Helping Put It ‘All Together’

After working for more than a decade helping transform the Robb Report from a Rolls-Royce aficionado title into the luxury lifestyle magazine it is today, John Treworgy left his role of vice president of operations and associate publisher and took on a new role when the brand was sold several years ago. With a wealth of experience under his belt, he was soon approached by consumer magazine publishers seeking his advice to improve their efficiency. Today, Treworgy serves as president of Publishing Services Group, a consultancy that helps publishers set up or revamp their infrastructure. His main focuses include helping streamline manufacturing, marketing and retail distribution. He spoke with Publishing Executive Inbox this week about the issues he’s working with his clients on today. Inbox: Why are so many publishing companies calling on consultants to help them these days?Treworgy: I think really in the past 10 years the whole retail magazine environment has changed dramatically. It’s undergoing an evolution as people are consolidating and trying to own the different parts of the distribution channel. It makes it difficult [for] publishers to keep up. A lot of publishers are going virtual. They’re using a lot of people at home and [as] freelance. What they’re losing are the nuts and bolts of putting your magazine together and getting to market. A lot of times, people neglect the fact that you need a supervisor. Those who used to hold the function of product managers are often ignored now. You’re talking about the knowledge base of publishers that is more academic and less in the production side. Ultimately, you have to have a physical product. One of the things I do more and more is help them set up an infrastructure. I help them arrange [their deals] with vendors. I help them find the efficiently with manufacturers. I help them review their distribution channels. I help them put it all together. This is surprising to me, but I help put together a production schedule. I help them to develop a time schedule so they can get their title to newsstands on time. If you don’t meet their expectations, you don’t get on newsstands. If it doesn’t show up, chances are you’ll lose your retail space. If you’re inconsistent, you’ll probably lose it permanently. It’s something so simple—putting together a realistic production schedule and having them stick to it. It’s really something I fight with my clients all the time about. … One of the things I do is review the basic infrastructure of how they run their companies. I don’t necessarily tell them how to do it. I say, “I want to know what you’re doing.” What happens so often is they hold the dates open so they can sell more advertising. They [make] another X amount of dollars, but they lose it on the other end. A lot of times it has long-term effects.Inbox: What’s the most important piece of advice you give to your publishing clients?Treworgy: … It’s a no-brainer, but you really need to get a national distributor. … For business efficiency sense, you have to have a distributor. Finding a distributor is key to bringing your magazine to market.Inbox: What is a mistake you see smaller publishers often make?Treworgy: [Not working with] a manufacturer that is experienced in magazines. What a lot of small publishers face is that they see themselves not as national business, but as local business. If you’re publishing a magazine out of Atlanta, they will try to find a printer within 30 miles of their office. They may get a reasonable price, but it doesn’t mean that the cost won’t mount exponentially. Inbox: How do you see the Web playing a part in all of this?Treworgy: I’m not going to minimize the importance of the Web for publishers. It serves a purpose for every niche, but I really think the opportunities are still in magazine production and distribution. I think people want to read magazines. The value of a printed magazine has an entirely different set of values for the reader than the Web scene. … If I want to find out something more about a particular topic ,or if I want to get into a hobby, I’m picking up a magazine. That’s the value it has for all readers. I don’t see that going away.Inbox: What are you seeing publishers doing to keep afloat? What would you recommend?Treworgy: Times are tough. I have some large clients that have large budgets. One of the things they used to weather the storm is to promote very heavily. That has value—if you have a large budget. You have to get in people’s faces. You have to get in terminals and bookstores. That’s a terribly expensive way to do it. Inbox: What can smaller publishers do to “weather the storm?”Treworgy: I would say for smaller publishers—partner with the advertisers that are in your niche. That’s very important to do in a number of ways. One thing that has been proven to improve newsstand [performance] is to add something in a polybag. It could be almost anything. Music magazines successfully partner with record companies to put sample CDs in there. That can lift newsstand up to five or eight or 10 percent. If you do it every issue for your particular title, it becomes expected. If you do it regularly, quarterly, it will lift sales. You’ll find and retain new readers. You have to look beyond the value of our publications and partner with people in your category. Dog enthusiast titles find some very successful partnering with kennel clubs. You have to look beyond putting the magazine out and follow the trail. … If we can find ways to partner with people, it adds value to advertisers and to the reader, and it helps with retention.On the subscriber side—keeping in regular touch with your reader [is important]. This, to me, is where the Web can offer a lot. You can offer them something in addition to their regular magazine. For example, an online newsletter. We want to make that subscriber a partner in your business. We want to show them something they don’t get in the magazine. A good example is if BMW is producing a new model and the minute the specs are released, you can push that out to your readers first … . Inbox: What other tips can you offer?Treworgy: Attend trade shows and conventions outside of your sphere of interest. You can see what a lot of people are doing in a completely different industry. It can help you think outside the box. The whole [key] is innovation. I also spend a lot of time with the advertising people. They’ll let me know what the advertisers are clamoring for or demanding. That assists me in marketing the title to people. If I know what the consumer is enthused about, I can help them refocus their marketing efforts. I try to stay outside of the magazine industry as much as I’m in it.

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Helping Put It ‘All Together’

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