What if there was a JDM publication from Canada?

[mararmeisto]

What kind of subscriber numbers are needed for this to work? Something like this would be a lot of fun. Just wondering if there are enough RHD fanatics to make it work.

If the price point is too high, people don't sign up. If the price is too low, it doesn't pay for itself. Less than 10$ should be about right.

WRT to the other post about starting something somewhere else, the single most important thing I learned from that experience is to have a game plan that the "directors" can all agree upon. Start small, get set up, and then start expanding - trying to do it all at once is just a way to not get it going at all.

[mararmeisto]

...and there isn't an email button at the bottom like this:

What's wrong with that email button? It's functional and readily identifies its function.

[yojimbo]

Custom sites take a _lot_ of time and effort to do, some people even do webdesign as a full time job I hear.

I've wrapped a phpbb forum in joomla before, which means people can post articles and that into the content engine at the front, thats kind of fun, but you are still restricted somewhat by the CMS engine, and any customizations, even ready built ones take time to put in place.

[glenn]

Custom sites take a _lot_ of time and effort to do, some people even do webdesign as a full time job I hear.

Yes, agreed.

Rant self-edited

[yojimbo]

I hear what you are saying Glenn, but I expect if you run the numbers it wouldnt add up, sure you would pay, and others, but enough to build and maintain it? It's possible, but I don't know if its realistic, I expect a lot of the better looking sites are like that because there is someone on the admin bench with an interest and the skillset to make it that way. I'm not trying to be negative, it's just a gift I have As an example, Facebook, was written by someone talented as a bit of a joke website, but he had the talents to throw at it.

I also still think that if you were to look at a money making entity, then you'd need to expand beyond delicas and brethren, lets say you register www.jdmmag.ca or something, get something half decent on there and then find it gets a lot of interest then you could look at either paying someone to customise it or maybe be lucky enough to have a web developer join with an interest.

From my perspect, I run a couple of forums even simpler than this one, they may be dated but a) no one cares much because they just like having the facility, and b) it means for me maintenance is low. If I wrote something clever, well if I could, and then it screws up, I simply dont have the time to troubleshoot and rewrite or restore broken databases. I let the volunteers at phpbb do all the monkey work of developing the software and checking for explouts, and I just use it, once in a while an exploit is missed and I have to mess around fixing stuff myself, but I dont need to be doing that all the time.

So it's swings and roundabouts. FWIW, if you did make a joomla www.jdmmag.ca its very easy to give lots of people the ability to publish their own articles to it, or have them so they have to be approved etc.

[Big-Bird]

Some interesting comments have certainly been raised but I am curious how the magazine topic got turned into one about the look and feel of Delica.ca. Anyway there is an important element that should be raised....a magazine, even a digital one is not the same as a forum nor is it meant to be. A forum seldom makes a profit of any kind and the upkeep costs of pro-sites make profit even less likely.

If I were to attempt a magazine launch it would have to make a profit beyond just being able to pay for itself. A digital version would be the most cost effective to start but there is something to be said for a printed copy in your hands....and readers get stoked when they see their article in print.

Traditional publications make payroll through advert-dollars. A very small amount comes from subscription costs. The news stand price...well most of that goes to the store and whatever publishing distributor a mag decides to go with and nearly every mag on the shelf is there at no up front cost to the store. If no mags sell no-one gets paid and the owner of the magazine is out his print cost x however many mags gets tossed due to being old/on the shelf too long.

Poor ad sales is the main reason for publication flops. Been there already trying to get a Canadian Hot Rod mag off the ground and I nearly cried when the decision was made to cut our losses. 6 months of work and it all went poof! All I have to show for it are the 4 issues we produced.

[Jimbuktoo]

As a former journalist I have watched the ongoing demise of dead-tree media with nostalgia and resignation. Online media is not just the future, it is the present. It is more agile, interactive and interesting. Sure, it takes coding chops, but that's what it you need these days. Content is not so different, but presentation is. Once you get your head around that it is full speed ahead.

That said, I would love to see this project move forward and would support it in any way possible.

-Jim

[psilosin]

There are probably way more Hot Rod people in Canada than JDM people. For example look at the popularity of Langley A&W Cruise-Ins and say Penticton's Peach City Beach Cruise and all the other muscle car events all over the place all year long compared to the 4 people every 6 months meating at Ikea Coquitlam to show and shine their Delica/Pajero/Safaris. That's why I asked about numbers...I just don't see it being anywhere close to profit generating if that is the bottom line.

[Big-Bird]

Jim, we should talk offline about our knowledge of the print industry could prove very beneficial.

Psi: Point taken about low turnout at Ikea...but thats why a publication need to have a broader audience. The skylines, Subies and Hondas make a fair larger chunk of Canada's JDM import market....but this is where guys like William come in handy because they are able to ID trends in the import market....

William, you up for that kinda chat?

[403delica]

Big bird I have lots of connections to modern day jdm tunning to shed insight on trends... Glad to take you around and show you some

[William]

Jim, we should talk offline about our knowledge of the print industry could prove very beneficial.

Psi: Point taken about low turnout at Ikea...but thats why a publication need to have a broader audience. The skylines, Subies and Hondas make a fair larger chunk of Canada's JDM import market....but this is where guys like William come in handy because they are able to ID trends in the import market....

William, you up for that kinda chat?

You got it, I can help however you need. There's a lot of JDM's coming in and owners despite what some might think.

[mararmeisto]

Some interesting comments have certainly been raised but I am curious how the magazine topic got turned into one about the look and feel of Delica.ca...

Some of this sentiment has been simmering for a while.

Forums CAN make money (or just pay for themselves) if they are driven correctly AND still meet the wishes of the constituent members. I have an shipmate who has a hunting forum that does quite well, and "membership" is only a few dollars a year. That being said, there are scheduled meets, prize give-aways, product discounts for members with advertisers, and other things that have been commented about here in other threads.

As for the magazine (back on topic), it would have to fill a consumer need (free or otherwise), or else it wither right on the digital vine. Again, a digital mag would be cheaper than a traditional paper one, but that would have to be the choice/decision of whomever is trying to get this up and going.

I think there definitely is interest, but it needs to be directed and guided.

[Big-Bird]

mararmeisto: You hit the nail the head with that last post. Your colleague has the right model and thats great but breaking even sucks the hind end of a goat so if that was the best a digital mag would do then it would be abandoned and thats the right choice to make for me.

Incentives are a great way to drive up traffic and there are levels of 'free' an owner can set for digital mags. I had a great discussion for over an hour last night with a publisher friend of mine in Vancouver who has been in the print biz for 15 years. He had some great pointers and is willing to help me out with his experiences.

There is plenty of research to do before the plunge is made on this and it all relates to what upfront capital is needed just to get the first issue out. Software, articles, advertising rates, how many pages to publish, digital copy webhost fee, and yes there is potential for a print version if it makes sense down the road oh yeah it needs Writers!!! This thing would need a variety of them.

[philmeup1]

I would be in. I posed this question a while ago as I am adicted to VW Camper and bus and my yearly subscription from the UK is a measley $120. Falco has some online articles that are pretty cool, but some new stuff would be sweet- especially with the L400's . We could even put it at the checkout stand in the grocery store so all the soccer moms could drool over our sweet-ass vans.

Craig

Hey Cregan, if you look in your latest issue of VW Camper & Bus, you'll see me in there with my '79 Westy. I'm in the weekend away section with a buddy. We toured the east coast of Canada last summer over the month of August doing a bunch of different shows. I'm big in Japan!! Lol

[Jimbuktoo]

Big-Bird, maybe you/we could put together a panel of interested and/or qualified people to refine the idea. I'm in if/when. Eyes wide open all the way!

-Jim