Thursday, November 3, 2011

The Tonbridge Insider Lives on....

I've kept it under my hat until now but the future of The Tonbridge Insider was looking pretty bleak for a while but now, so I'm reliably informed, it has found a buyer to take over and continue the publication in it's current format. Hopefully the change-over will be fairly seamless so you'll still see lots of information about local activities, clubs and events every month. It would have been a shame to see it go down the pan as it is Tonbridge's only stand alone publication. The Courier tries to pretend to represent the town but, really, how can it, being based in Tunbridge Wells and with all those other towns and villages in its catchment area? It has to try to please all but probably never quite pleases anyone. Then there's the Kent Messenger which, as far as I can see, hardly anyone in Tonbridge buys. That's a shame since actually, if you go back only a few decades, the Kent Messenger was the Tonbridge Free Press or at least the TFP morphed into the KM. So Tonbridge Blog happens to think that the Tonbridge Insider is an important publication for the town and I wish the new owners success with it (with or without my services.) Part of that future success, and a reason for its near demise, will be dependent on the number and quality of the advertisers it attracts. I thought that, despite the recession, the magazine had turned the corner on that score but maybe it just wasn't happening quite quick enough to make it commercially viable. So, if you have an advertising budget and you want to attract very local customers, The Insider should be an important consideration. Tonbridge Blog might be another possibility since it attracts the same kind of audience online. In fact without even trying this blog has started to carry several commercial links, google ads and the odd advertorial for local businesses due to its having built up a sizeable audience. But for Tonbridge Blog that's just an extra bonus; for the Insider it's their lifeblood. Without the advertisers the magazine just can't exist....

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Gave up on the so-called local & main stream media a while back, just nothing in it.Why do we never hear any of this .

‘Arms dealer donated £15,000 David Cameron’s Leadership Campaign & £131,805 to Conservative Party – linked to Liam Fox treason scandal, and the arms dealers wife ran an art exhibition that featured Christ with an er**tion or that our national security papers were being throw in a bin by Oliver Letwin’ ?

When they start exposing whats really going on then I might be persuaded. Unfortunately its a sad fact that we have to turn to the alternative media for the truth nowadays because the other is too controlled.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8b7ujQ0-KsA

Anonymous said...

Hurrah, a bit concerned i would have to but some real toliet paper there.........Only joking, cracking read and like you say good to have a bespoke publication for Tonbridge.