Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Edible Toronto magazine appeals for
advertiser support

In the summer 2012 issue of Edible Toronto magazine, editor Gail Gordon Oliver makes a plea for advertiser support on the eve of the magazine's 5th anniversary, coming up with its fall issue. She raises the question about whether, without increased ad support, the largely free circulation magazine may be difficult to sustain.
"I’m sure most of you are aware that, aside from a small base of subscribers, Edible Toronto is distributed free of charge throughout southern and southwestern Ontario. As a privately owned, freely distributed publication, we are not entitled to receive any of the government grants and subsidies that are readily available to many other publications, and so our existence is totally dependent upon revenue from our advertisers and subscribers. We cannot thank these supporters enough for helping us to publish each issue. But our costs are high and, to be blunt, although everyone raves about the magazine and wants their free (to them) copies, it’s not been easy getting businesses and organizations to commit to supporting us financially with their advertising dollars.

"We’ll be celebrating our fifth anniversary with our fall issue. I’d like to be writing this column in five years as we hopefully head towards our tenth. Please consider supporting Edible Toronto with more than just kind words of praise and awards (not that they aren’t greatly appreciated). We need your support to sustain us and to allow us to flourish."

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1 Comments:

Anonymous Jess Ross said...

Since having a paid audience is so important in selling ads, perhaps it's time to appeal to readers to pay for the product? And to work with partners - food and kitchen stuff retailers, food box suppliers, gift basket companies, vendors at farmers' markets, city programs like LiveGreen Toronto - to sell it? I love reading Edible Toronto, and I'd buy a sub. (This from someone who worked at Homemakers, a success story in the conversion from free to paid --although I suppose not ultimately a success story given HM is no longer in business). I wonder if the Edible franchise (or whatever the arrangement) allows for a paid model?

11:50 am  

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