How to Start a Magazine Publishing Business in Nigeria and make Millions of Naira

I did not know about this business before, neither did I know that there is serious money in it until I became an Advertising Manager for a local business magazine “BizRip Magazine”. This magazine is not even popular, yet as an advert manager, I often realized nothing less that N800, 000 from adverts.  Imagine that the amount

that is used for production do not even make up to 20% of the amount gotten from adverts leaving a very high profit margin. Don’t worry, in the course of this article I will explain in detail how you can start a magazine publishing business here in Nigeria and make as much as you wish.

Why is Magazine Publishing Business Profitable?

Magazine publishing business is very profitable because there is a huge margin between the production cost and the recurring sales amount. In magazine production, income is from three ways; you sell spaces for advertisers, sell the magazine to readers and /or get money from subscribers. Also, the market is never competitive because information is always unique to a particular author.

What you need to do before going into the business

1. Carry out research: on what you think will be of immense interest to your potential readers which are your targeted audience. Which concept are you going go adopt to entice people to purchase this product? Choose a niche that you have more expertise and or have interest in. 
2.  Take into consideration, mode of distribution and sales: How are you going to distribute your magazine after production? Hint: One of the tips our marketing manager adopted was to contact friends in different states of the federation and give them some quantities of the magazine to drop at locations of interest like the supermarkets, post offices, banks etc. My general manager is not very keen with the sales of the magazine because he is earning much from advertising and will really want the magazine to get into people’s hand. By so doing, he gives a high profit margin to vendors to act as a motivation for them. 
3. Editorial: This involves those that will make up the editorial team. Hint: you have to have your editorial team in place. These might be people that have the same interest as you and are willing to come in and work with you. From these teams comprises the editor-in-chief, the marketing manager, the advertising manager, the public relations manager etc. 
4. Contents: I always advise, that before publishing your first issue, you should have at least contents that will fill the next 5 issues of your magazine. Why? This is one of the tools you will use to entice people to advertise with you. It proves that you have CONTENT BASE. These content include; texts on your chosen area of interest, pictures etc. The contents must, as a matter of importance, be useful and interesting. 
5. Design and layout: This is very important. Hint: include a graphic designer on your team. He will be the person to design and organize the contents in such a manner to appeal to readers.  Get professionals to handle the design and layout for you. The better the looks, the more readers and advert placement it will attract.

Now you are set, Let’s see few other things to do

1. Register your Magazine name: The next thing you will do is to assign a name to your magazine and move straight to the Corporate Affairs Commission and register the name. You need to register your magazine name because you will use it to make money. Also, it will make you a sole owner of that name, which no other person can take the name from you.  See instructions on how to register your business name here.  
2.  After registering your magazine name, proceed to make your first copy (draft) of the magazine. Why do you need this first copy? You need this fist copy to register your magazine as a piece of publication. After producing the first copy, proceed to any government library, register and obtain an ISBN number.

Now you are ready to publish your maiden edition.

Of course, your main aim to go into magazine production business is to make money through advertising. At the initial stage, you will need to produce your maiden edition of your magazine which you will use as a sales tool.

You may even have to offer free adverts for companies at this stage. Although this might be capital intensive, the success is far greater. That company, who advertised free with your magazine in the maiden edition and has seen the growth of your magazine, will be pleased to give you more money to increase the spread.

How will I See Advertisers for your Magazine?

I know you will ask this question. How to get people to advertise on your magazine? This is simple, All you need is the draft copy of your intended magazine. Use this as a marketing tool to meet potential advertisers.

Where are these advertisers?  

I learned a lot from this post I held “Advertising Manager” for BizRip  magazine. Let me show the trick. I had simple rules that guided me.

1. Simples rules to follow:

RULE 1: Everybody is advertiser: This rule states that everybody you see on the road, in the house, church, mosque, market, hospital etc. are potential advertisers.

Rule 2: All Potential Advertisers are the Same: This rule states that all potential advertisers should be awarded the same status with no preference of superiority attached to any.

How these simple rules helped to find advertisers for your magazine: With these rules, you can see that (1) even cyclist can advertise with you (2) even Dangote can also advertise with you

2. Make a name list of your potential advertisers: Begin to create an advertisers database with their name and business and addresses. Please remember rule 2: do not attach any preference to anybody.

3. Make Contacts:  Use the name list of your potential contacts you have created and visit them. Remember; all everybody are advertisers, except they say “NO”. Often time, some No might turn to be YES if proper persuasion is adopted.

You can now see the amount of money you will raise from advertising. The amount depends on the amount of effort from your advert manager.

Sales of the magazine: Not only important that you need to have a large number of readers but they must also be individuals or group of individuals who can use your advertising services. You don’t publish information on how to raise goats and latter try to sell it to a pilot. Or, because you want people to read your magazine, you supply them to primary school pupils.

Not withstanding, if you have a huge advert base, you can decide to give your magazine free to readers. After all, you have made serious money from selling spaces for advertisers.

Each advertisers need return of sales, increase in patronage as a result of an advertisement. So, your sales strategy should also focus on a target audience that are payable.

In the magazine business, one good edition or issue promotes another. So, endeavor to do it well in your maiden edition.

Steps involved in the Actual Production of the magazine

In this section, I will show you the steps involved in magazine production without spending much money.

1.       After designing your magazine, copy the soft copy to an industrial printing outlet.  Most of them a located in most cities in Nigeria.

Estimated Cost of 1000 copies of 30 Pages Full Color Magazines:

Normal size of the magazine is always A3 size which cost about N3, 500 For full digital color separation including plates and N3, 500 for impression (actual printing). For instance your magazine is 30 pages, this comprises 15 A3 Sheets. The estimated amount of separation and printing will be as follows

Separation:         N3, 500 X 15                          =             N52, 500

Printing:               N3, 500 X 15                         =             N52, 500

Paper: =                                                             =             N40, 000

Finishing (stapling, trimming and lamination          =             N4, 000

Total                                                                 =             149, 000

With this amount, you will have a very high quality magazine production that is presentable to the market.         

Sales Amount

Magazine of this quality should be sold at the rate of N1, 000 each. So, the estimated amount of 1,000 copies is N1million for each production. This is the money you will use to pay staff and other logistics,    

Sales Strategies

The most effective sales strategy that works is to meet vendors, give them a high percentage rate per sales. We usually give up to 50% from each sale. This will give them enough motivation to make more sales so as to make more commission.

With this business … 

(a)    You can make money from sales 

(b)   You can make money from adverts 

(c)    You can make money from subscription 

(d)   You can Build your brand 

(e)   You can employ other people and reduce unemployment rate 

(f)     You can earn much money to invest in other big businesses 

Read Also:

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What do you think?

I may not be able to cover all the information you need. But, this little piece will be able to help anybody who is curious about the business idea to do more research to ensure success. What do you think? Do you have comments or feedback; maybe more point/tips to add? If yes, drop it for others in the comment section below.