Starting a Business Part 3

This is an on-going series on starting a business. Learn how to publish a magazine.

A Magazine Part 2

Content:

It goes without saying no magazine would exist without content. First do a search on the internet and see how your content stacks up against others writing on the same topic. Let me caution you here. You do not need to compare other works against your own for talent and writing skills, that talent will come. Later we will discuss how to get content to fill up your magazine. The main thing you are looking for is does your magazine have the content that people want to read about. What is going to make your magazine different enough to attract people.

You must determine if you have enough content to at least get out several issues that would generate enough interest. I assume since you have some interest in a magazine business that you have some grasp on writing and grammer. This is somewhat important afterall people will be reading your magazine and for them to stay engaged you must have some structure.

Receiving Content:

There are always people willing to write articles whether you have to pay them or not. I would first try to contact people you know with similiar interests. Now for those who have not written about their hobby or passion it might take some talking them into it. This is a great way to get content. Look at this special edition we put together for CMM Quarterly (click on link). This issue was entirely done by contacting instrument builders and asking them to write something. This issue did not cost me any upfront money. For those that saw the exposure would be good for their business it was an opportunity to introduce themselves to others who others. There was one builder who wanted to get paid for an article. There were several manfacturers that did not respond. Remember what we talked about before - rejection. You have to look past that others don't see your vision. For those that did not participate they missed an opportunity to reach the world with their information. CMM Quarterly's subscriptions go around the world and reach every continent. Only through the internet.

Contacting Magazines for Content

This is a great source for content. A word of caution - don't start your magazine thinking that you can build it solely in this method. First you must find an article that matches your audience and whose content is relevant. Then write an email to the publisher, target the editor if possible. A email is perfectly acceptable these days. Introduce yourself and give your web address so they can look over your magazine. Now the tricky part is not being seen as competition so try to choose magazines that are somewhat genetric that have an interesting article that you and your readers would be interested in.

Now there are general rules when requesting articles. Put in your email that if they agree to reprinting an article you would need a by-line. This typically consists of: This article is reprint with permission from XYZ magazine orginally published in Issue xxx, etc... You've probably seen this before. They will now request that their email be in the by-line. This attracts more people going to their site.

It is important through this process to get people to your site if you would like to make money doing this. We will discuss this in more detail later.

Available content off the web must be treated carefully. Just because it is posted on the web doesn't mean you can use it. This is a slippery slope to navigate. If you find a article that is on a web site that you would like to use contact the web owner and see if you can use it and with what restrictions. Most of all make sure they own it and didn't take from someone else and they have the right to grant you permission to use it.

This subject is covered in more detail in How To Publish Your Own Magazine. To purchase this pdf book please see the side panel.