The news that The West Dorset Magazine had won the overall Bridport Business of the Year (as well as New Business of the Year) came as a bolt from the blue for its founders, Karen Bate and I.
We were overwhelmed, particularly as it came as we marked a year in print, and on the back of the national Political Cartoon of the Year award runner’s up trophy – can you believe we beat Private Eye, The Spectator, The Times et al?
This trio of awards, together with an increasing level of support from advertisers and readers’ generous donations, makes us feel we made the right decision in launching a new print product a year ago, when many are in decline.
It’s been a tough but fun first year. It’s the first business Karen and I have ever run and it’s an expensive old business, printing 25,000 copies of a 96-page news magazine. But advertisers realise that – as all copies vamoose pretty sharpish – we provide great value for money, and our revenue is steadily rising.
We produce our multi-award-winning monthly magazine on a shoestring, with family members supporting us (most of the ads are sold by my 78-year-old dad, Bob Holman).
We are rare – a hyperlocal free news magazine with all our advertising rates and info on our website. We are transparent. If you want to know almost anything about us, head to westdorsetmag.co.uk – or better still, give us a call on 01305 566336.
Meanwhile, if you feel moved to help us with the costs of production while we grow the advertising we welcome your donations: Bird Media Ltd, sort code 40 19 21, acc 01604236. We appreciate every penny – your support means the world to us.