If we don’t grow, we die. It’s just common sense. Every business needs new customers because people die, move, change priorities, lose interest or find some other reason not do do business with us.
The publishing business is like any other in that way. For a special interest publisher, aa 50% renewal rate is critical to the life of the publication and 65% is considered extremely successful. In our DOLLS and Teddy Bear Review magazines, we are proud to claim that we are consistantly over 60% and have reach over 70% in many months, a healthy sign that we are providing a viable publication. But that also means that we need to replace 30 to 40% of our subscribers every year just to stay even.
The same is true for every retailer, manufacturer and one-of-a-kind artist who is attempting to make a living by producing and selling dolls or bears. Unless we are in hot market that has been created by some factor that is beyond our control, we need to work to create new collectors. We can’t just sit back and wait for collectors to discover us. We need to create a demand.
How is that done? More ways than I can think of. Many people became collectors for nostalgia sake. Others were shown a presentation that caught their interst. Some were captured by reading an article, picking up a garage sale find, being given a gift, etc. The list goes on and on.
The point is that we in the industry have to act if we want the indsutry to grow. It everyones responsibility to create new customers. What are you doing to create new customers for your business?
