Diva Marketing Talks Online Publications With Deanna Sutton, Angela Benton & Heidi Richards Mooney
09/08/2009
Diva Marketing Talks is a live, internet radio (BlogTalkRadio) show. 30 minutes. 2 maybe 3 guests. 1 topic about social media marketing. Why? To help you understand how to participate in the "new" conversation without getting blown-up. Miss today's show? You can pick it up as a podcast or listen on your computer.
On today's Diva Marketing Talks we're exploring the world of online publications. What makes a great magazine? Content of course. Writers who have a unique view point and whose “voices” are enjoyable to read. However, with the onset of social media your favorite author may not be a staff writer but a reader .. just like you. Publishing is turning into a collaborative effort.
Deanna Sutton publisher – Clutch Magazine, Angela Benton publisher –BlackWeb 2.0 and Heidi Richards Mooney, publisher- WE Magazine for Women join me to discuss how online publications are dealing with this new genre.
Topic for September 8, 2009:
Time: 6:00p - 6:30p Eastern/ 5:p - 5:30p Central/ 4:00p -4:30p Mountain/ 3:00p -3:30p Pacific
Call-in Guest Number: 718.508.9924 .
Deanna "Dede" Sutton is the Founder and Editorial Director of Sutton Media, publisher of Clutch Magazine, The Clutch Blog Network and soon to launch -- Cullen Magazine, which serves as the brother publication to Clutch. After graduating with a degree in Marketing, Deanna Sutton set out to launch Clutch as a print magazine.
After successfully launching as a regional magazine, she soon learned that the print publishing industry served as a bigger challenge than she expected. In 2006, Dede saw a huge void in compelling and relevant online publications for young women of color. In 2007, she decided to take a risk and launch the first on-line magazine for young, contemporary women of color – Clutch.
Dede's vision was for Clutch Magazine to become one of the leading online magazines for multicultural women ages 18-35. With a passion for all things social media, she recognizes the power and opportunity that the new media platform presents. At Sutton Media, she is responsible for business development, marketing initiatives, and editorial and creative direction. Follow Dede on Twitter @clutchmagazine Facebook MySpace
Angela Benton is the Founder and Publisher of BlackWeb 2.0. BlackWeb20.com is a blog that analyzes emerging web trends as it relates to African-Americans and African-American culture.
Her experience spans a variety of industries including consultative relationships with companies such as UPS, Bizjournals.com, Realestate.com, and Lendingtree.com. Angela is a frequent guest speakers on topics such as diversity in the web and media industries, web trends, web strategy, and web 2.0’s effects on urban entertainment. She has participated on panels at conferences such as South by Southwest and Experience Music Project Pop Conference.
Angela graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Communications with a specialization in Digital Design. She has also completed postgraduate coursework in Graphic Design from Savannah College of Art and Design. Follow Angela @abenton Facebook
Heidi Richards Mooney is a serial entrepreneur, author of several books and student of social media. She is also the founder of several organizations for women including the Women’s eCommerce Association and Inventing Women and WE Magazine for Women
For the past seven years Heidi has been studying the Internet particularly as it relates to growing a business online. Her focus for the past three years has been social networking. Heidi participates in more than a dozen social networking sites including MySpace, FaceBook, Linkedin, RYZE, eCademy, Xing, Yahoo Groups to name a few. During her quest for more information about Social Media and Social Networking in particular, Heidi has interviewed hundreds of experts on the topic including bloggers, email experts, forum leaders and Internet celebrities in the top ten Social Networking Sites.
In 2003 Heidi was named one of 50 women shaping the Internet by the International Virtual Women’s Chamber of Commerce. Earlier this year she was named a Twitter Woman to Follow by Only2Clicks.com and in April her story: The Twitter Phenomenon appeared in Twitter Success Stories with Willie Crawford and 17 other Social Networking Experts. On Sept. 1st was named Social Networker of the Year by HER Mastermind Network (a top 20 RYZE network forum in the US). Follow Heidi @HeidiRichards
Tips From The Diva Bag
Complements of Deanna "Dede" Sutton
1. Survey and Listen to your readers.
2. Create content that connects to your readers.
3. Continue to learn and grow as a new media professional by talking to others enthusiast and resources.
Complements of Heidi RIchards Mooney
1. Keep your audience in mind ~ know your niche. I made the mistake of trying to appeal to a much younger audience when my main audience is made up of Gen X and Boomers. I do still interview younger women in the 18-30 are range but that is more of a tactic to see if the younger audience is interested. I can tell by the number of comments if they are or not.
2. Find ways to make your magazine stand out ~ for instance I wanted to offer more than one viewing choice for my readers. In addition to the traditional PDF, blog posts and rss feeds, I wanted to offer the magazine in turning page technology. I looked at several options and because many of them were out of my budget or they didnt' offer all the features I wanted (such as a way to search contents and instructions for the user) I put the idea on the back burner.
About a month after I did all the research I received an email from a good friend of mine, Penny Haynes who is a software developer. She had created a program that not only did the turning page it also could automatically turn blog posts (by any category) into an ebook. I loved the technology and immediately signed up. Since then a few other of my magazine publishing friends have used her product. It is called Rss Zine.
3. Enlist the help of experts when you can. When I first started WE Magazine I went to the store and bought several women's magazines. I cut out all the pages of the things I liked about them. It helped us get a good start.
But I didn't understand about format. So we had lots of mixed fonts, text sizes and one big booboo, we didn't use columns to construct our articles. That made it difficult for our readers to read. A good friend of mine who had previously worked with a major national magazine called me and offered her help. Of course I said yes. We now have what I consider a "user friendly" magazine. We also have about 85% content and 15% advertsing which helps it stand out.
4. And finally, if possible join a peer group; if one is not available in your area, start one. Also another great group I stumbled upon was Magazine Launch. Although the site is relatively new, they have created a community where I have met and been able to discuss challenges with a couple of other digital publishers as well as help them solve a few of their own challenges. The best part is having a place to share resources and learn about the latest and greatest technology.
