13 March, 2007 | No comments

Sponsorship

Now we come to a great method to cover any costs we incur - and get a home cinema kit for ourselves (HAHA! - Just joking.)

Now I mentioned previously about getting sponsors to throw a few prizes our way so we can reward the little scouts who forage for suitable free content on our behalf - if they really do - Remember, the 3EMAP program will (for an incredibly low price) provide a list of sites where you can download all the free content you want for yourselves.

But who to approach - who most wants to communicate with our publications’ audiences?

Well, each of you will have different audience priorities but let’s look at the Lad’s Mag market for the time being.

They want to reach a ‘youthful’ audience and lads mags can provide this.
Generally 16-30 years old although the age bleeds below and above this range.
Ignoring the lower end of the age profile, we can still chase beer advertisers, sexlines etc. but we probably wouldn’t be too successful with these.
What we need are sponsors who have a range of products which are frequently manufactured specifically for the young male.

And they need to have a good sense of irony - more on this later !

So who are our ideal sponsors ?

FILM COMPANIES AND DISTRIBUTORS - HURRAH !

They’ll throw product our way to be associated with the edgy culture of the internet viral.

Why? Well, they produce DVDs they need to shift quickly and want to get bums on seats in the cinema en masse to push their movies up the box-office charts.

Now, why the ‘good sense of irony’ you enquire.

Obvious innit.

These film companies are at the forefront of the fight against copyright abuse and like to prosecute kids and their pink-tracksuit wearing mums for downloading movies onto their computers.

Well, the fact that some lads mags are taking advantage of free content without knowing who created it and with no intention of paying for it means that the film companies are offering inducements to individuals to take part in copyright abuse !

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

…breathes…You’ve got to laugh, haven’t you.

Nuts2Zoo has provided links to companies who have proved they’re up for a laugh by donating films, DVD players (the cheap stuff, mind you) and other goodies as inducements for people to send us other peoples’ work.
The co-conspirators are on the right of the page in the links section and WE’RE PROVIDING THEM TO YOU, OUR LOYAL AUDIENCE - FREE OF CHARGE !!

Nuts 2 Zoo talked to one such company some time ago to clarify whether we need to clearly verify the ages of prizewinners before we send out an 18 certificate movie as a prize.
“Damn right you do,” was their response.
OOPS ! WE HADN’T BEEN DOING THAT
NEVER MIND..THE COMPANY WASN’T GOING TO KICK UP A STINK WERE THEY? BAD PUBLICITY - HAHA!

MORE TOMORROW….TTFN !

12 March, 2007 | No comments

Piracy = Profit - Images

The internet is groaning with images that we can exploit to enliven our publications for minimal outlay.

Of course we have to be careful in our choice.

We all want free or low-cost content but, if we make a wrong selection, we can end up having to pay out owners, their lawyers AND our own lawyers - and we don’t want that do we?

“No way!” I hear you chant. Good.

Then let’s look at a common but effective strategy.

The Viral Two Step

If there is a cost involved in this particular format, then it is picked up by the sponsor you rope in using your own seductive marketing techniques.
The sponsor provides prizes (or inducements) which ensure you receive a steady flow of quality material from your gullible readership.

Now, whether you actually give out the prizes or not is up to you.
We recommend you do. It would be embarrassing and counter-productive to say the least if your readership AND your advertisers were to discover they were being hoodwinked.
Remember to name the winner after every promotion.
You can, as some have done, just use christian names or nicknames.
Remember, if you are going to be a bit ‘clever’ the data protection act can protect you, just as much as your ‘contributors’.

So, what to exploit?

VIRALS.

“Virals?” I hear you ask.
Yes, images created from many other images. The greyest of grey areas when proving ownership.
Of course some clever little computer jockey may have had an amusing idea and spent an age producing something using programs like photoshop, but why reward them just for that !

They’re not business people, just attention seekers.

In fact, we’re doing them a favour publishing their work.THEY SHOULD BE PAYING US !

The creators can then run around telling their mates and, do you know what? , the mates all buy your magazine to see their friends’ work and WE MAKE MORE MONEY!

EVERYONE’S A WINNER !

So, where do we find these virals?

Well, you can have your readers send them to you - Get them to do the legwork!
Offer them a prize (from your sucker sponsor so no outlay on your part) and the emails will come flooding in.
Or, you can trawl around the internet yourself, a time consuming process; well it was until we discovered a few useful sites where these little viral monkeys congregate.

When you sign up to the 3EMAP LEARNING COURSE we will provide you with a list of these viral ‘hunting grounds’.
In the meantime, take a trip round the net and see if you can find any decent content. It’s not easy and that’s why the 3EMAP LEARNING COURSE is such great value.

“But how can we mask where these images were sourced when we print them.” you collectively groan.
Chins up chaps, where’s your ENTHUSIASM!. There are several answers and I’ll let you in on how we can do this in a future post.

In the next post, I’ll also point out a few common pitfalls - ‘Do’s and Don’ts for us pirates of the web - “Arrrrr Jim Lad!” HA! HA!.

STAY TUNED!