Adding Up the Costs of Magazine Printing

One of the greatest hurdles to launching your own magazine is the cost of printing. Many journalists and editors are taking to the web for magazine layouts, cutting out that cost altogether, but there is something about the feel of glossy pages that just can't be replicated online. For purists who simply must have a traditional magazine, here is a breakdown of the decisions that affect your printing costs, and how you can save major money.

Paper Quality

The paper you choose for printing has a huge affect on your costs. There are three choices you make for your paper- the weight, grade, and stock.

• Paper weight refers to the thickness of the paper, and ranges from 38-100 for text pages and 60-140 for covers. Thicker paper is more durable and professional, but is also significantly more expensive.
• Paper grade measures the "whiteness" of the paper, and ranges from 1 to 5 (1 being the whitest). Most magazines are printed on paper grade 3, but you can save by going down to 4 or 5.
• Paper stock can be glossy, dull, or matte. Magazines tend to choose glossy paper, but at a significant expense. 

There are also coatings you can use to finish the publication which affect the paper quality. Gloss UV and Matte UV provide different finishes as well as protection from fading. Varnish is a slightly less glossy finish that can save you a bit, although pages are more likely to fade than when finished with Gloss UV.

Printer

Choosing the right printer can be the biggest cost savings of all. Some printers offer you a low cost but cut corners on quality, while others can save you money in other ways. Talk to your printer and see samples before deciding. Modern Litho is a great example of a publisher that works with small magazines to print affordably.

Bindings

The typical magazine-style binding is perfect-bound, which creates a square edge on the side of the magazine. Other bindings include saddle-bound (stapled) and spiral-bound, which can save you some money as compared to perfect-bound.

Trim Size

Trim size refers to the finished size of the magazine. Larger paper obviously costs more money than standard size, but smaller is not always cheaper. Be sure to choose standard sizes that are regularly available, because an irregular size may require special ordering or additional cutting costs.

Advertising

The advertisers that you get are the most significant way to offset printing costs. Remember that cutting corners on things like paper quality may affect the advertisers you get, so be sure to appeal to advertisers and readers at the same time as you save money. This article helps to find advertisers for a first time printing.

What Type Of Customer Service Solution Is Right For My Business

Image via CrunchBase

In order to ensure customer loyalty to your business you need to practice good customer service methods. There are many different ways that a business can provide professional assistance to their customers. Communicating with customers through a call center, email messages, online chat, or through social media websites allows the business owners to have an up close and personal relationship with their target audience. This allows the company to understand what the most current needs and demands are for the people who purchase their products and services the most.

In order to find out what type of customer service solution would work best for your own personal business, you need to first analyze the type of business that you own. If you own a small business that sells products through an online marketplace, then you would probably benefit more from online customer service solutions than by using a call center. Since your customers are already using the internet while they are browsing your website or placing an order, it would only be convenient for them to be able to ask questions or file a complaint in the same area. Adding access to a live chat window or a simple email form to your company’s website will help you to stay informed on what your customer’s think about your products and your quality of service.

Call centers are good customer service options for businesses that can afford the extra cost to pay representatives to answer calls. While most consumers these days own a personal computer or have access to the internet on their phone or other device, there are still some individuals who do not, or those who do not wish to use their computer for business transactions. Call centers allow you to reach out to these customers. It is a method that many consumers prefer even if other customer service solutions are available to them because they have the opportunity to speak one on one with a live person.

Social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter have changed the way that small and large businesses conduct their marketing strategies. They have also changed the relationship between businesses and consumers. Companies that have Facebook accounts are able to post new information about their products and other related topics on their page. Customers who have liked their page have the ability to comment and join in on a conversation with a business representative. This method of customer service greatly benefits both the business and the customer because they are able to converse in a casual way that doesn't seem as much like a sales pitch.

The Extent of Supplier Risk

BMW 350i (Photo credit: Daniel Photos)

With the economic challenges many companies are now focused on concerns that key suppliers will not deliver due to financial challenges. These challenges are extremely real, and the extent of these dependencies trickles throughout the supply chain. As an example, if you're an AS/RS system integrator, but rely on one or two high volume partners, your entire business can hit the wall if the economy grinds them to a halt in production. Or, to take it a step further, what if their suppliers, or suppliers' suppliers run into issues?Well what happens when a Volcano in Iceland erupts and shuts down your supply chain? That’s exactly what happened to BMW and many other companies impacted by the recent eruption.

Sitting at an airport when this all comes crashing down really brings this moment to light when you have a first hand look at the issues they are facing. It seems lots of focus around supplier risk is mostly quantitative, around quality or financial data. This is undoubtedly key to the set of metrics around assessing your supplier risk. However how much contingency planning are you doing around these types of unforeseen disruptions?

I am sure no company could have predicted a volcanic eruption but could BMW and others have planned for a prolonged delay in air cargo deliveries? The ability to discover alternative sources of supply in an emergency situation should be a component of your supplier risk program. We can all be hopeful that the ashes coming from Iceland will eventually subside. The key is to make sure when the big one hits your supply chain will not turn to ashes.

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Betting on a New Horse

I have been amazed how many people are finding newfound success just by “switching”. No, I am not talking about people that move from PC’s to Macintosh. I am talking about people who are leaving their current niches and expanding or moving into other cash flows. They think their old horse is lacking luster, and the new one must be taking horse supplements (try buying them here) or something. Typically people are considering completely new cash flows for one of two reasons.

One, they never got to the level of success they hopped for with their current niche. Often this is due to picking a cash flow that is too small or one that does not fit their personality.

Two, it is just time for a change. I will be the first one to admit that some things we like to stay the same and some things we need change. I find work to be one of the latter. We need to be challenged, excel, and feel accomplishment. Certainly this is not done at the risk of missing a needed paycheck, but sometimes we need change.

I noticed not long after the Cash Flow Convention in Dallas this year people walked away with new ideas and the courage to embrace some newer cash flows. One such area is the relatively new pre-settlement lawsuit financing industry, which seems to be paying off big for many consultants. You may want to consider learning something new this summer. You may find something else to add to your income capabilities – or even a whole new focus. In either case, it will be fun.

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