Yesterday I asked whether the number of craft magazines being published was falling – based on thinning shelfs at my newsagencies. Make is one of many digital (online)n only offerings in the craft space. But Make is more than a digital magazine for as the tag line says, it’s the ultimate craft community. They demonstrate a passion for their subject at the site equal to the passion I mentioned yesterday when writing about The Winding Road car lover site.
The folks behind Make can create an online offer without the costs of a distribution channel. They save on warehousing, logistics, retail and shrinkage.
While it will take years for digital to significant hurt print in the magazine space, I expect that in the special interest area we will feel pain sooner. Make is an excellent example of a more timely offer which leverages online technology to offer a significant (interactive) point of difference over print.
When I blog about things like this I always get a call or email from at least one newsagent telling me to pull my head in. The theory put to me is that by writing about it I encourage publishers to pursue online over print. This horse has bolted folks. Online is the new game in town for magazine publishers. We need to accept that and adjust our model accordingly. Print will have a place in our businesses for a long time to come, but on a different basis to today. We can either get scared about the wave we can see or grab a surfboard and ride it in.
Mark,
Part of the problem in the craft section is that publishers continue to place the magazines in plastic packets. We’re fairly sure that the free magazine doesn’t entice people to buy as much as flicking through a title to find an idea they have to do. We’re testing this over the next couple of months – offering the free mag away from the original.
It’s interesting to note that craft is the only special interest section that we are losing ground in.
Sarah