Birmingham Parent is a monthly magazine that is Birmingham’s best resource for parents. The free publication is distributed at more than 500 locations across Jefferson, Shelby and St. Clair Counties. Publisher Carol Muse Evans responded to Mediabids’ inquiries
(MB)Five years from now what role will publications like yours serve? For example, some people predict a complete migration to the web for many types of publications, do you?
(BP) I believe there will always be people who want to read print – it may become digital, sent personally to a handheld device, like a Blackberry, etc.., but i think people will always want print for the whole story instead of just snippets like they get on television and radio news.
(MB)What sort of measures has your publication put in place to either conserve costs or boost revenue?
(BP) More value-added and newsletter freebies for advertisers – things that really boost advertisers’ presence int he market, but are not expensive to us to provide. We could be charging for a lot of it – but during trying times, to remain competitive, we find offering more keeps business coming our way.
(MB)What was your most successful advertising initiative in the past 12 months?
(BP) Our education guide in November.
(MB)How does your publication hire and , even more important, retain tops sales personnel?
(BP) They are the best paid people in our company – but they do work on commission, so it’s up to them to decide what they will make each month. We treat them like family – as best we can – and offer as many perks as possible, flex time, work from home, etc…
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