Traditional Home Magazine Is Back! In Print Subscriptions

Photo Credit: Folio Mag

In mid-July, Meredith Magazines announced that Traditional Home Magazine is once again selling subscriptions. This happened a year after Traditional Home was converted to a funded-model. “We have found with this model that the social channels are actually more important than having a website that we put a lot of expense against,” says Doug Olson, president of Meredith Magazines.

Just in time, the Fall issue, will have an annual subscription option of $20 and $12.99 for cover price. The pricing was based on the magazine’s 850,000 subscribers.

It is different from the more traditional, ad-driven models that the company’s largest titles participate in, such as Better Homes & Gardens or Shape, which carry million dollar rate bases but can be subscribed to for less than $1 per issue.

“We’re in this business that can be unpredictable, but what it comes down to is that these are premium products,” says Jill Waage, Traditional Home Editor. “It just proves the point that consumers do want this content in this print format, and they’re willing to pay for it. It shows a level of engagement with the consumer that goes all the way to their pocketbook, you know? And that’s really reassuring.”

Is The Facebook Ad Boycott Still Happening? And Should It Be Forever?

During the past week, more than 500 companies, like The North Face and Rei, joined the campaign of boycotting Facebook ads with the intent of placing pressure on Facebook to take a stronger stance against hate speech.

The current boycott is like nothing Facebook has experienced before. The Anti-Defamation League launched a #StopHateForProfit campaign asking companies to stop their advertising. “Let’s send Facebook a powerful message: Your profits will never be worth promoting hate, bigotry, racism, antisemitism and violence,” the campaign’s site reads. Hundreds of companies joined in. “When we re-engage will depend on Facebook’s response,” Levi Strauss CMO Jen Sey wrote in a blog post.

This began in June after advocacy groups and others began pushing for Facebook to refrain from sharing hateful content such as ads featuring nazi symbols from President Donald Trump and white nationalist content from Red Ice TV. More specifically, calls were spurred by posts from President Trump responding to the demonstrations against police brutality and the death of George Floyd, including one in which he suggested the “THUGS” protesting should be shot.

Owner & Co-Founder, Katie James, shared that,

“Facebook Ads have long been censored. The reason that they state is that the content is too controversial or divisive. In my experience, this has been for an inter-faith group meeting after a church received white supremacy flyers posted onto their church in October 2017, and most recently, an article about Beacon’s Mayor giving his decision about moving a memorial bench. Both were declined to be paid.

So for Facebook to say that they are not into censorship is false. They do censor. And they should censor. All media publications should and do censor. One cannot possibly publish everything, so natural censorship happens all of the time when left on the cutting room floor. But to not censor hate speech of the president of the United States is bias and wrong. Clearly they support it, if they will not censor it.”

Tin Shingle has always advocated not to put all of your eggs into one basket. Right now, Facebook is not only controlling the levers with which you can reach people, but it is developing the feeling of a bad taste in your mouth. They’ve had that stigma for years, but their recent lack of censorship added to the amount of frustration that people unleash on that platform, leaves it all gross. Do you really want your brand to be there?

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told employees: "My guess is that all of these advertisers will be back on the platform soon enough," according to The Information.

Getting The Scoop On Big Print Publications From A Print Veteran Publisher

Had the privilege of meeting a real life magazine publisher, Beth McDonough, formerly with the designer favorite magazine, Traditional Home. We talked shop, which for me is giddy because I’m just a babe in the magazine world. Actually I’m not even in the magazine world, as I’m a veteran of digital. As a blogger, I knew how to out-rank web pages of glossy magazines. Thanks to their overly tight controls of how they tried to keep users on their websites, I understood how Google worked, and why Google wanted the more links off the page as possible - a signal of a truly helpful web page.

Today, as corporate print magazines reduce their print schedules, and require consumers to go to the store to pick up from the shelf, I’m still mind boggled as to why that is a good idea. Sounds like veteran print magazine extremely talented editorial staff also don’t see it as a good idea. And the profit sheets of these big corporate publication mergers also don’t see it as a good idea.

Thoughtfulness of a good reading and connecting experience is not factored into the big picture strategies coming from the C Suite, and as readers, we can tell. I’m so lucky to live in the same place as this veteran publisher, and that I could speak to her in real life at one of our local cafes, Ella’s Bellas. Print lives. Advertisers do want to see their branding in print. I am more hopeful than ever at the rise of niche media like mine here at Tin Shingle and at A Little Beacon Blog. The independent publications are going to do well if they know how to bottle this Advertiser enthusiasm. 

Chevy “Grilling” On The Cover Of bon appetit February 2019 “Healthyish” Issue - Whatever Works!

These magazines arrived in the mailbox today. Condé Nast Traveler and bon appetit. Can’t wait to read! Re the bon appetit cover of the enormous grill on the Chevy Silverado: whatever works, y’all! 😂 I’ll take that all American grill.

Haven’t seen the magazine out in the wild on the newsstands to see if this advertisement cover is also used on retail shelves. Variety magazine also sells their cover to advertisers, especially around Oscar time when Oscar campaigns from film studios are fierce for attention.

Vogue Knitting 2019 Editorial Calendar Added To Tin Shingle's Magazine Pitching Resources

Vogue Knitting's 2019 Editorial Calendar has been updated to Tin Shingle's Magazine Deadline Database for Tin Shingle’s All Access Pass Members. The biggest takeaway: The Holiday Gift issue is produced in July. So mark your calendar for next July to remind yourself not to check out too often by the pool if you want to try to get mentioned in this magazine. Also, listen to Tin Shingle’s monthly Training TuneUps, specifically the “PR Planning: What To Pitch This Month” ones where we give you hot tips like this!

Other magazines are releasing their 2019 plans at the end of November, so keep your eyes here for more updates!

PS: Vogue Knitting does have a Shop Local section for Yarn store listings. It’s a paid spot in the list, but seems like a great list to be in the middle of. We recommend it.

PPS: Having reviewed Vogue Knitting’s entire Media Kit, their paid advertorial features do look gorgeous. Organic PR is great for earning validation, while advertising is a great way to control your message and exposure. You know our position - advertising keeps the magazines in business! Without it, there’d be no book at all. If it’s in your budget, this ad spends seems like a great buy. In addition to any free PR you’re going to try to get!

Local Magazine Reaches Far and Wide for Small City - The Valley Table for Beacon in Mahopac

Enjoying the article on cream in the September-November 2018 issue of The Valley Table which devoted this issue to farmers (and the Pots de Creme in the recipe section).

I’m currently writing this blog post from a car dealership in Mahopac, which is about 35 minutiae from where I live in Beacon, NY (and I produce a blog from there). Several of the staff way out at this dealership love Beacon, NY simply because they read about it and the restaurants so often in The Valley Table.

As a side note, the ads are so well designed! I always enjoy reading the features and the ads. My philosophy is to support ads, to pursue purchasing them, as well as pitching magazines for organic, solid PR. While a true editorial feature can raise your brand’s profile as well as tap into a flood of sales, well placed advertising also educates your customer base and keeps your brand top of mind.

That and, without it, the magazine wouldn’t exist. So there’s that. Plain and simple. 

So support your local and national media sources!