Early Planning

In looking back to the time when I pondered over my approach to starting the Caribbean Business Digest, I recall two important decisions that had to be made. Those decisions were concerning getting the magazine printed and the frequency of the magazine (weekly, monthly etc). Well, the printing decision had two options really: self- printing or outsourcing. Interestingly this is no different from what a lot of companies do. In the business world, companies routinely have to decide if there are processes that they are better off doing in house or sending out to do. In some cases, these companies have to decide whether the outsourcing will take place overseas (Mexico, China etc). Well, as I thought about whether to self print, my old business classes from way back when came flooding back as I mapped out cost for printer, supplies etc. Well there are a couple of factors that surfaced that rendered that idea unworkable. First, in order to do this I would need a substantial capital outlay for a commercial printer and then would need someone to operate it. After meeting with a couple sales representatives I was convinced that the smart way to go would be to find local printers that perform the service for me. So I performed a search online and found there are numerous options to choose from. Before settling on the printer of my choice I remember sending out for quotes for my media guides and business cards. A few businesses gave me quotes via email without seeing the document that needed printing. In one particular case I got back a quote that I thought was favorable. However after sending the files I was told that the price list was old and the quotes were not accurate. So I asked for a quote from the correct price list to which I was then told that the sort of service I needed could not be met by this company. The company is located in Broward County and I remember thinking that perhaps the owners had a publication of their own and this was their way of stifling the competition. After more rational thinking however, I came to the conclusion that the company itself just did not engage in the printing of magazines. Amid the comical and aggravating times, I finally decided on a print shop to carry out the printing function.

The second decision that I had to make was the frequency of the magazine. Initially I wanted to do it bi-weekly. While ambitious it was not nearly feasible as I found out in putting together the first issue. My preference is for a monthly magazine and I hope to produce the Caribbean Business Digest on a monthly basis in the near future. A bi-weekly magazine would create an enormous amount of work to get the articles written, proofread, edited and properly laid out. At first I thought bi-monthly would have been too far apart for the magazine to keep readers’ interest. Monthly, I believed would have been just right. However, I ended up settling for bi-monthly due to the economic factors. Additionally, bi-monthly allows for adequate time to properly research articles of interest to the targeted readers and gives more time to woo potential advertisers in between issues. I remember meeting a freelance writer from the Sun-Sentinel at a banquet honoring Jamaican entrepreneurs (where I heard a dynamic speech by Aubyn Hill). I shared my idea with her and she asked me a few pointed questions about the project. In the end her advice was to do a bi-monthly publication as this would allow the idea to take root and it would introduce the magazine to readers in a methodical way. Turns out she was right and that is the approach that I will be taking.

With the printing decision and the frequency of the magazine all wrapped up, decisions now center around the articles to include and the approach to take for marketing the magazine to advertisers. I will address these in future blogs.

First Issue Completed

The first issue of the Caribbean Business Digest has been completed, edited and sent to print. While I wait for the printing process to be completed, I can look back with satisfaction at having gotten to this point. True, the inaugural issue is a little bit later than I had planned but the lessons along the way have been duly noted. However, in this post I want to address a different issue and save the lessons for a future blog entry. Today, I will give my thoughts on the whole print versus online debate that I faced (and still face).

In the not so distant past, print media carried a lot of weight even throughout the introduction of television. Newspapers were quite the behemoth but now may appear to be of dinosaur proportions in the internet age. Most companies are now spending more and more of advertising dollars on web advertising. One reason that they are so attracted to this form of advertising is that its effectiveness can be measured (fraudulent clicks notwithstanding). Banner ads appearing on websites invite web surfers with the “Click Here” invitation and each surfer that “clicks through” can be tracked and counted. The same is not true of print advertising. It is a little more difficult to gauge the effect that the print publications have.

So much so that most if not all large newspapers now have an online version since advertisers are pushing more dollars into their online budget. Even more telling is that a few of these are considering dropping certain content from the print version (such as stock price information). After all, up to the minute stock information can be viewed quickly online in virtually real time. (I believe The New York Times is considering such a move provided that they have not done so already). Business magazines too (Forbes, BusinessWeek etc) all have online versions of their publications.

So why was the decision taken to have the Caribbean Business Digest be print as opposed to an online magazine? Well as was pointed out to me, the print versus online debate is one that all print media publishers have to consider whether they are giants (Forbes, Sun Sentinel) or just starting out (The Caribbean Business Digest) or serving a niche market (Caribbean Today, CN Weekly). Now all the examples that I have quoted thus far still has the print version. BusinessWeek for example, has not abandoned the print version when it launched businessweekonline.com. So there is still value to the print publication. I believe the print publications remain as a staple and back bone to the field of communication.

I do also believe that there is a shift in the purpose of print with the introduction of the internet. No longer is the print publications relied upon for news. No; there is the internet and television for that. Or even your cell phone! But leisure reading and commentary still are more effective in print format. And given that the Caribbean Business Digest is more commentary rather than news reporting, I believe that print is the way to go in order to build a foundation for the magazine. If longevity is to be achieved, the acceptance within the Caribbean American community must occur. And that acceptance will come from targeting the places that Caribbean Americans frequent and at least in the initial stages that is best accomplished by the print version.

The online version no doubt would have been much cheaper to produce but a lot of the work would still remain (editing, formatting etc). (More on that experience in a future post). Nevertheless, I fully intend to launch a Caribbean Business Digest web site in the near future since it is a necessity. But for now I have made the strategic decision to go with the print version in order for the idea to take root and gain acceptance.