Tweet

Are Shelter Books Dead -- Or merely the new bridal magazines?

Written by: Norman Birnbach

Article Overview: With the news that Hachette Filipacchi Media is shuttering Metropolitan Home magazine, we've come to a turning point, I think, in what used to be known as the "shelter books" -- magazines focusing on interior design for the home.

Are Shelter Books Dead -- Or merely the new bridal magazines?

With the news that Hachette Filipacchi Media is shuttering Metropolitan Home magazine, we've come to a turning point, I think, in what used to be known as the "shelter books" -- magazines focusing on interior design for the home. In an environment where home foreclosures continue to mount up, the potential readership for decorating tips has other things on their mind.

In fact, a lot of people seem to renovate these days only to spruce up their homes to make them more marketable. I know someone who had put off updating their kitchen for year because they thought they might move, and now are moving -- but not before investing $10,000 to update their kitchen appliances. And that's even though they know any buyer will rip out those improvements to more completely renovate the kitchen. (My friend is also lamenting that they didn't spend the money years ago to enjoy the new appliances.)

I'm not saying that's the only reason or only time these days that people are renovating or updating their homes. But it does seem true when I look around at friends and colleagues.

The advertisers and publishers seem to recognize that fact. After all, they've pulled the plug on at least six other shelter pubs: nStyle Home, Cottage Living, Blueprint, Country Home, O at Home and Domino.

True, there are still a lot of other shelter pubs out there, like Better Homes & Gardens and Elle Decor.

But I think people interested in interior design magazines may be shifting their reading habits, and won't be interesting in annual subscriptions to those magazines. Like readers of bridal magazines, these will be interested buyers, looking for tips and ideas before they actually decide to update the look of their homes. They'll buy a couple of issues, and be done.

Besides, they can always look online at the weekly home sections still published by many newspapers. Of course, the graphics on newsprint aren't as impressive on high glossy magazine stock, but it's more convenient.

And while our clients usually are not interested in shelter pubs, one reason I'm interested in this change is that the high resolution graphics necessary for shelter pubs was one reason I thought they -- along with bridal and high-end travel magazines -- would survive without having to shift to an online-only business model. Because the graphics are so important to the end product.

For the moment, it seems only bridal and high-end travel magazines may be able to resist going online only.

Related Articles
  Don't Drag a Dead Horse
  Books as naked conversations
  Lesson #1: Create a Brand that Can Be Loved, Honoured, and Obeyed
  Article Marketers - Stop Insulting Your Targeted Audience When You Write & Submit Articles Online
  How to start a home based business

Article Tags: blueprint, bridal magazines, colleagues, decorating tips, domino, elle decor, glossy magazine, hachette filipacchi media, home foreclosures, interested buyers, interior design magazines, kitchen appliances, magazine stock, metropolitan home magazine, new appliances, newsprint, pubs, readership, reading habits, turning point



Related Forum Posts
Collecting stuff - Hi Takuya, I see that you are collecting books. How long does it take to read a book? When you read it, do you write and mark important passages? Books is my passion, too. I mark them, write on the back the page number to look it up at a later stage. I have a lot of books on personal development, goal setting and leadership. Also I collect magazines, travel brochures etc. It is a challenge to throw anything away. It is always the thought: "Just in case I will neeit again...." Somtimes I buy two books so that I can give one away. There is always somebody who I can bless with a good book. Finally, I have also books/magazines of spiritual content, which will never be out of fashion. The Bible is my favorite book. The Psalms and the book of Proverbs are incredible to read again and again. Check these two out. Kindest Regards Beat "Unlock People's Potentials
Re: Poll: Print News vs. Internet News - One thing I will continue to do from time to time is to take out subscriptions to the print versions of magazines such as the English weekly, The Spectator. I find that I do not read the online version so regularly, or when I visit the site it is just to read one or two articles. With the print version I read the whole lot, cover to cover. Also, magazines are good for those of us who use public transport. Most of the time I read a book on the tram or train, sometimes listen to audio downloads on iPod, and sometimes read magazines. The only time I read newspapers on the trains is in England!
Top 19 Copywriting books - 1. Ogilvy on Advertising. David Ogilvy. Wiley. 2. Positioning: The Battle for your Mind. Al Ries and Jack Trout. Warner. 3. The New Positioning. Jack Trout. McGraw-Hill. 4. Tested Advertising Methods. John Caples. Prentice-Hall. 5. How to Make your Advertising Make Money. John Caples. Prentice-Hall. 6. Guerrilla Advertising. Jay Conrad Levinson. Houghton Mifflin. 7. Direct Mail Copy that Sells. Herschell Gordon Lewis. Prentice-Hall. 8. Sales Letters that Sizzle. Herschell Gordon Lewis. NTC Business Books. 9. Herschell Gordon Lewis on the Art of Writing Copy. Herschell Gordon Lewis. Prentice-Hall. 10. Romancing the Brand. David Martin. American Management Association. 11. The Art of Writing Advertising: Conversations with William Bernbach, Leo Burnett, George Gribbin, David Ogilvy, Rosser Reeves. NTC Business Books. 12. Confessions of an Advertising Man. David Ogilvy. NTC Business Books. 13. My Life in Advertising. Claude Hopkins. NTC Business Books. 14. Scientific Advertising. Claude Hopkins. NTC Business Books. 15. How to Become an Advertising Man. James Webb Young. NTC Business Books. 16. The Lasker Story as He Told It. NTC Business Books. 17. Advertising Concept and Copy. George Felton. Prentice Hall. 18. The Copy WorkShop Workbook. Bruce Bendinger. The Copy Workshop. 19. Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: A Guide to Creating Great Ads. Luke Sullivan. Wiley. This should keep you busy for at least a year. Enjoy!
My entry - 1. The Best Business Books Ever: The 100 Most Influential Business Books You'll Never Have Time to Read - this is a fascinating book about the history of Business theory, and I'd recommend it to anybody. 2. The Big Book of Small Business: You Don't Have to Run Your Business by the Seat of Your Pants, by Tom Gegax. Ditto. 3. PADI: The Business of Diving Book Okay, so this book won't be of use to anyone who doesn't want to start a scuba store, but I did, and this book was of course invaluable to me in reaching that goal.
Re: How do you get your clients? - Our clients started strictly from email campaigns. From that was added the word or mouth and some paid advertisements in magazines specific to the profession we target. We've kind of quit doing the magazines though, because we just weren't getting the sales from that medium. We've also done a few trade shows (maybe over a period of two years) but our market is more international than local so the email marketing is still our best bet. We've bought emails, but our best ones have been the ones we've just collected from the people who come to our website through search engines. We get them to the website first and then just keep reminding them that they need our product. I believe different methods work based on who you are targeting.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Starting A Set of Books

Executives and Elevators Perfecting That Pitch

10 Steps to a Great Support Team

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.