BDL productions magazine research



N

North

Guest
Hi guys. after working with a one of the unicyclists on this forum, ive
decided to come on here myself to do the market research.
heres the brief:

BDL productions (who own broad day light video, who you may
or may not have heard of) are looking to produce a unicycle
magazine (provisionally called "R Evolution"), which will
mainly be distributed in the uk, but will be available
anywhere else mail order from us. the format is going to be
similar to that of uk magazines such as ride, document and
dirt. ie mainly photo based. at the moment we are talking to
various different organisations about funding. what we want
from you guys is submissisions, feedback, ideas, and
especially any ideas about where we can get further funding.

and to answer the following questions:

1)would you be willing to buy a unicycle mag?
2)how big do you think the demand for a mag is?
3)what would you like to see in the mag?
4)how much do you think it should retail for?
5)how often should it be produced?
6)would you consider submitting articles/photos for it?
7)should it be on general release, eg wh smith, or mail
order only?
8)would you consider the exposure of the underground scene
through magazine coverag a problem to unicycling?
9)do you see the opportunity for future growth of the
unicycle scene?
10)do you know of anyone who would want to invest or
advertise in the mag?

we need your help to get this off the ground guys, so if you
want it, you have to work for it as well as us, and who
knows, its all volunteer based for now, but when we get up
and running, theres carreers in unicycling available here!

--
north - The seth enslow of unicycling

North

until it ends...

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1)would you be willing to buy a unicycle mag?

Yes.

2)how big do you think the demand for a mag is?

Small.

3)what would you like to see in the mag?

Everything: MUni, Trials, Freestyle, Touring, and Circus.
Profiles of people and clubs, technical articles, tour and
event coverage, product reviews, etc.

4)how much do you think it should retail for?

Depends on frequency. If quarterly, no more than 8 USD. If 6
times per year then no more than 6 USD. If monthly, no more
than 4-5 USD.

5)how often should it be produced?

Ideally monthly.

6)would you consider submitting articles/photos for it?

Yes.

7)should it be on general release, eg wh smith, or mail
order only?

Don't care.

8)would you consider the exposure of the underground scene
through magazine coverag a problem to unicycling?

No. Are these undergrounders criminals of some sort?

9)do you see the opportunity for future growth of the
unicycle scene?

Yes.

10)do you know of anyone who would want to invest or
advertise in the mag?

No.

Raphael Lasar Matawan, NJ

--
JJuggle - Last of the Dogmato-Revisionists

'6th Annual LBI Unithon - Sat, June 5, 2004'
(http://jjuggle.unicyclist.com/lbiunithon)

*Do Not Taunt Happy Fun Ball*
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> and to answer the following questions:
>
> 1)would you be willing to buy a unicycle mag?

yes

> 2)how big do you think the demand for a mag is?

small/medium Is there any other in the UK?

> 3)what would you like to see in the mag?

muni / trials / freestyle. Tips / Tricks etc. Big + would be
maps/routes etc of good rides.

> 4)how much do you think it should retail for?

Depends on format. £4

> 5)how often should it be produced?

Monthly

> 6)would you consider submitting articles/photos for it?

Yes, after getting a lot lot better

> 7)should it be on general release, eg wh smith, or mail
> order only?

Don't mind.

> 8)would you consider the exposure of the underground
> scene through magazine coverag a problem to unicycling?

errr, underground scene?

> 9)do you see the opportunity for future growth of the
> unicycle scene?

yes

> 10)do you know of anyone who would want to invest or
> advertise in the mag?
>

nope
 
On Fri, 14 May 2004 07:12:58 -0500, "north" wrote:

> 1)would you be willing to buy a unicycle mag?
Maybe. There is already so much in this newsgroup. Also,
I could become a member of the USA to get OWW but I
haven't done it.

> 2)how big do you think the demand for a mag is?
Overall, small. Among unicyclists: don't know. Maybe ppl
react enthusiastically now but will that last?

> 3)what would you like to see in the mag?
Not only pics! Interview, tutorials, event reports, future
events calendar... The same stuff as the 'better' threads
in this forum but then in a more 'timeless' fashion, more
crystallised-out.

> 4)how much do you think it should retail for?
Depends on content. 2 - 5 € maybe.

> 5)how often should it be produced?
6 or 12 per year.

> 6)would you consider submitting articles/photos for it?
Yes.

> 7)should it be on general release, eg wh smith, or mail
> order only?
I suspect too little demand for general release.

> 8)would you consider the exposure of the underground scene
> through magazine coverag a problem to unicycling?
Not sure what you mean.

> 9)do you see the opportunity for future growth of the
> unicycle scene?
Yes but largely unrelated to this mag.

>10)do you know of anyone who would want to invest or
> advertise in the mag?
No but manufacturers, distributors and also performers
come to mind.

Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
--
be sure to remove the saddle and simply sit on the seat
post. this is far more comfortable - tennisgh22 on the
comfort of Savage unis
 
Alright North! I met you at BUC11, I was one of the
Scottish guys.

I'll answer your questions for you....

1)would you be willing to buy a unicycle mag?

Definitely.

2)how big do you think the demand for a mag is?

Not that big but enough to keep it running.

3)what would you like to see in the mag?

All aspects of unicycling and no circus stuff unless it
involves fire!

4)how much do you think it should retail for?

I would happily pay £5-10quid for such a mag.

5)how often should it be produced?

Bi-monthly?

6)would you consider submitting articles/photos for it?

I certainly would!

7)should it be on general release, eg wh smith, or mail
order only?

WH Smith would be excellent but I think mail-order is
more likely.

8)would you consider the exposure of the underground scene
through magazine coverag a problem to unicycling?

Not at all as its pretty much only going to be unicyclists
buying the mag.

9)do you see the opportunity for future growth of the
unicycle scene?

Yes.

10)do you know of anyone who would want to invest or
advertise in the mag?

Roger?

Hope this helps.

T.

--

And I haven't lost a wheel either!
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it wasnt me that wrote that folks, just the bloke im in
talks with to produce it. i might demand the first front
cover tho! from our discussions, it looks like its going to
go ahead, funding is being searched, loans taken out,
whatever... it also looks like its going to be
trials/street/muni/flatland based, monthly or bi-monthly,
distributed through whsmith, but probably on a request
basis, or through mail order... and costing about £3.50
ish... but im not supposed to say all that cos it might
influence the market research, which the man needs to show
his bank manager for a loan or something. but because theres
a niche in the market it should be able to stay a float
small scale, though not very profitably. it all looks good
from what ive seen, but the man needs our help.

--
north - The seth enslow of unicycling

North

until it ends...

------------------------------------------------------------------------
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1)would you be willing to buy a unicycle mag?
- Yes

2)how big do you think the demand for a mag is?
- Big amongst unicyclists

3)what would you like to see in the mag?
- Tutorials, event reports, new tricks

5)how often should it be produced?
- Once every 2 months

6)would you consider submitting articles/photos for it?
- Yes, particularly some of the trials obstacle building
instructions I've done (I'd make them look prettier) and
other tutorials maybe.

8)would you consider the exposure of the underground scene
through magazine coverag a problem to unicycling?
- No as mainly only unicyclists will be reading the
magazine.

9)do you see the opportunity for future growth of the
unicycle scene?
- Yes, but semi-slow growth.

Andrew

--
andrew_carter - www.unicycles.com.au

HTTP://WWW.UNICYCLIST.COM/GALLERY/ANDREW
andrew_carter (at) mail (dot) com
http://www.unicycles.com.au
New photos added 11/04 - http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/albuu61
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1)would you be willing to buy a unicycle mag?
- Yes, providing it's not too expensive me living in
Australia and all.

2)how big do you think the demand for a mag is?
- Pretty small.

3)what would you like to see in the mag?
- Tutorials, tips, product reviews, new tricks, anything
related to the diferent styles, interviews/profiles of
some of the better riders, and lots of photos! Buy a
skating magazine and take a look at that and follow the
same setup and add in a bit more!

4)how much do you think it should retail for?
- I would be willing to pay $10 for every issue providing
it's of reasonable quality. It would have to have quite a
bit of content to read though, not just photos.

5)how often should it be produced?
- Once every 3 months or so.

6)would you consider submitting articles/photos for it?
Definately, not sure what I could do but happy to try and
submit something, even if I won't be able to get a copy
here in Australia.

7)should it be on general release, eg wh smith, or mail
order only?
- Uh... not really sure what you mean but prolly not only
mail order.

8)would you consider the exposure of the underground scene
through magazine coverag a problem to unicycling?
- Not quite sure what you mean here either.

9)do you see the opportunity for future growth of the
unicycle scene?
- Yeah it would help, but not if it's only mail order.

10)do you know of anyone who would want to invest or
advertise in the mag?
- Not particularly, whoever sponsors Kris Holm would prolly
do it, I can see the benefits for them.

--
Robbie - Spoons Taste Good

Jacinto is the king.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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1)would you be willing to buy a unicycle mag?

Yes

2)how big do you think the demand for a mag is?

Small, all over, medium among unicyclist

3)what would you like to see in the mag?

Pictures, product reviews, writings with pictures from
different trips, tutorials

4)how much do you think it should retail for?

3-10£

5)how often should it be produced?

Every second month

6)would you consider submitting articles/photos for it?

Yes

7)should it be on general release, eg wh smith, or mail
order only?

Mail order only

8)would you consider the exposure of the underground scene
through magazine coverag a problem to unicycling?

Nope

9)do you see the opportunity for future growth of the
unicycle scene?

Yes, but not big, only unicyclist will buy it

10)do you know of anyone who would want to invest or
advertise in the mag?

No

--
rusty
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Hmmm...

1)would you be willing to buy a unicycle mag?

Definitely to start with, for the novelty. Whether I kept
doing it would depend on whether it contained anything more
than what this forum provides anyway.

2)how big do you think the demand for a mag is?
Incredibly tiny

3)what would you like to see in the mag?
EEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeverything

4)how much do you think it should retail for? Impossible to
say without knowing what's in it. I was thinking the same
price as cycling magazines, but they have much more
opportunities for reviews of products and adverts.
Counting all possible advertisers for this would seem
possible using only one hand...

5)how often should it be produced? Quarterly. I just don't
think there is the material for any more.

6)would you consider submitting articles/photos for
it? Possibly.

7)should it be on general release, eg wh smith, or mail
order only? Don't care. Probably easiest all round mail
order only, although that would exclude any random
purchases by people who just happen to see it for sale
somewhere (likely? I dunno)

8)would you consider the exposure of the underground scene
through magazine coverag a problem to unicycling? I'm
crying inside...

9)do you see the opportunity for future growth of the
unicycle scene? Yes, but with the high entry barrier it's
not going to be very much.

10)do you know of anyone who would want to invest or
advertise in the mag? See last part of [4]

Phil

--
phil - ex-studenty type

"Cattle Prods solve most of life's little problems."
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do any of the mtb magasines have a regular unicycle column?

if they don't then i'd take it as an indicator that the
world just isn't ready for a mainstreem unicycle
magasine. if they do then the time is right. just
spectulation of course.

of course it dosen't have to be mainstreem to be fantastic.

and i'd probably buy it if i could get it mail order from a
unicycle supplier. i don't do subscriptions.

bi monthly would be cool but realisticly it wouldn't matter
how often it was produced.

its also quite likley i'd contribute some material once
in a while.

there is a real lack of up to date documentation on
unicycling, in terms of cataloguing tricks all we have is
the skill levels and they suck.

the kind of content i'd like to see is: tutorials on new
tricks, maintanance tips, realy amazing pictures,information
about events. some product reveiws.

good luck.!!

--
evilewan - death or glory

--
evilewan.

see the rec.sport.unicycling maintainance FAQ @
http://evilewan.unicyclist.com/
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I'd like to see a magazine like that become a success.
Mainly to be able to keep a good record of the community. If
someone in a couple of years wants to know how unicycling
expanded from curcus arts into the olympics it would all be
there in writing. It would also be good to have things of
lasting value in print. Sometimes it's more convenient to go
look something up in your binder than having to go turn the
computer on.

I'd probably buy the magazine, and a lot of other people
would too, but I doubt unicycling is big enough for it to
make any real money.

--
Borges

"However, I confess that the ultimate wheel lacks the day to day
practicality of the conventional unicycle" -Mikefule
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1)would you be willing to buy a unicycle mag? Yes

2)how big do you think the demand for a mag is? Large in
the unicyclist community

3)what would you like to see in the mag? A bit of
everything really. If it going to be a success, you will
have to target a larger audience than just trials/muni
riders I would also like to see extreme juggling (fire
clubs on giraffe muni??)

4)how much do you think it should retail for? between £3 -
£4

5)how often should it be produced? Depends on material. I
would rather have a nice full mag quarterly, rather than
a little mag every month...

6)would you consider submitting articles/photos for
it? Indeed

7)should it be on general release, eg wh smith, or mail
order only? Mail order. Wont it cost to get it into
smiths? (I don’t know how they work), but I doubt people
would buy it unless they did unicycle... if it was going
to smith, it would have to be a small number, or else you
would get a lot of waste (I guess)

8)Would you consider the exposure of the underground scene
through magazine coverage a problem to unicycling? It
might get some people interested in unicycling if it was
in Smiths, but if it was mail order, would that still be
underground? I'm not to bothered though

9)do you see the opportunity for future growth of the
unicycle scene? Yeah,

10)do you know of anyone who would want to invest or
advertise in the mag? Roger? municycle.com? The problem
with advertising is that almost everyone in the unicycle
community know of all the shop (don’t they!?), so again
if it was in Smiths, I think people would be more likely
to advertise in it.

BTW, is it going to be a 'proper' mag, with glossy
cover etc? :p

Joe,

--
joe - Who needs cranks anyways?

:cool: *www.cool.unicyclist.com* :cool:

'I like to show off in front of people not to show them what I can do,
but to show them what can be done on a unicycle' - Sofa

'SIXSIXONE' (http://www.sixsixone.com)
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Hey North, it's fantastic to hear someone is going to so
much effort for this little sport of ours, both with your
video and mag ideas- I take my sombrero off to you!

1)would you be willing to buy a unicycle mag? Of course!

2)how big do you think the demand for a mag is? A big
proportion of the uni (maybe juggling etc?)community
would want it I think.

3)what would you like to see in the mag? Everything
unicycle related, all styles, tips, hints and how-tos,
letters, adverts, bios, profiles, competitions,
interviews, product reviews EVERTHING!!!!. I think making
it trials/muni specific would severely limit its appeal.
It's only a tiny portion of a tiny sport after all.

4)how much do you think it should retail for? Hmmm, depends
if you wanna make actual profit or are just happy to
break even with a bit of change. £5 to £10 depending on
how often it was produced.

5)how often should it be produced? Everyday! :D As said
before, I'd prefer a quarterly mag with some meat to it,
than a small mag. If you could fill it out ith quality
stuff tho I guess bi-monthly would be cool, if not
unrealistic maybe.

6)would you consider submitting articles/photos for it?
Yeah... wouldn't do much for the mag I don't think tho!

7)should it be on general release, eg wh smith, or mail
order only? Depends which would be cheaper, makes no
difference otherwise.

8)would you consider the exposure of the underground scene
through magazine coverag a problem to unicycling? Nah, s
long as it doens't portray the sport in a way that could
reasonably be percieved as bad.

9)do you see the opportunity for future growth of the
unicycle scene? Of course!

10)do you know of anyone who would want to invest or
advertise in the mag? Unicyclist.com, municyle.com,
unicycle.com, Bedford.

--
one wheeled stallion - Guerilla Unicyclist

OWS

"It's all in the mind, not the behind" -Mikefule
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been showing your reports to my man in the know, heres his feedback:

as for profit, hes not interested in making anything at
first, he'd be happy to break even, im working on it with
him for free, and his hope is that many other unicyclists
would do the same. the basis for all this is it takes a lot
for the mag to not just die in the first few months, and
once it is established he can start paying contributors and
making a profit himself. its definately going to be a full
scale glossy mag, probably bi-monthly to get the content,
and he'll make it available to anyone, anywhere if they want
it, on a small scale, bdl are prepared to subsidise the
postage to Oz or the usa, to get an established fan base
over there, so dont worry guys. its getting there, Wyls
researching printers/publishers at the mo... thanks for your
help guys, keep the feedback coming.

--
north - The seth enslow of unicycling

North

until it ends...

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evilewan wrote:
> *do any of the mtb magasines have a regular unicycle
> column?*
That's a good question. But I don't know that the mountain
bike (magazine) market is the same as the MUni market. A
lack of interest in a mainstream bike mag does not
necessarily mean this idea does not have hope.

> *there is a real lack of up to date documentation on
> unicycling, in terms of cataloguing tricks all we have is
> the skill levels and they suck.*
The Unicycling Society of America has been doing it
since 1973. There's a lot of experience in that
"market" to indicate what the pitfalls may be in doing
a magazine venture.

The Skill Levels aren't intended as a catalog of tricks.
Neither is the Standard Skill list, but it's a lot more
extensive. As far as I know, nobody is compiling a listing
of every trick people come up with.

1)would you be willing to buy a unicycle mag? Of
course. I already get several, from non-profit
unicycling organizations in the USA, Japan and
(occasionally) Denmark.

2)how big do you think the demand for a mag is? I don't
know if there's enough there yet. You can only try and
see. How many copies do you need to sell to break even?
If you keep the scope wide you will of course appeal to a
larger number of unicyclists. It can be a MUni magazine
and still cover everything from learning, to doing
tricks, to forming clubs and how to work with them, to
the obvious stuff.

3)what would you like to see in the mag? Pictures (color
would be nice, at least on the cover), stories of what
riders are up to, information on upcoming events, how-tos
on everything, equipment reviews.

4)how much do you think it should retail for? I can't speak
for the UK. Obviously it will be more than a mainstream
mag. Unlike mainstream mags, this one won't have an
alternative title to compete with. It will be produced in
much smaller numbers, so expect it to cost more. In the
US, we have a hard time getting people to cough up $15
for a membership, which consists mainly of four issues of
On One Wheel.

5)how often should it be produced? Quarterly or bi-monthly.

6)would you consider submitting articles/photos for it? I
might, but if it's a profit-making venture I will expect
to be compensated. It is very easy to post to a
newsgroup. It's quite a bit harder to get people to write
complete articles that they know will be in a permanent
medium. The people who do will need to be rewarded!

7)should it be on general release, eg wh smith, or mail
order only? I know little of WH Smith, but it is
obviously a mainstream store. To produce enough copies to
have two or three in each store might require a
production run of many times more than you have readers
for. Obviously the exposure would be tremendous, and
would help promote the sport (and advertisers). But I
don't think it would be a moneymaking proposition at the
moment. Beyond that, I think it should be made available
in every way that works.

8)would you consider the exposure of the underground scene
through magazine coverag a problem to unicycling? There
is no underground scene. Either that or it's basically
all underground. I think you have to have something
aboveground for there to be an underground. Coverage will
not hurt us.

9)do you see the opportunity for future growth of the
unicycle scene? It's growing as we speak. It will never
be huge like skateboards or Razor scooters due to the
barrier of entry (it's hard to learn). But there is still
a lot of potential out there for much larger numbers.

10)do you know of anyone who would want to invest or
advertise in the mag? Yes. Depending on where it's going
and how it will be distributed, certainly Unicycle.com
would be interested and probably others.

The UK is relatively small. If you make a magazine, I highly
recommend aiming it at the English speaking world. There are
more mountain unicyclists over here than in the UK. Even if
the distribution is only UK-based, make it a mag about
unicyclists everywhere and you'll not only increase the
market, you'll get a better chance of getting quality
submissions with lots of variety.

--
johnfoss - Walkin' on the edge

John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
"jfoss" at "unicycling.com"
www.unicycling.com

"We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not
because they are easy, but because they are hard." -- John F. Kennedy,
1961
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