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Monetizing a Magazine

by chrisdafunk
7 replies
Hi Guys,

I have decided to take a slightly different approach to the whole internet marketing thing and started a magazine dedicated to prepping and survivalism.

Its worked well so far with over 100 people downloading the first issue and subscribing to my list.

I plan on keeping the magazine free (I have some people writing articles for me for free and havent got the readership to charge for real advertising yet). To monetize the whole thing i have decided to start a spreadshirt shop for apparel related to prepping. I love prepping shirts etc and will have an amazon store on my site with products that would be useful for preppers.

Has anybody got any other ideas for monetizing such a thing?

I could charge people for the magazine eventually but i feel more money and a higher level of loyalty could be made through other means.
#magazine #monetizing
  • Profile picture of the author writeaway
    Well, they did subscribe to your list. Start there. You can create filter funnels off your list. I wouldn't charge for the magazine. It's what helps build your list in the first place.
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  • Profile picture of the author chrisdafunk
    thats what i was thinking, i have a squeeze page made with leadrocket to get people into my aweber account, my idea was to send the magazine out via email to each month to get the latest issue those who arent on the list have to subscribe but those who have already subscribed get it straight to their inbox
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  • Profile picture of the author chrisdafunk
    what do you mean by filter funnels?
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  • Profile picture of the author Samuel Adams
    Is it possible to offer an upgraded version of your magazine, which is advertised inside the current free magazine? So, for instance, instead of giving everything away free, you would offer more enhanced and detailed information. As you said, this would be quality dependent and you might actually need to hire writers to make it work. But, your customers would come from your current list who is looking to learn more about what you are talking about.
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  • Profile picture of the author lotsofsnow
    I would start with a paid magazine.

    If somebody subscribes to a free magazine it does not mean anything.

    Offer a premium version and you will get paying subscribers.

    Those paying subscribers will buy t-shirts. The freebie folks will not buy t-shirts or at least very few.

    Sure, you can make money with a freebie list but you need at least a couple thousand if not 100 thousand or more subscribers.

    With a paid list for lets say $3.99 to $7.99 you make some nice income already with 1,000 subscribers and then you make t-shirt revenue on top of it.

    HP

    PS:
    I used to publish a magazine. Lot's of experience in this area.
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  • Profile picture of the author chrisdafunk
    Thank you both for your replies, very helpful. I had an idea to produce a couple of issues to build a reader base then put a price on it. maybe keep those early adopters as free and new customers to pay or should i just charge for the magazine nomatter who gets it? I have already released the first issue for free and had some great feedback and i am still getting new subscribers
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    • Profile picture of the author Harry95
      I'm curious about this too. Is it better to just go straight to a paid subscription rather than maintain both a free version and an upgraded paid version?

      While a free version may get more subscribers, I tend to agree with hpgoodboy that the freebie people may be worth less in terms of buying into your affiliate offers or responding to any other advertising in the magazine.

      Then again, could the answer vary depending on the niche or type of content? For example, if the content does not directly solve any problems, but instead keeps the reader informed and current on specific topics. There could be multiple affiliate products to promote within the magazine with this.

      Any more thoughts on this? Thanks.
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