It may feel like only yesterday that you started receiving THAT LEEDS MAG (TLM) free through your door. However, it has been nearly two years! (Sorry to point that out).
In all honesty it has been an absolute joy!
Not being originally from Leeds I have loved learning so much about the wonderful communities and the willingness of so many individuals to support each other and protect our locality and the planet. I can’t see myself moving back the Essex any time soon. My husband (Jon) said Leeds would be great and it is!
As many of you may know I run the mag on my own alongside a freelance graphic design career. Design and marketing have been my life. Following my graphic design communication degree, I have worked in London, Leeds and for international agencies. Producing this mag for you is giving me the greatest enjoyment to date. Working with local small businesses owners to ensure their adverts are well designed and engaging is great fun too.
It has allowed me to connect with a new community and feel like I am making a difference with every publication without harming the planet.
I strive to maintain a minimum of 30% editorial community content, where possible highlighting the wonderful free of charge, pay as you feel or volunteering activities in our area of Leeds. The advertisers pay for the production and distribution of the magazine and without them it would not exist. I contribute time (lots of it) and know-how.
what goes into that leeds mag?
I have to wear a lot of hats to get TLM through your doors.
Graphic Designer
This is where my 25 years in the industry come in handy.
Advertisers can brain dump ideas and I will design something to appeal to their ideal customer.
I’m not messing about with Canva on any artwork I do. Canva has it’s place and it is not on my computer!
Editor
Lots comes under this umbrella.
Content sourcing and filtering, copywriting, lots of networking and much more.
Accounts
Taking care of business!
It’s important to me to get the best prices on print buying, paper buying, distribution and much more, to ensure that my advertisers are getting the best price possible.
My printers, Print Plus are based in Bradford – keeping everything as close to home as possible.
All of this while using ‘Beyond Carbon’ neutral paper and veg based inks. Something you may notice is that TLM has only a faint aroma (I can imagine you sniffing the mag now), compared to other print items. Many people say they love the smell of print if you knew the chemical reasons why it smells you might be persuaded otherwise.
James Denton at AME Accounting and Co. is my rock when it comes to accounting – I’d highly recommend him.
Online marketing manager
A cheerleader for all my advertisers online across many platforms. Some of my advertisers do not use socials – believe it or not you do not need a social media account to get customers.
Most of my customers come from the website or from the magazine itself.
I post some, but not all content on socials in bitesize chunks as well as editorial on this website.
All new advertisers are added to online directory too. This keeps me pretty busy after the mag has gone to print.
Sales Manager
This part of the job is pretty new to me. Believing in the power of print and its ability to reach everyone gives me the confidence to relay this message. Plus, I need to ensure that TLM covers costs every time.
I know my product’s value and the benefits it provides to advertisers.
After all what business doesn’t want more customers?
Distribution
Seriously, I can’t deliver 20,000 magazines myself.
Unless you want January’s magazine in February!
A shout out to Ace Distribution for a brilliant job on this, employing local people.
I get GPS tracking reports the day after the mags deliver in different locations, so I can be sure they are going out as planned – every time.
