Making connections and….. Charging for articles?

A few weeks ago I spoke to a business owner in the Lauderdale area and pitched to him the Caribbean Business Digest. I ended up giving him my last copy of the most recent issue. I was holding it for personal reasons but needed to give it away to promote the magazine. He was highly impressed and asked if he could submit an article and an ad. Of course he was welcomed on both counts. So he gave me his article for the next issue (article was on taxes, he is an accountant) along with his business card to create the ad and a check for his ad. Needless to say I was extremely happy with his contribution not only for the paid advertisement but his support. He had good positive comments to offer and even went as far as sharing the magazine to one of his clients who is a restaurant owner.

This restaurateur was impressed with the magazine specifically the piece on Chef Irie Spice, Hugh Sinclair. He wanted to know if I charged for doing the articles on business owners. As a rule, I don’t intend to but would welcome any ad submissions that may be forthcoming. But that is food for thought. I know some magazines and journals out there do get paid to feature businesses in their publications. But I am not there yet. So for now I have to profile people and businesses free of cost and make a pitch for ad submission. Is that the best way to go? Time will tell. After all, one business that was featured promised to advertise but it never materialized. The Reason? Advertising in magazines is not effective for the business. In any event, that is the chance I am taking at the moment and I have to live with the risk that not everyone featured or contributing will end up being advertisers.

As far as the restaurant owner mentioned above is concerned, I will try to do a piece on him in an upcoming issue most likely in the summer. And hopefully he will be inclined to become a longtime advertiser in the CBD!