New Design for Alberta Venture Magazine

When I got my first issue of Alberta Venture (AV) for the New Year, I noticed right away that there was a completely different look and feel to the magazine. Not only has the masthead changed, no longer giving Alberta and Venture equal weight, the cover paper stock is also slicker and glossier.

Redesigned January 2012 issue cover

December 2011 issue cover

Inside, there are new departments including a new front-of-book section called The Briefing, which is short and newsy instead of the former mini profiles. The back page column, This Way Forward, is also new, with its first incarnation written by publisher Ruth Kelly. Here she explores her entrepreneurial roots and introduces AV's theme for the year: An Exploration of our Entrepreneurial Spirit.

This is only the third time that AV has had a major overhaul, since Kelly relaunched it in 1997 after buying the name, mailing list and one issue's worth of paper from the provincial government for a paltry $100. For this redesign to happen in its 15th anniversary year was no coincidence. As stated on the AV website, Kelly says: “While the anniversary is a great reason to do it, every good magazine should go through a self-examination and understand the changing patterns in its readership on a regular basis.”

No doubt this makeover was a huge undertaking by the AV team, not least of all because boss-lady Kelly isn't one to settle for second best. Added to that, they've redesigned the website, set to launch in February. 

So it's definitely a fresh start for the AV team for 2012. Congrats for a job well done and happy anniversary!

--- Colleen Seto

AMPA Blogger-in-Residence

5 Ways to Increase Site Traffic: Lessons from the Niche Digital Conference, Part 1

[Travel bursaries for voting magazine members are just one of the many benefit programs that we provide at the Alberta Magazine Publishers Association. We've asked bursary recipients to share their professional development travel experiences]

Lessons from the Niche Digital Conference (Part 1)

This past September, I was lucky enough to attend the Niche Digital Conference in Chicago, thanks to support from my employer, Venture Publishing, and AMPA. The Niche Digital Conference is devoted to teaching online revenue strategies to niche publications and their online extensions.  

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be giving you some of the best tips and tricks that I learned at the conference. Some of it will be old news to the web gurus among us, but hopefully I’ll pass on something useful for everyone. 

I’ll start off with the following five strategies to increase site traffic:
 

1. Spread out your content! Don’t publish all of your magazine’s content online at the beginning of the month. Use the date stamping tools of your content management system to load your content all at once, but publish it piece by piece over a period of time.  Encourage people to come back to your site multiple times and you’ll build a stronger audience and increase ad impressions.  

2. SEO, SEO, SEO - Stop investing money in Google ad words and start investing time in search engine optimization. The best argument I can make for this is from my own experience.  Thanks to some SEO changes we’ve made to our website albertaoilmagazine.com, site traffic has increased more than 240% since January 2011. Not all of this increase is due to our SEO work, but search engine popularity has become a major traffic component. Read an SEO book, website, magazine, or hire a consultant to teach your staff how to do it correctly.      

3. Connect with Local Influencers - With an internet filled with free content, actually having a printed product not only makes magazine websites elite, it also gives us massive social cache that many skilled writers and niche experts value. Reach out to popular bloggers, experts, or influencers that have established audiences and see if they’d be interested in blogging on your site. Provided they align with your editorial mandate and quality control, this can be a very quick way of increasing your site’s online audience. By giving them a legitimate platform to write from, you’ll gain their audience and their support.  

4. Create a social media interaction plan - Come up with a clear goal for your social media usage and assign a member of your team to monitor and reply to social media comments each day. Use programs like Hootsuite and TweetDeck to schedule multiple posts a day (aim for 5-10 throughout the day, depending on your market and ability) and make sure to tag your story subject’s social media accounts to ensure lots of reposts and retweets.    

5. Don’t Just Post Your Own Stuff – The best thing about the internet is how interconnected it is, so why are you treating your magazine website like a walled garden? Don’t be afraid to post links to other websites. Become a web content curator in addition to a producer and you’ll see your page rank and traffic rise. The more links out you give, the more links back you’ll get, and Google rewards sites that boast numerous connections to others. 

My next post will be devoted to banner ads, media kits, and the sales side of digital revenue generation. Be sure to check back then! 

--- Andrew Williams
Assistant Publisher, Venture Publishing

Andrew Williams is the Assistant Publisher at Venture Publishing. When he’s not working on Alberta Venture, Alberta Oil, or unlimitedmagazine.com, he mostly spends his time coming up with bad magazine headline puns. Follow him on twitter @Andrew_NVS for the aforementioned magazine puns.

Fall Water-Cooler AMPA Update

Fall is officially upon us now so I thought it was time for another update on what's happening with some Alberta mags folks. As I'm not always privy to everybody's news, I invite you to please share with me what's happening in your world. And it doesn't have to be magazine news; let's face it, we're into the personal stuff too!

• As we all know, big changes at AMPA. A fond farewell is in order for Andrew Mah (or Mahster, as I like to call him) as he embarks on new adventures to teach in China. Thank you Andrew for the amazing work you pulled off in this last year. I know all too well that the first year comes with a wicked steep learning curve and you handled it like a pro.

• A big welcome to Suzanne Trudel as the new AMPA ED. As a fellow board member for the Amber Webb-Bowerman Memorial Foundation, I know Suz to be dedicated and hardworking, not to mention a lovely person. I'm sure she will do a great job carrying on AMPA's good works. If you haven't already, please take a moment to say hello and make her feel at home.

• Former AMPA Communications Specialist Anh Chu has just moved across the pond, making London, England, her new home, just to shake things up! Watch for news about Anh's next career as...an actress? A gourmet chef? A Spice Girl?

• Congrats to Melanie Jones, Alberta mags contributor and former Where Calgary editor, on her success with her show ENDURE, which she created, produced and performs. She recently came home to Calgary and completed a sold-out run and now she's back in New York performing this immersive, theatre-meets-athletics show twice a day every weekend this month. You go, girl!

 

• Margaret Chandler, former AMPA conference coordinator, is now at Bow Valley College as Special Advisor to the President. She's actually been at the job for a year now, but I forgot to blog about it when she started. (I blame baby brain.) She continues her green initiatives chairing the ECOBVC, the college's sustainability committee. 

• In June, Alberta Venture welcomed two new columnists, Preston Manning and Brett Wilson. Talk about bringing on the big guns!

• AvenueCalgary.com got a facelift this summer with a new design as well as a version for mobile apps.

• And finally, some cheesy personal gushing. It's my baby's first birthday today! Happy birthday Annabel!                                                      

                                                                                                   ---Colleen Seto

AMPA Blogger-in-Residence

Almost Summer Water Cooler Update

Time to confab about peeps in publishing! Thanks for sharing your people news. As the weather heats up, so too will the gossip, or so I hope! 

If you know of any other such news, please do let me know. Or, if you’re wondering what someone is up to these days and would like me to get the scoop, drop me a line as well!

• In case you haven’t been watching already, check out My Rona Home on Citytv where Avenue Calgary’s Käthe Lemon is one of the show’s judges. There are only two episodes left to air on upcoming Sunday nights, but you can view all past episodes online.  
• Welcome to Venture Publishing’s new editors! Mike Ganley is now at the helm of the editorial team at Alberta Venture. He was formerly editor of Up Here Business magazine in Yellowknife. Darren Campbell took over as editor of Alberta Oil magazine from Gord Jaremko back in January. See full details here.
• Congrats to Redpoint Media editors Abby Miller and Tony Charron who tied the knot last month. Best wishes to the happy couple.
• AMPA’s former RAMM coordinator and all-around events specialist Angy McIntyre has recently joined the Calgary WordFest team on contract to manage volunteers. So, if you’re interested in volunteering, let us know and we’ll connect you.
• Bon voyage to Kelie Jensen, former associate publisher for Alberta Views, who wrapped things up at the magazine earlier this month to prepare to move to New Zealand in July with husband Stephen and two-year-old son, Finn. Kelie worked at Views since 2004 in a few different positions including controller. Kelie, who is perhaps best known for her role as "orc no. 8" in Lord of the Rings, will be missed by her Views coworkers as well as others in Calgary’s magazine and arts community. All the best, Kelie!

--- Colleen Seto AMPA Blogger-in-Residence

Paul Marck named Editor at Alberta Venture

Edmonton, Alberta (Mar. 16th 2010) – After a national search, veteran business journalist Paul Marck has joined the Venture Publishing team as editor of Alberta Venture magazine, effective with the April 2010 issue. Marck, who took the post February 24, replaces outgoing editor Michael McCullough, who is returning to his home-town of Vancouver.

Marck is well-known in the Alberta business community, having spent two decades at the Edmonton Journal, half of that time as a business writer. His writing has also appeared in the Calgary Herald and Financial Post, the Vancouver dailies and for his hometown paper, the Kitchener-Waterloo Record.

"To me, Alberta is an exciting, vibrant province with many stories of success, struggle and triumph yet to be told," says Marck. "Canada's energy independence, a great and growing portion of the country's agriculture and agri-food supply, and opportunities in forestry, manufacturing and higher education depend on Alberta."

Ruth Kelly, publisher and editor-in-chief adds, "We are delighted to have an editor with such depth of knowledge of our Alberta business community join us, particularly as those businesses turn to our publications for advice and direction to help steer them through the economic turnaround."


Published monthly, Alberta Venture is Alberta's most widely read business magazine and discusses the latest trends, issues and intricacies of Alberta's thriving business community. Alberta Venture is known for signature editorial packages such as the Venture 100 + Next 100 (Alberta's top companies by revenue), the Fast Growth 50 (Alberta's fastest growing companies) and Alberta's Best Workplaces.





For further information or interviews, please contact:

Paul Marck
Editor, Alberta Venture
Venture Publishing Inc.
pmarck@albertaventure.com

Related Links:

- There's a New Guy in Alberta Venture's Chair
- Alberta Venture magazine