James Tuckerman, Editor-In-Chief, Anthill Magazine

Around this time last year, I dedicated my editor’s note (in the print edition of Anthill Magazine) to the re-telling of one of Anthill’s many business blunders.

It was the sort of forehead-slapping, groan-inducing error that you think (at the time) you’ll laugh about later. It was such a simple mistake that you could almost call it an oversight.

So what did we do? What was our mistake?

In short, we forgot to renew our domain name.

The reminder arrived, along with a small pile of fraudulent renewal letters (the way that it is with respect to most publicly available snippets of private information these days). The legitimate letter was tossed away with the junk letters and the matter was overlooked.

‘But what about the email reminder?’ you might reasonably ask. Anthill was set-up while I was working for another company and I can only assume that the reminder was sent to a now defunct email address at my place of previous employment (but that’s a story for another day).

It was a simple mistake, a head-slapping, groan-inducing, something-to-laugh-about-later, insignificant error, right? Right!?

Well… no.

Within days our website disappeared, only to be replaced by a message stating quite bluntly that our domain had expired and was now available for purchase. And this was the message that greeted Anthill web-visitors for the next five days (an entire working week).

So, what was the fallout from this mini business disaster?

Firstly, we lost a chunk of subscription revenue (many Anthill subscriptions are purchased online). Secondly, we raised the ire of our web advertisers for not fulfilling our obligations. And thirdly, I can only assume that we disappointed the spectrum of people who frequent our website.

But the real damage was done to our credibility.

Many visitors assumed that we had gone belly-up. Magazine publishing is a precarious game at the best of times. The burden of feasibility is on publishers, particular within advertising circles, because most people know that the mortality rate among new magazines is extremely high.

However, like all hard-working business operators, we pressed on, fuelled by the scepticism of the doubting Thomas’s, dogmatically determined to prove our critics wrong. We also caught a glimpse of the goodwill Anthill has fostered since its inception, and became energised by the phone calls and emails of concern from our more enthusiastic readers.

Ultimately, of course, we came out stronger, with better systems, better reader relationships and the knowledge that most ‘business disasters’ can be overcome.

Making mistakes is all part of business. We never like to admit it. But it is often the fallout from mistakes that initiate growth and help us to excel.

We’ll be exploring this oft neglected area of business in our Aug/Sep edition.

This is our invitation to you. Why not regale us with your groan-inducing business follies? The best will be published in our Aug/Sep edition. Your disaster can be simple (”I forgot to put ink in the fax and lost a massive purchase order.”) to the complex (”We tried to launch bottled water into Alaska using a refrigerated truck, instead of a heated one, and discovered that it is, in fact, very hard to sell ice to the Eskimos.”).

We have but one simple request… Please, no PR agents allowed. We only want to hear from genuine business owners with genuine business disaster stories.

Remember, what doesn’t kill you will only make you stronger.

James Tuckerman, Editor-In-Chief, Anthill Magazine

The inevitable has occurred.

Some smart publisher has bought The Bulletin. Sadly, it wasn’t me.

Sydney Funds Manager Peter Hall is the new owner. He also reportedly has a stake in international current affairs periodical Monocle and UK political science journal Prospect.

In Saturday’s Age he makes the comment that he would like the new editorial culture to be “spiky, irreverent and fun, not stodgy.”

Hmmm… It sounds eerily like the Anthill Media Kit. But we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt (simply because we look forward to seeing the new look Bulletin, in its next incarnation).

We’ll be watching with interest.

James Tuckerman, Editor-In-Chief, Anthill Magazine

If you haven’t guessed already, we love to write about cheeky and provocative companies. But we rarely get the opportunity to talk about our own corporate shenanigans, successful or otherwise.

Today is one of those rare, self-indulgent occasions.

In early February, with news that Australia’s oldest circulating business magazine would be closing after 127 years, we released an email with the eyeball-grabbing title, ‘Who wants to help Anthill buy The Bulletin?’

And wowee! Did we get people talking.

The flood of emails, blog comments and phone calls generated by our rally-to-arms not only opened our eyes to the hidden popularity of The Bulletin (gotta love the loyalty of magazine readers). But it only showed us the faith you, our readers, have in Anthill. To check out the blog comments, click here (bless you all).

So, was it really our intention to buy The Bulletin?

Not in our wildest dreams. (Although, our ‘play’ did give rise to some pretty vivid dreams in the months following.)

The purpose of the email was to grab the collective collar of the Australian magazine industry, give it a good, hardy shake and make known the obvious: We are here and we are here to stay (cue Eye of the Tiger on your cassette tape now).

And what were the outcomes of this chest-beating exercise?

Firstly, the story was picked up by the daily papers and then the industry rags. To read our favourite (’tongue-in-cheek’) item of media coverage, click here. The story was circulated through various blogs and electronic channels, including the prestigious Walkley Awards membership newsletter. It also generated record traffic levels on our website (always good for our number crunchers).

But did all the kerfuffle motivate the powers that be at ACP, owners of this now defunct magazine institution, to pick up the blower and give us a call?

At this point, I’ll defer to my circumspect response when approached by Australia’s leading source of political gossip and corporate skulduggery, Crikey.com.

“No comment.”

Am I averting a dangerous breach of some carefully crafted non-disclosure agreement or am I simply adding fuel to the fire of controversy? (Heh heh.) Only time will tell.

In the short-term, we hope our subscribers got a giggle (at least a surprise) when they received our current edition and that we didn’t confuse too many news agency proprietors with our own little attempt to ‘revive The Bulletin’.

The image below is currently available as the reverse cover of our Apr/May edition…

…The Bullantin (Australia’s leading source of Ant-related news).

Click here (or the image) to read the headlines.

James Tuckerman, Editor-In-Chief, Anthill Magazine

Like many growing businesses, technology is our greatest friend. But it can also be the cause of enormous frustration.

You may have already noticed that parts of our website disappeared over the weekend when our host upgraded its infrastructure. One of those parts was our 30under30 application form, only days before our application deadline.

We resolved that problem. And now that’s it’s back up, it seems to be overloading! Very frustrating.

As such, we’ve decided to extend the application stage by one week. Instead of closing on Monday 14 April 2008, applications will now be open until next Monday 21 April 2008. We commend the early-birds who have already submitted their application and apologise to those who are still waiting to get their submissions in.

We hope to have our technology ‘issues’ resolved over the next 24-hours (watch this space). But in the short-term, here’s a sneak preview of the type of person who has already entered 30under30.

How old are our 30under30 applicants so far? It seems that more were born in 1979 than any other year. Is that when fluoride was introduced to drinking water?

In the early days of the awards, we coordinated a massive call to action (eg. I sent out an email), questioning the lack of female entrants (see blog post here). It seems to have worked. Female entries quickly jumped from 3% to over 30%.

How experienced are our entrepreneurs, Grass-hopper? According to the stats, 45% have started multiple businesses, Sensei.

If you still wish to nominate a friend (or yourself), because of our technical hiccup, time is on your side (nomination form here). If you have already nominated and wish to submit your application, watch this space (application form here).

Apologies again. We hope to have the matter resolved soon.

James Tuckerman, Editor-In-Chief, Anthill Magazine (wearing his publisher’s hat)

We like to think that we know a thing or two about business magazines. (We read a lot!)

I recently entered a heated debate about magazine advertising - What to look for, what works, what doesn’t.

Of course, you’ve got to get the fundamentals right - target audience, frequency and reach - but effective print advertising is about more than that. It’s about engagement - connecting with passionate readers.

After chatting with the Anthill team, we’ve devised some of our own unscientific and highly biased tips for evaluating print advertising options.

Be advised, the comments below are highly biased.

But they do honestly reflect how we see the world and our industry.

Step One: Read the Editor’s Note.

This is the bit at the front of the magazine where the editor (at Anthill, that would be me) waxes lyrical about the goings on at the magazine. If the Editor’s Note puts you to sleep or, worse, simply outlines what to expect in the current issue, our advice is simple. Run! The editor’s opinions and outlook should reflect the personality of the magazine.

Firstly, if the Editor’s Note bores you, the rest of the magazine will bore you also. And unless the magazine is a highly specialised B2B title (ie. Hammers & Spanners Quarterly), this is bad news for advertisers. Why? Advertisers should be seeking engaged readers, dummy! 

Secondly, if the Editor’s Note seems half-hearted (or doesn’t have a name attached to it), it’s a safe bet that he/she doesn’t love the magazine. Yes, you heard me correctly. Like any evolving organism, magazines need love to survive. I think that you’re probably already familiar with my attitude and approach, so I won’t go on. Instead, see my comments below about ‘community’ (Step Three).

Step Two: Check to see whether photos and illustrations have attributions.

This is a more general observation that we make time and time again when checking out other magazines - from business to ballet. In short, do the photos or illustrations in the magazine say who is responsible for the artwork? Is someone being credited for their creativity and talent? If not, then there are two possibilities (two assumptions) that we think are reasonable.

The first possibility is that the editor doesn’t love the magazine or he/she doesn’t respect the staff and contributors. (I don’t know which is worse.) Magazines are a team effort. Staff and contributors should share the credit (or the criticism when things don’t go quite as planned).

The second and more likely posibility is that the photos and illustrations are ’stock’ (from a photo-library). Sometimes ’stock’ artwork does offer the most creative solution (we use it occasionally). But, in most cases, it is used as a short-cut, at the expense of local talent.

Most publishers guilty of this crime will claim that the commission of new artwork is prohibitively expensive (we’ve never found that to be the case). But if the budget is still too tight, social networking sites like Flickr offer a great pool of untapped talent just looking for a ‘big break’.

In our view, a lack of attribution signals lazy publishing (like clip-art in a PowerPoint presentation). Again, this signals a lack of love, which is bad news all round.

Step Three: Check out the magazine’s website.

I’m about to expose possibly the greatest myth that surrounds the business of magazine publishing: Business magazines are purchased as an ‘information resource’.

This was certainly true twenty years ago, when the alternatives were few and far between. But today, unless the magazine is, once again, a highly specialised B2B title (ie. Underwater Welders Monthly), you’ll find that most successful over-the-counter business magazines are picked up as a ‘lifestyle product’.

This is because magazine readers, like all consumers, respond to products that reflect their own sense of identity (or an identity that they aspire to adopt). That’s why successful magazines can easily evolve into communities of like-minded people.

In short, a magazine without an effective online community, in our opinion, suggests one of two things - the creation of the online community is outside the financial reach of the publisher (which is hard to believe nowadays, since a wordpress blog can be built from a bedroom in minutes) or the publisher is concerned that if he he/she builds it, they might not come.

If a business magazine doesn’t have a suitably advanced online community, our sad assumption is that the print magazine is either purchased out of obligation or is not purchased at all (provided to its target audience free of charge). In which case, the publisher should justifiably fear the launch of a website, likely to be populated only by ‘tumbleweeds’ and drifters, like the proverbial ghost town.

Of course, if you want to check out the effectiveness of a business magazine’s website, or any website for that matter, there are a few online tools. The best free one that we are aware of is… http://siteanalytics.compete.com/

In summary…

Successful advertising is about engagement. And it is impossible to engage with uninterested readers. In short, it’s not hard to determine whether a magazine’s readers are passionate or apathetic. And that’s our unscientific and highly biased guide to effective magazine advertising.

If you think that we’re kidding ourselves, don’t hold back.

By James Tuckerman, Editor-In-Chief, Anthill Magazine

If this sounds like you, we may have just furthered your ambitions.

When asked to create a cover about the power of crowds, Anthill designer Lydia Sumner took our request quite literally, dragging together over 300 head shots to create the words Funky, Sexy, Cool.

Not so coincidentally, this is the name of the Aussie (NY-based) social networking outfit that plays no small part in our Apr/May edition as the focus of our cover story (wheels within wheels).As such… if your glorious mug has appeared in Anthill Magazine, chances are, this month, you’ll be able to brag to your friends, colleagues, spouses, offspring, neighbour’s cat that you recently became a cover model.

Call mum now!

To check out the cover in detail (and who’s on it), click here.

Or get to your local newsagent (newsagent finder, click here).

More on the power of crowds…

I came across this book recently (one of the perks of being an editor is that you are sent cool stuff). It’s about the power of crowds and how social networking tools are influencing the structure of organisations.

If you like books by Malcolm Gladwell (The Tipping Point and Blink) or the guys who co-authored Freakonomics, you’ll probably like this also. Because I’m not sure whether it is available in Australia yet, I have set up an Amazon account (click here).