The self described “Battersea Dogs Home” for unwanted magazine titles, Magicalia, is using the internet to reinvigorate specialist interest magazines, reports The Daily Telegraph.Magicalia, which recently bought Practical Parenting from IPC, employs 14 web programmers out of 150 staff, more than some publishers twice its size.
For its magazines with websites, 30 per cent of revenue comes from online, compared to around 15 per cent for most consumer magazine publishers.
The company is keen on any hobby that involves buying kit, which explains why it owns titles like Model Engineers’ Workshop.
A quarter of the group’s online money comes from customers who read a review and then click through to a retailer’s site to buy the product. The company receives between 5 and 10p of the sale price for any purchases made. The company ensures every review is matched with a product for sale.
Each title bought from Gardens Monthly to Model Engineers’ Workshop is linked into a community website where enthusiasts swap photos and news, shop for kit and trawl through the product review archives. Enthusiasts’ comments and reviews make their way into the print title.
The company has £100m to spend on acquisitions but has so far only spent £5m.
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