Once a month we invite our member magazine publishers and enthusiasts to guest-edit our fortnightly email newsletter. The aim is to inspire others with magazine-related content, connect members and build our community so we can learn from each other.
This month our guest editor is Angela Bowcock, Managing Director of Farmart Media, a print and digital magazine for the agricultural sector. You can follow Angela on LinkedIn – remember to connect and say hello!
Tell us about yourself
Like many publishers, I fell into this world by accident. Having grown up on a sheep farm in Cheshire, I’d known of The Farmart Magazine (a farm supplier directory) all my life and when I was made redundant from my corporate job I flippantly applied for a part-time administrator job and got it! Fast forward 9 years and when the MD said he was looking to retire, I bought the business and relocated it to walking distance of my home. The magazine is over 40 years old and to be honest, hadn’t changed a great deal during that time. Since then, I’ve added various digital avenues and now have a YouTube channel which has had over 1 million views.
What’s on your mind?
The state of the agricultural industry currently is having a massive impact on the success of so many associated businesses. As a supplier directory, rather than a magazine with much editorial content, I need to focus on where my advertising revenue will come from. The poor trading conditions are meaning that farmers are no longer investing in large purchases such as sheds or tractors (Did you know the average price of a tractor is £80k!!) However, as a result of the new inheritance tax rules, professional services firms such as solicitors and accountants are seeing a massive upturn in sales. Therefore I need to pivot and target potential advertisers who actually are happy to spend money rather than approaching the same regulars we’ve had for 40 years.
Members receive their first 5 Ikon Images illustration uses for £50 each
What’s the best article you’ve
read this month?
I was lucky enough to be able to attend the most recent International Magazine Centre conference, Magazine Street. (If you’ve not been to one of these, I’d highly recommend attending for a motivational boost and the chance to spend time with people who “get it”)
The conference was great and I stepped out full of enthusiasm to write up my notes on the train home. Unfortunately storm Amy had other ideas. All trains from Glasgow station were cancelled that evening. I tried 4 hotels and various online booking platforms. There were no hotel rooms available (feelings of being in a nativity play ensued!) However, thanks to the generous nature of another of the conference delegates I was able to share a room. (Thank you so much Rachael Hansford!)
Anyway, to get to the point, I was on the 1st train out of Glasgow the next morning and reading Flow magazine which was included in our conference goody bags. This publication really spoke to me in showing that there’s no benefit to worrying or getting stressed about what’s outside of your control. You just have to make the best of each situation and in my case, see a night spent in Glasgow as an adventure, rather than a forced confinement.
This article sums up a “keep things in perspective approach” and replicates the SUMO approach (Shut up and Move On). A fantastic mindset developed by Paul McGee.
Show us an incredible magazine cover
Keeping it to the rural sector, I do always like the cover of the National Farmers’ Union magazine – British Farmer & Grower and their sister publication Countryside. There’s so much doom & gloom in the industry currently, but a bright photo of a field of orange pumpkins, or the yellow fields of corn, remind me of how beautiful the English countryside is. I know you can’t live off a view, but I’d rather be skint with a view, than skint surrounded by concrete.
What’s your top tip for publishers?
As my magazine is pretty much all about promoting products and connecting sellers with buyers, I’m looking at sales figures, costs per page and margins every day.
I appreciate that other publishers have a different calling in terms of a passion project or the desire to create a community, but without cashflow, profit and a plan of how to earn, your magazine won’t last long. Put a value on your time, make a budget and know what your break even point is! Don’t forget to focus on what will pay your mortgage first and then you can concentrate on the nice creative stuff afterwards.
Questions for the community
What subject or issue would you like the International Magazine Centre Members Group to discuss and untangle over on LinkedIn?
My question is: We put a lot of blood sweat & tears into making our magazines. We’d like to think they get picked up and re-read many times, so would you take it personally if someone gave it a cursory glance and then put it in the recycling?
Need more of this in your life?
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