By Jim A. Luff
I recently became aware of the intention of a limousine operator to start a new magazine just for chauffeurs. While there are many chauffeurs who might enjoy having their own magazine, the odds of survival would be slim to non-existent.
To begin with, a magazine like LCT has an annual subscription rate of $28. That means each monthly magazine cost the subscriber $2.33. If you look at the magazine and compare it to buying brochures or business cards for your business you know that each copy costs more than $2.33. The survival of a magazine is based upon advertising revenues. In the case of LCT, coachbuilders spend big bucks to be in the magazine with the hope that operators will of course by their cars.
I cannot imagine coachbuilders advertising in a magazine for chauffeurs as chauffeurs don’t buy limousines. While it is a novel idea, it is not an original idea and in my 18 years in business, I have seen such efforts come and go as they simply cannot be sustained. The audience is chauffeurs. What could they buy? Umbrellas? Trench coats? Suits? Advertisers advertise to a focused potential audience. Even is Thomas Brothers were to advertise Thomas Guides, a Thomas Guide is $10. A typical magazine ad is over $1000 for a small ad. They would need to sell more than 150 guides in a one month period to make any profit at all. This means 1,800 new chauffeurs would have to enter the industry each year to have this kind of buying power. That just ain’t going to happen folks.
My thoughts are, keep reading LCT Magazine. Every chauffeur should aspire to eventually either move up into management or better yet, start your own limo company. The articles in LCT provide an excellent platform for learning what it takes to run a successful livery company. As the industry bible, it is all you need. No need to reinvent the wheel when there is no buggy to put the wheel on when you are done.
Another thought is: If you decide to start a magazine, you should at least own a spell checker and grammatical checker if you do not have a good command of the English language. Writing words such as “crys” and “rejoice” instead of “cries” and “rejoice” in a press release announcing your new magazine isn’t going to help obtain advertisers or readers!
Print | posted on Friday, May 09, 2008 12:52 PM