Monday, April 05, 2010

We'll Get By With a Little Help From Our Friends



Since launching CityDog Magazine five years ago, it's been growing ever since - that is, until 2009. Last year, was the toughest year we've faced and I don't think there is a single magazine out there that didn't struggle. The good news is...things are finally starting to look better - way better! However, we still need a little help from our friends.

We intend to keep subscription prices at an affordable price ($18 a year) as well as maintain the high quality publication our readers have become accustomed to, including beautiful, full color photography and outstanding editorial from local contributors. We also plan to continue our extremely popular CityDog Muttmixers and the CityDog Cover Dog Model Search (which has enabled us to raise tens of thousands of dollars for animal welfare organizations).

We are also completely redesigning the CityDog website (www.citydogmagazine.com) to bring you a fully interactive online community, where you can meet and engage with fellow dog lovers, search for and review local businesses and services, find out about area events or post your own, and start conversations/forums/groups with your peers.

But, all of this comes at a price and with a little help from our friends we can weather this storm and continue to bring you the best darn dog magazine in the West. Thank you!

Woofs & Wags!
Brandie Ahlgren, founder
CityDog Magazine

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Brandie, one of the nuts-n-bolts things you could do to help your magazine is "light a fire" under your distributor. It does CityDog NO GOOD WHATSOEVER for long out-of-date issues to be sitting on the periodicals racks at the big-box book retailers - so long out of date that the new issue can be out for five to six WEEKS before it is on display. This goes against getting new readership and new subscribers. A lot of us dog people are always looking for new publications and scan the periodicals sections at bookstores for great new magazines. An outdated issue sitting on the shelf for many months past the holidays - like CityDog was, the holiday issue was still on display as late as April 10 - sends a signal that either the magazine isn't being published any longer or that it is published so seldom as to not offer timely information. You really really need to give a well-deserved yank to the proverbial chokechain - NOT on a dog ever BUT to your distributor who IS doing CityDog a real disservice by this slacking!!!

CityDog Magazine said...

Dear Anonymous -- Thank you for your comment. I couldn't agree with you more. It's bothersome when there is a "display until" date clearly on the magazine, which goes ignored by the book store -- meaning, an issue stays on the shelf after its shelf life. Then, coupled with a two - sometimes three - week delay in the current issue reaching the major book stores via the distributor - it's frustrating.

As someone who obviously cares about CityDog Magazine, the best advice I can give you is to subscribe to the magazine. Not only is it cheaper in the long run than buying off the newsstand, we mail your copy either the same day or the day after it arrives from the printer, ensuring you receive it "hot-off-the-press."

Again, thank you for your comments. As you suggest, we will yank on the distributor's proverbial choke chain.

If you would like to subscribe to CityDog, you can do so at www.citydogmagazine.com.

Brandie Ahlgren, founder
CityDog Magazine