Business organization for newspapers, magazines

The question of how to open a newspaper is asked by many people - these are professional journalists and advertisers, entrepreneurs and public figures. Whichever category you belong to, keep in mind: although the organization of the publishing process itself is quite simple, further "pitfalls" begin that can pull down even the most ingenious idea. Moreover, you will definitely not be able to "hook" one hundred percent of the target audience, as it could have been ten or twenty years ago, because today some people do not read paper newspapers at all, preferring online publications.

Publishing your own newspaper: a short plan of action

According to Russian law, any newspaper product with a circulation of up to 999 copies inclusively can be printed and distributed without registration. But we will consider serious volumes, that is, from a thousand copies and more. You will need to do the following:

To study the target audience, agree with specialists about work on materials and start working on it.
Contact the regional representative office of Rospechat and submit an application for registration of a new printed publication.
Prepare the first issue (or preferably several at once), guiding the process of creating and selecting materials in accordance with the structure of the newspaper. You can develop your own unique content, as well as use materials approved for reprint (do not forget to indicate the author and source).
Finish editing and layout of materials to get a layout ready for printing. The layout of the first release can later be used as a template for subsequent releases.
Submit materials to print and receive copies in hand. By this time, you should already have thought out a scheme for the implementation of the newspaper.
Distribute the circulation to the planned outlets in accordance with the conclusion of the relevant agreements.

It should be noted that the specifics of each work item strongly depend on the topic. For example, if you are thinking about how to open an advertising newspaper, then to collect material you will have to cooperate not with journalists, but with advertisers.

Potential Difficulties

Most publications, with the exception of purely informational ones, create certain difficulties that have to be faced already at the initial stage. Let's consider the possible "pitfalls" in more detail.

Payback, demand and advertising

Practice shows that publishing your own newspaper without advertising is a non-profit and most often unprofitable business. First, the circulation is almost never sold out entirely. Second, if you include the cost of each issue in its wholesale price even before retail sale, then the final price will be too high, and no one will buy the newspaper. Placing advertisements is the only way out, which is easy to guess after flipping through any newspaper: almost no one can do without advertising.

This means that you will need to negotiate with advertisers and maintain cooperation with them, while competing with other publications and tracking three processes at once:

so that advertisers perceive your newspaper as a good tool for disseminating information and are willing to pay you;
so that there are not too many advertisements in the newspaper and so that it does not lose its attractiveness for readers;
so that the subject matter of advertising materials corresponds to the general subject matter and “falls into” the target audience.

Feedback and statistics collection should be worked out separately so that you can prove to the advertiser that he is not wasting his money. If you are thinking about how to open a free newspaper (it does not matter for what purpose), then you need advertising like air, because the supposed monetization of this or that information campaign is too random a process to be considered seriously. Without financial support in the form of payments from advertisers, the newspaper publication becomes unprofitable.

Information competition: a way out of the vicious circle

Reading the periodicals remains a very popular way to get information. Someone is interested in sports news, someone in political events or news in the world of fashion and beauty. Of course, the most popular source now is the Internet, but access to it is not always available, so many people prefer newspapers and magazines. Thus, the idea of a business selling press is quite promising, although not the newest one.

Where to start?

If you decide to publish the press yourself, then the algorithm of actions is as follows:

Decide what you will publish - a magazine or a newspaper, define the content. If the publication will be issued in a large circulation (more than 999 copies), it must be registered. It is not difficult to do this - you need to submit an application to the regional office of the Ministry of Press and Information, pay the state fee and wait 1-2 weeks.
If you are unable to distribute a newspaper or magazine yourself, arrange with local press sellers to sell your publication.
We fill the publication with interesting informational articles or advertising, depending on the purpose of the publication. We make up.
We print in a printing house.
We give the finished circulation for sale to retail outlets with which we managed to agree.
We analyze information about the sales of the publication at each point in order to make plans for the next circulation.

How much money will you need?

Let's calculate the approximate costs of publishing a small newspaper:

Printing of the edition in the printing house (2021 copies) –10 thousand rubles.
Transportation costs - 1 thousand rubles.
In total: 11 thousand rubles.

Sale of a newspaper (15 rubles per copy) - 30 thousand rubles.
Advertising (at the initial stage there will be little or no advertising at all) - 1 thousand rubles.

Total: 31.00 rubles.

Net profit: 31.00 - 11.00 = 20.00 rubles.

You can increase your income by increasing circulation. At the same time, the cost of printing a newspaper in a printing house will decrease.

Ways to make money on newspapers and magazines

There are many ways to make money from newspapers and magazines. Here are some interesting ideas.

In today's world, it is a mistake to believe that people have stopped reading print media. All information posted on the Internet can very often give in to doubts about its authenticity and veracity. Official printed publications guarantee their readers the reliability of the posted material, so there is more confidence in such information resources. In addition, despite the convenience of using electronic gadgets, many people still have a love and habit of print media. Moreover, the advantage of a business plan for opening a magazine is that such a project can be developed immediately in two formats: electronic version and paper version.

In such a business, the main thing is to find that segment of readers that can be interested in your magazine. For this, it is necessary to work out a thorough business plan, in which an action plan for the development of such a business will be spelled out in stages. Particular attention should be paid to market research and target audience analysis. This will determine how successful and profitable the project will eventually become.

Market and target audience analysis

The business plan for opening a glossy magazine provides for a detailed analysis of the demand and sales market. It will help determine the industry in which there are prospects for development, as well as the target audience to which the publication will be directed. It is very important to choose the right industry as it will determine the availability of demand for the offered printed product.

The following industries are relevant on the Russian printing market:

informational and publicistic ;
advertising ;
entertaining.

Among informational magazines, the most popular topics are medicine. construction, environmental protection, news media and various equipment. Also, publications that work in the field of sports remain relevant.

The main ways to make money on glossy magazines are the following functions:

Placement and promotion of ad units. They will occupy about 30% of the entire magazine space.
Paid subscriptions to the monthly magazine issue.

In order to choose the right topic for the future magazine, it is necessary to provide for the following nuances:

Interest and popularity of the chosen topic in the modern world.
Orientation from the side of the journal owner in the selected topic. It makes no sense to develop in an industry that will not be interesting to the head of the publication himself.
Journal style and presentation format. It is very important that all material is presented in the most accessible form to the selected reader.
It is necessary to determine the frequency of new releases. This will determine the amount of information posted, as well as its format.

A separate stage of market analysis is the study of the target audience of future readers. First of all, it is necessary to calculate the potential volume of the future public of readers. It can be determined based on the age category of buyers, their average income and other statistical indicators. It is also necessary to pay attention to which gender will be interested in the magazine. For men and women, absolutely different stylistics of the publication design and placement of information in it are provided.

The solvency of potential buyers is a criterion on which to conduct a more detailed research. It will help determine many parameters for the issue of the magazine, which relate to the format of its printing, frequency of issue and other nuances.

In the days of technology and the Internet, print media often endure all sorts of difficulties. But having fed up with radio, television and the Internet, people still return to books and newspapers over and over again. For an entrepreneur, such an idea can be an incredibly profitable business, but only if a good business plan for an advertising newspaper is drawn up. Often newspapers and magazines have to go for tricks, attracting attention to themselves, but publications with advertisements and announcements always remain in demand among the population, because many companies, even in the Internet age, continue to print ads in newspapers in the old fashioned way.

Relevance of business idea

The relevance of such a business as printed matter always exists, but in some periods it can decrease significantly. All publications sold on the market work according to the same principle - paid newspapers, often with paid articles and 40% of the content is occupied by advertising records. The decline in relevance is often associated with this principle, people get tired of reading the same advertising posts and articles about sponsored products.

The characteristics of the advertising newspaper are as follows:

90% consists of advertisements.
Redistribution is free.
In the long term, the costs of printing and publishing the newspaper are covered by advertisers' funds.
Reach a large target audience at the same time.

A huge plus of an advertising newspaper is that a person knows about the content in advance, so his attitude remains neutral. When he scrolls through unnecessary ads, he simply does not care, the newspaper does not cause negative, but if he finds something useful, positive emotions immediately fill him.

How do you make money from an advertising newspaper?

The whole principle of an advertising publication is very simple - an entrepreneur creates an information and advertising publication that attracts potential advertisers, who, in turn, buy space to place an advertisement for goods and services.

The income received from the publication of such ads covers the costs of printing and publishing, additionally brings a net income to the entrepreneur.

Competition analysis and potential risks

The competition in advertising has always been and remains great. In the field of print media, it is observed both in periodicals and in specialized products that promote partners and sponsors.

The business plan of the newspaper publication should contain an analysis of the competitors' market, it can be carried out as follows:

Determine the number of advertising publications that are distributed in the selected region.
Divide competitors according to their publications (construction, repair, electronics, private ads and complex newspapers).
Estimate the level of demand for each category.
Select the most popular topic.
Select the distribution method - by mail or by hired employees.
Solve the issue with the frequency of publication (usually 1 or 2 times a week) and with the format (brochure, newspaper, magazine).

"... I would like to open a newspaper. I know that now it is a very profitable business, otherwise there would not be so many newspapers and magazines. What can you advise here?" From a letter

There are already several letters on this topic in my mail. Therefore, I decided to answer in a more detailed way, especially since I am familiar with the newspaper field firsthand. I warn you right away that I express only my personal opinion, which can be unnecessarily biased, erroneous and distorting reality.

So, as you know, in the public mind, the status of a publisher or editor of a newspaper (magazine) is immeasurably higher than, say, the owner of a shop or restaurant. Perhaps that is why so many people want to become representatives of the "fourth estate", and the number of newspapers and magazines will soon approach the number of readers.

Who usually has an original idea to publish their own newspaper?

You are a professional journalist

And it is understandable that you are extremely attracted by the opportunity to do what you deem it necessary to do, and not the owners of the publication, not the editor-in-chief, not your immediate boss. There is only one way to achieve such creative freedom: to become an editor-in-chief yourself, and even better - at the same time as the owner of your own publication.

You are an advertiser

People related to advertising in the media are gradually beginning to look at the same newspaper no longer as a mass media, but as a large number of blank pages that can be filled with advertising from top to bottom. Money for air, money in exchange for cheap paper - isn't that a wonderful business?

You are an entrepreneur

You have been paying money for advertising your company, your goods and services for more than one year. And one day an insight comes to you: why give your money to some foreign newspaper, when you can make your own newspaper and place all the necessary advertising for free, and even in any amount, and besides, take money from other entrepreneurs?

For example: You are in real estate business. It is quite logical to think about the release of a specialized publication on buying, selling and renting real estate. You have an ad agency. So why not open a purely advertising newspaper, some kind of "Business Courier"? And now keep all the advertising money to yourself, and not share it with advertising media. You have a recruiting agency. If you had your own newspaper, you could place paid advertisements in it on the offer and search for work. You are the owner of a chain of pet shops. Who is stopping you from becoming the publisher of a profile newspaper at the same time (Four Paws, Dog and Cat, Our Furry Friends, Children in a Cage)? Etc.

You are a Big Businessman

Maybe you will be interested