your Digital Magazine for Maximum Viewership
Are you looking to start an online magazine with little to no money to work with?
Regularly publish killer content that your target audience will love, above all else. But the rest boils down to how you market to your target audience, and we’ll help you with that next.
Create a Functional and Diverse Website Design
First, make your magazine available to any user – no matter the device they use. If your website’s layout lacks in any way, your readers will turn the other way. Nobody wants to deal with zooming in and out, errors, and slow loading times.
Your magazine should be easy to read and navigate – no matter if it’s on an Android, iPhone, or PC. You can also create an app for your magazine so users can download it to their mobile devices.
Advertising is the Nature of the Game
Magazines make a large portion of their money through the advertisements they feature.
Advertisers want to work with magazines that have substantial followings. After all, without viewers, their efforts to advertise will fall to the wayside.
But the advertisements you feature in your magazine should appeal to your audience. In the beginning, you may feel tempted to work with any advertiser who shows interest in your brand. But if their business doesn’t serve your audience, you could lose your readers.
With all that said, you should take advantage of advertisers. But you should strategize who you choose to advertise with your audience in mind.
Market Your Magazine on Social Media
If you’re going to start a magazine online, you must have a presence on social media.
Fortunately, so many popular platforms, like Facebook and Instagram, are free to use. Not only does this mean free advertising. It means you can create a variety of content… and there’s no shortage of it.
With a strong social media presence, you’ll be able to market your magazine’s content… and attract more followers to your subscription page in the process!
The Deal with Subscriptions
Speaking of subscriptions…in the first year of publication, you may want to offer readers a free subscription.
Not only will this give more incentive to prospective subscribers, but it will also attract advertisers, paving the way for more money to come your way.
Start a Magazine That People are Waiting to Discover!
Running a digital magazine is not for the faint of heart.
It takes hundreds of hours of work into the wee hours of the morning. There’s the hustle when it comes to networking and working with advertisers. And there’s trying to come out on top with little money to work with.
Despite all this, there’s no better time to start a magazine. With technology constantly evolving, there’s a lot of potential for digital publishing. And with the right techniques, you can kick-start an online magazine – and make serious money!
Search engine optimization (SEO) is one practice comprised of numerous useful techniques. And by using it for your digital magazine, you’ll not only optimize your marketing strategy… but convert more views to subscriptions in the process!
To learn more, check out our SEO tips!