Daily Blog - Thursday June 18th

This year when you add up the national Phil Steele’s College Football Preview, the 5 Regional Magazines and the brand new NFL magazine we are closing in on printing close to a million magazines. Now when you factor in the actual printing cost, shipping and distribution of the magazine and my staff of roughly 30 people the cost become exorbitant. My employee’s work on nothing but football year round and I would like to thank them for the massive amount of man hours it takes to produce these in depth and meaty magazines.

My goal for the 2010 season is to produce a stand alone FCS or 1AA magazine that will have 1 full page on each of the 125 teams and perhaps even some Division II coverage. I want the regional magazines to keep expanding the amount of information put into them. This first year of the NFL magazine will only be picked up lightly at the newsstands but if you can not find it please do call and order. Next season I’m sure it will be available at most places that carry the Phil Steele’s College Football Preview.

To do all the research that we do and print all the magazines the costs continue to climb. This year you will notice we have expanded our advertising in the magazine and are pleased to have our new advertisers but happy to have fewer ads then the competitors. These advertisers are crucial for me to keep expanding the amount of information that we produce every year. There are two things you can do to keep us putting out more and more information. The first is to buy the magazine at the newsstands and ideally buy the entire set of magazines (all 7 this year at retail plus shipping and handling would be $64.90) for just $39 for the entire set through our office. The second as you continue to read on is to patronize our advertisers.

As far as the FCS goes, I would not project to make a profit on an FCS publication for nearly a decade, if then. I would produce an FCS magazine due to my love of the game and the lack of information that is available. As I mentioned in an earlier blog I’ll continue to search for a sponsor.

You will notice in this years magazine that we have added some new advertisers. For years my entire staff has been devoted to football and football only. We do not have a separate sales staff that is just here to find advertising. I believe most other major magazines have those type of staffs. For years I have wondered why any major advertiser would advertise in one of the competitors and not my magazine. Let’s face the facts. When you purchase one of the competitors magazines, you buy it, do a quick read thru and it finds itself on the bookshelf and unread after that. Their magazines maybe get opened 3 to 5 times during the year. My magazine is used almost daily during football and I can tell from everyone’s comments that it is used from the summer thru September, October, November, December and even into January and the next spring. I would estimate the average buyer of my national magazine opens it up during the year somewhere between 500 and 1000 times giving the advertiser greater exposure. I know this is true and if you buy the magazine you probably realize this as well.

This year an advertising company out of New York landed us a few ads for the magazine. Now advertisers like to track how successful their ads are and I feel they will all be pleasantly surprised. This could be a key to much greater football coverage in the future as the advertisers grow and pay more of the bills. Each of the advertisers have a way to track folks that have heard of them thru my magazine. Let me quickly give you some of those advertisers and how you can identify yourself as a Phil Steele Publications reader.

If you check out page 323 of this years magazine, there is a picture of me watching the games on Saturday on Direct TV. Naturally if you want to watch as much College Football as I do I feel it is the way to go. They also have the NFL package which allows you to watch EVERY NFL game. That is what I do on Sundays. I personally have been using Direct TV for over a decade. If you are thinking of getting Direct TV for your football setup at home call them at 1-888-383-9941. There is no equipment to buy and no start up costs. When you call 1-888-383-9941 then they know you saw their ad in my magazine and maybe they will place bigger ads in next year.

We have had Fatheads around the office for years as they are big or small logo’s or helmets that easily stick to walls but come off just as easily without damaging the paint. I use them at work and at home and you probably are not as big a college fan as you think if you don’t have your teams 4 foot helmet logo on your wall. They were kind enough to give a 10% discount to anyone that mentions Phil Steele’s College Football Preview. I realize that most of you already have purchased from Fatheads but the next time you do call 1-877-Fathead or go to Fathead.com and use the code PSCOLLEGE and you will not only get 10% off but you will be letting them know that you heard of them thru my magazine.

Eastbay is one of the largest sporting goods companies in the country and they dropped in an ad this year. I know many of you use Eastbay as they have a huge range of sporting goods at a great price, but the next time you do mention my magazine. If you call them at 1-800-826-2205 mention that you read about them in the magazine. If you go on line at eastbay.com then use the promotional code MGEB9PSJ at checkout.

Croton watches took out a big ad on the inside front cover this year. You should check out their huge selection of quality, precision watches at crotonwatch.com. I am not sure how we get credit for your visit but make sure you let them know where you heard of them from.

Home security is a great piece of mind. I have it at both work and at home. ADT will give you that piece of mind and install $850 worth of equipment in your home for just $99 when you agree to a 3 year contract at just $35.99 per month. They have a specific number to call that lets them know that you saw their ad in a Phil Steele publication and that number is 1-888-414-9019. Even if you are just thinking about a home security system give them a call at 1-888-414-9019.

SportRobe sells, you guessed it, sports robes. If you want a robe with your favorite teams logo on it (and who wouldn’t) then go to their website SportRobe.com. You get free shipping if you type in COLLEGE2009 at checkout. That is nice of them to give away the free shipping as I know with my magazine the shipping costs more than the magazine does! That offer is only good until Oct. 31st so order today while you are thinking about it.

I remember when long distance calls were a major cost for my business. It is great that some phone companies have FREE long distance. One of them took an ad out this year and it is Vonage. They have UNLIMITED Local and Long Distance calling for just $24.99 per month and even will give you ONE MONTH FREE. Just call them at 1-888-401-7569. I believe this is a specific 888 number so they can target the call but mention Phil Steele publications any way. You can even keep your existing phone number. To get more info on a solid offer call them at 1-888-401-7569.

I mentioned that I watch Direct TV but I also have Dish TV in my offices. I have always liked using Dish TV as well and 4 of my 12 TV’s are hooked up to it. I can’t have all 12 as it does not have the NFL package BUT if you are just a college football fan (as I know many of you are) then they do get ALL the college games and might even be a little cheaper! Call them at 1-888-407-3147.

Most of the other magazines have ads for sports services in their magazines. A major concern I have about using sports services (they provide their selections on games concerning the Las Vegas line) is that there are a lot of high pressure services out there with slick salesmen that get your phone number and harass you at all hours until you sign up. Northcoast Sports has been an advertiser in the magazine for 15 years (you probably recognize their girls in bikini’s in their ads) and we have never had a single complaint of them every calling someone’s house or business. They assure me that if you call 1-800-654-3448 and get 3 free issues of their newsletter Power Sweep (including the post draft issue which is out now) that they will not even ask for your phone number and no salesman will call.

The Sport Source is a great avenue for anyone that is going to college. You don’t need to loose your head when searching for the right college or univeristy. The Sport Source makes is simple. Just pick your sport, enter your personal selection preference, choose your division of play, program of study and in just seconds create your own personal database of prospective colleges. Any questions or to learn more go to TheSportSource.com, email Coach@TheSportSource.com, or call 1-866-829-2606.

77 DAYS UNTIL FOOTBALL!