Magazine Industry Ad and Circulation Growth Depend on Entrepreneurial Management
It's very easy to extend to the eBook format. There are no returns, no printing costs or distribution costs.
Ryan Shea, VP Corporate Publisher of Entrepreneur Magazine, believes the growing relevance of new media growth is requiring magazine publishers to practice what his publication preaches: entrepreneurial management. "Magazines need to re-up the ante every year," he told Jack Myers Media Business Report in an exclusive
interview. "Online has created urgency and consumer expectations for change. Magazines need to redesign, add and take out columns, introduce new writers; they need to respond to the times, and the times change quickly. Magazines need to constantly add new and remove old."
Shea believes magazines need to reinvent themselves every year. "With online as dynamic as it is, magazines need to take a hard look at what readers want and not what publishers and editors think they want. People have so many choices, they are
not subscribing to the same magazines year after year. They can go elsewhere for information and editors need to be in tune with their readers' changing needs and loyalties to maintain and grow readership."
"Online media are so creative and every day you see something new," Shea explains. "Every day someone pushes the envelope further, and you never know what the next thing will be. With publishing constraints, magazines don't have that same flexibility but we need to take on that same mentality, not necessarily pushing the envelope, but staying fresh, creating
design face lifts and editorial updates. That's what people want." Shea, whose father purchased Entrepreneur out of bankruptcy in 1987, believes "online media have made everyone part of the 'me' generation. Everyone has their favorite magazines and websites for reasons of their own and loyalties are constantly changing. Magazines need to make sure they're always in the stack of favorites."
Entrepreneur is introducing a new design with its October issue and Shea says the design of the website home page and publication article pages are
updated every few months. Marketers, he adds, also want new ad units that require design flexibility.
"It's an interesting time for the magazine industry," Shea believes. "People have talked about integration and convergence; now media, agencies and marketers are putting money where their mouths are. Large and small magazine publishers are making integration a
reality. We're seeing publishing companies interconnecting their sales forces rather than separating them. Agencies are realizing it's tough to run two separate planning efforts for print and online. Their clients want the best plans but how can it happen when print and online groups don't talk to each other? We're seeing agencies bridging the gap and we're going on calls now with the online and print groups together."
Entrepreneurs are empowered by online media, Shea suggests. "Imagine how challenging it was just to form a company before the Internet. Now you can create an "S" corp in a few minutes with a few dollars and no attorneys. It's a good economy and we're
seeing a boom in new companies, new franchises, and new businesses. We receive inquiries every day asking our advice on the best and cheapest ways for entrepreneurs to advertise. Magazine publishing companies are taking notice of new ad dollars becoming available."
The entrepreneurial category is "alive and well and growing," with Entrepreneur, Conde Nast's Portfolio, Fortune Small Business, Business Week Small Business, plus multiple websites, including Forbes.com Entrepreneurial Channel, serving a
growing audience base. Entrepreneur, the #1 newsstand seller among monthly business publications, publishes a "magazine within the magazine" featuring franchise opportunities and editorial for franchise owners. Each issue also has two covers; one for subscribers and one for newsstand sales that focuses on traveling business people.
Shea, who joined the company in 2000 as the only online ad sales person and became publisher of the site and magazine earlier this year (reporting to president Neil Perlman), plans to re-do the company's three small business book sites this summer and will expand aggressively into eBooks. He points out Amazon is developing a new less cumbersome reader and
Sony is developing a new reader, making eBooks a more viable business. "It's very easy to extend to the eBook format," he explains. "There are no returns, no printing costs or distribution costs." Entrepreneur will also expand its audio book business and is exploring an expanded on-demand model, including hotel room distribution. "We're producing video for our website and on-demand video is a natural extension. The next step will be exploring cable video-on-demand."
Entrepreneur created the AOL Small Business Channel and has a content partnership with MSNBC.com. Shea hopes to incorporate video content on small business from other sources and to expand Entrepreneur content to as many places as
possible. "The word 'entrepreneur' used to imply get rich quick schemes. But small businesses totally outnumber large businesses and with schools now offering degrees in entrepreneurship, it's becoming even more important and credible." As Entrepreneur celebrates its 30th anniversary, Shea thinks "it's neat to see the different ways people grow and run businesses."
