Advertising in Blade

Chris Crawford

Chris Crawford

Joined
Apr 14, 2001
Messages
380
Could some of you guys who have advertised in Blade or K.I. share their experiences? I would like to know if you feel that the advertising has really helped you, and do you have any suggestions when it comes to placing an add.

About a year or so ago I checked into Blade to see how much it would cost to advertise my videos. I was hit pretty hard by the sticker shock when I learned it was $200 for a 1/6 page add. Well I decided not to place the add, but I'm not considering placing one to promote my BladeMakers.com website.

At $200 per pop, I would probably only be able to place an add in one issue. What I do not know is if having it in just one issue would really make much difference as far as exposure goes, or do you need to place adds in consecutive issues to really get someone to notice it.

Also, what kind of things would you suggest putting into an add to really draw someones eye to it?

Thanks for the help. -chris

__________________
Chris Crawford Knives

 
Chris,

Fro someone who has run a business of his own.... if you can find the money to advertise for more than one issue then do it. If you have to do it sporadically, like 2 or 3 months in and 4 or 5 out, then do it that way. One month I doubt is going to get you substantial exposure at 1/6th page. I may be wrong. That same 1/6th page kept up for a couple of months on and off will get you some exposure.

If you would like some advice as to getting up and running wihtout alot of overhead send me an email. I started 2 business with the change in my pocket. Nicely successful and sold in 2 years...

One good book I can point you at. send me an email.

Doc
 
Chris,
I advertised in Blade for 2 issues before the blade show, the blade show issue and a couple afterwards. I bought a 1/12th of a page which was $210 per issue. I got a few calls about it, mostly from local guys who didn't know that there was a knifemaker in their state. I did not get any orders or sales from it. I do more business and get more exposure here on bladeforums or on my Blademakers web page with you.

I might place another ad in the blade show issue because that issue gets handed out to everyone who attends the show.
 
I don't know about everybody else but I don't even look at the ad pages unless I am looking for something specific. Most of the ads in blade magazine have not changed for years. They would do better I think to mix it up some and not always have the same ad in the same spot on the same page issue after issue.
 
I advertised in Knife World for 4 months and got nothing. Granted it was a word ad in the classified section, but I still didn't even get one inquiry. The internet seems to be the way to get the most exposure. Most of my business is from the customer base I made while doing gunshows as a factory dealer. I'm not known here as well as some of the members who have been here for several years, but hopefully I'll be able to sell from my website. I'm having the most fun here getting and sharing info from other forumites. :)
Scott
 
Chris, we've only done 3 ads in Blade so far, all 1/6th of a page. The price hit me hard at first but, we've gotten enough business from those ads to more than pay for them. Right now we're planning on doing 4 ads a year and maybe 6 by next year.
 
I did some advertising in Blade and got zero response. What I did get response from was sending pictures to Blade and having them published. By far the best advertising is from the internet sites that purvey my stuff.
 
New product placement or feature articles get the most attention, ads act as reinforcement to the others. The ads make you look like a serious player.

I had some problems with ad quality when agencies were making them up and placing them, one even had some strawberry jam on the photo. I know the blemish in the printed ad was strawberry jam because it was still on the photo when I got the photo back.

We now have a local operation produce press ready negatives and send the neg along with a proof to the magazine telling them that we expect the printed result to match the proof. More expense up front but the quality is worth it.
 
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