When a School Project Becomes a Business Adventure

Image courtesy of Mixtape Magazine

Their numbers are still modest, but keeping in mind that they began only this year, it holds promise. On June 11th, a crowd-funder netted the group $1,000 in one night, with 20 subscriptions sold. The goal, says Bill McEwen, is to hit 500 subscriptions by the end of the summer.

“That’s a lofty goal, but if we do that we’ll be able to print the first two issues comfortably,” he says.

The summer festival guide and their marketing plan are expected to attract more attention and get them closer to that goal. While still in the early stages, that plan is beginning to become something more tangible.

“We define our market by behavior rather than age range,” says McEwen. “But the market we’re looking for is comfortable both online and in print. The response so far online has been really good, with subscriptions coming from people across the country and in that industry that I have never met before. So online is good but it really only is a small piece of the pie.”

For one thing, the team will be leveraging this country’s always-busy summer concert season and their accompanying guide to help meet more people face-to-face. They will be there at the concerts and festivals, handing out their guides and asking people what they think.

“We haven’t really put the gears to the physical marketing yet, but we’re right there, and it’s tremendously exciting.”

With any new venture, there are intertwining emotions consisting of excitement, fear, and reward. It’s safe to say Mixtape’s publishers are feeling that.

“The absolute hardest thing is that none of us have done this before,” says McEwen. “We’ve all had to wear a lot of different hats, in terms of coming up with content, running with the crowd-funder idea, formulating a business plan, writing grant proposals, all of these different things. That’s probably been the biggest challenge.”

“Identifying a unique selling proposal was crucial,” he continues. “All of the things we’re working on, all of the marketing, the entire business, is based on that sell. And if it’s not good enough, you’re not going to be able to do that, and people won’t listen to you. When I say to you that we’re an insider’s guide to the Canadian music scene, that is what all of our business operations and content is based off of.”

Co-founder Jonathan Briggins shares some of the early rewards they’ve experienced, such as seeing the proof of the festival guide. It helped validate their months of hard work, and finally being able to see a tangible product out there gives hope for the coming months.

As of now, Mixtape Magazine is not seeking outside investors, but if and when it does, the team hopes they can help not only financially, but also in their expertise. McEwen would love to ultimately relinquish his Publisher hat so he can focus more on content and the journalistic elements.

For now, though, this quintessentially Canadian business story is in its infancy. There is a lot of passion, talent, and optimism. And as always, there’s hope.

Azim Ahmed is a public relations professional with over five years of experience as a journalist. Azim has a special interest in writing on the business of sports and on Canada’s role in a global economy.

Twitter: @azim_w_ahmed
LinkedIn: ca.linkedin.com/in/azimahmed1

Originally Created by: Jonathan Briggins, Samantha Chown, Hilary Creamer, Ryan Hemsworth, and Chelcie Soroka

Source
Mixtape Magazine Website: http://mixtapemagazine.ca/
Interview with Publisher and Business Manager, Bill McEwen
Interview with Co-founder, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher, Jonathan Briggin
Image courtesy of Creability Pictures via Flickr
Image courtesy of Mixtape Magazine
Image courtesy of thetaxhaven via Flickr