From the Publisher
We had several additions to the schedule of events so we thought we would create a new article named “New Events”. In this article we will post the additions and major changes to the Schedule of Events. We hope that this will assist our readers in keeping up to date with the changes to the Schedule of Events.
Last month we turned on the Classified Ad section of the magazine and to date, no one has seen fit to use it. It costs us nothing to leave the Classified section up so we will do that in the off chance our readers decide to make use of it.
This month we opened the store section of the magazine. You can get into the store by using the “Store” tab at the top of the site. Here we will stock items that we think would be useful to our subscriber base. The Store accepts payment via PayPal which means you can be assured that your transactions are secure. I like this arrangement because it means no one associated with the magazine has access to your information and I can sleep better knowing that we are not responsible for securing that information. Currently we are selling a line of detailing products from White Diamond. I spent the better part of the Warrensburg Bike Rally working with the distributor at his booth learning about the products and how to use them. I chronicled that experience in an article in this issue named “A Week With Dr. Shine”. In the article are videos that show how to use the products and how effective they can be at reducing the time it takes to maintain the look of your bike.
Tim Sneider sent us an article about his first visit to Rolling Thunder in Washington DC. I really think it is a superb piece of work and would encourage everyone to read this article. I would also encourage readers to submit articles about their events and experiences. It is sad to say, but we cannot be at every event so if we do not show up to your event, please feel free to blow your own horn so to speak. As long as the article meets our content standards we will be glad to publish it.
We are taking a hardline approach with establishments that want us to profile their place of business. We had an individual ask us to run a “Places to Go” article on his establishment because he wanted to have more runs stop at his bar. We offered to do the article and asked if he would be interested in placing an ad with us, total cost for the ad would be about $60.00. “Times are tough” we were told and then we found out later that the individual was paying several hundred dollars for radio advertising to promote the event he wanted us to highlight. One thing that I know about bikers and riders is that we do not use each other and we expect that from those that we try to help. The message is pretty clear, you support us just a little and we will work our tails off to get you the exposure you need. Try to use us and your article goes through the shredder.
It takes a great deal of time and effort to create the articles for this magazine. This is not a hobby, it is a business and as such, the revenue generated needs to support the effort it takes to publish the magazine. This month’s issue took 50 hours of just typing, formatting, proof reading and insertion, never mind the time devoted to interviews and keeping the site up and running. I am running Google analytics on the site and we are getting the page hits that we expect (that is good) but not many of those page hits are on the articles (that is bad). They mostly are on the “Schedule of Event” and the monthly “Events” articles. I am thinking of changing the format of the magazine to be more static and to be more of a resource for those riding in the area with only a couple of articles each month if that. If you like the format of the magazine the way it is, I need to know that, so take the time to send me an e-mail (Publisher@NorthCountryRiderMagazine.com) and let me know. Please do not take this the wrong way. If the readership likes the format and wants the magazine to stay in this format, I have no problem dedicating the time it takes to generate the articles. If no one cares then I would rather build a more static site that meets everyone’s needs and spend more time riding.
Ride Well and Ride Safe
Ed and Karen Frulla
Publishers