Guest blog from
I was in yet
another airport waiting for a plane and picked up one of the free magazines to
pass the time. Sorted grabbed my
interest and I was some way into it before it dawned on me that it was a
magazine with a Christian ethos. I was thrilled.
Here, at last, was
a Christian magazine that really stood a chance of being read by non-Christian
guys; a magazine that our God can be proud of. It perfectly took Christianity
out of the confines of the Church and into the world, in a relevant,
entertaining way.
I am a business
person, with a strong understanding of sales and marketing and an involvement
in publishing. Magazines are not cheap to produce and distribute. I spoke to
the editor Steve Legg and was inspired to help when he told me that he does not draw
a salary from the magazine.
The fixed costs are
£10,000 a month and it is up to us as successful Christian business people and
professionals to draw alongside Steve and support him in one of the UK’s most
potent evangelistic projects.
If fifty of us
commit to sowing just £200 per month in the magazine, we cover the fixed costs,
allowing advertising revenue to be used to further develop the magazine and get
more copies out there.
And remember, we are not doing Steve a favour – quite
the opposite! He is doing us a service by providing us and our businesses with
the opportunity to partner with a project truly significant in the kingdom of
our Lord.
I do not know Steve
well and have not been involved with the magazine up to now. I ask you, too,
whether you know Steve or not, to partner with me in supporting the work of Sorted.
Don't pray about it, just do it.
Email steve@sorted-magazine.com to find out how you can support the magazine.
Don't pray about it, just do it? Seriously?
ReplyDeleteI think what Stephen meant was that he feels there's no need for people to spend weeks deliberating over it; it's just something they could go with their gut on. Of course, if people want to pray about it, that's absolutely fine with us!
DeletePerhaps the 'just' could have been in the first phrase. Don't JUST pray. Do it. Amen! A great article and a great mag. (for both sexes :-)) Marion Sharp
DeleteGreat point, Marion. Thanks.
DeleteHere's an idea: Why doesn't Stephen help Steve make the magazine profitable? Sorted is a great mag and seeing as every other mag on the shelves at WH Smith is either breaking even or turning a small to large profit, I see no reason why Sorted can't either? Then Sorted will be sustainable and won't need to rely on charity. Everyone wins!
ReplyDeleteI think Stephen is going to help, but it's best if a few people can get behind the magazine and get it to the point where it's making enough to pay everyone on the team a salary. The ultimate aim is for us to be able to give away copies to people who might not go out of their way to buy it but would benefit from reading it. Having it in Smiths is great, but it costs a fair whack to have it in there, and I think a lot of smaller, less well known magazines struggle to make it profitable. The better known Sorted is, the more likely it is to turn a profit, so the more people that support it the better. Thanks for your comment!
DeleteI'm just saying that long term, donations won't solve the issue. What you need is maybe investment. Running Sorted as a business rather than a charity will be the way forward because people won't keep giving and giving just to keep a magazine going. They expect magazines to turn their own profit and make themselves sustainable.
DeleteHey anonymous, thanks for your comments. Sorted needs a boost right now. What has been achieved without investment has been truly amazing - bear in mind most magazines take £5million to launch we started with nothing but faith, hope and belief. It's advertisers who ultimately pay for print-runs, but they don't want to advertise unless it's a big circulation, but how do you get to a big circulation without advertisers - so you're in this vicious circle. Sorted prints around 30,000 a time (comparable with lad's mag Loaded) but we need help to take it to the next level, which should bring in added ad revenue to make us truly sustainable. Hope that clarifies but do give me a shout if you'd like to invest.
ReplyDeleteI bit puzzled as to why you were relieved he didn't draw a salary ? he should be getting a salary as that's the trouble with a lot of Christian projects we don't have equal opportunities , we should be setting an example and paying people in a proper way
ReplyDeleteHi Anonymous, what Stephen Baring actually says is: "I was inspired to help when he told me that he does not draw a salary from the magazine". He seemed quite shocked that Steve was not able to make a living from the magazine despite putting so much work into it. I certainly agree that we should pay people properly. Thanks for your comment.
DeleteWow! As I read this I am truely amazed! God has put the same dream in our heart! We have started a magazine called Grace. (as in Grace full stop) here in South Africa. The aim is to unite the body of Christ, help people into a closer relationship with God and to get more people to heaven. We cater for both Christian and non Christian. We take no prophets and we are just sowing in God's kingdom. I would love to see a copy of your magazine! How can we get hold of one? Hoping to hear from you! Blessings, Marzanne Slabbert ( Editor ) marzanne@mymagbloem.co.za
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ReplyDeleteIf Steve Legg kickstarted this mag off with few real funds and off his own bat, so to speak, then I have enormous respect for him; that takes hard work, belief and struggle. And he doesn't take a salary either! Wow! I wish I could help but really can't. But you know, we do need Sorted, we do need a mag that reaches out to the not-particularly-religious; isn't that what Jesus did after all?
ReplyDelete