Article from Nashville Business Journal
Huntsville Entrepreneurs launch
high-end mag
By Joe Morris
After three years of increasing success in the
Huntsville market, Who’s Who Inc. has launch a Nashville version of its
biannual magazine.
The first issue, which came out in late November, has a
press run of 25,000 copies. Of that, 15,000 go to high-end residential ZIP
codes and the rest to the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce for
distribution in newcomers’ and relocation packages. Doug Dittamore, vice
president of operations, says the idea is to reach a core group of readers
who will respond to the publication’s advertising base.
"We target areas where the head of the household makes
at least $150,000," Dittamore says, "We’re hitting Belle Meade, Franklin,
Bellvue, those areas."
The first Nashville issue had 32 pages, compared to the
Huntsville launch of only 22, a response Dittamore and Who’s Who CEO
Daniel Stephens say they find encouraging.
"Huntsville has grown to 72 pages and now we believe
there’s potential for Nashville to reach that size," Dittamore says.
"We’re hoping to at least double our page count for the May issue."
Nashville was chosen after the two looked at other
markets, including Chattanooga and Atlanta, because of its size and mix of
businesses. While growth is the idea, the publications are not likely to
ever be much larger than 76 pages because that would interfere with the
bulk-mail delivery system now in place. For further distribution, stories
now are posted on the company’s Web site, which recorded more than 31,000
hits in December, Stephens says.
Although Nashville doesn’t lack for media outlets,
Stephens says he thinks Who’s Who will catch on because it offers its
advertisers the chance to be featured editorially, something he pursued as
a furniture store owner in Huntsville – to no avail.
"We couldn’t get the local paper to do an article on
us, even though we were pretty unique," he says. Not wanting to buy an ad,
he began the publication to advertise himself. And he says the results
were immediate and significant.
"The first week, the magazine came out we sold $15,000
worth of merchandise, and the next week about $10,000," he says. "All I
cared about was breaking even on the deal, but it really worked."
jmorris@bizjournals.com – 615-248-2222 ext. 112
New magazine
targets rich. Publication headed for other cities.
By Paige Orr
porr@nashvillecitypaper.com
About 15,000 copies of a new magazine will be mailed
next month to Nashville homes with head-of-household incomes of $150,000
and up. The biannual publication Who’s Who in Nashville will
feature ads from local business and "advertorial" articles about those
same advertisers.
Doug Dittamore, vice president of operations for the
magazine, said he wants Who’s Who content to include the "right
business" – leaders in their categories. "You can only say so much in an
advertisement," Dittamore said. "We give business an opportunity to tell
their stories though a feature article."
"The magazine offers advertising space and editorial
coverage to its advertisers, who pay rates up to $5,000," Dittamore said.
"Full-page advertisers are then subjects of feature stories inside the
publication."
The company’s business model has worked in Huntsville,
AL, where Who’s Who in Huntsville has been profitable, according to
Dittamore, who declined to comment on printing costs or specific
financials.
"Publisher and founder Daniel Stephens started the company more than
two years ago in Huntsville and grew the magazine there from 22 pages up
to 74," Dittamore said.
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It’s easy to stay
informed on small-business news, opportunities
by Shannon Belew, Today’s Home
Office-Huntsville Times
On the top of my list of much-appreciated town criers
is a local company called Who’s Who in Huntsville Magazine Inc.,
owned by Daniel Stephens. While this small but growing business also
provides occasional spreads in a full-color print magazine version, it’s
the monthly e-mail updates I most enjoy. OK, there may be those of you who
consider this type of communication to be spam.
So please note, you can always opt-out of the list (or
in other, request not receive the information if your name has
accidentally been included on the mailing list).
There is not enough newspaper space to cover all the
information this publication has disseminated in the past week;
nonetheless, I thought it was a terrific information resource to share.
Not only is it an ideal way to discover what other local business are up
to (think competitors, or even potential customers), it’s also an easy,
effective and so-cost way to send out a message from your own business.
Each month, a reminder e-mail is sent to those
businesses and individuals on the magazine’s mailing list, offering owners
the opportunity to submit a blurb detailing any recent company news. How
much easier can it get to obtain a little publicity or learn the ins and
outs of other local businesses?
While there are plenty of membership-based organizations doing a good
job of spreading the local news, my hat goes off to these small-biz folks
at Who’s Who in Huntsville for keeping me informed. If interested,
more information is available at
www.whoswhoinhuntsville.com.