Chainsaw Magazine?
- Thread starter ChainsawmanXX
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ChainsawmanXX
Addicted to ArboristSite
Thanks Hillbilly, anyone else wanna chime in?
Chris J.
Addicted to ArboristSite
Alrighty then.
olyeller
ArboristSite Guru
$$$$$$$
I don't want to rain on anyone's parade, but I was a motorcycle magazine editor for many years and am still currently employed in the word business. Especially right now it's dang tough to make money in the magazine business. In general, there are two ways to make a magazine a commercially viable pursuit: generate sufficient advertising dollars, as with most magazines on the market, or charge a huge price for a coffee table type of magazine such as Gray's Sporting Journal, which caters to those upper level folks who can afford very expensive firearms and the expense of traveling the globe in order to pull the trigger a few times. The problem is not only the cost of generating words and photos, but the very high costs of printing and shipping a magazine.
Nowadays I'm working mostly on electronic magazines on behalf of manufacturers in the motorcycle biz, but you still need a source of funding to offset editorial and production costs. This is not an inexpensive endeavor, and the main question is where do you get the funding to make this a profitable venture, especially in this economy? For one sad example, a few years ago there were four or five Personal Watercraft (PWC) magazines doing tests, comparison tests, travel stories, etc. and now there are ZERO! No more advertising money to float that boat because nobody has money to spend on such expensive toys.
Again, with all due respect, we AS fans are a pretty nutty bunch of people, enjoying the thrill of the chase in pursuit of tools that 99 percent of normal folks consider as exciting as a ball peen hammer. So while I too have thought about how fun and useful it would be to have a chainsaw magazine, it would be nearly impossible to find a business model that would allow for such a publication to break even, much less make money.
Sorry to put a damper on this, but that's the reality of it all. And that's why we all enjoy AS so much and also why this site is so valuable! When I first got interested in chainsaws I searched and searched for solid info, and I found it all here.
Olyeller
I don't want to rain on anyone's parade, but I was a motorcycle magazine editor for many years and am still currently employed in the word business. Especially right now it's dang tough to make money in the magazine business. In general, there are two ways to make a magazine a commercially viable pursuit: generate sufficient advertising dollars, as with most magazines on the market, or charge a huge price for a coffee table type of magazine such as Gray's Sporting Journal, which caters to those upper level folks who can afford very expensive firearms and the expense of traveling the globe in order to pull the trigger a few times. The problem is not only the cost of generating words and photos, but the very high costs of printing and shipping a magazine.
Nowadays I'm working mostly on electronic magazines on behalf of manufacturers in the motorcycle biz, but you still need a source of funding to offset editorial and production costs. This is not an inexpensive endeavor, and the main question is where do you get the funding to make this a profitable venture, especially in this economy? For one sad example, a few years ago there were four or five Personal Watercraft (PWC) magazines doing tests, comparison tests, travel stories, etc. and now there are ZERO! No more advertising money to float that boat because nobody has money to spend on such expensive toys.
Again, with all due respect, we AS fans are a pretty nutty bunch of people, enjoying the thrill of the chase in pursuit of tools that 99 percent of normal folks consider as exciting as a ball peen hammer. So while I too have thought about how fun and useful it would be to have a chainsaw magazine, it would be nearly impossible to find a business model that would allow for such a publication to break even, much less make money.
Sorry to put a damper on this, but that's the reality of it all. And that's why we all enjoy AS so much and also why this site is so valuable! When I first got interested in chainsaws I searched and searched for solid info, and I found it all here.
Olyeller
Swamp Yankee
Addicted to ArboristSite
Thanks a Bunch
Not just for the much appreciated rep, but also for looking past what could have been perceived as truly negative and seeing my post for the spirit in which it was offered.
Heck more than one person in the past told the Wright brothers it will never fly.
I don't have a name suggestion, but the first article should definitely be 'Best Oil for 2-Stroke Mix.
Take Care
Fish
Tree Freak
What the hell is a "magazine"???
zogger
Tree Freak
dead trees-no
I don't think a dead trees magazine would fly, although there is a lot of chainsaw action in general, it is a specialty niche and if would be hard to get distribution all over just to sell a few copies in this or that geographical area. I mean, all sorts of dead trees newspapers and magazines are struggling already as it is.
Here's the difference, chainsaws that would grace your cover cost upwards of two thousand, mud trucks on the covers of glossy magazines would be cheap at twenty thousand. There's just WAY more interest and money in motor vehicles, including what advertisers would pay.
Online, perhaps. Domain name and hosting space is cheap, knocking out a website ain't too hard especially with all the canned templates and WYSIWYG editors out there and so on.
Copy-you need writers and good pics, then do your layout every issue and tweak to size. How you gonna pay for that? You can start out a one man band for sure, but eventually you'll need outside writers and site help, and a copy editor, and quality writers will cost ya, say, half a buck and up per word (last I knew rates, at least for tech review sites that "make it")(I have done this).
Fun project, won't cost much to start, then you can make an executive decision to try and expand professionally or not, or make the jump into a dead trees magazine.
I would suggest expanding it a bit beyond chainsaws (while always having a chainsaw on the cover...) into covering related topics from PPE to processors, splitters, mills, and other assorted wood wrangling and mayhem gear-age. That expands the niche into niches and increases potential economic sustainability.
I don't think a dead trees magazine would fly, although there is a lot of chainsaw action in general, it is a specialty niche and if would be hard to get distribution all over just to sell a few copies in this or that geographical area. I mean, all sorts of dead trees newspapers and magazines are struggling already as it is.
Here's the difference, chainsaws that would grace your cover cost upwards of two thousand, mud trucks on the covers of glossy magazines would be cheap at twenty thousand. There's just WAY more interest and money in motor vehicles, including what advertisers would pay.
Online, perhaps. Domain name and hosting space is cheap, knocking out a website ain't too hard especially with all the canned templates and WYSIWYG editors out there and so on.
Copy-you need writers and good pics, then do your layout every issue and tweak to size. How you gonna pay for that? You can start out a one man band for sure, but eventually you'll need outside writers and site help, and a copy editor, and quality writers will cost ya, say, half a buck and up per word (last I knew rates, at least for tech review sites that "make it")(I have done this).
Fun project, won't cost much to start, then you can make an executive decision to try and expand professionally or not, or make the jump into a dead trees magazine.
I would suggest expanding it a bit beyond chainsaws (while always having a chainsaw on the cover...) into covering related topics from PPE to processors, splitters, mills, and other assorted wood wrangling and mayhem gear-age. That expands the niche into niches and increases potential economic sustainability.
Fish
Tree Freak
Been many hours, sorry to "snuff" a fun idea....
Does the silence mean that the "point" of my post is being "pondered"???
Does the silence mean that the "point" of my post is being "pondered"???
Brian13
Addicted to ArboristSite
Although I would love to see a magazine, I think a ezine would be more realistic. Alot of magazines are going to those.
It's the thing you hold in front of you while you sit upon the porcelain throne.
lightning12
ArboristSite Lurker
Sweet magazine
That sounds really neat. I need a maazine to look at while I'm at work. I can not get internet and stuff so paper is all I get. I think if you took one chainsaw say a Mac 10-10 for example and followed it from introduction to final production would be a neat idea. But use rare saws. I had a little Skill saw old and dont know where it came from but it was a great little saw. Always kind of wondered where it came from. Also if you could follow the different companys and see what they produced and who still builds what. I seen a McCullah for sale in a store the other day and thought they were not in production anymore. Anyway the mag sounds cool. I'll be the first subscriber.
That sounds really neat. I need a maazine to look at while I'm at work. I can not get internet and stuff so paper is all I get. I think if you took one chainsaw say a Mac 10-10 for example and followed it from introduction to final production would be a neat idea. But use rare saws. I had a little Skill saw old and dont know where it came from but it was a great little saw. Always kind of wondered where it came from. Also if you could follow the different companys and see what they produced and who still builds what. I seen a McCullah for sale in a store the other day and thought they were not in production anymore. Anyway the mag sounds cool. I'll be the first subscriber.
RandyMac
Stiff Member
I have looked into publishing, the cost will take your breath away.
I do receive a chainsaw calender every year from a highly esteemed collector, I really enjoy them.
I do receive a chainsaw calender every year from a highly esteemed collector, I really enjoy them.
Eccentric
Mister Wizard
So do I. It was a total surprise when I got it in the mail. Felt extremely honored to get it. Jenn and the girls liked it too.
Someday (when the saws are a bit more "presentable") I'll make a chainsaw callendar and send it to my 'chainsaw friends'. Jenn wants to help me with it, as she's done the calendar thing with family photos before. You can bet you're on "the list"...
My 900D, 1130G, and Super 250 all came from that same highly esteemed collector BTW...
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RandyMac
Stiff Member
He is a top notch guy, kind, generous, knowledgable, a true first class credit to the art of chainsaw collecting and restoration.
ChainsawmanXX
Addicted to ArboristSite
Thanks guys for the honesty! I really wish there would be an opportunity in this, It would keep me occupied and Be really neat to actually say that I won a Magazine company, also to introduce to the world the love some people have for chainsaws. But Some people have a point with the Internet, But still maybe just a small newsletter, why not?
SkippyKtm
The Lorax, my FIL rip...
ChainsawmanXX
Addicted to ArboristSite
Anyone else? lol
Idahokid
ArboristSite Member
Could show custom muffler mod.Make a catchy name for the magazine.Have a best dealer in the country column.Magazine could be quarterly.Have an oldtimer saw section.Have some how-to stuff.Have a column call loggers corner.weekend warrior.reviews on chains,bars.I like it.have a good evening from the pacific northwest.
