Susanne 7. Tell us about that first half a year between when you first developed the idea for your magazine and when the first issue hit the newsstand. That must have been a pretty crazy time.
It was a crazy time. We spent months putting together a business plan – we had no idea if it was even a viable idea. In addition to fine tuning what exactly what we were trying to do and who we might be competing with, we had to establish who we could get to write for us, who would pay to advertise, how we were going to distribute the magazine, was there funding available to help us start out. We knew nothing about the actual printing process, so we had to learn all about that. We also had to get our hands on the publishing and graphics software necessary, the computers to run it, then learn how to use it all.
We also had to start developing databases to deal with subscriptions, renewals, advertisers, our accounts and we had to get a website up and running. We were working fourteen, even sixteen hour days. I think I could count the number of days we took off during our first year on one hand.
8. How has the magazine evolved since then? Where are you planning to take it?
Verge has evolved in a couple of ways. Over the past two years, we’ve begun to focus more specifically on travel and opportunities to work, study and volunteer overseas – to travel with purpose. During our first year, we started to recognize that there is definitely growing interest in these sorts of opportunities, and that no other publication in Canada was really addressing it. We’re also finding that the age range of our readership is much greater than we initially thought it would be. When we began, we were primarily thinking about students who were about to finish high school or university. They still make up the bulk of our readership, but a growing number of our subscribers are people in their 30s and 40s who are looking to make a change in their lives.
Where are we planning to take it? We’re pretty new at this and at the moment, Verge is just finding its feet, so in the short term we’re working towards systematizing things as much as we can – trying to smooth out the bumps. Longer term goals involve developing complementary resources for people who are looking for meaningful travel opportunities. There is so much undifferentiated information available out there. Ultimately, we would like to be able to provide a group of resources that help people to sift through the mountains of information in order to make informed decisions about how they travel.
9. What have been your greatest challenges and rewards running this magazine?
The greatest challenges for me have been learning how everything works – it’s been a very steep learning-curve. It’s also been quite a challenge to sell advertising space. Even though I can be pretty stubborn, I’m not all that pushy and selling things to other people doesn’t come easily – every call is an effort. The thing that helps is that I know we have a great product and that the advertising space that I’m selling actually works.
Coincidentally, working toward overcoming those challenges is also one of the greatest rewards. The other big reward that comes from doing this is hearing from readers who have acted on some of the things they’ve seen or learned in Verge.
Every week or two we’ll get a call or an email from someone who, after reading something in Verge, has finally decided to put their routine on hold for a while and go on an adventure. It’s also very satisfying to be contacted by parents who have been struggling with their kids’ decisions to “quit” school and go travelling. It’s great to hear that “ah ha – I get it!” when they discover that taking time out to travel is not necessarily bumming around, and that chances are, their kids will probably return to school and be better off for having seen something of the rest of the world.
Jeff, teaching the “eskimo roll” during a white water kayaking course.
10. If you were to give advice to a fledgling entrepreneur who is thinking of creating their own magazine, what recommendations would you give them?
I have three recommendations for anyone considering starting a magazine – these probably apply to any business:
First – before doing anything else, be thorough and honest with your business plan. If you can’t determine whether there’s a niche for your publication, and you can’t say with any certainty who will be willing to advertise, and what would they be willing to spend, re-think your plan. In general, subscription and newsstand sales will not support the cost of running a print publication.
Second – determine if you are the sort of person who finishes a job. Every issue of the magazine is a new project with a whole lot of smaller projects built into it. You need to be the sort of person who can continually start a project, take it completely through to completion, then start another immediately. You need to be very self-motivated and very disciplined.
Third – find yourself a mentor – someone who either runs a magazine or is involved in publishing one. Their advice based on experience will be invaluable as you start out. As you continue and grow, that relationship will probably change from you receiving all the advice, to both of you sharing ideas and experiences that will help both of your businesses.
11. I am sure publishing a magazine must keep you quite busy. How do you still integrate travel into your hectic life? And where have you gone recently? Any travel plans for the foreseeable future?
During the first two years that we were publishing, I really wasn’t able to travel at all – there were just too many things to be done. In the past year, as we streamline and standardize things a bit more, I have been able to do some travelling related to the magazine. I try to take time out at the end of each issue published – even if it’s a week of hiking and camping around here. Even though there’s always a mountain of work to catch up on when I return, I’m much more productive after a break.
I was out to Vancouver a couple of times in the past year and spent a couple of weeks travelling through Cuba for an article published in the last issue of Verge. I just returned from Bolivia, where I was working on a story for the next issue. I’m heading to Uganda in a couple of months to do a story about a Canadian surgeon who is working with war-affected children there, and may be off to Tanzania later in the year – if everything works out.
Thanks so much for your time, Jeff, and all the best for your business and your upcoming travel plans!
