Starting a Tattoo Magazine

Starting any new magazine can be a challenge, but starting a magazine geared specifically towards one topic where there's already many established magazines as competition can be even more challenging. There are several factors to consider before starting a tattoo magazine.


Go with print or electronic versions. Although print magazines offer something tangible to readers who sometimes collect tattoo magazines or continuously pass them around to their fellow tattoo enthusiasts, it will also be a more expensive route to take. An electronic online version or e-zine will be cheaper to get going and you should see good traffic online if you promote your magazine correctly.

Determine what type of tattoo magazine you want. Tattoo magazines currently on the market are either geared towards the tattoo enthusiast or the tattoo professional. There are some that cater to flash or are very heavy on tattoo photos without much written content.

Contemplate style of magazine pages. There are a number of options for the actual printed pages of your publication including black and white or full color, glossy or matte, thickness and overall quality.

Find a competent printer. You need to shop around for a printing company to produce your magazine. Prices, quality and services offered are all going to vary.

Hire a designer. If you're not already trained in pagination procedures, you'll need to hire someone who can lay out the pages of your publication. The layout needs to be pleasing to the reader while still utilizing as much space as possible.

Hire an editor. This person will be responsible for coming up with content for each issue, assigning articles to either staff or freelance writers, editing all written material and possibly even choosing photos to include and basically doing everything necessary to meet all print deadlines.

Hire writers that are authorities in the field. These may be writers who've written for other tattoo publications and have a good track record, or could be tattoo artists themselves who also like to write about the industry.

Work up an editorial calendar. As publisher, you, the editor and designer will need to sit down and write an editorial calendar that will include the information you'd like to cover in each specific issue. Magazines always work ahead of schedule, which may be six months, a year or even longer.

Some print publications may also have an electronic version that offers more photos and articles that are different from what's available in the print edition. This is a good way to promote your print magazine and give readers a taste of what information is typically included.

Read the competition's publications. This gives you an idea of what they offer and what you can offer that's different from what's readily available. It'll also teach you what works for them and may help you decide if something similar will work for you.

Be prepared to lose money for at least the first year. The startup cost for print publications isn't cheap; you should research these costs and operational costs for the first year and have this amount already available.

There's a lot of established competition in the tattoo industry as far as magazines are concerned. This competition not only affects whether consumers buy your publication, but also who will ultimately decide to advertise in it.

How to Start a Free Magazine

It's possible to make a free magazine by selling advertising space to cover the costs of producing your magazine. It's even possible to earn a profit from making a free magazine if your publication has enough readers to command higher advertising rates. Advertisers will pay premium rates to have ads in publications that have a widespread readership or that are highly targeted to their ideal customer.

Step1
Decide on the topic of your free magazine. You could make a free local or regional publication focusing on local news and information, or you could make a free niche content publication related to a specific area, such as craftmaking or boating. Even though your magazine is free, you want to choose a topic that will attract a lot of readers so that you can charge premium rates for advertising space.

Step2
Determine who your target reader will be. If you are making a boating publication, your target reader will be those interested in boating or those who own boats. If your publication is related to a geographic region, your target reader will be those who live in or would be interested in visiting the area. Keep your potential advertisers in mind when determining your target reader. If you can't think of a business that would want to market to your target reader, you may want to consider choosing a different topic. Since your magazine is free, the revenue you earn through advertising must pay for all of your operating costs, therefore you must be able to attract quality advertisers.

Step3
Estimate your budget. Keep in mind all of your operating costs plus any additional income you wish to earn by publishing a free magazine. This is the amount you will need to earn through advertising. Use this number to break down the costs of advertising space in your free publication that you will sell to advertisers.

Step4
Make a list of potential advertisers. Your advertisers should make sense with your target reader. For example, local businesses would want to advertise in a local publication, and any business selling boats or boating supplies would be an ideal advertiser for a boating publication. Think of enough potential advertisers that you would be able to meet your budget to cover the costs of producing your free magazine even if only a few of them purchase advertising.

Step5
Create your content. Write your own content, if you choose, or hire freelance writers or volunteer contributors to write articles. Since your magazine is free, you will want to keep your costs as low as possible.

Step6
Lay out the visual appearance of your magazine. You can do this using a number of programs, such as Microsoft Publisher, Adobe PageMaker, or even Microsoft Word. Some of these programs have templates that you can use to aid you in creating the layout for your magazine. Be sure to leave space available for advertisements in several different sizes. Completing this process yourself on your home computer will help to keep the costs of producing your free publication down. Be sure to display the word "free" clearly on the cover of your publication, so people can see at a glance that the magazine is free of charge.

Step7
Sell your advertising space to your advertisers. You may want to have a sample copy of your first issue printed out so you can show your advertisers the visual ad space that is available. They may also want to read your content to decide if the topics covered in your publication are in line with their advertising objectives. The fact that your magazine is free is encouraging to advertisers, because it means more readers are likely to see their ads.

Step8
Place the ads you've sold in the layout of your free magazine. Some advertisers will have their own ads they want to use, while others may want you to create ads for them. If you're not skilled in graphic design, you may need to enlist the help of a graphic designer. Encourage your advertisers to provide their own ads, because hiring a graphic designer can be expensive.

Step9
Take your magazine to a printer to have a test run of several hundred copies printed. Start with a low number to keep your costs down until you determine how many copies you will need. If your free magazine will be a monthly publication, it is better to run out of copies a few days before the next issue is out than to have hundreds of copies left over at the end of the month.

Step10
Approach your advertisers and other businesses to place your free magazine in their physical locations. Many businesses have racks in the front of their buildings to hold free publications.

Your free magazine will probably gain popularity as it gains more exposure. Starting with a low number of copies and gradually increasing the number of copies you make with each issue is the best way to keep your costs down while you build your business.

An alternative to traditional publishing is to host your magazine on the Internet. Instead of laying out your magazine in Microsoft Publisher or another program, you would use web design software. You can sell advertising space on the Internet the same as in a print publication, and your only additional expense would be the cost of your domain name and hosting. Your magazine would be free to anyone to access from the internet.

How to Advertise a Business in a Magazine

One way to introduce your business to potential new customers is by running advertisements in magazines. It might be less expensive to advertise in a magazine than it would be to produce and air television commercials. Magazines can also offer you the ability to target a more specialized audience than other forms of advertising.

Step1
Design your larger ad campaign. Think of your business's guiding message and create an ad campaign that conveys that message in a compelling, creative way.

Step2
Write engaging copy for your ad. Use vibrant, active words. Keep your phrases precise and concise.

Step3
Work with a photographer to add pictures to your advertisements. Use eye-catching imagery to draw attention to your great copy. When someone flips through a magazine, you'll want your ad to leap off the page.

Step4
Hire a graphic designer to combine your images and your text. A creative graphic designer can elevate your ad content to a whole new level. Use cool fonts and colors to make your ad as visually appealing as possible.

Launch Your Advertising Campaign in a Magazine

Step1
Determine who your typical customer is. Consider factors like age, gender or nationality. Identify and understand the user of your products or services.

Step2
Locate magazines that are popular with your customers. Try asking your customers what magazines they read regularly. Take a trip to your local library to get the names of periodicals that appeal to similar demographics.

Step3
Consider other companies who advertise in those magazines. Check to see if they are designed to appeal to similar customers. Get an idea of the tools and techniques they use to reach their audiences.

Step4
Call the ad sales department of a magazine. Get a firm idea of how much it will cost to advertise your business with this publication. Discuss any specific needs you may have for your ad.

Step5
Negotiate a price plan. Decide on a size for your ad, as this will be the primary factor when establishing a price. You may be able to get reduced rates by agreeing to run your ad multiple times over several months.

Step6
Check the ad as it appears in magazine. Make sure that all your needs have been met. Dispute any issues with the magazine's ad sales team, as you may be able to get a partial refund on fees or a reduced rate on future ads.

Step7
Talk to your new customers to get an idea of how successful your ads have been. Ask new customers if they found your business through your efforts to advertise in magazines.

Check to see if a magazine gives you the option to advertise on its website along with the ads that run in the print magazine. With more and more young people using the web to read their favorite magazines, Internet commercials can give you more bang for your advertising buck.

Check with your local university to try and find a gifted and eager young graphic designer who's wiling to work for cheap. The more you can save on ad production, the more you'll have to invest in ad space. The tools necessary to create professional ads are no longer limited to high profile ad agencies.