Do You Read Magazines?

[Alex Sol]

... because you should.

A year ago I subscribed for EuroTuner (U.S. Magazine talking about European Car Scene; Volkswagen, Audi, BMW, Porsche...)

This 100 page illustrated magazine has been around for 10 years now. I subscribed because I am a Volkswagen freak and I wont to keep up with the newest products in the industry, events, projects and so on... It's a passion of mine, and for only 25$ a year I get 12 issues! (12$ if you live in the USA).

Well, slowly but surely this hobby has shifted into a money maker. Every months I see the hottest Wheels, Car parts, Turbo kits and so on - so I made a website that "sells" all that (as an affiliate). I contacted some of the most popular websites that sell these parts - and a few of them were happy to set up an affiliate program which they didn't have before.

Besides knowing what parts are hot - I know of all the upcoming events and gatherings for European car enthusiasts. WATERFEST, one of the events, attracts over 20,000 cars every year! So I add a page to my site, about Waterfest! On this page I tell people how badly they need to show off their new set of wheels at the event, and guess what? They can purchase the wheels at only $2000 by simply clicking on that special link!

I guess you get my point. This could be applied to almost every niche out there! For $25/year I get at least 5-10 great ideas EVERY SINGLE MONTH! And I make sure to monetize on it!

Now, go out, buy a magazine on a subject you enjoy and think of could could you possibly monetize on it!

Alex

[cclou]

I'm a member of a forum that has a freebie section and one of the threads is free magazine subscriptions. I went a bit crazy. We are now subscribed to Popular Science, some home magazine, Fast Company, Business Week, TV Guide, Ode (the one magazine I'll pay for), PC Magazine, Seed, and I'm sure I'm forgetting a couple. Even got three issues of Oprah magazine.

I know that if I'm ever feeling low I can open any one of those magazines and come up with a good niche idea. I can't believe I ever tried to think of niches and products to sell when I can be told exactly what people want.

[ecovergeeks]

Wow thats a great idea, I use to get photoshop magazine which i did get some ideas about, but never got around to doing them.

Thanks
Andy

[wealthy]

wow, i like how you think. i never really thought of using a magazine as platform. I generally use them as ideas. I am trying it I let you know the results. I think maybe fishing.

[Alex Sol]

Originally Posted by wealthy

wow, i like how you think. i never really thought of using a magazine as platform. I generally use them as ideas. I am trying it I let you know the results. I think maybe fishing.

Try it out!
And yes, let me know of your progress!

Alex

[LeannaLuck]

What an interesting idea.

[marciayudkin]

Read magazines regularly and you will have more product ideas than you can ever develop in a lifetime!

Dan Kennedy says that every time he flies, he stops at the newsstand and buys 5-6 magazines that he does not subscribe to, such as Rolling Stone, Cosmo, Car & Driver, etc. Then during the flight he is tearing pages out like crazy.

You should see my pile of magazines and clippings that I'm not yet ready to throw away. Last November/December I could not believe the creative product ideas that were being featured in various magazines as holiday gifts, and now that time of year is upon us again!

Marcia Yudkin
Author, 6 Steps to Free Publicity and 10 other books
6 Steps to Free Publicity by Marcia Yudkin

[cullenpowell]

Way to stay ahead of the curve! As a side note I know a few BMW guys who's cars have been featured in EuroTuner, it's a great mag for sure.

Magazines are certainly a good source of information for all the newest and coolest. If you can preempt others and setup a site or two on these new innovations it can really pay off.

It's like Brunson's Oprah Method. You find out what's going to be the talk, throw a few sites up on those keywords and BAM! As soon as the show airs people go online searching and who's site is sitting right there waiting for them? That's right - yours!

[Anna Thomas]

This is a very smart idea, kudos! When you go to a bookstore, take a look at all the "Work at home" magazines. You could do this with all of them!

[Bon508]

I'm with you, Marcia. (Nice to "see" you here, by the way!)

I get at least 5-10 ideas from every magazine I look at. I'm a subscriber to Fast Company (my current fave), Inc., Money, Millionaire Blueprints, Better Homes & Gardens and a couple others. (I really loved Business 2.0 and wish that was still published!) I put stickies on the pages that inspire me... or do the Dan Kennedy thing of tearing them out (especially when my stacks of magazines start taking over my office).

The challenge is finding the time to actually DO something with all those great ideas!

I contacted some of the most popular websites that sell these parts - and a few of them were happy to set up an affiliate program which they didn't have before.

Hey Alex, how'd you do that -- did you just suggest they sign up with CJ or a similar affiliate service? This isn't magazine-related, but I've been a longtime loyal customer of a particular pet supply business and would love to pitch their products, but they don't have an affiliate program. Yet!