JulAug 2008: From the Publisher

JulyAugust 2008
From the Publisher

Going digital

by John Llewellyn

John Llewellyn, publisher In 2007, Lionheart Publishing celebrated its 20th anniversary as a custom and contract publisher. Currently, Lionheart publishes seven national magazines, including three titles for the construction industry. To learn more about the company, visit  www.lionhrtpub.com.	John Llewellyn, publisher In 2007, Lionheart Publishing celebrated its 20th anniversary as a custom and contract publisher. Currently, Lionheart publishes seven national magazines, including three titles for the construction industry. To learn more about the company, visit  www.lionhrtpub.com.
John Llewellyn, publisher In 2007, Lionheart Publishing celebrated its 20th anniversary as a custom and contract publisher. Currently, Lionheart publishes seven national magazines, including three titles for the construction industry. To learn more about the company, visit  www.lionhrtpub.com.

Unless you’ve been sequestered on a remote island as part of a “reality” TV show, then you’re well aware that fuel prices are out of control as the price of oil continues to climb. You don’t have to read a newspaper to know that, as a result of $4-plus per gallon gasoline, Americans are spending less elsewhere (i.e., recreation, travel, food, etc.). The same applies to business owners – small and large – who are cutting expenses in other areas to make up for increased energy costs, and so on and so forth, as the cycle continues.

As is the case with most other magazine publishers out there, Lionheart is endeavoring to offset increasing energy, paper, printing and postage costs. One of the best ways to do this is by producing digital magazines. With some of our titles, we’re exploring the idea of offering subscribers the option of only receiving a digital version of the magazine. I’m not saying we’re giving up on printed magazines, but if even a small percentage of our subscribers opt for digital rather than printed copies, the savings would be significant – not to mention more environmentally friendly. Additionally, the digital versions of our magazines have the potential for enhanced educational experiences for subscribers (such as accompanying webinars, podcasts and other online content) and additional revenue streams for us (enhanced online advertising, sponsorships, etc.).

I am excited about the potential these newer technologies can provide for Lionheart’s magazines, and about the benefits we can provide for you as the end-user. This progression, undoubtedly, will be slow at first as we test various ideas and vendors, but keep your eyes open for announcements within this publication as we make new features available to you via Masonry Design’s website, www.masonrydesignmagazine.com.

We think we have a firm grasp on the types of digital content that would be of most interest to you as we move slowly into increasing our online presence for Masonry Design. However, if you have ideas or opinions on this matter, please share them with the editor, Cory Sekine-Pettite (cory@lionhrtpub.com ). We also would like to know what steps your firms are taking in this current economy. Are you cutting back on marketing? Are you finding ways to lower overhead? Are you encouraging staff to telecommute or carpool? Are you increasing fees? Are you extending your services in hopes of reaching new clients? E-mail your responses to the editor, and he may contact you for a potential feature article. MD