Continuing our series about great business ideas for the times we live in....
I found a great link yesterday (credit: Lifehacker) to a web site called MagCloud. While the newspaper business is spiraling down, down, down...it doesn't mean the print industry is dead. Far from it - but personalization offers a new way to reinvigorate the publishing industry.
MagCloud takes magazine publishing to a whole new level...or down to the individual reader...depending on your perspective.
- Short run magazine publisher
If you've ever wanted to publish a magazine, MagCloud offers you that creative opportunity. You upload a PDF (so, you'll need to create the PDF in another program) to the site, and they take care of the rest. According to their web site, they don't charge anything to upload and create the magazine - payment comes when the copy is printed (or "purchased").
They use HP Indigo technology, so every magazine is a print-on-demand gem. You pay .20 per page, so a 20 page issue will set you back $4.00 plus shipping. You can have them shipped to you, or let your customers go to the site and order for themselves.
Some brainstormed ideas for using such a great concept....
- Job seekers - create a printed portfolio of past work, for networking, conversation-starting, or to showcase your experience as the final interview draws near
- Small businesses - have multiple product lines? Create one magazine per product. Use it to complement existing marketing materials, or use as a stand-alone tool. This would be a great reason to update your materials regularly ("a new issue every quarter")
- Musicians - create a "fan-zine" you pass out at concerts
- Schools - use as a resource for student projects
- Seminar leaders - use as a shiny marketing piece...or produce and sell to complement existing products
Want some more ideas on how to use this, or other cool web tools? Let's get together and schedule a Brainstorming for Business session for yourself or your team.
I don't mean to rain on your parade and I will try to keep this as positive as possible. MagCloud is a Rip Off, plain and simple. They charge $.20 a page which is nothing short of extortion. Oops...there I go being negative. You would be better off going to a local printer that has a digital press, printing 25 issues and selling them yourself on your own website.
Think about it, if you have any substance at all to your magazine, you are probably going to have at least a 48-page publication. Your cost through MagCloud is $9.60. In order for you to make any money, you have to mark it up. Trust me when I say, they are making BANK on their end. The paper cost is $.84 or less, the ink about the same and the press time is minimal because their machine does everything down to the folding, trimming and stitching. It is similar to running a print job on an inkjet which is exactly what an Indigo is, a giant inkjet printer. Their profit on each magazine is in the $6.00 range for a 48-page publication (and I am giving them the benefit of the doubt) which is absolute highway robbery.
Anyone that knows anything about publishing and/or printing knows that if it walks like a duck, looks like a duck and quacks like a duck...it is probably a duck. The problem with our industry is people wake up one morning and say to themselves..."Self, I have MS Publisher and I know how to use it therefore I can publish a magazine." Companies like MagCloud perpetuate this and then more and more crappy publications are put into the marketplace muddying the waters for potential advertisers.
The bottom line is this, a business model that is founded on ripping people off will be exposed for what it is sooner or later. Who does MagCloud think is going to spend $12 or more on a magazine (other than the publishers friends and family) when you can get similar, if not better, content on the Internet for free.
As a blogger, you should know more about your topic before you recommend it. MagCloud is a bad, bad, bad way to publish a magazine of any size and amount, plain and simple.
But who I am I, you ask. I have been publishing small run niche magazines for 22 years and I know the publishing and printing business like the back of my hand, that is who I am.
Posted by: David Johnson | December 28, 2009 at 08:29 AM
David,
Thanks for your comments and insights - but I stand by my recommendation to do short run magazine publishing as a business offering.
MagCloud is just a tool...one of many out there, I'm sure. The concept is still valid, even if you don't like the pricing structure they offer.
If you offer customers a better option, I support and encourage you to make that available to as wide a range of customers as possible.
Posted by: Jane N-B | December 28, 2009 at 10:35 AM