[NJStricker]

I'm strictly a hobbyist, and although I sell an occasional knife to keep me in supplies, I'm no where near the level of production and sales where I would even begin to think about advertising.

That being said, I participate or at least lurk in most of the knife forums, do web searches to look at knife designs and find newer makers, etc. I rarely look at magazines. I dropped my subscriptions several years ago, and if I peruse the mags any more it's for the above reasons--to see if there are any new makers that I might be missing, new designs, etc.

I usually scan through the ads because they usually have photos of knives.

But an observation I've made is that there are makers that advertise in paper media that, to my knowledge, have never developed a significant web presence. I've not seen them in any forum, and in a few cases there wasn't even a website listed in the ad. (I can't recall any of the names now, so what does that tell you?). The ads at least suggested that the makers were fairly well established (e.g. "over 25 years as a maker. . .") and they've been successful enough to keep advertising. Maybe these makers are anachronisms--still following the old advertising model, and being successful "enough" at it to stick with that model.

Is print media worth it for a newer maker? Maybe, maybe not. As Coop pointed out it's still considered the grail--how many makers get congratulated each month for getting a 1/4 page write up? It's still accepted as an unofficial stamp of legitimacy. And, how many newer makers have we seen over the last 5-10 years that have been featured in say, Blade, only to have their demand temporarily skyrocket and put pressure on their production capabilities? Does this suggest that there is still a significant readership, or at least, the buying community--and not just the maker community--also views the print recognition as a grail/sign of legitimacy? Ironically, look at how many makers post images, or at least a reference, of their latest print article or magazine cover, ON THEIR WEBSITE.

If a maker is going to advertise, then it is worth their while to invest in a comprehensive campaign--website, forum presence, social media, show presence, etc.--where it can be determined whether or not print media has a role. Not every maker is on the web, and I would venture to say that it's highly likely that not every customer is either.