Los Angeles Newsweek is a weekly, Fil-Asian American newspaper circulated in California. Sam Azurel, the Publisher, was nice enough to provide us with further insight into his publication.
(MB) How did your publication start, and who are your readers?
(LAN) Los Angeles Newsweek is an Asian-American publication that started in February 2004. I must say we had some humble beginnings, from only two people as founders — me as publisher and my friend, Margie Ramos as editor-in-chief — until we grew into a strong and talented, 20-abled staff, in addition to off and on news contributors, freelance photographers and account managers. And I am proud that despite the existing economic downturn affecting all publications, we maintain our quality of journalism and bring the latest news from the Philippines, Asia and America. Our readers, comprised of Asian-American communities, so far have been loyal to our publication since its birth four years ago. And to tell you honestly, they are still getting larger in numbers the longer we are in the business. Our publication is distributed all over Los Angeles County and Las Vegas. We also make special distribution arrangements when an advertiser who is out of our areas of distribution makes a specific request for circulation.
(MB) How has the web impacted your circulation?
(LAN) Our website www.lanewsweek.net is one of the greatest assets we have in maintaining our ranks as one of the leading newspapers in the Asian-American community. Through our website those who cannot get a copy or missed it, can check out our website for the latest news, success stories in business, love life, spiritual success, movies, television, video and music. They can also check out the latest programs, grants, announcements and activities from the community and entire Los Angeles County. Our readers know that they can also check our classified ads for a good find, sale, rent or employment. Our sales have soared tremendously – up to 50% – because of our website and we are able to reach prospective and non-prospective advertisers not only regionally, but worldwide through it. The web certainly has helped us reach a greater set of readers not only here in America but also in Asia and around the world. Needless to say, we couldn’t have made it without our website to keep us active and afloat.
(MB) Which type of advertisers have the most success in your publication?
(LAN) Most of our advertisers are real estate investors and mortgage loan companies. We have two particular real estate
companies who also started from scratch and who have been with us since we started. These are Filipino friends whom we have helped. They started as real estate agents in one of the prestigious real estate companies that recently folded due to the real estate slump. When they found themselves unemployed, they used their savings, their huge marketing talent and skills to start their own company. One started a real estate home loan company and the other became a realtor and created his own pool of real estate agents with his family and relatives as staff. We featured their success stories in our publication and in our website as a bonus supplement for their continuously advertising and supporting Los Angeles Newsweek all these years. They claimed their businesses have never been the same since Los Angeles Newsweek!
(MB) What is the greatest challenge faced by your publication?
(LAN)Our greatest challenge, which other publications likely face, is how to maintain a roster of advertisers and how to get more advertisers everyday to keep the publication afloat. We know that advertisements are the lifeblood of every newspaper, including one of America’s leading paper, the L.A. Times. In this regard, we are really trying to double our efforts to improve our paper in terms of quality and market so we can increase our sales.
(MB) Is your publication making any notable changes in 2008?
(LAN) We are formulating a new format for the paper starting next month to make it more appealing and more upbeat to reach more of the younger genre.
You can view current advertising opportunities in Los Angeles Newsweek by Clicking Here
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