Senior Publisher
The advantages of a retirement business go well beyond the purely financial: studies have found that working beyond retirement age positively impacts health and can promote a sense of community and reduce isolation. Of course, there’s a lot to consider when you are setting up a retirement business. Do you want to stay in a field that you know – or are you keen to try something different? Do you want (or need) a business that will bring in an income? How much can you afford to invest in start-up costs? As an older professional, you already have the advantage of a network of business contacts, built up over years: how can you leverage that network when you consider your new business idea?
Starting a digital magazine can be a great choice for a retirement business for the over-50s. The initial investment is low, particularly when compared to a business such as a brick-and-mortar shop, for example, which would require outlay on rent and inventory. And the digital publishing industry is expanding rapidly: digital subscriptions in the UK alone rose 44% in Q4 2020.
We spoke to Tom Tait, the owner of www.gallerieswest.ca, about starting and running a digital magazine later in life. Although he had previous print magazine experience, including a ‘placemarking’ website reproducing stories from the print magazine, the world of digital publications was relatively new to him in 2010, which is when he first encountered Metro Publishing.
Tom Tait
Publisher – Tom Tait (gallerieswest.ca)
It’s hard to believe that in 2001, at the age of 60, Tom found himself without a job. His partner in the hotel magazine he had been running decided to sell the parent company and bought Tom out. Tom recounts, “I was on my own once again and I didn’t know what I was going to do”. He saw a niche and decided to set up a print magazine, building on an art supplement that he had established in his previous role. At the same time, the technical advent and acceptance of PDFs for proofing and printing removed a major obstacle to entry into the business. Tom, with only a freelance editor to help, launched a new art magazine, Galleries West. It covered news and reviews for museums and galleries located in four provinces in western Canada and, for the first seven years, it was a huge success.
But then the economic crisis of 2008 hit, causing advertising revenue to plummet. Around the same time, Tom spotted the shift in the way people consumed material online after the release of the iPad and iPhone. These devices were much more user-friendly than the desktop. Although he told us that “technology has always been one step ahead of me”, it would be more accurate to say that Tom astutely identified a need and answered it. He saw the need to move from ‘placemarking’ to creating a serious, revenue-generating website in parallel to the print magazine. He had no experience of running a digital magazine and only a hazy sense of how he was going to pull it off. And that’s where Metro Publisher came in.
Tom says that he was initially drawn to Metro Publisher because it offered a low monthly fee and there was no obligation to sign a long-term contract. He couldn’t afford big startup costs and he appreciated the continuity in support offered by Metro Publisher rather than working with an individual who might move on at any time.
Another of the appealing capabilities of the Metro Publisher CMS was the fact that Tom and his small team (they are currently three, based in different cities) could each upload and edit content from anywhere. And, if they ran into any problems, the Metro Publisher team was there to provide personalized support.
Metro Publisher is specifically designed for publishing magazines and it proved ideal for the product that Tom envisioned, although he admits that his first site was rather “barebones”. His advice to those starting an online magazine now would be to have in mind a model or example of what you would like the site to look like. (Of course, the content and design are just two aspects to consider when starting an online magazine – for more, take a look at our guide to setting up a successful online magazine here.
Eventually, Tom was forced to face the fact that his pre-2008 print advertising revenue was unlikely to return. In 2016, he made the decision to discontinue the print version of his magazine and shift to digital exclusively. For this, he wanted to refresh the site and Metro Publisher was there with a step-by-step ‘relaunch’ consultation, helping him take advantage of the latest features and best practices.
Visit gallerieswest.ca
Tom particularly admires what he calls the “Metro Publisher philosophy”, which is the way in which the extended community of Metro Publisher customers provides feedback on the CMS functions. Because Metro Publisher is a cloud service, “the common back end is serving multiple clients,” he explained, “which provides the impetus to introduce features that an individual might not come up with.” As a result, Metro Publisher is very responsive to requests – such as, for example, the searchable business directories, event calendars and new third-party integrations it has introduced to help publishers build audience engagement. Metro Publisher is constantly updating its CMS, both in terms of useful features and, importantly, with regard to security and SEO-optimization. And, again because it’s a cloud service, customers like Tom don’t have to worry about staying on top of those issues, as the CMS is updated automatically.
Having found the right CMS, Tom could concentrate on other aspects of the business, like bringing in ad revenue in a competitive market. “Going from a print background with a rational rate card [i.e. commonly accepted advertising costs with profit built in] to the ‘Wild West’ nature of online advertising is not for the faint of heart,” he admitted. Overall, the experience has been a steep learning curve, but one which Tom has clearly relished: when asked what it’s like to learn new things later in life, he answered, “That’s everything, there’s only so much TV you can watch or how much golf you can play!”
Tom had decided that he would retire at 75. That milestone has come and gone. Now he’s pushed it to 80 but even he doesn’t really believe he will retire then. In fact, he is even considering expanding the magazine beyond the four Canadian provinces it already covers. As he says, Metro Publisher provides all the tools, so why not? And things are going great: this year, no less than eight of the magazine’s articles were shortlisted for regional magazine awards.
Tom has worked hard to ensure the success of Galleries West and still exudes enthusiasm and drive. His story is an inspiration to anyone considering starting a retirement business or changing direction after 50.
If you would like to talk to us about how we can help you get started on your path to success, contact us.
