Escarpment Views Noticed at MagNet
June 05th 2010Mike and I attended MagNet last week, a national conference for the Canadian magazine industry. On one day we sat in on sessions about the Canada Periodical Fund and about Canada Post, but we didn’t learn much that was new or helpful to us. That’s partly thanks to the Independent Publishers’ Association of Ontario, which we are part of, and which had a meeting recently about the changes to the federal periodical fund.
I think there’s value in attending a professional development seminar even when you don’t learn anything new, if only so that you get confirmation that your knowledge is current.
The next day we attended sessions that were jam-packed with new ideas and information. I went to “Circulation Solutions on a Small Budget” by Faith Drinnan, Mike attended “The Fundamentals of Advertising Sales” by Gwen Dunant and we both heard “Small Magazine Creative Marketing Solutions” discussed by three panellists.
While we scribbled down plenty of notes from these sessions, a strong sense that remains is that people seem to be impressed by Escarpment Views. Thanks to Mike’s fearlessness in handing out copies of our summer issue, lots of people talked to us about the magazine. An editor I’ve known for a long time said she envies us for starting our own magazine that’s a success! One of the panellists even held up a copy saying that we’re doing a lot of neat things, and then used it as an example of ways to try to get advertisers to take bigger spaces. The fact that we have already tried the techniques he mentioned was not as important as the promotion and recognition he gave us. He wouldn’t have used Escarpment Views as an example if it was poor.
I was exhausted by two solid days of meeting people and taking in information but MagNet was definitely worth going to. Now the challenge is to actually implement the many good ideas we were given.
What conferences have you found helpful and why?
If you liked this post you may want to read “Celebrating Two Years of Publishing Escarpment Views!”
Don’t forget to subscribe before July 1 to beat the HST!
If You Can Get Escarpment Views for Free, Why Subscribe?
May 18th 2010We’re on standby here, waiting for the printer’s call to say that the first copies of the summer issue are ready. We’re updating our mailing list, and this reminds me to explain again why you would bother to subscribe if you can get a copy for free from our advertisers.
We value the support of our subscribers and we make sure you are among the very first to get each issue in your mail. You don’t have to leave your home because you’ll get Escarpment Views at your door!
As a plus, if you provide your email address, we’ll notify you about free tickets and other offers that we occasionally make available through this website. The value of what you could receive can be far more than the cost of your subscription.
Right now there’s another reason to subscribe before July 1 and that is to beat the HST! Subscriptions for four great keeper issues are $21 before July 1 and $22 after. You can save even more by subscribing for two years at $36.75! After July 1 it will cost $39.50.
First crack at each issue. No need to leave your home for it. Free online giveaways. Saving money. Four good reasons to get four great issues a year!
Appearance on Behind The Story
April 17th 2010If you’re looking for something to watch on TV Sunday night, you might want to go to CTSTV (channel 36 for some people) at 7 pm for Behind The Story. I (Gloria Hildebrandt) am a guest on the show. Hosted by Richard Landau, the program has journalists and commentators discussing the media’s treatment of various issues in the news.
This week the topics are the pharmacies’ threatened service cuts, the Helena Guergis affair, the Roman Catholic Church’s statement about paedophilia and more.
And I get to share some news about the Niagara Escarpment in the U.S.
New Online Event Listings
March 04th 2010 Due to the wealth of great information we’re getting about public events happening up and down the Escarpment, we’ve just added a new Calendar of Events! These listings are FREE for anyone who sends us the information. If there’s a webpage with complete details about the event, make sure you give us the link so we can easily point people to it.
If you want the public to know about your event, this free calendar listing will help spread the word. Make sure you tell your contacts to check the calendar for your details.
Send us your info and give us a few days to post it. We love to spread the news about things that are on, all along the Niagara Escarpment.
Spring 2010 Out, But So Are Thieves!
February 25th 2010 It’s a case of good news, bad news. The good news: our spring issue has been mailed out to our subscribers, giving them first crack at it as always, and we’re hearing good things about it. One of my nephews particularly likes one of the ads on page 15, so you’ll have to check that out. It may not be to everyone’s taste! Let me know what you think of it.
We’ve also done something different with our centre spread, but early responses to it are either approving or unconcerned. If our audience doesn’t mind, we may do more of this.
The bad news is that even in the rural countryside close to the Niagara Escarpment, where it has been safe for decades, thieves are at work. In the middle of the night recently, our cars were opened and an electronic device was stolen. Our border collie security system was off duty, although she clocks in at the slightest sound of a racoon on the verandah. The theft might not have happened had the cars been locked, although there’s the chance that a window could have been smashed during the theft. I would rather have the thief steal without damaging the car. Motion detector lights could have been a deterrent, but they are annoying because they go off even when a racoon, deer or coyote strolls by. I don’t want to scare off wildlife, I choose to live close to them.
The police were happy to take my report, even coming by to dust my car for fingerprints, a private, interesting CSI episode in my own driveway! We may not lock our cars, but we no longer leave anything of value in them, either. Beware and be advised: even on the Escarpment, there are some unkind people taking advantage of our easy lifestyle.
Niagara Greenbelt Website Introduced
January 01st 2010 While surfing around one day last month, I came upon a page about Escarpment Views magazine on the new Niagara Greenbelt website. Information had been posted about our magazine from published issues and our own website. It was surprising to see this and I felt honoured that they had decided to create a page for us. After contacting the organizers, we offered to provide some missing images and information, which they quickly added. Now we have a complete profile that we’re proud to point to people.
The Niagara Greenbelt website is a comprehensive and impressive source of information for visitors to the beautiful Niagara Region. It is user-focussed and innovative, letting people design and create their own trips and itineraries. The site uses several web technologies to provide as much detailed information as desired. See their overview description of what’s included in their site.
The website is evolving and growing and some of the indexing looks like it needs tweaking. This will probably happen as people let them know about fixes that are needed. Another point to note is that the site probably works best with high-speed access. Without it, the pages take a long time to appear. A lot of patience is needed to get around.
It’s a mammoth project to create a searchable, customizable database of this scope, so the organizers should be congratulated on their achievement.
Gift Idea: Escarpment Views Notecards
December 18th 2009 Just in time for last-minute Christmas shopping, we’re announcing a new page on our website, where we hope to offer unique products for sale. We have begun by showing Escarpment Views blank notecards.
I always have blank notecards available. I use them for all occasions, writing my own messages for birthdays, congratulations, sometimes condolences. I even use them for letters to friends and relatives. A “real” card in the mail can be a great pleasure.
Our notecards feature some of Mike Davis’ most popular photography of places near the Niagara Escarpment: the first four magazine cover photos, Scotsdale Farm and flowering lilac bushes. These photos have produced a lot of “Aahs” from viewers.
You get eight cards and envelopes for $10 plus GST and mailing. If you happen to want more copies of any images, let us know. We’ll customize your order at no extra charge! If you want the notecards by Dec. 24, let us know and we’ll rush them to you.
Do you have other photographs from the magazine that you’d like to see as notecards? And do you have ideas for other interesting products we can offer through our website? Don’t be shy about promoting your own work if you have something cool. Leave a comment and share your ideas.
Celebrating Two Years of Publishing Escarpment Views!
December 17th 2009 We’re starting our third year of publishing Escarpment Views, which is a significant achievement for any small business, let alone one that’s facing the current challenging economy. If I knew how, I’d insert a graphic image here of horns and streamers and confetti and Congratulations! Can anyone tell me how to do this here?
We’re pretty happy about this. Things are looking better for 2010, as the economy improves and the magazine gets better known and recognized for consistency of quality.
We thank all our advertisers and subscribers for supporting and encouraging our vision in our critical first two years. Despite being filled with a massive amount of work, the time has truly flown by. We certainly wouldn’t be at this point without your involvement.
More than one objective, impartial business person has told us recently that we need to celebrate our achievements more, and to realize that we’re doing very well. We’re trying to do that, but there are community events and performances to go to, people to introduce ourselves to, and always, the next and future issues to think about and work on.
What do you have to celebrate about this year? Are you taking a moment to congratulate yourself on your efforts?
Striving for a Good Magazine Cover for Escarpment Views
November 16th 2009The winter issue is at the printer. For me, that means I have a few days to dig down to the top of my desk and work on other assignments, some of which I’ve had to put off while I finalize and proof the magazine.
For Mike, it means organizing and finalizing our mailing lists and deciding our Canada Post distribution of free copies. We try to change the free distribution each issue, in order to introduce the magazine to as many people as possible.
The cover of our winter issue is a little unusual for us. At first I had been thinking of going with a traditional, beautiful Christmas theme. But then I thought it looked a little predictable and – well, sleepy. I keep trying to improve our covers to make them more arresting, interesting, irresistable even.
Then I took a closer look at one of the photos we’re using in our icewine feature. It’s an entertainer portraying Jack Frost, so he has white makeup covering his face, and he’s…I’ll just say he’s engaged in an unusual, colourful activity. As well as being an interesting photo, it also has the right technical composition for a magazine cover. There’s a science as well as an art to a good magazine cover, and I aim to apply all the rules and ideas I can.
One thing I insist on with our covers: they have to be “real journalism.” They have to be photographs of what is actually contained in our issues. I don’t want to use stock photography that anyone can access. Our covers are the work of photographers who illustrate our features and departments. A photo in our magazine has been taken by someone we know, usually for a specific assignment. We’re the real deal. Our covers are not just pretty pictures that have nothing to do with our contents. Our covers are meant to show you what you’ll find inside.
Do you agree with this approach, or am I being too uptight? What do you think a good cover should be like? Is there a cover you remember as being particularly striking? I mean any magazine, any time, not just ours.
A Magazine Too Good to Cut Up?
November 06th 2009 It happened again just recently. We got an order for some packs of notecards, and it came on the order form in the magazine, but the form had been photocopied.
Almost every order we get, whether for subscriptions or notecards, comes on a photocopy. It happens so often that there has to be a reason. People don’t want to cut up the magazine. People must want to keep the magazine. As evidence that they’re keeping back issues, we noticed that the latest order form was on a photocopy from the summer issue.
This is why we tell our advertisers not to put coupons in their ads. We’re not a newspaper to be cut up and tossed out. Coupons don’t work in a magazine that people are keeping in one piece.
I’m thrilled to see this. It’s a high compliment and a tribute to our contributors and to our art director, Branimir Zlamalik, who makes our issues look so good that people don’t want to rip them apart.
If they don’t keep the back issues, perhaps they pass them on to others. If they don’t do that, we expect and hope they recycle them. That way, our old issues could become part of the recycled stock that goes into our new issues! That would be true recycling.
What about you? What publications do you keep, and what do you do with the ones you don’t?
