Magazine With Robert Pattinson | What's a Magazine Worth If Robert Pattinson is on the Cover?

Being on the cover of a magazine is always a great thing. As a celebrity, you will always be featured in the most popular magazines whether you like it or not. This can increase your visibility to the public and potentially give you a much larger audience than you would normally get. Being on the cover of a magazine doesn’t guarantee you’ll become famous, but it certainly doesn’t hurt.

There are a number of factors that go into determining the value of a magazine, and being the face of a popular celebrity clearly isn’t one of them. The following will examine the factors that determine the value of a magazine and how much you can expect to get paid for being on the cover of one.

Cost To Create

The first and most obvious factor that determines the value of a magazine is its cost to create. For years, the general public has had easy access to journalism online, meaning that they can access high-quality content for free. This makes traditional magazines obsolete. A major publication like the New York Times can afford to pay their journalists well and ensure that they have the best equipment available to produce quality content.

The flip side of this is that many people now have the ability to create content and publish it for free, which has opened the door for more independent magazines. For instance, online publications can offer a feature-rich experience to their readers at no cost to the publisher. This has led to a significant decline in the cost to publish a magazine.

The lower the cost to create a magazine, the higher its value and the more attractive it is to potential publishers.

Circulation

The second factor that determines the value of a magazine is its circulation. The greater the circulation of a magazine, the more attractive it is to potential publishers. Achieving high circulation is very difficult, as there are so many competitors in the digital space, but it’s something that publishers consider when valuing a magazine.

If you’ve got a famous celebrity on your cover and you want to sell more magazines, you’d better hope that they are on the shelves somewhere. Chances are, your audience will be going online to learn more about your subject matter, so ensuring that they can get your magazine in their hands is essential. As more people become reliant on technology to learn about the world, offline distribution is becoming less important as a means of reaching readers. This makes online marketing and social media the preferred way of promoting a magazine.

Advertising

The third factor that determines the value of a magazine is its advertising. All magazines have advertising, but some are far more affordable as a result of their lower selling prices. These magazines don’t charge advertisers as much so the proceeds from the ads go back into the publication. Magazine publishers consider the amount of money that they’re receiving from advertisers when assessing the economic value of their magazine.

The most obvious example of this would be Women’s Weekly. For years, this magazine was the darling of the publishing industry, largely thanks to its consistent circulation and its ability to attract a wide audience. It’s considered the best-selling women’s magazine in the world. Advertising sales alone contribute about 70% of the magazine’s revenue. This means that the magazine is only earning about 30% in profit which is significantly lower than most other publications.

Thankfully, not always. Though advertising rates have increased, the lower circulation and the lower selling prices of other magazines, such as Glamour and Elle, have helped to protect Women’s Weekly’s margins. This, however, is certainly not the case for all magazines. The more an industry trades on price, the more susceptible it is to the threat of digital competition.

Media Buying

The fourth factor that determines the value of a magazine is its ability to generate revenue through media buying. The more a magazine is bought and sold within the media industry, the more valuable it is. This can occur through traditional means or online marketplaces. Traditional magazine media buying would include placing advertisements on TV and in print publications. More and more publications are moving towards online marketing and social media, which is transforming the industry.

The advantage of this is that you can target your audience based on what they want and need, as opposed to relying on what the advertiser wants to sell. The disadvantage, of course, is that this can be significantly more expensive. If you’re running a newspaper or a magazine, you’re going to need to allocate funds to pay for reporters and photographers as well as to compensate your contributors. Even then, you’re not guaranteed to make back what you’ve spent.

The advantage of media buying online is that it becomes far more affordable. You can set your own prices for your content and don’t have to rely on advertisers to fund your objectives. The disadvantage, as you’d expect, is that this comes with a much smaller audience. Unless you’ve got a large social media following, you’re not going to be able to attract many potential customers through online marketing. This can make a significant difference to your bottom line.

Overall

The factors that determine the value of a magazine are varied and complex, but being the face of a popular celebrity clearly isn’t one of them. The following will examine other ways that being on the cover of a magazine can help you financially.