[KNAdmin]

The next time that I create a poll, remind me to put it in the general area. Only users of a more advanced level (x posts, x time on site, etc.) are able to see this forum. So our numbers on this poll are below the statistical baseline that I would consider valid, were this something that I was advising you on regarding someone's advertising budget expenditures and the like. However, I can see some basic data that will support my experience.

Let's get busy... (figuring out what we need to know about advertising a custom knife business in the traditional publications).

General concepts/conclusions:

1) 75% of traditional knife magazine readers are Knife Makers (this includes full and part-time). Only 25% are non-makers.

The above is supported by the major magazine's own statistical data. I assume that this will change from publication to publication, depending on content focus, Blade vrs Tactical Knives, for instance (Knives Annual is not an advertising vehicle). But let's round our number for this statistical pool to 50% makers/50% others, for the sake of conservative understanding of who the average knife industry publication?s reading audience is.

2) If an average knife publication advertisement is $100 dollars cost (it?s closer to $300), and you?re trying to reach collectors and enthusiasts (ie, the target custom knife buyer), then only 50% of your ad dollar is effective. If you consider that a percentage of the remaining 50% (really much less) target audience contains non-buyers (such as barber shop readers, etc.), then you?re ad dollar is further diluted by the loss of qualifying audience in the remaining number.

There is so much more to be discovered here, and we?ll run many new polls to expose it, but I only want to deal with what we know already, or can easily derive conclusions on, relating to the initial thread questions (are print magazine ads worth the money any more). Namely, that a custom knife maker, who is advertising to sell knives, is spending $1 in real earnings for .25 to .50 cents in potential. No matter how you slice it, this is a sure way to waste a lot of money, or to put it at great risk, at minimum. I could make an argument that the real target audience within these monthly markets is more like 0-3% of viewers. (remember, we?re only considering one ad placement, not an annual campaign.)

What?s the net conclusion?
--- we?re talking single ad placement vs. custom knife sales ROI

This is supposed to be an ongoing discussion, not an ?listen to me? speech. I?m going to open a new thread or two to deal with some new topics that we?re interested in, but let?s work this current problem together over time and I?ll promise you, you?re going to learn something grand about how to effectively spend your advertising time/money to create real custom knife sales.

Before we go any further?

Can you find any holes in my logic or conclusions thus far? If so, what are they?